Facebook Tries its Hand at Online Gambling
Facebook is in the process of entering the online gambling business, by launching its very first online gambling application, where gamblers can wager real money. It will release the application on August 14 and provide its users, who are over 18 years of age, an opportunity to play bingo online for cash prizes. Games that involve slot machines will also be introduced in a few weeks.
Julien Cadoriou, Europe’s gaming head said that gambling is a well regulated and widespread sport in the UK. There are millions of bingo players, who use gambling as their social experience, he mentioned. So, it is best that they offered what players want, he added. There has always been a lot of debate as to whether social networking sites will introduce online gambling to enhance their revenues. Zynga, which is Facebook’s gaming partner, is planning to launch real-money gambling variants of its slot machine, bingo and poker games by 2013.
Who can access the bingo game?
Since regulations regarding online gambling vary from place to place, markets that are outside the United Kingdom can pose legal risks. Facebook gets most of its revenue from the US, where real money gambling is closed as of now. The regulators in the US have just started legalizing certain types of online gambling within the states, posing a great technical challenge to keep all the gambling operations legal.
Why bingo games?
Clive Hawkswood, who is Remote Gambling Association’s (online gambling organization in London) Chief Executive, said that Facebook’s attempt in the UK is definitely an important development. In the online gambling spectrum, bingo occupies the milder end and since online bingo usually consists of chat rooms, it is the best thing that can happen to Facebook, he mentioned. He also said that many people have asked why Facebook did not introduce online gambling before, but they do not realize that it is very tough to monetize their funds. Launching a gambling site can bring in good revenues to the social networking site, he added.
Who will provide the gaming software?
Facebook will introduce Bingo Friendzy application along with Gamesys, which is a leading online gambling service provider, so that it can attract larger online audience. Mr Codorniou said that that Facebook has been discussing on expanding the online gambling offer with gambling companies. It can include games like roulette and blackjack, he added.
After Facebook announced its decision about launching Bingo Friendzy, online players are very excited. But, since Facebook is used by people of varying age groups, offering gambling games on the site can be dangerous. The main thing is to observe if Bingo Friendzy will offer something different to the players since many sites already use Facebook for their promotional campaigns.
Zynga Slingo Bingo
Bingo games like Zynga Slingo Bingo, which has more than 6 million users, are available on Facebook. Though the Slingo Bingo game is not played for real money, it exposes children below 18 years of age to “soft gambling”. Even Facebook fan pages have no age related restrictions on who views them.
How is Bingo Friendzy safe?
Nobody can stop a person below 18 years of age from clicking the “Like” button and then follow a bingo website. The Bingo Platform, which is provided by Facebook, to Bingo Friendzy has to implement age controls like age-gating, geo-location technology. This should be done so that children below 18 years cannot view the website or even access twitter or Facebook Fan pages. The company will also give the users an opportunity to set their own gaming and spending limitations.
The online slots and Bingo sites have agreed to the required regulations on the social media. But, people have forgotten that there are many bingo advertisements even on the television. It is believed that Facebook will be launching more games like Slots Friendzy on the UK App Center. The games are provided by Gamesys, which also offers games like Caesars Casino, Caesars Bingo, Heart Bingo and Sun Bingo. This company is in Gibraltar and does not belong to the UK gambling jurisdiction.
How to play the Bingo Friendzy game?
To play Bingo Friendzy, you have to complete your age verification procedure and then fill in the details of your bank account. You then have to deposit an amount between £10 and £500 and then wager cash in the slot machine and 90 bingo games. The game has cartoon graphics with characters that can be compared to Moshi Monsters, which is a famous social network for children.
The game is mainly for young audience and Facebook is sure that the appealing animal imagery on the site will definitely attract more and more people. A business insider said that online gambling, which involves real money, might be the leap that Facebook requires to achieve “a $100 billion company” tag.