Starting An Online Poker Room

CoolWave · #1 10-26-2007, 06:23 PM

I have no plans of actually doing this. What would be the process of starting an online poker room? You would obviously need investors. How much money would it take? The fact is their are online poker rooms and their are some people who have started them and are getting the benefits. What would be the process? lets keep this thread serious

fadedstar · #2 10-26-2007, 10:05 PM

1) unlimited starting funds.
2) expertise to get some credibility over security (servers, cash transfers, etc.)
3) unlimited marketing budget
4) patience
5) go back to number 1)

6) ......

7) profit!

As a business owner, i wouldnt invest in an online poker room honnestly. Too much competition and very few ways to stand out from the crowd.

ski · #3 10-26-2007, 10:28 PM

I talked to the manager of one of the Ipoker skins and its actually not as much money to start one as I thought.

He said $500,000 is the absolute minimum and 2-3 million is a better amount to start with. He said its pretty rare that they all together fail but a lot of them are not the insaine cash making ventures that most people believe they are.

I'd assume creating an indendant network like Poker Stars or Party did would require a lot more.

I would almost certainly invest in an online poker room if I knew the owners and management were credible and competant.

CoolWave · #4 10-27-2007, 03:47 AM

I have a great idea for a poker room that i am sure would blow up and be very profitable however i do not have assets or guidance to a team of investors.

dj_mercury · #5 10-27-2007, 10:28 AM

You should consider preparing a business plan, you can also just sell the idea and let others execute in the way they prefer.

Henry17 · #6 10-27-2007, 12:05 PM

If you idea truly is great then getting investors is not an issue. My experience though is that most people think their idea is better then it actually is. I get pitched business ideas a lot. Most are average to bad with a few being just insane yet the people who had them think they are great.

maxtower · #7 10-27-2007, 02:54 PM

Starting a poker room is pretty easy if you just want to be a skin for an existing network. You pay fees to join the network and then the only thing you have to do is provide customer service and marketing to get customers.

If your big idea requires your own network, then I think you'll have an extremely tough time competing against the established players.

CoolWave · #8 10-27-2007, 06:33 PM

i am a college student, and am obviously not in a financial position to put a lot of money out. if i created a business plan what would i do go to a bank with a business plan? I am pretty sure they would laugh at me. How would I go about finding investors or somebody to sell my idea to? any help or advice will be appreciated

maxtower · #9 10-27-2007, 07:59 PM

You are pretty much out of luck if you don't have any of your own capital to invest (of family/friends). Most investors who don't know you are going to want to see some kind of progress before jumping in with their own money.

dj_mercury · #10 10-27-2007, 08:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
i am a college student, and am obviously not in a financial position to put a lot of money out. if i created a business plan what would i do go to a bank with a business plan? I am pretty sure they would laugh at me. How would I go about finding investors or somebody to sell my idea to? any help or advice will be appreciated

[/ QUOTE ]
Look for business plan competitions in universities, entrepreneurial organizations, business newspapers for exemple.