Will Virgin Casino and Poker Enter USA?

The Virgin Group, operator of Virgin casino, is weighing up a push into the US online gambling market, according to a recent report published by the eGamingReview Magazine.

According to the report the company is considering entering regulating markets including France, Spain, and South Africa, as well as potentially either or both of the US states in which the legalization of intrastate online gambling has been proposed. Such a move is expected to be with their online poker brand, Virgin Poker.

California and Florida, two of the United States' biggest markets, are the states to which the article refers. Should Virgin push into the US, it would become the first European-based company to accept US Internet gamblers since the UIGEA Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act effectively banned online gambling in the country in 2006.

The report adds that Virgin is looking for commercial partners to fund marketing budgets in the aforementioned countries.

Virgin CEO Simon Burridge told EGaming Review that while his company has a lot of success in marketing, they can't always raise the appropriate funds to back it up.

"We are limited in profile that we can generate on our own behalf and with so many operators and markets opening up at the same time, we are going to need some cash," Burridge said.

He also revealed that the company is planning to expand the Virgin Games brand from one that offers online gambling to one that becomes a "total gaming" destination, through a deal with hi-tech company Game Domain International to offer more than 200 games for download. Such a move would also allow Virgin to market itself through non-gambling games in anticipation of the legalization of online gambling in the US and other markets where it is currently banned.