consumer gambling in a recesion

[logoman]

I'm looking at investing in 888.com shares. does anyone have any data on what happens to peoples gambling habits in a recession? The whole online poker thing has grown in a boom time, and this leads me to think that it's a spare cash leisure habit.

[logoman]

thanks

[g4ry13]

It was briefly discussed here. Don't forget there are some people who do play for a living, so not just only a spare time leisure activity (although probably for the majority of small players it is.) Also, Poker peaked a few years ago and the numbers are slowly dwindling (although still far more sizeable than perhaps 10 years ago.)

Why would you choose 888 though? There are other gambling sites - one obvious poker site is Party Poker which has taken a large beating lately (they've had trouble with Mitch Garber and now they've lost sponsorship of the WSOP) but they still have a large user base and a strong name for moving abroad - not to mention they look cheap and there's potential to make a fair sum out of them. I'm not advising you buy them (I wouldn't at the moment) just to perhaps re-consider 888 and investing in poker companies altogether.

[arcturus]

I did some IT work for a local bookmaker recently and in discussion he commented on how his takings always went up in a recession.

[logoman]

i'm intereseted in because they look set to take online gaming mainstream.
currently gaming is a vice, it looks like a vice too. they will change this i think.
I think they'll do well in the east too as a result of the Macom agreement.