Good Enough? -- British media are reporting that the U.K. Racing Consortium has lined up South Africa-based Phumelela and Australia-based Tabcorp as backers in its renewed bid for the British state-owned Tote. Despite pulling together what appears to be the necessary financing, however, the consortium is being met with resistance. Certain MPs are said to be against allowing foreign companies to have a stake. Meanwhile, racecourses are concerned over the amount of debt the consortium would take on to finance the deal. The government recently rejected a £310 million bid by the consortium and is said to be seeking at least £400 million. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will meet today to decide how to proceed with the sale.
Good Enough? (Part 2) -- The Wall Street Journal reports that Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group will raise their partnering bid for Harrah's Entertainment to US$87 a share. Harrah's announced Oct. 2 that it was reviewing an offer from the two companies valued at $81 per share. The partners raised their bid to $83.50 per share the following week. Harrah's board will meet Wednesday to consider buyout offers.
Tightening --
The AP reports that China is tightening controls on the online game industry.
Certain games have been found to include forbidden religious and/or political material, and distributors are consequently being required to submit monthly monitoring reports confirming that operators haven't added forbidden content. The Xinhua News Agency specifically cited problems with violence and pornography.
Poker Night Live -- Pokerzone today announced the coming launch of the Poker Night Live Series of Poker-to take place at Poker333.com. The series will entail players competing in a number of poker disciplines. Each monthly winner will earn a seat at the six-monthly televised final table. The winner of that even takes a cash prize and gains recognition in the "Hall of Fame."