Many have often wondered if online poker will one day surpass casino poker in terms of popularity and total revenue. And new study suggests that may be the case. Despite the current economic crisis and regulatory problems Stateside, a new study is suggesting that online gambling is set to soar over the next three years. Expert Marco Felice Baranzelli predicts that online gambling will outgrow its bricks and mortar counterpart, in particular online poker will see up to 16% growth per annum from now to 2012. Several Quarter 3 reports for online poker operators this week have suggested that Baranzelli might well be onto something.

I can see why online poker rooms will always have a certain advantage over their physical counterparts; it is incredibly convenient to be able to play in the comfort of one’s home, rather than driving a certain distance to a casino or card room. And, since online poker has an automated dealer and play is generally faster, you can play many more hands per minute than if you were at a casino. However, there are many benefits to casino poker rooms as well. There is a nice sense of cameraderie, of seeing your opponents and chatting casually with them. Also, there’s juts something magical, I think, about being in a casino, and all the unique sights and sounds that are there. I personally quite enjoy both casino and online poker, and hope both are around for many years to come.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am and is filed under Fun On The Net, Internet Games, Lady Luck. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.