Yesterday Zynga’s Studios VP, Bill Mooney, and marketing VP, Brian Birtwistle, joined the growing list of Executives who no longer are employed at Zynga (1, 2, 3). The mass exodus of high ranking officials that have recently departed Zynga had many guessing as to what is going on in ZyngaVille.
 Tricia Duryee | Also late yesterday, Tricia Duryee, of AllThingsD, reported that Maytal Ginzburg (formerly the SVP of regulated markets at 888.com) was hired by Zynga as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO). |  Maytal Ginzburg Olsha |
888 Holdings Public Limited Company (888) is one of the world’s most popular online gaming entertainment and solutions providers. 888.com offers real-money games such as poker, bingo and sports betting, in markets where online gambling is regulated.
The hiring of Maytal Ginzburg may put an end to any claims or speculations that Zynga is looking to tap into the online legalized gambling markets.
Pincus said he expects to launch Zynga’s first real-money gaming products in international markets in the first half of 2013, subject to licensing approvals.
When you see the amount of money that legalized gambling generates just for the United States you can understand why Mark Pincus wants to cut into the gambling scene.
According to the American Gaming Association, legal gambling revenues for 2007 were as follows:
Grand Total - $92.27 billion
The parimutuel system is used in gambling on horse racing, greyhound racing, jai alai, and all sporting events of relatively short duration in which participants finish in a ranked order. A modified parimutuel system is also used in some lottery games.
Source wikipedia
money.msn.com touches on the dark side of Zynga’s ventures ino legalized online gambling when Louis Bedigian wrote the following;
Zynga hires online gambling expert
The company is already making some big bets on real-money gaming ventures.
Investors need to be wary, however. Zynga is not an everyday game developer with a turnaround plan. Many believe that, from day one, the company has thrived by exploiting the work of other, more talented and more creative corporations. This strategy allowed Zynga to soar to the top of Facebook (FB -5.40%) gaming.
Critics of Zynga might be inclined to believe that the company will use the same exploitation and copycat tactics to bolster its online gambling business. But in this case, Zynga may not just be exploiting the work of other developers -- it might also exploit consumers.
Facebook seems to be ill-suited for real money gambling. People carelessly jump in and out of social media games without giving them a second thought. By taking advantage of this, Zynga will inevitably publish and promote games that people spend more money on than they had intended.
This will occur even if the company has no intention of exploiting consumers. Zynga may only wish to exploit its fellow game developers. If consumers buy into this exploitation, however, and come to Facebook with bulging eyes at the prospect of winning real money, no one wins. In this scenario, everyone loses.
There will no doubt be a few talented poker players who will win big, giving hope to the rest of the world. These men and women are likely to appreciate Zynga's effort even if they don't support the company's corporate policies. That is understandable. But it does not mean that consumers, investors, or anyone else should sit back and let Zynga take advantage of another market.
Certainly some gamblers will win on occasion. But I do have to argue Louis Bedigian when he stated ‘There will no doubt be a few talented poker players who will win big’. One’s poker talents and knowledge is null when it comes to internet gambling. It’s a fool’s game to play online since these internet games can so easily be manipulated and coded to only payout to specified individuals who spend certain amounts of money. Online gambling can not be guaranteed to be pure chance.
And bluffing? Bluffing is out the window since there is no Poker Face to see!
For me, personally, I would NEVER place an online real-money bet ANYWHERE! ANYTIME!
I won’t even play in real casino’s (like Wheeling Downs for example) because of the electronic card shuffling machines. If it’s electronic or computerized it’s too easy for the house to cheat.
Do you remember this old saying; ‘A fool and his money are soon parted’?
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