Gambling Is Back In Rome

Presumably accompanied by an audible sigh, either of relief or of disappointment, legal online poker arrived in Italy at the beginning of September.

Playing online poker is not new in Italy but to date it has been an illegal pastime. And gambling is not new in Italy either - it seems to have posed a social threat in ancient Rome where the people were such avid gamblers that the main game, dice throwing, was restricted to the week-long festivities surrounding the Saturnalia, the festival we know as Christmas and New Year.

Now online poker has been legalized and is being strictly regulated by the government who, no doubt, will soon be collecting taxes on winnings and earning. In return, the government will oversee customer protection.

It is estimated that two million Italians have already played online poker, albeit against the law. The numbers of new online poker players is expected to rocket now that the police are out of the picture.