Real-money gaming coming soon to Facebook

With over 800 million users world wide there can be no denying the power behind the social networking site Facebook. With such a massive customer base it was only a matter of time before the company made a move into the real-money gambling market, and recent developments have enabled Facebook to move a few steps closer to making it a reality for UK users.

After months of self-promotion to UK gaming operators, the plan has moved into its next phase as Facebook prepares to offer up eight licenses to individual operators who will then use the network as a platform to integrate their applications.


Rumours are flying across internet forums as to who the lucky eight will be, with representatives from Facebook meeting a number of key players within the business including 888, Pokerstars and Gamesys. Perhaps surprisingly Zynga Casino, the company which operates Facebook's play-money casino has ruled itself out of the equation.

Lo Toney, Zynga Casino General Manager stated that "We are in the virtual goods business and we have been able to create a good business for ourselves like this. Therefore we have no plans to enter the real-money market."

Zynga Poker is one of more than seven million apps currently integrated onto the social media site. The marketing team responsible for the popularity of PokerTableRatings, the poker data mining site, is also in charge of marketing for Zynga Poker, which has grown to a customer base of 30 million players each month.

Whilst real-money gaming via social networking is set to hit the UK in March 2025, there are still plenty of issues to be resolved including profit share and payment processing logistics. Of particular concern to industry watchdogs will be age verification and the protection of vulnerable and underage players.