It seems that Facebook is becoming a bigger threat to the gambling industry which sees the latest game application blurring the edge between social gaming and online gambling. Socialitize Ltd launched the new social betting game 2BET2 on Facebook this week. It provides Facebook members an online sportsbook betting on real sporting events using play money either against each other or against the house. Odds are calculated in the same manner as a conventional operator.

The chief executive of Socialitize, Adrian Brink, has held various positions within gambling establishments and has extensive experience in new ventures.

"I saw an opportunity to provide a betting experience to the millions of sporting fans in jurisdictions where conventional sports betting is illegal or unavailable," said Brink. "We have tried to remain true to the style and form of more normal sports books while at the same time adding these great social hooks. While we may not achieve the level of monetisation as the large bookmakers, we are well positioned to achieve far greater levels of player participation."

"Users love the social betting hooks within the game," added Brink. "By showing players their friends' bets and allowing them to taunt or respect these bets we achieve a level of social interaction far higher than one sees in many other Facebook games. This together with the Challenge-a-Friend functionality really brings home the difference between 2BET2 and other betting games."