SEGA Launches Online Gambling Sites

SEGAcasino.com and SEGApoker.com are go

Once upon a time, in a distant past that some of us remember as the 90′s, Sega was vying with Nintendo to become king of the consoles.  A few false steps in the forms of the under-appreciated Saturn and the Dreamcast, and the company introduced a “New Management Policy”, shifted away from consoles all together and became a third party publisher.

Rumours that Sega may be about to launch itself into the world of online gambling first surfaced last September, but a press release landed in our inbox last night confirming that segacasino.com and segapoker.com are go:

“Users will now able to win real money playing SEGA branded casino and poker games. SEGACasino will feature a comprehensive suite of gaming products; including Blackjack, Roulette as well as customized SEGA branded Slots and many more. SEGAPoker.com will feature a live multiplayer poker room with head-to-head play with up to 30,000 concurrent players.”

According to the press release, SEGA has plans to expand its gambling sites and to introduce others in the course of 2010.   Players from some parts of the world, such as the United States and Japan, will not be able to place bets due to domestic regulation of online gambling.

Whether or not you approve of this move into the vaguely seedy world of online gambling, the new sites are sure to rake in the cash for SEGA.  The company has its roots in slot machines, and evolved as a result of their success.  Who’s to say that the profits from this new enterprise won’t be ploughed back into the company to produce the “Dreamcast 2″ or the rumoured “SEGA Phoenix”?