Investigation -- Following European sports books' accusations of blatant match-fixing and suspicious betting surrounding Wednesday's soccer match in Athens between Panionios of Greece and Dinamo Tblisi of Georgia, Greece's director of public prosecutions, Dimitris Papangelopoulos, has ordered prosecutor Spyros Mouzakitis to investigate the situation. A lot of money was wagered across many books on Dinamo Tblisi to be ahead at halftime and eventually lose the match, and the team did go on to win the match 5-2 after trailing 1-0 at the half. Several bookmakers suspended betting on the seemingly insignificant UEFA Cup Group D match. UEFA is also investigating the match.
Making Deals -- TVG Technologies (not be confused with the North American horse race wagering and content provider TVG Network), a developer of secure smart-card crypto interfacing systems, has signed a $50 million agreement to provide its SmartNet system to SuperCasino. Developed in cooperation with Intel over a five-year period, SmartNet features high-security protocols that enable mobile device users to transfer money over the Internet through the use of smart cards. SuperCasino and TVG have agreed to jointly build a new $3 million plant in Switzerland to produce the SmartNet product. TVG is also in negotiations with an $800 million investment fund to raise $6 million through a standby equity financing mechanism.
Office Pools -- Online pool betting provider AnyBets.com wants to assist those who organize and collect bets for office pools by taking over the responsibilities themselves. AnyBets.com will set up the pool for any event and then password protect the data so that only members of the organizers' office can participate.
Uruguay -- The government of Uruguay has approved plans allowing its citizens to wager via the Internet and terminals on soccer results from Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, France, England, Italy and Mexico. The Uruguayan government, which receives 67 percent of gambling revenue, is expected to gain an additional $15 million from the new game. Soccer betting will be available very soon, with car racing, boxing and tennis to follow.
In Court -- In late November, Hungary's Gambling Supervision filed suit against online betting giant Sportingbet, arguing that the company is operating in Hungary without the appropriate license. Sportingbet, which launched a Hungarian-language version of its Web site in June, counters that its activities are completely in line with E.U. law. The Gambling Supervision has already issued a €2,000 fine to Provimar Kft, the media buyer for Sportingbet in Hungary. The country's Gambling Act (1991) dictates that all gambling organizers must be majority owned by the Hungarian state.
Poker Summit -- The Canadian Annual Poker Summit will visit Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver in March and April of 2005. The one-day events feature some of poker's top players and experts engaging in personal workshops, interactive panel discussions, question-and-answer sessions and a range of poker topics in break-out groups. There will also be an opportunity to mingle with some of the World Poker Tour's stars at the cocktail reception.
Problem Gambling Research -- The National Center for Responsible Gaming in Washington, D.C. has given its third annual Senior Investigator Award to Alex Blaszczynski, director of the Gambling Research Unit at the University of Sydney and head of medical psychology at Westmead Hospital in Sydney. The Young Investigator Award was given to Jon Grant, an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University's Medical School and chief of impulse control disorders at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I. Blaszczynski has conducted gambling research in a variety of topics, including what motivates compulsive gamblers and gambling-related suicides and superstitions. Grant has participated in several studies that evaluate the effectiveness of medication in treating gambling addictions. He concludes that the drug naltrexone is the most effective treatment for most gambling addicts.
Full House -- Full House Entertainment N.V., an Internet gaming development and management firm, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the assets of Montreal-based software developer Clockmedia Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Full House, which originally planned to develop its own software, says it has saved itself years of research and development by acquiring Clockmedia.
Japan -- Japan's state-run soccer lottery is almost certain to report a deficit for the second consecutive year. The lottery received 60.4 billion yen in its first year (2001), then dropped to 40.8 million yen in 2002, and 20.2 million yen in 2003. The lottery has raised only 15.5 million yen this year, with only a few more weeks remaining in the period. Although the main goal of the lottery's establishment was to provide extra revenue to sports, it does not appear that any grants will be delivered by the lottery. Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology hopes to raise sales of soccer lottery tickets by increasing the chance of winning a prize and by making tickets available for purchase over the Internet beginning in April 2006. One of the main reasons sales are lacking is that the game is considered to be nearly impossible to win.