Online poker history has been made this week, with the launch of the first Greek-language online poker room, www.williamhillpoker.gr. The site also marks the first online poker site in a European language for CryptoLogic, the company behind the new Greek poker platform. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, WagerLogic, CryptoLogic licensed the Greek poker platform to UK bookmaker William Hill on an exclusive basis.

According to A.J. Slivinski, Managing Director of WagerLogic, "Europe is one of the most promising Internet gaming markets." Although French and Spanish-version online gaming sites are much more common than their Greek counterparts, the Greek gambling market is one of the strongest in all of Europe, second only to the UK. Moreover, Greek punters spend more per capita than those in the UK. The estimated 20 million Greek-speaking gamblers around the world live anywhere from Greece itself to Cyprus and parts of Eastern Europe.

William Hill's Greek-speaking online poker players comprise part of WagerLogic's joint online poker room, and as such, they can expect to find a player pool of over 7,500 at any given time.

With the U.S. and UK markets growing increasingly saturated, the online poker industry must seek out fresh markets for growth to continue. This reality is pushing the industry to adopt a more global approach, a notion shared by Lewis Rose, CryptoLogic's President and CEO. He said that "William Hill's Greek-language launch points to the global potential of Internet poker, and that CryptoLogic software enables leading gaming brands to localize their online offerings for worldwide appeal."

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Tuesday, 29 November 2005