Sponsorship -- Online poker room and casino The Gaming Club has announced a two-year sponsorship deal worth over 1 million euro for The Gaming Club World Poker Championship. Taking place in Dublin June 23-27, the tournament will be part of a 10-part television series on Sky Sports later this year. . . . Victor Chandler poker will also lend its name and logo to a poker tournament this summer. Casino operator London Clubs International will assist the company in sponsoring The Victor Poker Cup July 21-23. Players can attempt to qualify for a seat at the tournament by entering online tournaments at www.vcpoker.com.
Welcome Aboard -- Bodog.com has announced the addition of Penny Phang as its new communications director. Phang has worked with Sony Pictures, IMAX, Hasbro and Electronic Arts, and also represents Playboy as a special editions celebrity model. She will soon begin attending industry events, and it is rumored that she could play some role in the upcoming Sumo Grudge Match at the Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo in Toronto next month.
TAB Truce -- The bidding war for NSW's Tab Ltd. between Victoria's Tabcorp and Queensland's UNiTAB has ended in a compromise. UNiTAB has agreed to drop its offer for Tab Limited, allowing Tabcorp to acquire the bulk of the wagering company. In exchange, Tabcorp will sell Tab Limited's gaming machine business to UNiTAB for $175 million as well as its own monitoring service for gaming machines in hotel and clubs in Victoria for $40 million. UNiTAB's managing director, Dick McIlwain, is pleased with the truce. "It will deliver a better outcome for UNiTAB shareholders than would have resulted from our bid for Tab," McIlwain said. "The new company that will emerge from the TAB-Tabcorp merger should possess about 80 percent of Australia's betting turnover.
VirtGame Licensed -- VirtGame Corp, which provides server-based software to the gaming and lottery industries, on Thursday received a non-restricted gaming license without time limitations as a manufacturer and distributor from the Nevada Gaming Commission. The commission had granted VirtGame a conditional license in October 2002 that was limited to 18 months and then subject to review in April 2004. The company has developed a secure server-based software gambling platform that is based on open technology and can distribute applications such as games of chance, various types of race and sports wagers and instant lottery applications from a central server via secure closed-loop systems or private networks.
King Solomon -- Cytech Ltd., which operates the King Solomon Casino and the bingoballroom.com bingo network, is teaming up with New York-based software company LTDnetwork Inc to develop new software intended to enhance the user experience at King Solomon Casino. LTDnetwork will supply a unique Web browser add-in with a features designed to deliver better communication between the casino and its customers.