With news surfacing through eGamingReview that Facebook has been in recent talks with UK online gaming giants, Gamesys and 888, there is a great deal of industry buzz speculating on the effects of the social media giant’s presence in the online gaming market. Understandably, Facebook’s entry into the field would be a huge game changer. Exactly how this would change the landscape of internet betting is the topic of discussion of late.
To get an idea of what could possibly go down, it’s important to first examine the dynamic of social gamine, which is already taking place on Facebook – primarily via Zynga Texas Hold’em Poker and Double Down Interactive’s virtual casino and Blackjack hotspot – the latter of which is FB’s third most popular app (Zynga is first), and was just acquired as a strategic investment by slot machine manufacturer IGT to the tune of $500 million.
Both of these apps enable players to redeem chips for prizes. The app developers take a rake, and Facebook in turn, takes a rake of it’s own from the app developer.
There is no reason to believe that real money poker and casino games wouldn’t operate in the same exact manner. Granted, poker isn’t a game without other players, i.e., the social component. While games like bingo would also bid well in the social format of Facebook, the same doesn’t necessarily hold true for traditional casino style games. But then again, does it?
Something that we’ve seen do exceptionally well in the real gaming world are organized tournaments and progressive jackpot games. Needless to say, both of these playing forms rely on players. The more people betting on a progressive slot machine, the greater the jackpot. The more players participating in tournaments (namely, slots and blackjack), the larger the winnings – and guaranteed winnings at that. And as both Zynga and Double Down Interactive have demonstrated, Facebook is home to plenty of players.
Just as soon as federal or State lawmakers can get some regulations passed, expect to see a flood of Facebook gaming apps begin to blow up. While the biggest of the lot are likely to launch in prize-money mode beforehand, big brand online casinos and established brick ‘n mortar gaming companies who choose to enter the internet gaming market, i.e., Caesar’s Interactive and IGT, are likely to develop their own Facebook apps (or buy them out in the case of Double Down Interactive) and prove popular with the social media crowd. If that’s you, well then, you better start getting ready for it now. Anybody for a Basic Blackjack strategy refresher?