Not in Favor -- A pair of U.S. state attorneys general came out this week against the proposed Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, a bill to regulate Internet gambling. Florida's Bill McCollum and Maryland's Doug Gansler expressed their disapproval of the legislation in a letter sent to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the bill's primary sponsor, and Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the ranking member of the House Committee on Financial Services, where the bill was introduced. Frank's bill, according to Gansler, "hinders the rights of States to prohibit or regulate gambling by their residents." Frank has maintained all along, however, that his bill clearly gives individual states the right to approach Internet gambling however they see fit.
Not Easy Being Green -- According to the International Rugby Board, it is not okay for the Tongan rugby team to have green hair. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power had brokered a deal with Tongan back Epi Taione through which the entire team was to dye their hair green for their World Cup match against England. The board thwarted the plan, however, on the grounds that the stunt constituted advertising. Paddy Power's "stunt" money would have brought much needed funds to a team that earns £60 per man each week against. Some players on the English team are said to make over £1 million per year.
Tennis Menace -- Professional tennis's betting scandal appears to be get uglier by the minute. The latest development concerns a pair of Belgian players, 770th ranked Gilles Elseneer and 128th ranked Dick Norman, who both claim they've been offered money to throw matches. Elseneer says was offered 100,000 euro to lose a match at Wimbledon in 2005, while Norman says he was offered money by "people active in the tennis world" to throw a match in Italy.
Sharing with James -- Bookmaker Stan James has joined the growing list of company's to participate in Ethoca Limited's anti-fraud data sharing program. Members have access to the collective experiences and analyses of a broad and varied number of sectors. Other recent additions to the Ethoca network include bwin and 888.
Betfair Reports -- Online betting exchange Betfair announced that its annual revenues have jumped 30 percent to £182 million thanks to new technology and product development. The launch of a new online casino and the re-launch of Betfair Poker were key contributors to the improvement. The switch to a proprietary platform helped Betfair Poker increase its active users by 57 percent to 433,000 in the year ended April 2007. Its total number of users, meanwhile, has eclipsed the 1 million mark. Betfair Poker, on a proprietary platform helped active users increase by 57 percent, to 433,000, in the year up to April 2007. Costs involved in developing new business, however, resulted in a decrease in pre-tax profits from £36.5 to £25.3.
Seeking the Tote -- The Telegraph is reporting that the consortium to acquire the U.K. Tote has made a bid of around £320 million (£80 million less than the original estimate). The U.K. government has confirmed that a bid was made.
Stock Watch -- On the LSE, 888 was up 2p to 122.50, PartyGaming was down 0.25p to 27.25 and Neteller was down 5.25p to 71.75.