STANLEYBET-OPAP SAGA CONTINUES
Stanleybet said it has been forced to close its Athens betting outlet while a Greek court decides on its fate,
Reuters reported on Friday.
In mid-January, an Athens court allowed the fixed-odds betting firm to reopen the outlet. Now, according to Reuters, a higher court will decide whether Stanleybet can compete with OPAP S.A., a Greek company that holds the exclusive rights to offer its betting services to Greek residents until 2020.
“The court would not rule on whether Stanleybet's activities are legal or not, and did not justify its ruling,” the news service quoted Stanleybet as saying.
PARTNERING
According to Hürriyet Daily News, Dogan Holding, a Turkish conglomerate, said that it will partner with Lottomatica S.p.A. to bid in the tender for Turkey’s national lottery.
According to published reports, at stake is a 10-year license to operate the lottery. The winner will retain 17 percent of revenue after sales and gambling taxes, according to officials at the state asset sales agency.
Companies expressing interest have included Intralot S.A. of Greece and Turkey's Koç Holding. Camelot Group, which operates the United Kingdom's national lottery, is reportedly also interested as well as Essnet A.B., Tatts Group Ltd., Gtech Holdings Corporation, Osterreichische Lotterien G.m.b.H. and Sisal S.p.A.
TRUST ISSUES
A survey commissioned by Probability, the mobile gaming specialist, found that 50 percent of poker players “mistrust” online poker Web sites.
Probability, which announced the results on Sunday, commissioned the survey prior to the launch of its head-to-head poker game.
The company found the results of the survey of more than 2,500 British poker players “striking.”
“We don’t have any axe to grind on this issue,” said Charles P. Cohen, chief executive of Probability, in a prepared statement. “In fact, the reverse is true -- a healthy poker industry is good for us because the more people who are comfortable with playing remote poker, the more business there is for us to shoot for.”
According to Probability, 12.5 percent said they trusted online poker sites, while almost 37 percent said that they “mostly trusted them.” Conversely, about 20 percent of respondents said they have “a lot of doubts” and 31 percent said the sites could not be trusted “at all.”
Probability said that despite this, more than a third of players, or 36.7 percent, still rated online as the favorite poker venue, though more than half decidedly enjoyed home games the best.
Research conducted last year by Poker Players Research show similar results -- with nearly 40 percent of online poker players showing concern that competitors across the table may not be real people but computer programs.
GROWING
Unlike some businesses hit hard by the downturn, GameAccount said it witnessed a 75 percent jump in the amount staked last quarter when compared to the previous quarter.
According to the skill-based gaming Web site, more than £100 million was staked last quarter. The company said that in 2007, only £10.5 million was staked on the site.
Additionally the company saw active user numbers grow quarter-over-quarter by 38 percent.
“We’re beginning to see a change in the way people are playing games online, and thankfully it’s in our favor,” said Kevin Dale, GameAccount’s chief executive, in a prepared statement. “Partly in an effort to save money, more and more people are turning to the Internet for their entertainment, and our person-to-person skill games are exactly what they’re looking for.”
SPONSORING
Sportingbet has teamed up with the Brisbane Broncos to exclusively sponsor the Australian league’s 2009 season.
While Bruno Cullen, Bronco’s chief executive, welcomed the sponsorship, he made it clear in a prepared statement that there is no revenue sharing agreement between the rugby team and the United Kingdom sports betting company.
“This is a straight sponsorship agreement between two businesses that is being driven by brand affiliation,” Mr. Cullen said. “This is purely about two strong sporting brands in Australia allying for a shared marketing purpose.”
Nambling Notes is .