The Gala Group has unveiled its first of many person-to-person multiplayer games on its online casino network, which means gamers don't have to take chances against an unknown computer-simulated dealer. They can go online to experience the thrill of defeating human competitors, not just computers.
Of course, now they're also vulnerable to that bitter crush of defeat as a rival player sweeps all the cash from the board. Either way, P2P gaming brings new elements to interactive gambling welcomed by many gamers.
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"It's not hard to attract an audience with a good quality casino on the Web, but now we're developing new content to differentiate us."
-Nigel Willis
Gala Group
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The first P2P game from Gala is "Winning Circles," a territorial betting game where up to six players participate by buying pie-shaped portions of a circular board. The more money a player bids, the larger his territory. He can possess one massive territory, or spread several smaller pieces across the board. Bidding lasts for about a minute; then a bronze disc is spun around the board. A player collects a portion of the pool if the disc stops in a territory he owns.
The bronze prize is modest--only about 5 percent of the board--but it's followed by a silver disc, which pays off 10 percent of the board, and then a gold disc, which pays off 80 percent. Gala takes 2 percent of the winnings for each game.
Winning Circles, the Internet's first "territorial betting" game, incorporates a few elements of strategy that aren't seen in most online casino games. Gamers who place more money on the board naturally have larger territories and hence larger chances of winning. But then again, they will also have more to lose.
A player can also divide the territory of an opponent by buying a section of the board that the opponent already occupies. The supplanted player still owns as much of the board as he previously did, but his once massive territory is now split, and he may have lost his lucky segment of the board. It's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which opponents constantly seek to invade and split rival territories.
"Winning Circles will be a true revolution in the way customers can interact with one another in a casino environment," said Nik Robinson, managing director of NT Media, the company responsible for developing the technology. "Some customers will feel more at ease playing against each other than directly against the house."
Winning Circles can be played at Gala Casinos (galacasino.co.uk), where several online casino games are already offered. The group is hoping to revolutionize the online casino industry by providing several more P2P games.
Nigel Willis, Gala's director of interactive gaming, explained, "We have a raft of new games in development. It's not hard to attract an audience with a good quality casino on the Web, but now we're developing new content to differentiate us."
Gala plans to spend around £150,000 each month for the remainder of the year on aggressive ad campaigns for the new P2P games.