Rejected -- The Vienna Commercial Court has rejected an application for a preliminary injunction against bwin by Omnia Communications-Centers GmbH. The injunction, if filed, would have prevented bwin from offering games of chance--specifically, poker and casino games--to the Austrian market under its Gibraltar license. The court rejected the application on grounds that there was no demonstrable proof of competition between the plaintiff and bwin. "We welcome today's decision by the court to reject this application for a preliminary injunction," said bwin co-chief executive Norbert Teufelberger in a prepared statement.
Launched -- Centrebet, the Australian bookmaker, has launched on the Orbis OpenBet platform.
Novel Bets -- Virgin Games has launched its branded betting service, Virgin Bets, in response to growing interest in entertainment and novelty bets. The site was created via a deal with Betfair, and will initially cover entertainment, football, cricket, golf, greyhounds, motor sport, rugby and tennis, with horseracing to be added later this year. Simon Burridge, chief executive of Virgin Games, said: “Virgin Games is all about fun, so novelty betting is a good fit for the brand. Although entertainment betting is seen as a sideline by most of the traditional bookies, we believe it is a market with huge potential.”
Reporting -- Betsson, the Sweden-based operator, released first quarter results, which show a 123 percent jump in revenue to 16.94 million euros ($22.8 million). The company said it achieved an operation profit of 4.94 million euros ($6.64 million), compared to a loss of 163,000 euros ($219,382) during the same period the previous year. It added that total active player numbers increased 35 percent over Q4 2006 to 125,000. Looking forward, the company intends to expand its product range and venture into new, primarily European markets, through organic growth and acquisition. Betsson reiterated its belief that prohibitive legislation in Turkey, passed Feb. 28, 2007, contravenes existing agreements between Turkey and the European Union (EU), to which Turkey is seeking membership.
Reporting -- Gigamedia, the Taiwan-based software provider, released first quarter results, which show a 127 percent increase in consolidated net income to $8.5 million against figures from Q1 2006. The company's success during the quarter was spurred by its Everest Poker operation, which generated revenues of $19.1 million. It added that active, real-money players totaled 138,000, 68,000 of whom were added during the quarter. "GigaMedia continued to execute well in the first quarter--led again by our Everest Poker software which grew both revenue and player numbers by about 50% over Q4," said GigaMedia chief executive Arthur Wang.
Venturing -- The Louisville Courier-Journal carries a report on the venture of Churchill Downs Inc., the Louisville-based racetrack operator, into online account wagering. Churchill chief executive Bob Evans noted that the company launched its TwinSpires account wagering service on May 2. While certain forms of online gambling are prohibited in the United States--horseracing not among them--Evans said that, looking ahead, Churchill is interested in extending its brands "to play other games" in countries where online gambling is legal. "Given the fact that the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, Twin Spires are world renowned brands, why wouldn't we use those brands to enter into businesses that are outside our traditional core of thoroughbred racing," he told the paper. TwinSpires was launched on Scientific Games' TrackPlay software platform.
On the Rise -- The Times carries a brief on Rank Group, whose shares, following a "buy" listing by Merrill Lynch, jumped 8.25p to 203.25 Tuesday. The paper says that the potential abolition of value added tax (VAT) for bingo operations and the introduction of new gambling machines could push shares back toward 220p.
Stock Watch -- On the LSE, Rank was up 5.25p to 208.50, PartyGaming was up 1.75p to 42.50 and SportingBet--whose second quarter results will be released tomorrow--was up 0.25p to 56.25.