Tidbits from the US -- U.S. Rep.
John LaFalce, D-N.Y., today introduced a bill that calls for the barring of Internet gambling-related financial transactions. Last year, he and
Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, co-sponsored a similar bill, HR 4419, which died at the end of the session. In February, Leach re-introduced the amended version of last year's bill. LaFalce's new legislation is said to be modeled after the original version.
Earlier this week, LaFalce introduced a bill that would require land-based casinos to remove machines that let gamblers use credit cards and debit cards while betting at gambling tables. Under the terms of the bill, ATMs and credit card swipe machines would be barred from tables. The LaFalce camp clarified in a news release, "Providing immediate electronic cash transfers not only feeds compulsive behavior, but makes it easier for problem gamblers to bet all their available cash, draw down their bank accounts, and then tap into the available credit lines of their credit cards as well."
Tidbits from the UK -- Not everyone is thrilled with the U.K. Gambling Review Body's recently released report on British gambling policy. The British Horseracing Board (BHB) is disappointed in the board's failure to recommend that premises such as pubs and clubs be allowed to take bets. "It is most disappointing that BHB's proposal for betting to be permitted, subject to appropriate controls, in locations other than those whose primary purpose is gambling has not met with a favorable response," BHB Secretary-General Tristram Ricketts said in a statement. "This appears to run counter to the report's claim that the GRB's recommendations are designed to extend choice for adult gamblers. . . . The GBR propose that, while cash betting on horse racing will continue to be restricted to premises licensed for that purpose, bookmakers will be permitted to take bets on the National Lottery, betting offices will be allowed to install jackpot machines and casinos will increase significantly in both volume and profile.
"All this will inevitably place substantial further pressure on horseracing betting turnover at a time when racing is being prevented from making its product available elsewhere, generating additional sources of revenue and widening its customer base. There is a serious danger that racing will be the victim of the creation of an increasingly un-level playing field."
England's Go Racing race broadcasting consortium is reportedly set to embark upon an £8 million a year media marketing campaign, £3 million of which will be poured into a website. The website will be launched in September by Channel 4, one of Go Racing's three backers. The other two backers are Arena Leisure and BSkyB. The media campaign will be headed by Blue Square's Gavin Bisdee.
Makin' Deals -- European Game & Entertainment Technology Ltd. (EGET) is scheduled to fix the Luxembourg National Lottery up with its Internet gaming system. Play will be for fun only, though, on the Internet version of the country's most popular scratch lottery games. EGET will supply the lottery with its WinOne software as well as develop a channel-specific games. It will also provide facility management services and operate the system from its secure facilities in Finland. The contract extends through 2002.
CryptoLogic Inc. has struck a deal with MicroStrategy Inc. to integrate the MicroStrategy CRM Applications product into Crypto's software. The MicroStrategy Narrowcast server will be combined with the Canadian company's software to ease communication and marketing to millions of gaming customers. CryptoLogic products reach online gamblers in 240 counties; the company will also use MicroStrategy's 7 Business Intelligence Platform and the e-CRM 7 application to perform Web-based queries and reporting on its internal warehouses.
dot com Entertainment Group Inc. has reached another software licensing agreement. The company announced this week that it will be installing a complete Internet bingo system for Worldwide Online Entertainment Holdings Inc.'s AstroBingo.com. dot com plans to deliver the bingo program around Aug. 15.
AstroBingo.com also struck a deal with ifuture.com for marketing services and the development of additional services under the AstroBingo brand. ifuture.com owns AstroAdvice.com, an astrology site. AstroBingo will rely in part on ifuture's database, which, according to promotional materials, has
nearly 1.5 million female members. AstroBingo will also benefit from dot com's in-house advertising firm,
Inferno Media. P.H. Blyth, AstroBingo's CEO, has stated the goal of a 150,000-player database by December.
Tidbits from the Far East -- Macau is ending the monopoly on its gambling industry. A spokesperson for the Macau Special Administrative Region says there are plans to license three casinos by the end of the year.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, the method of opening the gambling industry was left to the current special administration government. For the last 40 years Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM), controlled by Stanley Ho, has had the only license to run Macau's gambling operations. The transitional government of Macau extended the Ho's operating rights until 2001.
STDM owns 10 casinos in Macau, employing 15,000 people. It is thought of as the most profitable casino in the world and has annual revenues of about US $3 billion, although Ho gives about 32 percent of that to the Macau government. That 32 percent accounts for about two-thirds of Macau's annual income.
Tidbits from Down Under -- Ninemsn.com.au reports that Rob Waterhouse's return to bookmaking has been delayed pending consideration by the board of the NSW Bookmakers Co-operative, which voted to refer the matter to its members. The board will meet August 7 to consider Waterhouse's application. Waterhouse, who recently announced his company's purchase of My Casino's Vanuatu-based Internet operations, is trying to regain his betting license, which was yanked 16 years ago following the infamous Fine Cotton horse substitution scandal. The NSW Thoroughbred Board last month granted Waterhouse's application, subject to the approval of the Bookmakers Co-operative.
eBet Limited of Australia announced this week that it has received approval to commence sales of a card-based payment system for poker machines in New South Wales. The system, called EPS (electronic payment system), uses a magnetic-stripe card to securely transfer funds to and from poker machines. The company has also developed a smart card-based version of the system.
A Tidbit from Way Down Under -- The New Zealand Lotteries Commission announced last week that it's doing away with its television game show, "Telebingo," to make way for a new show with better odds and potentially larger prizes. The new show, "Risk," will feature top prizes in the $80,000-$100,000 range and will offer five chances to win. Viewers can purchase $4 tickets prior to each game. The outcome of the game for at-home players will depend on what the TV players do. Jackpots will roll over to the next week if no one wins.
New Stuff -- Alladdin Lotteries' lottery game will soon be available through the interactive television portal ITV Active. Its owner, ITV Digital, recently signed a deal with Alladdin to offer the Lotter-e online game to people who have the iTV service, which allows users access to Web sites and services through their television screen. The game claims to offer better chances of winning than Camelot's National Lottery, the lottery of England.
Incidentally, Carlton and Granada, the owner of ITV Digital, is at the center of speculation that it shouldn't have automatic rights to use the ITV brand for its service. U.S. cable operator NTL reportedly made a bid for the service, although it has denied taking such an action.
Newsbytes reports that British Telecom's U.K. broadband operation, Btopenworld, recently launched an integrated sports broadcasting and gambling service centering on The Ashes, an international cricket tournament. The service is provided by cricket portal Cricinfo.com and Internet sports betting group Blue Square. Registration costs £14.95 ($21). Users get access to wagering as well as cricket-related content, including video highlights, audio commentaries and free contests.
On Thursday, Bingo.com, Inc. started beta testing its highly anticipated pay-to-play skill-based bingo game. The test is the last step before offering the game to the group's 750,000 members. Chairman and CEO Shane Murphy says they hope to go live by the end of the month. Visitors will have the choice of playing for free or for real money.
A Scandinavian Tidbit -- In response to protest from the authorities in the Åland Island, an autonomous Finnish territory, the government of Finland has decided not to ratify a new gaming law forbidding Finns from mainland Finland from gambling at the website of PAF (the Åland Islands Slot Machine Association). The president has asked the Finnish Supreme Court to investigate whether the law would be in conflict with the autonomy of the Åland Islands.