Not all people know that the internet is a treasure trove of winnings. The Online Poker firm, PartyGaming, was floated on the London Stock Exchange for over £4 billion, valuing the 8-year-old company at more than British Airways.

SAFER BET

Will Online Poker prove to be a better investment that other dot.com opportunities? The answer is YES.

Party Poker is considered a market place where buyers or users come together to find what they are looking for- in this case, a chance to play Poker. According to Dai and Kaufman’s research on business models for electronic marketplaces, online markets would seek to replicate; aggregation, matching and facilitation.

According to them, aggregation is the provision of a wide range of goods and services that enables a buyer or user to be sure they will find exactly what they are looking for. As an example of aggregation, there’s the vast product ranges offered by online retailers. Matching is the ability to balance supply and demand and is illustrated online by auctions. Finally, facilitation refers to making the process of buying goods or using the service as easy as possible.

So how is Online Poker related to their research? Simple, Online Poker services address aggregation, matching, and facilitation.

Because there are 1.8 million estimated players of Online Poker each day, these services surely claim to aggregate players looking for a game. Party Poker alone has an average of 120,000 players per day. Due to this large number of users, the match of supply and demand becomes easier, as observed by one industry expert “you can always find the game you want, at the limit you want, at any time of day”. Lastly, observations proves that online game is convenient and less intimidating for beginners than playing in a casino, facilitating the appreciation of the game by many new players and allowing them to play whenever they want, day or night.

MULTI-CHANNEL APPROACH

Online Poker also emphasizes another possibility in the online world- the importance of a multi-channel approach. Though there are some businesses that thrived by only utilizing the e-commerce solution, most are finding that a combination of different communication and distribution channels are essential. Consider the case of Online Poker, the growth in the online game is both fueling, and riding on the back of, a boom in the game in the ‘real’ world. Much of this is led by the rise of the game on television. The Online Poker boom has also led to a resurgence of Poker Room at traditional casinos – and at a time when casinos in the UK are benefiting from the recent abolition of the 24 hours registration period and there is a huge expansion planned in the number of casinos in the UK.

BENEFITS OUTWEIGH THE RISKS

Even though Online Poker is a huge asset in e-commerce, many are still doubtful because of the possible security issues they might encounter. But what if the market size for Online Poker far outweighs the security risks you may have to take? What are you going to do? I suggest you take chances, because you will never know how far your business will go if you do not take the risk.