According to an article that appeared on AllThingsD.com on Friday that was picked up by several mainstream news outlets, Zynga, which operates a Facebook-focused play-for-fun poker site, could soon be branching its efforts into real money gaming. If you’re skeptical about a site called AllThingsD.com, by the way, you can take solace in knowing that Dow Jones and Company, the same firm that publishes the Wall Street Journal, owns it.A representative of Zynga told AllThingsD.com, “We build games and experiences that our players want and love. Zynga Poker is the world’s largest online poker game with more than seven million people playing every day and over 30 million each month. We know from listening to our players that there’s an interest in the real money gambling market. We’re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.”
When Zynga would open a real money site, who it would offer gaming to, and which company or companies it would partner with all remain to be seen. In previous articles, we’ve written about Zynga, members of PocketFives have championed that the company’s entrance into the real money gaming world could revolutionize the industry. However, one analyst told the San Jose Mercury News on Friday, "We are not sure if Zynga has any big advantages in online gambling compared to established players. As such, the notion that Zynga could benefit from this is highly speculative."
Regardless of whether Zynga would actually have a competitive advantage, its stock soared on the news that it might enter the real money gaming space. Shares of Zynga are traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol “ZNGA” and closed Friday’s session up a solid 6.57% to $9.09.Zynga is one month removed from its initial public offering, or IPO, which was set at $10. However, the Mercury News pointed out that since then, shares of “ZNGA” have never closed higher than the IPO price. In fact, its shares fell as low as $8 earlier this month.
Zynga will likely have to navigate a medley of state laws if it chooses to jump into jurisdictions that are considering expanding online gaming, including Nevada, New Jersey, and Iowa. On TwoPlusTwo, posters were looking forward to Zynga making a splash wherever the brand landed. One person wrote, “It is true that this will take a lot of time and is still subject to a lot of hurdles. But, this is major news in that it is the first time that Zynga has publicly declared an interest in real money gaming. Of course, it's always been obvious to anyone with half-a-brain that has been the plan, but this is the first time it's been stated.”
Zynga Poker players currently vie for play money chips. Its parent company operates popular titles like FarmVille, CastleVille, and Words with Friends on Facebook and its marketing team formerly helped promote Poker Table Ratings. According to the San Francisco-based company’s website, Zynga placates to 227 million users every month.
Another poster on TwoPlusTwo predicted that Zynga turning its millions of users onto real money gaming could create a mini-poker boom of sorts: “Any time a non-lottery entity expresses interest in getting involved with poker, I get pretty happy. A tech company is even better. The Zynga crowd is a different breed. Their pool is so huge, if only a small percentage begin playing for real money, the online poker pool will grow pretty significantly. Let's just hope for a Federal bill so all of this can come to fruition.”The online poker industry is one month removed from the U.S. Department of Justice seemingly declaring that the Wire Act of 1961 only applies to sports betting in an opinion letter released on December 23rd. The edict has caused a variety of states to consider dipping their toes in the internet gambling pond, as efforts to legalize the game on a Federal level have appeared to stall.
We’ll keep you posted on the latest poker news right here on PocketFives.
Canada
United Kingdom
Costa Rica
Australia
Mexico
Denmark
Russian Federation
Sweden
Brazil
Germany
