Betfair Steps Into Asia -- One of betting exchange Betfair's first attempts to open the Asian market could involve entering a deal with Singapore Pools, one of only two legal gambling operators in Singapore. Illegal soccer gambling is widespread in Singapore, and Betfair's managing director for Asia, Tim Levene, thinks a Betfair-Singapore Pools partnership could challenge illegal bookmakers by offering punters comparable prices. Levene did say, however, that Betfair would need the full cooperation of Singapore Pools to enter the local market. A spokesperson for Singapore Pools told the The Straits Times, "Betfair did pay us a courtesy call. However, there are no specific plans at the moment and it would be premature for us to comment on what they are doing."
Aussie Anti-P2P Campaign -- Racing NSW is expected to call a press conference next week to discuss the problems that betting exchanges bring to racing. Rumor has it that TV commercials designed to heighten awareness of the harm done by betting exchanges will soon follow.
Under Attack -- The Web sites of both Victor Chandler and Capital Sports came under distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks Tuesday, the first day of the Royal Ascot. The attacks began at both sites at about 4:45 p.m. (GMT), just as the fifth race of the Ascot Stakes was about to begin. Neither site experienced more than 20 minutes of downtime. Capital Sports, which suffered several hours of downtime last Wednesday, said it received no ransom notice before the attack.
Z4P Casinos in Hotels -- I-gaming software provider Zone4Play Inc. has released a suite of casino games for LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation's hotel TV GameRoom offering, which will run on a digital and Internet-based platform. The play-for-fun games include blackjack, slots, video poker, Caribbean poker and roulette. LodgeNet is one of the largest providers of broadband and interactive services to the lodging industry. The company provides service to nearly 1 million rooms in more than 5,800 hotel properties worldwide.
Virgin Watch -- Virgin Group, which already has a beta version of its new gaming site up and running with casino, bingo and arcade games, may also be planning to launch a sports betting service. Virgin Games CEO Oscar Nieboer told New Media Age that his company is exploring different ways to bring innovative new services. "We're looking at how Virgin would enter the [sports betting] market. We think there's some stuff around novelty bets, some demystified fun-orientated betting product," he said. The company is ironing out plans to integrate Virgin Games into the rest of the Virgin network, and will likely develop marketing plans whereby users of the sister brands, like Virgin Mobile and Virgin Travelstore, will be offered special promotions.
Ritz Exchange -- Ritz Club London Online has signed a two-year deal with Betfair to offer punters a co-branded betting exchange.
SportXction on Chandler -- Victor Chandler UK Limited has signed an agreement to incorporate Global Interactive Gaming's SportXction play-by-play sports betting system into its U.K. Internet site at www.victorchandler.co.uk. In addition to supplying the technology, GIG will operate the system and take a share of wagering revenue, while Victor Chandler will lead the marketing campaign, provide first level customer support, and process customer transactions. The service will launch this month, and the two companies are negotiating to bring SportXction to the rest of Victor Chandler's international Web sites.