Coming Soon . . . -- I-gaming provider Playtech could announce another deal in Asia as soon as this week. The company said on Jan. 30 that it was in preliminary talks with a pure Asia-facing gaming business over a new licensing agreement but for confidentiality reasons would not divulge the name of the company. Asia became a key target for Playtech after the United States passed prohibitive I-gaming legislation in September 2006. The company on Dec. 20, 2006 announced a five-year licensing agreement with China-based gaming group Sino Strategic International.
Deal or No Deal -- Endemol Gaming, a division of entertainment production company Endemol UK, has entered into a partnership with Gaming Technology Solutions (GTS) to bring one of its most notable brands, worldwide game show phenomenon "Deal Or No Deal," into the online arena. Players can now experience Endemol Gaming's popular TV game show on the GTS EdGE platform. In addition to "Deal Or No Deal," GTS is staging Endemol Gaming's "Baltimore Drop," a variation on a highly popular style of pachinko on the EdGE platform. Additional non-branded games are also in development.
Risk Assessment -- The Nottingham Evening Post reports that gambling experts at the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University have developed a system to measure how risky new games are to potential betting addicts. The system, "GAM-RiSC," was commissioned by lottery operator Camelot and would be applied to all of its new games. It can also be used in the Internet gambling arena. GAM-RiSC takes account of different features of a game, such as speed of play, ease of use and how rewarding it is. Games identified as too risky for vulnerable groups can be changed. "There are certain triggers in the make-up of a game that can make it a particular problem for vulnerable adults," researcher Dr. Richard Wood explained. "The system is about pinpointing those features; new games can now be modified before they go on sale." GAM-RiSC will be available to the gambling sector in 2008.
Spinning New Games -- Microgaming-powered casino system provider Spin3 on Monday announced the additions of blackjack, roulette and video poker to the SpinLite play-for-fun suite of games. In addition, Spin3 has made the games available to mobile service providers and content aggregators around the world for licensing on a revenue-share, pay-per-download basis.
ELC 2 -- The second annual Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships (ELC) will be held in London May 5-6, 2007. Ladbrokes estimates around 25 percent of players on the Ladbrokespoker.com Web site are female, and that number is anticipated to increase with poker being perceived more as a mainstream activity. The 48-seat multi-table tournament will again air as six episodes on Sky Sports in the build-up to the televised stage of Ladbrokes' Poker Million VI. The winner of ELC 2 will win £15,000, plus a Poker Million VI package, which includes a $25,000 direct buy-in to the tournament and a $2,500 expenses package. Players can qualify now online for an ELC 2 package worth $3,000. Weekly finals will be held every Monday night at Ladbrokespoker.com.