Zynga eyes online gambling

Social gaming giant, Zynga may be getting ready to place a bet on Internet gambling, The Wall Street Journal reveals.

The San Francisco-based company, which makes games like 'FarmVille' that are popular on Facebook, says it is exploring a potential entry into the Internet gambling business, possibly in partnership with another company.

The company says demand for online gambling has motivated it to explore a potential move in the business.

While playing poker for real money online has not been legalised in the US, 'Zynga Poker' - in which players gamble with fake money - claims more than seven million players each day, mostly through Facebook, MercuryNews.com writes.

The company, which makes most of its money from selling in-game incentives such as chips in 'Zynga Poker', said on Friday it is seeking partners to get into actual online poker, if given the opportunity.

“We know from listening to our players that there's an interest in the real-money gambling market. We're in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity,” Zynga said in an e-mail on Friday.

In December 2011, Zynga had said that it priced its initial public offering of 100 million shares of Class A common stock at $10 per share, the top end of its estimated range, RTT News says.

The offering was said to be the biggest by an Internet company in the US after Google raised $1.9 billion in 2004.