Interactive Gambling: 2001 and Beyond

Top Stories of 2001 Visa and MasterCard squeeze online gambling operators. England positions itself to be the world's hub for Net betting. A host of big-name companies take the industry by storm. New jurisdictions attract top-notch licensees. The prohibition movement finds new life in America. Efforts to regulate interactive gambling gain momentum in the States. Australia relinquishes the keys to the future of online gambling. New media make their mark on the industry. The industry reacts to Sept. 11. Games of skill present a legal alternative to game providers. Click here for a review of the year's top stories. The Best and Worst of 2001 It was a year of ups and downs, a year to remember, the year I-gaming turned the corner, a year that will define this industry. . . Aw heck let's give the cliché machine a rest and get to the point. Following is the IGN editorial staff's rendition of the best and worst of interactive gambling in 2001. . .

It has become a tradition at Interactive Gaming News for the Nambling Notes department to take the last week of the year off to make way for the annual year-in-review article. Each year on Dec. 31, as the rest of the world creeps out of its holiday-induced catatonic state just in time to celebrate yet another successful trip around the sun, we take a look at the events that shaped our industry during the past 12 months.

The industry eases into 2002 with hopes of overcoming the many hurdles encountered in 2001. We saw policies by credit card companies cripple many of the industry's operators, we saw the country where online gambling established its roots turn its back on the industry, we saw the revitalization of efforts to ban Internet gambling in the country that more than 70 percent of its customer base calls home and we saw a number of well established business suffer losses due to all of the above.

On the bright side, after a year of much adversity the industry is still standing strong and shows signs of continued growth in coming years. Huge names such as Playboy, MGM Mirage and Publishing & Broadcasting Limited have entered the mix. Partnerships involving major media outlets are about to greatly increase the reach of interactive betting services. Several worldwide jurisdictions have embraced online gambling as an important part of their economies.

In 2001 race wagering poured itself a foundation in the United States, tax breaks enabled the United Kingdom to regain its status as the wagering capital of the world, new interactive media found their place in the gambling business and the legal picture finally cleared in Australia.

With major consolidation on the horizon, the continued possibility of prohibition and a persistent faction looking to prevent operators from doing business, the coming year will be pivotal, to say the least.

And now for a glimpse at what was and what will be. . .

A Look Back at 2001 (January - June)
A Look Back at 2001 (July - December)
A Glance at 2002