Italian License Granted to 888 Casino

Once again, the 888 Group is in the news as the large online casino and gaming company has just opened its virtual doors in Italy.

In other news in recent days, 888 has been in serious talks with Caesars Entertainment Group regarding partnering with the land-based casino to provide online poker services in the U.S. once legislation is passed allowing Americans to legally play on the Internet.

Early last week, they announced that 888 Casino and 888 Poker saw a massive growth in their profits. With recent announced closures of online casinos such as English Harbour and Millionaire Casino, the robust fiscal health of 888 has been good news for an online industry that is certainly feeling some uncertainty and growing pains.

888 Italy’s First Online Live Casino

One of the features that 888 brings to Italy for the first time is LIVE casino games where players are able to interact with croupiers and dealers. This feature makes online play as close to land-based action as you can get. Baccarat, roulette and blackjack may all be played live, as games are streamed to players.

The site offers all of the games, including table games and slots, fine service and bonuses that have made 888 one of the premiere online providers of gaming opportunities.

888 Comments

Various 888 officials have commented on the licensing and launch. In a press release the COO of 888, Itai Friedberg, said, “This successful certification of our products by AAMS further reaffirms our focus and commitment to the growing Italian eGaming market. We have been active under the Italian online regulated regime over the past few years, and we are looking forward to further bolstering our gaming proposition through our 888.it operation…” The COO added, “We aim to present the Italian players with a world-class, fully localized gaming experience by leveraging on our 14 years of online casino excellence. We welcome new opportunities to grow our market share as Italy becomes increasingly active.”

Online casinos in Italy must be fully certified by the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS) in order to operate. In another press release circulated by the company, 888.it CEO Pier Francesco Geraci said, “Launching our fully certified casino in the booming Italian market is a formidable milestone for 888 made possible by a great team of experienced professionals working hard on the project for over a year. As well as our classic casino games, we are proud to be opening the Italian door to the Casino LIVE, a unique and innovative offering and we are planning to launch more exciting and ground-breaking games in the coming months.”

Italian Market Opens Up

About five years ago the Italian government cracked down on illegal online gaming services and created a template for how online gaming would be controlled and monitored in the country. They started taking applications from online gambling services providers and granted licenses to numerous large, foreign providers. It will be interesting to see if the U.S. follows this same pattern in the next few years.

888 is up and running. That news saw the company’s stock finish up 0.75 yesterday, going to 36.00 on the London Stock Exchange.  888, which is said to already be the largest online gaming provider in the world, continues to grow.