British poker fans can take a look at some ground-breaking new iTV technology on the UK’s fifth largest land casino channel, Five, this week.
Technology developer Zone4Play has just announced the live launch of the first ever Interactive TV Multi Player Texas Hold’em Poker, which has been uniquely developed for Five by Zone4play and is the first live deployment of an iTV multi player Texas Hold’em Poker in the world.
This is just the start, it appears. With the worldwide poker-playing community now estimated at nearly 100 million people and growing, Zone4Play is leveraging its unique cross-platform gaming expertise to launch the following services for iTV, Internet and mobile over the coming months:
The first ever iTV multi-player Texas Hold’em poker is available on SKY’s interactive system and accessible through “Five”‘s red button service. Later this year, the game will be launched on 3 more channels. As the network operator, Zone 4 Play is forming a gaming community that is based on the considerable numbers of subscribers of all channels.
The application will be initially launched in play-for-fun mode, ultimately being replaced by a play for real money application, dependent on the implementation of the newly introduced 2005 Gambling Act in the UK.
Commenting on the launch, Idan Miller, Senior VP of Marketing and Sales at Zone4Play said: “We are delighted to be launching this service on ‘Five’ and providing viewers with an interactive Poker experience from the comfort of their living rooms. The potential for the deployment of our iTV product is vast. Being able to offer UK viewers a truly interactive gaming experience is a huge step for the company.”