London’s Purple Lounge Forges Ahead with Online Casino

The U.S. Congress may have made it harder for online casinos to operate in America with its anti-gambling legislation, but that hasn’t deterred a London-based company from audaciously announcing expansion plans in the U.S., and, telling Onlinecasinocrawler.com that it is actually growing at a 10 percent pace, per week, in the states, providing an example of leadership for the industry.

 “Since the beginning of September, we stopped taking sign-ups and bets from U.S. players. We felt there was an air of uncertainty in that market place. “The Scandinavian and European markets remain our core business. We’ve recently launched in Spain and see this as an exciting emerging market.”

Purple Lounge’s month-on-month trading results have shown growth over 350 percent in the second quarter of this year, Gorman said.

The site offers a “sleek and sophisticated online gaming experience” with a luxurious feel - an alternative to run-of-the-mill gambling sites, surrounded by the traditional Vegas glitz, said Gorman.

 American Hubris

The site may serve as a model for other online gaming firms, who are concerned about their next steps in the coming months, said Gorman.

”It isn’t simply a gambling site. It also offers a wide range of lifestyle services as well as being a forum for exchanging the latest travel news and events from around the globe. The Purple Lounge casino and  chas diverse appeal, attracting a varied range of players as well as bridging the gender and age gap, appealing to both men and women,” said Gorman.
 Since the launch of the site a year ago, Purple Lounge has acquired 30,000 registered players, Gorman said, and the company has also appointed top model Aylar as the new face of the firm.

According to Richard Holway, an analyst with London-based research consultancy, Ovum, when the U.S. Congress added a “last-minute clause” to its Safe Port Act this weekend that made the processing of payments between U.S. customers and online gambling companies illegal, it acted with the same “hubris” it showed nearly 100 years ago when it banned sale of alcoholic beverages. That ban was eventually overturned.

 This week, Holway said, all the leading Internet gambling companies such as Partygamining.com, 888, Empire Online, and Sportingbet.com issued statements temporarily suspending some U.S. operations, and also issued warnings stating that the law will have an impact on its current financial performance, and future forecasts.

 Gamblers Will Find a Way

Partygaming.com opened on Monday with a 65 percent slump in its share price to just 41 pence at 8.30 a.m., while 888.com fell 45 percent in early trading. Earlier slumps in gaming stocks, it should be noted, disappeared quickly after adverse news events left the headlines of the mainstream media.

“Personally I have no truck with gambling - be it online or offline,” said Holway. “But this move by the U.S. authorities' do smack of the same kind of hubris which accompanied Prohibition in the 1930s. If people want to gamble online in the Internet-age, they will find a way. Just as people who wanted to share music tracks found a way. The authorities should learn the lesson. Always better to control than to ban.”


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