Betable Builds Social Gambling Alliance

Online gambling firm Betable and three other social gaming companies have created an alliance, which they hope will provide competition to Zynga as it expands into real-money betting.

Big deal for real-money gaming

Betable announced that it had signed on Slingo, a manufacturer of virtual-wagering slots and bingo games with 54 million monthly uses, plus Digital Chocolate and Murka, which both also have experience in virtual slots. The three will use Betable's UK gambling license and technology.

An existing partner of Betable, Seattle firm Big Fish Games, said earlier in the week that its casino-slot machine game has already begun taking real-money wagers from British-based customers for the first time.

Competition for Zynga

Zynga, the world's largest social gaming operator, partnered with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment last week as part of its grand plan to enter the real-money gaming market. Its Farmville online video slot is set to be launched in the United Kingdom in January 2013.

Other video game developers are now positioning themselves to enter the UK online gambling market and other countries in which their operations are legal. Watch this space, because the battle for top position will heat up once Zynga's operations get into full swing.