But the sites which still accept players from the USA have, certainly, shown growth. HFIVE5 , on the very eve of the New Year ’08 PokerStars announced about achievement of one hundred fifty 000 poker players simultaneously, but still these growth rates are not more than 50 percent each and every year.
Oddly enough, the slowdown of poker on-line room players was also very noticeable real world. For the first time over many years at the main WSOP competition there were fewer players than the previous year, when it reaches this, approximately 20 percent less. Earlier a large number of players were presented by poker on-line rooms, but decline in the number of American players online, as well as tougher rules concerning the advertising of poker on-line rooms at the competition resulted in the rooms being passive in involvement of players for WSOP.
If everything is bad in america, than in Europe the situation is unclear. On the one hand, the EU did not allow the Italians, trying to ban online casino games, to do it. A new law in great britain not only legalizes online wagering as well as allows advertising online casinos, however, the company should be licensed in the EU. In connection with this, Malta, which is among the most middle of online companies in Europe, has a windfall and will manage to earn quite some money. On the other hand, Germany passed a law close to New Year’s Eve which banned online casino games and their advertising, though, everybody considers that the EU will make the German repeal regulations in question. For quite a while there are rumours in the air that Norway will ban online casino games, Turkey, though it is not quite a Eu country but it has also included a ban.
As for poker on-line, there was a rift within poker on-line rooms awaiting for its resolution. For the first time fraud in an poker on-line room was proved and accepted (to a little more exact, not the room itself, but of one of its senior managers). Absolute Poker opened up that one of the operators gained access to the players’ cards (he knew all the pocket cards, but not the cards which drop out at the flop/turn/river). He shared this information together with partner who was able to win a big competition. To prove everything was possible due to a pure mistake in sending of the history which was received by another participant of the disastrous competition. Absolute Poker made an investigation, corresponding to refund losses for all those who suffered and toughen the security system. Though, Absolute Poker cheating scandal has caused damage not only for a poker-room, as well as the industry all together, however, this blow is not dangerous.