The February 21 issue of Barron's has an article by Andrew Bary
titled "Full House" that discusses ways to capitalize on the boom in
online gambling. VP was not discussed, only the spectacular growth
in online poker playing.
Online poker sites are projected to take in $2 billion this year.
There are various ways investors might exploit this boom ... directly
or indirectly.
Direct:
The parent company of PartyPoker.com is Party Gaming, and it may go
public soon.
Paradise Poker was acquired in October by a public company,
Sportingbet, and may itself be acquired soon by the Hilton Group.
Sportingbet also owns Sportsbook.com, for sports betters.
Two sites, Paradise Poker and Poker Stars are governed by the
Kahnawake Gaming Commission on the Mohawk Indian Reservation near
Montreal. Poker Party, another site, is run from India.
Other biggies are Prima Poker and Pacific Poker.
Indirect:
Crytologic (CRYP), on the Nasdaq, is the top provider of software to
Internet gambling sites.
NETeller (operated from the Isle of Man) acts as a 3rd party in money
exchanges, similar to PayPal which has decided to stay out of
gambling due to the questionable legal status of online gaming in the
U.S.