North American P2P -- Following a successful trial run, North American online betting exchange Matchbook.com has officially launched. "Matchbook is a bookmakers nightmare," boasted Tom Ramsey, Matchbook's Vice President of Development. "Exchange betting has already shaken up the $30bn European sportsbetting marketplace, and now the North American market is experiencing a similar transformation."
Gala-Coral Merger -- The Racing Post reported that the final result of the merger between UK-based betting and gaming operator Coral Eurobet and bookmaker Gala, will be an empire of 1,300 betting-shops for Coral. Coral has 1,286 shops right now, including three shops in West Wales purchased today and 12 north London shops acquired last week.
Prior Knowledge -- The Independent reported that fireworks took place in court yesterday between Internet poker rivals Empire Online and PartyGaming because Empire had not told investors it had prior knowledge of the possible termination of its relationship with PartyGaming. A letter sent May 4 from PartyGaming to Empire's CEO Noam Lanir said, "We would like to inform you that, as part of our considerations with regard to the system and our business operations generally, we are considering whether to move the PartyPoker site to a separate system so that the Custom Brand Label shall remain operating on the system as described and defined in the agreement but without sharing the same with the players on the PartyPoker site."
Sponsorship -- Sportsbetting company Gamebookers.com, owned and operated by Trident Gaming, is sponsoring European basketball player Vladimir Petrovic for Greek League 1 team Aris, and will pay his wages for the club. "This purchase is the first of its kind anywhere in the world," said Trident Gaming and Gamebookers CEO John O'Malia. "Never before has a sponsor actually bought a player for a club, but we hope to help Aris compete at the highest level. The fact that the sponsor in this case is an online bookmaker may be shocking to some people, but our players are keen sports fans and we owe it to them to support the growth of sport around the world." Petrovic, who played for Aris from 1999-2001, was part of Italian team Siena Montepaschi last season.
Aqua Poker -- Inter Poker Online Casino may be rivaling Golden Palace Online Casino in the publicity stunt department, with its recent introduction of a new underwater sport called Aqua Poker. The online casino held its Extreme Poker championship game 30 feet underwater Nov. 29 in the Caribbean. It took three months to arrange for a weighted poker table and special chips and water proof cards. And to ensure the safety of the players and the dealer (Andy Goetsch Vice President of Poker Software Development for gaming software developer CryptoLogic) each received diving training.