Real Deal Poker Close to Becoming a Reality
One of the most widely touted online poker innovations to come along in years is one step closer to becoming a reality. Gioia International Limited, parent company of RealDealPoker.com, was granted a license by the Government of the Isle of Man on Thursday, one of the most conservative of licensing jurisdictions in online gambling.
As part of receiving its license, Gioia International Limited and its management were required to satisfy the jurisdiction's licensing requirements and comply with the stringent online gaming standards and player protection rules. The company presumably had to demonstrate it had enough initial capital.
With the green light granted, this week marks the official launch of Gioia International Limited's online poker site RealDealPoker.com predicted to take the online poker scene by storm with its new "Cut N' Shuffle" and "Game Check" systems.
The online poker community has remained skeptical since learning of the new card room a few months back. An 83-page thread related to Real Deal currently exists on the popular Two Plus Two posting forums. With this latest announcement, that thread will likely push beyond 100 pages.
The site boasts a number of innovative and unique qualities, which has the online poker community talking. Each and every hand is played using a single deck of cards, burn cards are used, as in live games, and a player with the dealer button can execute a cut of the deck.
A skeptical poster on the TwoPlusTwo.com website writes: "This method is probably more susceptible to being rigged by a dishonest operator than regular online poker. But aside from that, what is going to happen is that as soon as their audience finds that the distribution of cards is exactly the same as any other site, and unusual bad beats happen just as much, their marketing hook will be gone and they will die."
But another member of the posting forum sees things quite differently. "This poker site will be the first one who is examinable and transparent at any time. Any poker hand can be the subject to an fast independent and cheap audit. What the hell do you want more?"
The founder of Gioia International Ltd is Gene Gioia, a poker player, a CPA, and a former IRS field agent.
"ILS, together with Isle of Man Government have provided excellent service and assistance throughout the whole process," Gioia stated. "Their knowledge and experience has proved invaluable to Gioia in ensuring a smooth and efficient progression in preparing the company for its recent launch."
Garth Kimber, Head of e-Gaming Development, Isle of Man Government's Department for Economic Development commented: "The fact that such an innovative company has chosen the Isle of Man from which to base its operations speaks for itself. At the heart of the Government's Department for Economic Development is a commitment to championing new ideas and groundbreaking concepts, and ensuring that the Island's business environment is as hospitable as possible to meet the needs of entrepreneurial companies such as Gioia International. We are passionate about helping new start-up businesses to thrive, flourish and grow and have watched many e-Gaming companies do just that over the years, with many now established as the biggest and best in their respective fields.
"E-Gaming companies coming to the Island can not only expect Governmental support but will also find a one stop shop of world class Banking, Legal, Corporate and other professional support services. We look forward to playing our part in the success story of our latest licensee and are confident that the growth the Isle of Man's e-Gaming sector is experiencing will continue apace in the months and years ahead."
Lee Hills, ILS's e-Gaming Co-ordinator said, "This has been an extremely exciting project to assist with. The Gioia International team have defied the perception and proven that there can be scalability in dealing a real deck of cards to online tables. With margins getting tighter, innovation is going to be the key to success for new operators in coming years, and Gioia have certainly brought a unique offering to the table for online poker players."
But few can argue RealDealPoker.com will have a tough road ahead of it.
"In order to have any real success in this highly competitive online poker market, RealDealPoker.com will need to spend an astronomical amount of money in marketing from the get go," explains Payton O'Brien, Marketing Director for the Gambling911.com website.
Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com
