Camelot: 'EuroMillions Is Doing Just Fine'
Dianne Thompson, the Chief Executive of the U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot, has taken exception to a media report that sales of the multi-jurisdictional lottery game EuroMillions, were performing poorly. "It is astounding that you could describe EuroMillions, which is comfortably ranked in the top 25 consumer products in the U.K. and generates annual sales of around pounds 100 million, as a 'poor' performer," Thompson said last week. She added that Camelot operates a total of seven lottery games, "all of which are integral to our overall sales performance."
Lottery Success Hurts Football Pool Betting
Aintree-based Vernons Pools, Ladbrokes' football pool betting specialist, announced steady profit for the last year despite a continued decline in football pools. Vernons announced operating profits of £5.8 million for the 12 months to Dec. 31, only slightly down from profit numbers in 2003. Vernons and Sportech are the only two companies that still operate the pools game in the United Kingdom, the rest of the competition having surrendered to the National Lottery.
Synot Moving Forward with Czech Expansion
Synot, the Czech lottery operator, has successfully completed a pilot project with gaming machines distributed throughout the Czech Republic and will fully implement the devices this quarter. The devices were designed and created through a partnership with Swedish software supplier Boss Media. Old machines at Czech gaming arcades will be replaced by centrally controlled gaming machines (loaded with slot and casino games) using the new technology. The new devices will be linked to progressive jackpots presented on large plasma screens.
Austria Launches Mobile System
Officials with 3 Austria announced a mobile rollout of popular games offered by the Austrian Lottery and Casino Austria slated for this month. The mobile version of Win2day will be accessible for users of the online version. Win2day offers gambling games like lotto and bingo.
A Scam in Malta
A former police inspector recently testified on how he became aware of a scam to compromise the VAT lottery draw in Malta. The witness outlined events that led to 11 people being charged with involvement in tampering with the VAT receipt lotto between June 2002 and October 2003. Inspector Bernard Zarb told the magistrate that a man told him in October 2003 that he knew who would win the next day's draw of the VAT receipt lottery and handed him a sealed envelope containing the winner's name inside. The following day the police contacted the director of Public Lotto, and the envelope was opened in his presence. Inside was written the name of the person who had in fact won the Oct. 5, 2003 lottery. Three public officers pleaded not guilty to accepting bribes, forgery and the malicious use of forged documents. Another eight people pleaded not guilty to complicity with the three public officers.
Multimedia Games Lands Contract in Israel
Multimedia Games announced last month that it has been selected by Mifal Hapayis, the operator of the Israel National Lottery, to provide an electronic instant lottery system for the Israeli market. The agreement marks Multimedia Games' entrance into the international lottery market. The company will sell Mifal Hapayis a complete gaming system, including central determinant system technology; management, testing, monitoring and accounting systems; on-site training; game themes; and delivery of an initial 500 EIL point-of-sale terminals to be deployed at 150 retail locations throughout Israel.