REJOINING The London Times reported on Tuesday that Martin Belsham, the former director of Blue Square Ltd., is set to rejoin City Index as chief executive.
According to The Times, Mr. Belsham previously held the same post at the spread betting company owned by British billionaire Michael A. Spencer for four years from 1998 to 2002.
Last October, Mr. Belsham, who founded Blue Square in 1999, left Rank Group amid declining growth in its online betting and gaming division.
RECORD ACHIEVED PurePlay, one of the largest subscription-based United States poker sites, saw record growth in 2008, it said in a statement released on Tuesday.
According to the San Francisco-based operator, its player base has doubled in the past year. Currently the company says it has 1.7 million players.
“Our membership base remains unmatched among legal U.S. play-for-cash poker sites,” Jason Kellerman, PurePlay’s chief executive, said in a prepared statement. “Our growth in 2008 validates our business model.”
PARTNERING On Monday Players Network partnered with The National League of Poker to produce a private, branded online poker site allowing for legal United States play, the company said.
The digital media company said it will receive a percentage of ad space on the site, which will allow customers to play poker for a monthly fee and compete for $50,000 a month in cash and prizes.
The deal reportedly also gives Players Network a cut of the subscription revenue for each player who joins the Web site’s V.I.P. area. In addition, the Las Vegas-based company said it will have access to the site’s registration database.
MORE ON TOTE After the Tasmanian Government announced last week the potential sale of Tote Tasmania, one analyst sees Betfair and Tabcorp as possible bidders, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Tom Ellison, a financial analyst, was quoted by the news service as saying a Betfair sale would “make sense” because of the companies’ already established relationship.
The announcement has also angered the Opposition.
The Opposition’s racing spokesperson, Jeremy Rockliff, was quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as saying the sale will be “damaging” to the region’s racing industry.
“(It is a) desperate decision to prop up their poor financial record coming up to the next state election,” Mr. Rockliff added.
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