Not Good Enough -- Australia-based Tabcorp's hopes of getting a piece of Britain's $1 billion Tote pie were dashed this week amid reports that the British government had ruled out foreign investment. Meanwhile, the Tote's management has been invited to lead a bid to buy the state-owned bookie from the government. British media are reporting that during a meeting on Monday between industry officials and the Department for Culture Media & Sport, the government said it prefers to sell the Tote to a partnership between the Tote's management and a consortium of horse racing industry players, ruling out Tabcorp and South Africa-based Phumelela. The government has indicated that it will announce its intentions for the sale of the Tote soon.
Up for Grabs -- Italy's government could announce this week the recipients of new betting licenses, according to an official at the state agency in Rome that awards the licenses. The Italian Authority on State Monopolies (AAMS) recently opened up a new regulated gambling market offering 17,000 licenses in the private sector. International gaming companies Intralot SA and Lottomatica are vying for licenses along with bookmakers Ladbrokes Plc and William Hill Plc. But they are competing with homegrown entities such as Snai SpA, Italy's biggest racetrack operator, which is bidding for about 2,000 new sports betting outlets and 500 horse racing betting shops to be licensed in the country.
Delay -- Germany's federal states postponed until early next year plans to propose a law upholding a state monopoly on gambling that may eliminate private lottery agents and sports betting companies, according to a Bloomberg wire report. No further information was given in the report. Ministers for the states met today in Berlin to discuss the ban, despite pressure from the European Commission to open up Europe's gambling market to competition. The states of Saxony, Hesse and Bavaria imposed respective bans earlier this year on commercial betting directed mainly at Austrian Internet betting firm bwin.com whose German unit is the country's biggest commercial bookmaker.
Are You Sitting Down? -- A new study by Merrill Lynch states that the Internet gambling industry is still in its infancy and won't hit its peak until the year 2015. By that time, the financial advisor predicts, the global I-gaming market will bring in a mind-blowing $528 billion annually, despite the United States' prohibitive I-gaming legislation. Merrill Lynch based its projections on the progression of the industry since 2001. Earnings are expected to reach $24 billion by 2010 (double what it was in 2005), and 2006 earnings are estimated at $15 billion. U.K. government projections boost the numbers even further. Europe's regular online gamblers already stake nearly £3.5 billion a year, which averages out to about £1,000 per person. Once Britain's new gambling laws take effect in 2007 those numbers are promising to increase dramatically. Way, way on the other side of the spectrum, analyst Michael Tew recently came out with his downgraded estimate of $5.5 billion in 2010. So there you have it: I-gaming revenues in 2010 will total somewhere between $5.5 and $24 billion and could eclipse half-trillion-dollar mark by '15. Wrap your business plan around that.
Poker Beat -- Internet gaming software developer CryptoLogic Inc. has signed England's newest online poker destination, DTDPoker.com. Its live counterpart, DUSKTILLDAWN, will open its doors in Nottingham in April 2007 and boasts itself as the largest live poker venue in Europe. Licensed through CryptoLogic subsidiary WagerLogic, DTDPoker.com customers can play on a shared poker network, excluding U.S. customers, in any currency. DTDPoker.com is in good company with follow licensees, including williamhillpoker.com, interpoker.com, sunpoker.com, pokerplex.com, classicpoker.com, ukbettingpoker.co.uk, littlewoodspoker.com, and soon-to-be launched Playboy and Betsafe sites.
We're No. 1 -- Greek gaming company Intralot ranked first in the "Diamonds of the Greek Commerce" Annual Survey, conducted by STAT BANK, a databank company focusing on the Greek economy and business sector. The survey looked at the fastest growing companies with commercial activities and evaluates the financial results of several companies based on 2005 turnover, percentage growth of turnover, increase of pre-tax income, shareholders' equity, long-term gearing as well as return on equity. Intralot came out on top among local and multinational companies, across all sectors of Greek economy.
Deal or No Deal -- U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot has partnered with U.K-based Endemol Gaming to produce an online "Deal or No Deal" national lottery game. Following the same format as the popular TV show, players compete for cash by choosing from identical red cases with the hopes of eliminating the smaller purses. Then, of course, at crucial moments in the game, the mysterious banker rings and makes and offer and the player must decide: Deal or no deal?
New Addition -- Online poker network Ongame Network today announced the addition of BestPoker to its global poker network. BestPoker is leaving its current network, B2B Poker, and will switch to Ongame on Dec. 15. "We chose Ongame Network due to their technologically superior software, large number of players and the fact that they also offer a Java version which enables our customers to play directly from the Web site without having to download any software," BestPoker CEO Henrik Persson said. BestPoker will be the first site within the Ongame Network to launch a VIP Shop.