Since the online gambling industry emerged back in the late 90's, no obstacle (not even legal and political boundaries) has been more difficult to overcome than starting an online casino in Asia.
At his conference in Amsterdam this past May, Marc Lesnick made a daring prediction: "Look to Asia, that market will be opening up for online gambling real soon in a big way".
But industry experts have been saying this for the better part of a decade. The patient wait is right up there with the likes of mobile betting, which with the new iPhone and other emerging mobile technology, may still see its day.
Breaking the Asian online casino barrier has been a tough one. Among the various concerns: difficulty in handling money transactions due to unfamiliarity with currencies, language character translation issues, and the overall manner in which business is conducted in the East compared to the West. "Excessive fraud" was one of the most cited reasons not to enter the Asian market by many operators. These are the problems an operator faces only after cracking the "legal code" whereby a number of the Asian nations prohibit online gambling.
Then there are the cultural barriers. While the stereotype that many Asians love to gamble and will do so on just about anything for large sums of money may hold true, this isn't necessary the case online.
There was an excellent post on the TwoPlusTwo.com forum that explained some of the less obvious obstacles facing online casino ventures looking to crack the Asian market.
The typical Japanese person doesn't have enough spare time to sit at home playing online poker, according to a knowledgeable poster on the subject. They only go home to sleep, if that. Most Japanese do their gambling in Pachinko parlours located on the street near their office.
The irony in all of this is that hard Asian nations like China seem almost more willing to accommodate online gambling than the United States of America.
Nowhere is this better illustrated than with Zipang Casino's policy of not allowing US customers to gamble in their online casino. They cater to most Asian countries including China.
As for payment processing issues, Neteller, the ePayment solutions firm also chased out of the US market earlier this year, offers some glimmer of hope.
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