Investing in the future of poker

[Dire]

Imagine poker were legalized within the next couple of years and US companies were able to get in the action. How big of a financial boon would this be for the companies? I have no idea how to estimate this, especially as it relates to their current earn rates. Is it even worth considering investing in, for example, Harrah's if one feels they may be a big name in online gambling/poker in the years to come?

[soko]

Well take a look here at what happened to Party Poker when they pulled out of the US.

http://finance.google.com/finance?chdnp=...&q=LON:PRTY

[Dire]

Definitely, but almost all of Party's revenue was from online. Something like Harrah's has large amounts of revenue from a variety of different sources. I'm uncertain of even a ballpark estimate to how much online poker could supplement this.

[Jimbo]

My guess is the prominent gaming stocks/companies would see an immediate and sharp decline in their stock price with a fairly quick recovery and perhaps even a pop as the financial implications were digested by the street.

Jimbo