UK Update -- If the proposed U.K. Gambling Bill is passed, the city of Birmingham would seat the new Gambling Commission charged with overseeing the industry. The decision to choose a location outside London follows a review of government agencies by Sir Michael Lyons, former chief executive of Birmingham City Council. The commission will be created by the Gambling Bill, which would revamp regulations for the country's gambling industry. The commission will replace the existing regulatory body, the Gaming Board for Great Britain.
New Poker Software -- I-gaming software newcomer Full House Entertainment says it will roll out the real-money version of its multiplayer "Full House Poker" suite on Feb. 1. Games include Texas Hold'em, 7-card stud, Omaha High, Omaha High/Low and the old favorite, 5-card stud. Tournament functionality and management controls designed for site operators will also be available.
Quoteworthy -- "Everybody knows that this business is rotten."
- Michal Sticka, Transparency International. Sticka, whose privately owned company focuses on combating corruption, made his comments to the Prague Post in an article about the corruption of the land-based casino industry in the Czech Republic. . . . A planned amendment to a law introduced by the Finance Ministry on Jan. 18 calls for more detailed background checks and would require casino bosses to prove on a yearly basis that they don't have criminal records.
Handheld Casinos -- Wi-Fi solutions specialist Diamond I, Inc. has announced plans to roll out a hand-held gaming system called "WifiCasino GS." The system is a wireless PDA-based gambling and media network intended use at Las Vegas-style casinos and resorts as well as cruise ships and racetracks. It's designed to enable patrons to gamble anywhere on a facility's premises (as permitted by regulatory bodies), such as in rooms, poolside or at a bar.
To Float or Not to Float? -- After weeks of IPO rumors, PartyGaming, the group that runs PartyPoker and two other gambling sites, has acknowledged that it is considering a float. The company confirmed that it has retained investment banks Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Investec to review its options and could go public by year's end. The Gibraltar-based company, previously called iGlobalMedia, operates the world's largest online poker room and could be valued at more than £3 billion on the London Stock Exchange, according to some analysts. That would place PartyGaming in the FTSE 100. Some major banks, such as Merril Lynch, UBS and Deutsche, are reportedly staying away from the company because of legal uncertainty in the United States, where most of the company's customers reside.
Women -- A study released this week by uSwitch.com finds that 30 to 40 percent of online gamblers in Britain are female. The group says the statistic is remarkable considering the amount of women (5 percent) who gamble offline. Researchers additionally found that Britons make up 80 percent of all online gamblers in Europe, with those aged 18 to 29 more likely to use the Internet to gamble than those in any other age group. The 18-to-29 gamblers account for 14 percent of the 3.96 million home Internet users who admit to gambling on the Internet.