Ladbrokes is set to launch a dedicated Italian poker service in early January following receipt of a licence from Italian regulator AAMS.
The new service will offer a range of Texas Hold’em tournaments at launch. The service will only be available to Italian players in accordance with local regulations, which also require all games to be tournaments rather than cash games.
The regulated Italian gambling market is expected to be the biggest in Europe this year with online, regulated poker expected to generate €2.2bn in turnover. According to H2 Capital, regulated poker in Italy will generate €280m in gross revenues for operators in 2009. With regulations set to allow cash games and casino gaming, the onshore regulated market is expected to generate gross revenues of approximately €630m during 2010, rising to nearly €800m by 2012.
Chief executive Christopher Bell said: "We are committed to expanding the international reach of our online business and Italy is an excellent regulated market opportunity. We hope that further positive changes in regulations in Italy will allow us to further expand our product range by launching cash games in poker, as well as bingo and casino gaming later this year."
