Role Reversal? -- Maltese registered online betting company Sportalnet will become the new owners of the Casinò di Venezia (Venice Casino), which is almost entirely owned by the city of Venice. Vittoriosa Gaming owns the concessions and will retain its shares. Sportalnet will pay $7.8 million over the next two years to buy 60 percent of Vittoriosa Gaming and will buy the remaining 40 percent in the next 10 years. Sportalnet is also buying the renovated Scamps Palace hotel next to the casino. In return, the city of Venice will guarantee a supply of clients for hotel to the tune of US$590,000 a year for the next 10 years.
'Insiders' Like Mom and Tom -- Sportsbook.com has halted wagering on Time Magazine's Person of the Year and Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year due to suspicions that employees from a New York-based PR firm that represents Time Warner (publisher of both magazines) used inside information to place the maximum allowable bet on the winners. The sports betting company was inundated Dec. 2 with wagers, originating from New York and New Jersey, on Mother Nature to be named Person of the Year for 2005; the wagers were traced back to e-mail addresses of the PR firm. Sportsbook.com had received a similar amount of suspicious bets from the same origin picking New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as Sportsperson of the Year.
Surviving and Thriving -- Isle of Man-based sports book Betinternet has reported positive yearend results despite a legal gaffe this year with its pool betting subsidiary, European Wagering Services. The company says it is concentrating on developing the sports book side of its business, and it plans to relocate its betting servers to Curacao where it will begin accepting wagers from the United States. It has also chosen I-gaming software provider IGW to help improve its casino and skill-gaming offerings. The changes are expected to be complete by early 2006.
Upgrading -- Kiwi Bingo has added new features to its site, including multi-window support enabling players to simultaneously chat, play bingo, have their favorite slot games open and visit the cashier. Additionally, an auto play feature has been installed on the slots platform, enabling players to visit the cashier without having to stop playing.
BoDog TV -- Gambling 911.com reports that Bodog.com signed a deal Friday with the cable's "first network for men," Spike TV, to broadcast a made-for-TV special produced entirely by Bodog.com Productions and starring Bodog.com founder and CEO Calvin Ayre. The program will air Dec. 18.