Daily Nambling Notes - July 17, 2001

Tidbits from the UK -- Sportingbet, which announced last Thursday that it is acquiring the domain of Sports.com and switching the site over to its own back end, will be sharing the revenues of the new site with Sports.com. According to a media representative from the company, Sportingbet did not pay Sports.com any money up front for the use of its domain name. Sport.com attracts more than 3 million unique users per month; it went into administration in May. ... Tiger Woods is bringing a wave of fear across the Atlantic with him as he gears up for the British Open. The 26-year-old American phenomenon is listed at 7/4 by Ladbrokes to capture his third major of the season. "We are petrified of Tiger winning; whenever he wins we lose, which is almost all the time!" Ladbrokes Director Mike Dillon said. "He is a betting industry all on his own."

New Stuff -- Shanghai Yastock Investment Consulting Company Ltd. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Genesis Technology Group Inc. , has launched a Web site devoted to Chinese gaming, football and lotteries. The site includes software that helps predict the outcome of Italian and British football games as well as various Chinese lotteries. ... OddBet.com Inc. , a Chicago-area game software startup, recently launched its Web site and Mobile OddBet 1.0, which arranges a series of small-stake pretend wagers between two players with little or no manual entries or calculations. Mobile OddBet, which runs on the Palm operating system, is available for a free 21-day trial. ... Jackpot Madness is reporting that it has paid out a total of $70 million to date.

Tidbit from the US -- The Illinois Gambling Board recently implemented a new program that works to alleviate some of the pressures of gambling in the state's nine land-based casinos. Under the new program, problem gamblers are allowed to enter the casinos, but they will be caught if they try to claim winnings of more than $1,200 on slot machines or $10,000 at a table. According to Gene O'Shea, Illinois Gaming Board spokesman, all of the winnings confiscated will then be turned over to an organization that helps problem gamblers.