Survey Says -- ATE reports that Business In Sport and Leisure (BISL), an umbrella organization that represents the British leisure industry, recently commissioned Ernst & Young to conduct a survey to poll citizens' opinion of gambling regulation in the UK. Out of 1,000 respondents, 80 percent favor easier access to casinos and new ways to bet, 66 percent participate in at least two forms of gambling per year, and over 75 percent welcome the reform of the UK's gambling laws... Meanwhile, the Salvation Army conducted a survey of its own, claiming that 93 percent of the British public feels there are already enough gambling opportunities in the UK, 94 percent feel that allowing people to gamble with credit cards will lead to greater gambling debts, 82 percent feel that people are more likely to lose money if they drink alcohol while gambling, and 56 percent of the population, and 64 percent of women do not want a casino to open near their home.
ePoker at ICE -- Tribeca Tables, a US company that was the first to develop an online poker room aggregator system, will make its first ever trade show appearance at the London International Casino Exhibition 2004 in January. Tribeca, who will show its ePoker solutions, has partnerships with Victor Chandler International and Golden Palace Casino, and over 100 other poker sites use its Tribeca software, which is uniquely branded for each site, but aggregates the players from each site into one massive card room.
Quoteworthy -- "This case is fundamentally about the ability of a developing economy such as ours to fairly compete in the massive United States gambling and betting market with domestic service providers. The United States has imprisoned the operator of an Antiguan company for doing just that. Antigua and Barbuda believes that the United States' position is in violation of its commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services."-- Sir Ronald Sanders, Chief Foreign Affairs Representative for Antigua and Barbuda. Yesterday Sanders delivered the two islands' opening argument against the U.S. to a World Trade Organization dispute panel. The hearing is expected to last three days, and the panel will publish its final ruling early in 2004.
Intralot -- Greek gaming systems operator Intralot has purchased Tektron SA, a Peruvian gambling operator for $19.1 million. Tektron's 1,400 sales points will be added to the 1,000 sales points that are owned by Intralot de Peru, a Peruvian subsidiary of Intralot. Tektron and Intralot will merge in the first half of 2004, giving Intralot the largest consumer distribution network in the country for its products.
Survey Says -- Microgaming, a gaming software and management systems company, has reached a patent licensing agreement with Menashe Business Mercantile Limited and Dr. Julian Menashe, allowing Microgaming and its associates and licensees to use Menashe's patented interactive, computerized gaming technology, in online casinos… Microgaming's latest product, MegaSpins, was launched on King Neptune's Casino last week, enabling users to play 4, 6 or 9 games at once on their screen.
ARB Meets With Corporate Bookmakers -- Australian Racing Board chief executive Andrew Harding called the ARB's meeting on Wednesday with corporate bookmakers "very productive." The ARB met with representatives from International All Sports, Sportingbet, and Allsports to try to negotiate a contribution fee from the corporate bookmakers to the sport.