Isle of Man set to crank up its iGaming

When I think of the Isle of Man I usually think 2-wheels…as in the 2-wheels on a motorbike or bicycle.

The famed Isle of Man TT is one of the worlds oldest, most famous  and most dangerous motorcycle races.  Then there’s that cocky little bloke from the Isle of Man known as the Manx Missile who pedals a push bike just about as fast as the nutters who do the motorcycle TT.  Mark Cavendish wins just about every Tour de France flat stage these days.

Most in the egaming industry would associate the Isle of Man with another wheel however – a roulette wheel.

Along with Gibraltar, Malta and Alderney it is already one of the of the world’s premier Internet Gambling licensing jurisdictions.  Net gambling contributed around £150 million to the small Island territories’ economy in 2010, accounting for 5% of total GDP.

According to Garth Kimber, head of Manx government e-gaming development, these figures will be doubled in 2011.

Currently 24 online gambling operators are based in licensed in the Isle of Man – Paddy Power, Dublinbet and Lucky Live Casino among them.  Kimber has told the Telegraph that  a further 22 are expected to be granted licenses in the next 12 months.

The path out of the GFC quagmire has been selected and it’s paved with slot machines, playing cards and green (virtual) felt. Or as Mr Timber puts it,

“The gaming sector was able to employ a number of people from the financial sector during the difficult times over the last couple of years, bearing in mind a large number of gaming jobs on the Island are in accounts, treasury and customer service.”