SOMETHING FOR THE KIDS In Vietnam, five online card games and three other online games said to be touting “violent elements” to youngsters might be under review again.
According to VietNamNet Bridge, the Ho Chi Min City Department of Information and Communications has requested the Ministry of Information and Communications to reevaluate the games, which are often played in game shops and Internet cafes.
The popular games under scrutiny include card playing games Baccarat, Black Jack, Baduki, Seven Poker and Gostop, which are all distributed by Pacific Company.
It also requested that processes to approve games should be made known to the public.
BANNED There will be no more ads from foreign gaming companies in Dutch football clubs.
After Unibet's ad campaign during a series of football matches in Feyenoord and Zwolle, the Dutch Ministry of Justice requested a halt on advertising from all foreign gambling companies, citing it in violation of the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act.
The ministry suspects Unibet garnered much publicity from ads that ran during a farewell game for Jaap Stam, the former Dutch international, which was featured live on national TV.
GETTING BETTER In an Aug. 4 report, Youbet.com Inc. stated it had brought in $2.3 million before taxes during three-month and six-month periods ending in June. This starkly contrasts the $400,000 loss the company had during the previous period.
Furthermore, the horse racing and online wagering site showed that throughout a three-month period -- apart from a one-time severance payment -- the adjusted income from continuing operations was $3 million pre-tax, which had been reported as a $0.4 million loss the previous year.
Also in the works at Youbet.com: a potential merger with TVG.
During a conference call, Michael Brodsky, chief executive of Youbet, responded to questions about the prospective merger.
"Obviously, this is the sort of thing that the company has to be on the lookout for," Mr. Brodsky said. "We will always consider making an acquisition as long as it is going to generate positive returns for Youbet shareholders.
"In the case of TVG, we believe there are substantial synergies that might be realized if we were to combine our business with theirs. Obviously, we can't get into specifics, but I can assure you that we are always on the lookout for opportunities -- to the extent we are involved in that process -- and we will be spending a great deal of time there."