Six Atlantic City casinos have recently been granted licences to operate online gambling websites.
As the U.S. government becomes addicted to recession-proof tax revenues, gaming companies Bally Technologies, Amaya Gaming Group and International Game Technology have grown to a combined market cap of $4 billion.
A new player in the massive online gambling scene, Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc. ("LVFH") (LVH.V) (LVFHF) has developed a revolutionary HTML5-based mobile gaming platform, which allows games to be played on any type of mobile device.
"Gambling, like many other things, is going mobile," states LVFH President and CEO Jake Kalpakian in an exclusive interview with Financial Press, "HTML5 is a magic bullet allowing existing companies to transition into that space."
In a recent Financial Post article, Steven Palmer, Fund Manager of AlphaNorth Asset Management, issued a BUY recommendation for LVFH.
"This company has a web and mobile gaming platform and has plans to start a real money gaming system in Mexico and several casinos in Latin America," stated Palmer, "which would significantly increase profitability."
Palmer expects LVFH to generate good cash flow. The Financial Post article states that, "there is also potential for the company to announce licensing agreements, which would pay out a decent royalty."
AlphaNorth Partners Fund buys Canadian companies with market caps typically less $100-million. A $100,000 investment in the fund in 2008 would be worth over $300,000 today.
LVFH will be offering its gaming platform to Latin American subscribers through Mondia Media a B2B digital entertainment company that operates in 100 countries and enables $500 million in revenues for their clients.
This partnership will give LVFH access to 70% of mobile phones in Mexico. It is possible that LVFH games will come pre-installed on the App Store on new Latin American cellphones.
"We are very impressed with the quality of LVFH's HTML5-based mobile games," states Adrian Janon, Mondia's general director, "and we strongly believe the cross-platform feature and rich gameplay experience will generate a lot of interest with our customers."
"Currently gaming companies are forced to re-engineer their software for each separate device," states Kalpakian, "But HTML5 works on Android, iOS, Blackberry and any other type of mobile device. The opportunities are rich."
"The HTML5-based gaming platform is receiving strong interest from global industry operators. It empowers their customers to play poker and casino games on all mobile devices, such as iPhone, iPad, Android-based smartphones and tablets -- without downloading."
"We have found exciting opportunities in Mexico, which has a growing online gambling culture," states Kalpakian, "Mexico is an excellent jurisdiction to build a business based on the fundamentals of good software, good customer service and good marketing."
In Mexico the gambling market is already worth about $4.6 billion (Research and Markets). The industry is growing at a rate of 14% per year (double the global average).
LVFH has also launched its Bingocrush.com website in Mexico, expanding game offerings and payment options. It intends to fully launch the website in Q2, 2014 with an established player database of approximately 38,000 Mexican accounts.
Along with the popular 90-ball Bingo game, Bingocrush.com offers prizes and a selection of high quality casino games.
LVFH is also in negotiations for additional real money software licensing agreements with a number of hotel chains.
"Timing is everything," states Kalpakian, "Online gambling is now recognized as a reliable source of tax revenue. Casinos are also looking for software that will allow them to transition quickly into the mobile market."
"The future is mobile," confirms Kalpakian, "Software platforms will be required to speak universally to all devices. That is the focus of HTML5. There are many companies looking to do this and our advantage is that we are ready to go now."
LVFH has also struck a deal to provide HTML5 technology with PokerTek a leading supplier of electronic table games to cruise ships and land-based casinos worldwide.
PokerTek has a 5-year contract (until 2017) with Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise operator with a portfolio of cruise brands including Holland America, Princess Cruises and Costa Cruises. Together these brands operate 100 ships totaling 203,000 lower berths.
HTML5 technology would allow cruise ship passengers to play directly on their mobile web browsers, anywhere on a ship.
Operating on a new gambling frontier can be incredibly profitable as demonstrated by - 500.com, which provides online sports lottery services in China. Its share price has increased 66% in the last 5 months, and the market cap stands at $1.1 billion.
Las Vegas From Home is currently trading at .10 with a market cap of $11.61 million.