Correction -- Nambling Notes reported Tuesday that Betfair left the betting lines open for last week's episode of "Australian Idol" after the event had ended, however, the company has since clarified that this wasn't the case. According to Betfair, all bets placed after the event are known and have been voided in line with standard practice. The company said that only seven punters would have been adversely affected by the error and that only one of them placed a bet over A$10.
Cuban Hedge -- Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA basketball team, plans to start a hedge fun led by a team that will gamble on sports and casino games rather that investing in stocks and bonds. "It won't be me figuring out what bets to place or what games to play," Cuban stated. "This is a fund. I will find the best and the brightest, with a confirmable track record and hire them."
Quoteworthy -- "Actually, Cole Turner was not an entirely real character. Many years ago at the start of the big move to create online gaming and entertainment companies, I created an alter ego named 'Cole Turner' that was designed to be a fun character to be used to promote the Bodog.com brand."
--Calvin Ayre, CEO and Founder of Costa-Rica based Bodog.com. Ayre, who has for the last few years assumed the name 'Cole Turner,' officially revealed his real name this week.
EGET Instants -- EGET (European Game & Entertainment Technology), a Finland-based supplier of digital gaming solutions, has launched the WinOne Instant Game Platform, which will enable lottery operators to add mobile and Internet to their existing offerings. Included in the instant games portfolio are keno, "Wheel of Fortune" and several scratch cards as well as other original games. The company plans to continue to develop new instant games and applications for the WinOne platform. It recently supplied Swedish lottery operator Sperospel.se with an MMS scratch card that will enable gamblers to play games via mobile devices.
Macau vs. Vegas -- Revenues from Macau's casinos could surpass those from casinos on the Las Vegas Strip next year. The 12 casinos in Macau reported $3.6 billion in profit last year, while the Las Vegas Strip casinos cleared $4.8 billion. In the first quarter of 2004 Macau's casinos improved by 38 percent compared to the same period last year. Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, ended a 40-year gambling monopoly in 2001 by opening licenses to international tender. MGM Mirage will open a hotel and casino there in 2006 as part of a joint venture; and just last month, Australia's richest man, Kerry Packer, announced that he will invest $163 million in a Macau gaming joint venture with Stanley Ho's Melco International.
UNiTAB Is Hot -- Autralia's Bulletin magazine has ranked Queensland-based UNiTAB fifth on its list of Australia's 50 hottest companies. A survey conducted by IBISWorld ranked companies according to earnings compared with the level of funds invested with each company by shareholders.