PartyGaming success has rivals queuing up for market share of the ante

POKER firm PartyGaming’s recent stock market launch gave investors a taste for gambling and rivals seem to be queuing up to cash in on its success.

PartyGaming is now bigger than retailer Marks & Spencer in terms of market value after starring just two months ago in London’s biggest flotation since the dotcom boom. After seeing its market value rise from around £5 billion (€7.34bn) to £6.7bn, the stock is also on a par with B&Q owner Kingfisher and airports operator BAA, and looks set to enter the FTSE 100 Index of leading shares next month.

Internet casino operator 888.com is reportedly the latest firm hoping to grab a slice of PartyGaming’s success and is said to be aiming for a listing next week.

Some experts have expressed concern at the boom in online gaming stocks amid concerns over the legality of online poker in the United States.

The potential for online gaming to be a short-term fad has also been a consideration.

But Richard Hunter, head of British equities at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, said he had no concerns about the potential growth of the gaming industry as gambling was much more accessible than before. He said this was partly down to the changing demographics, with a large rise in the number of women gambling.

“The male domination of casinos seen in the past, where you had to physically walk into a casino, is changing,” he said. “Now it is something that can be done anonymously, either from home or the office.” Changes to British gambling laws and the potential for growth of online gaming in Britain also made the sector attractive.

Analysts estimate that revenues from the industry globally have doubled over the past three years to $9bn (€7.35bn).

Some predict that within a decade it could be worth $125bn (€102.17bn).

Gamblers Anonymous (GA) recently highlighted the downside of this trend when it said it was beginning to receive calls from people who had become addicted to betting over the web.

Although GA does not think online gambling is an intrinsically bad thing, it is concerned that the internet makes it far easier for people to gamble.