Since the Regulation of Online Poker in Italy – more and more online poker rooms are opening up Italy specific sites to appease the continued growth of players wishing to play.

Gala Coral joined with Playtech to create an Italian poker rooms over a month ago and since then PokerStars announced that they had launched a new online poker network in Italy to compete with the likes of Playtech and Boss Media after being granted a poker licence from Italy's Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS).  

"PokerStars is proud to be entering a flourishing market with this new product," said PokerStars Italian Country Manager Fabio Angeli Bufalini. "This is a ground breaking time for the online poker industry, and it's very exciting that the Italian market is pioneering this move."
 
"This also is the start of a global template which could potentially be adopted in other markets internationally in the next few years," he said.
 
The company's flagship site, PokerStars.com, is currently the world's largest poker room with over 15 million members worldwide, having dealt over 20 billion hands. It also entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the first and only poker site to have reached the 160,000 simultaneous players mark.

The online poker phenomenon is growing rapidly in Italy with the success of players like Team PokerStars Pro Dario and Luca Pagano. Market research indicates that during the first year of online poker being legalized, 500,000 accounts will be opened throughout the Italian poker industry -- creating an estimated EUR 400 million market.

"PokerStars is proud to be entering a flourishing market with this new product," said PokerStars Italian Country Manager Fabio Angeli Bufalini. "This is a ground breaking time for the online poker industry, and it's very exciting that the Italian market is pioneering this move. This also is the start of a global template which could potentially be adopted in other markets internationally in the next few years."

Now Bwin Poker has become the latest gaming operator to enter the rapidly expanding Italian online poker market following yesterday's launch using the P5 Poker Engine developed by Ongame.
 
The company said the new P5 Poker Engine represents the core of its online poker platform which will dramatically improve performance and change the way online poker is played, experienced and perceived.

The research shows that poker in general is a fast-growing mass consumer phenomenon. In Italy, numbers of frequent players (who say that they play regularly), have more than doubled, reaching 480 thousand in February 2007. The surge in players is due mostly to the spread and knowledge of poker, including on television, of poker as a sport, principally the Texas Hold‘em form of the game. If, a year and a half ago there were 1.7 million Italians who knew of the US-originated game, in June 2008 there were more than 5 million – a growth of 188%. Plus, if a million Italians regularly play poker, another 14.5 million (almost 37% of the population between 14 and 64) has played the game at least once.

If you are interested in being part of the Online Poker - Play Online Poker for Free and see for yourself!

Gala Coral Group, who own Gala Poker,  has finalized an agreement with Playtech – one of the largest software licensors in the gaming industry.

Playtech the international designer, developer and licensor of software to the online and land based gaming industry, is pleased to announce an agreement with Eurobet Italia ('Eurobet'), the Italian and international sportsbook owned by Gala Coral Group. Eurobet is the second Italian licensee on Playtech's Italian poker network after the agreement with Snai, announced in August 2008.

Playtech will provide Eurobet with its entire portfolio of market leading poker games in line with the Italian regulations. At present, the software is downloadable in a 'play for fun' mode, which provides players with the opportunity to improve their strategies and hone their skills for free. A 'play for real money'' mode is intended for launch later this year.

Following the regulation of online gaming by the Italian government recently the product has been designed specifically to appeal to the Italian market and customised to meet all functional requirements, including a true shared wallet experience between the sportsbook and poker room, by matching language and currency and has been fully integrated with Eurobet's online betting system to ensure a seamless gaming experience for the player. It

Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, commented today:

'We are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Gala Coral's Eurobet, one of the leading online gaming operators, a group which is highly experienced in the global market and strongly established in Italy, and now joins Snai on Playtech's expanding Italian poker network. We are committed to continue expanding our presence in regulated European markets in general and to specifically further establish our presence in the Italian market and look forward to working with Eurobet to provide an exciting gaming experience for Italian players. Playtech has the world's largest non US liquidity pool and intends to leverage this experience to further its presence in the newly regulated Italian poker market and build a prominent position in the Italian market.'

Domenico Giovando, Managing Director of Eurobet Italia, said:

'We are delighted to have reached the agreement with Playtech. Playtech has a proven track record and were able to meet our needs, and more importantly were able to adapt their services to the Italian market. We are confident that we will both benefit from this partnership. In fact, Eurobet is one of the few Italian operators with a strong experience in poker gained on an international stage, and Playtech gives added value with their leading position in poker platform management worldwide.'

If you would like to set up an account with Gala Poker don’t miss out on LTDPoker’s unrivaled Free No Deposit Bonus.