PAF Still Fighting -- The Finnish Minister of the Interior reported gaming operator Ålands Penningautomatförening (PAF) to the National Bureau of Investigation for further violating the Lotteries Act by continuing to operate on Finland's mainland. PAF was found in breach of the Act for operating on the mainland where they are not licensed by the Supreme Court in February. "There can be only three licensed gaming operators at a time in mainland Finland," Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Ritva Viljanen said. "No fourth license exists." Veikkaus, Fintoto and RAY are the only three operators licensed at this time. PAF CEO Lars Porko denies any wrongdoing, however, and will take the matter to the European Union if the issue is tried again.
Just Plain Ugly -- A student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania has been charged with robbing a bank, and his lawyer is pleading gambling addiction. Greg Hogan, 19, class president and son of a Baptist minister from Ohio, handed a note to a teller at the bank around 3 p.m. on Dec. 9 and got away with $2,871, according to police. The finance and accounting major had picked up the habit of playing online poker and had developed an addiction, said his lawyer, John Waldron. "This is one of the nicest kids I've ever met, but his gambling addiction led him to make a terrible, terrible mistake," Waldron said. "There's so much good in this kid. It easily outweighs this one bad mistake." Hogan left the bank with two of his fraternity brothers, both of whom claim to know nothing of his plans. He faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 31.
VC Has Skills -- Integrated skill games network GameAccount.com is forming a symbiotic relationship with Gibraltar-based bookmaker and gambling operator Victor Chandler International. The multi-year agreement grants Victor Chandler customers, from more that 160 countries, access to the GameAccount network of players from over 130 countries in more than 20 currencies. "The integrated service provides our customers with a single online account for wagering on sports, casino, and skill games like backgammon or gin rummy,"Andy Harris, head of product development for Victor Chandler International, explained.
Back to Reality -- Online betting exchange Betfair has suspended the accounts of five customers pending an investigation into a possible betting scam. Suspicions that the five-man ring may have been tipped off by an insider at the phone company arose when the bets came in minutes before the winner was announced on ITV's reality show "X Factor." Betfair has frozen £45,000 of the winnings and called in the police, but the winners had already withdrawn £60,000. "With anything like this, there's always the risk of insider knowledge," said X-Factor judge Simon Cowell, "but they've got caught." Cowell added that he was surprised by the scam, though, because producers of the "X Factor" often did not know the results of phone votes until the last minute. British Telecom supplies the phone lines for the reality shows, but they are operated by Harvest Media. A BT spokesman said they are urgently investigating the matter.
Players for Sale? -- As previously reported
Trident Gaming, which owns and operates gamebookers.com for European bettors and betbug.com for American sports bettors, "purchased" basketball star Vladimir Petrovic for the Greek League 1 basketball team Aris and is paying his wages for the club. Now the company says it is seeking similar deals in the United States. BetBug President Anthony Novac said his company is "in talks with various NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL teams regarding sponsorship and possible player purchases and expect to announce a significant deal in early 2006."