'Planning' -- Despite the October 2006 U.S. crackdown on I-gaming, the World Series of Poker says it’s planning for a record number of entrants. During a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, tournament commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "[10,000 entrants] is not either a target, a goal or a prediction … We’re planning for a top level of 10,000, but if there are more, we’ll figure it out." 10,000 players would mean a 14 percent increase over last year’s record 8,773 players--half of whom were estimated to have qualified for the Series via online satellite tournaments.
Busted -- Chinese news source The People's Daily reports that a court in Shanghai has given jail sentences to leaders of a $646 million online gambling operation, the city's largest on record. Ren Bin, who headed the operation and used foreign I-gaming accounts to set up betting Web sites, was handed a seven year sentence and a 6 million yuan ($774,893) fine. Five others were given sentences of up to four-and-a-half years and fined between one and two million yuan (between $129,148 and $258,297), the paper said.
Purchased -- M&G Investments (M&G), the fund management arm of Prudential, today purchased 2.5 million shares in Sportingbet, raising its holding to 4.19 percent from 3.61 percent. M&G now holds 18.15 million shares in the London-listed operator, whose shares have gained ground since receiving a "very preliminary" takeover approach from bwin on March 7.
Launched -- International Game Technology subsidiary WagerWorks has joined with U.S.-based Hitsville Venture, LLC to develop Hitsville's online casino. HitsvilleCasino.com features links to HitsvillePoker.com, accessible in "all jurisdictions that legally allow online gambling," as well as HitsvilleSkillGames.com, which will be "legally available to U.S. players in the majority of states on a pay and win basis" as of April 2007.
Now Hiring -- Australian daily The Age reports Tabcorp will give preference to "candidates with experience in gaming and wagering" as its search for a new CEO begins. Former CEO Matthew Slatter on Wednesday agreed to leave the company, after receiving six-months notice by the company's institutional shareholders on Feb. 22. The paper says Elmer Funke Kupper, head of Tabcorp's Australian operations, is the leading internal candidate for the job. Company chairman Michael Robinson said that it would take at least three months to fill the position, with the appointment of an external candidate requiring an additional five moths due to probity checks.
50-50 -- The Financial Times quotes a Washington lobbyist as saying that U.S. Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is "far from being an ally to online gaming interests." The unnamed source also said that Wednesday's surge in share prices "in part reflected the fact that investors did not understand the hurdles facing such legislation," which the source said "had less than a 50-50 chance of passing."
No Comment -- eGaming Review reports that the American Gaming Association (AGA) would not offer comment regarding U.S. Congressman Barney Frank's effort to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. "Our board continues to support the authorization of a federally funded study to evaluate the impacts of online gambling," AGA told the magazine. In an interview with the Las Vegas Sun in February, AGA president Frank Fahrenkopf said the association was pushing for a study to assess whether the I-gaming industry has the technological wherewithal to address both problem and underage gambling.
Quoteworthy -- "How sad, therefore, to read of the nanny-nonsense decision to draft in 'gambling experts' to public schools to save our imperiled youth from becoming 'addicted' to a bet. I would, of course, wish teenagers less time wandering lonely in the virtual world, where they already overindulge--and where they may now encounter online gaming. I would, however, prefer fewer panicked warnings in favor of bringing gambling, unabashed, into the front line of student leisure: casinos in the common rooms! Oyez!"
Stock Watch -- On the LSE today, CryptoLogic jumped 52.50p to 1,300, Ladbrokes was up 9.75 to 406.25 and Playtech was up 10.00 to 365. After a strong day of trading Wednesday, PartyGaming was down 2p to 40.75.