Floating -- Australian bookmaker Centrebet confirmed today that it is planning to list on the Australian Stock Exchange on July 12. The company, owned by brothers Con and George Kafataris, will offer 35.11 million shares at $2 each to the public; about 40 percent of the company is being offered to retail and institutional investors, and current shareholders will retain almost 60 percent of the company. The brothers bought Centrebet from Jupiters Casino in 2003 for $46.5 million. Following the purchase, they merged Centrebet with SportOdds, their phone and Internet betting operation. Sports betting makes up around 70 per cent of the company's annual wagering revenue, but Con Kafataris said the online poker market, which is part of its gaming division, is also growing rapidly. Centrebet, which has a client base of more than 60,000 active customers across Australia and Europe, expects to have a market capitalization of $174 million on listing.
Quoteworthy -- "We have requested the record (of the hearing). We are concerned he may have said such things. We're going to do a review to determine for ourselves. Based on what we know of right now, from what we're hearing, those comments sound to both be totally inaccurate, as well as verging on being reckless."
- Youbet.com Vice President of Public Affairs Lonny Powell, as quoted in The Blood Horse. Powell was responding to comments made by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., during a May 25 committee hearing on the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (which was approved and sent to the full House). In challenging the clarity of the bill's language regarding off-track betting, Conyers stated that Youbet takes bets from more than 40 states, despite having received cease-and-desist letters from the attorney general--something the company vehemently denies.
Chariot's Afire -- England's newest lottery, "Monday," has consistently fallen short of its expected revenues since its first draw on May 8. After the maiden Monday draw returned disappointing revenue, the lottery's operator, Chariot, said it would carry out a strategic review to stabilize the business. In the four weeks since the first draw, however, Chariot has sold only 1.68 million tickets, while 200,000 individuals registered, raising around £520,000 in the process for the 20 charities participating in the lottery. Shares of Chariot plunged 46 percent Saturday after the company said it would also look to raise extra funding through a placing of new ordinary shares.
Re-Interpreting Indian Law -- The Karnataka High Court in Southern India today struck down the state government's 1994 order banning online and Internet lotteries, saying the order is contrary to the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court. The Justices said the government cannot discriminate between online and paper lotteries. The case was brought against the state by the Sikkim and Meghalaya state lotteries, which contended Karnataka was violating Article 19 of the Constitution. The state argued that the ban was ordered "to ward off the misery of the poor people," but the court did not buy the argument and said the gullible would always be victims of gambling, poor or not. The judges acknowledged, however, that the court cannot lay down policy for the state and it is ultimately up to the state policy makers to find a solution. "The judgment should not be understood as ever preventing the state from prohibiting lotteries in a manner known to law," the Bench said.
Joining Microgaming -- London-based Leisure and Gaming (LNG), parent company of the VIP, Acropolis, English Harbour and Nine.com gaming groups, is joining the Microgaming poker network. The new LNG poker brand will be called "StanleyVIPpoker.com" and will launch in late July. Joining Microgaming is said to represent a natural geographic fit, as the majority of VIP customers were U.S.-based and online poker site Acropolis would provide most of its poker players from the United Kingdom.
Fighting Finnish Fraud -- The Football Association of Finland wants to pass legislation recognizing gambling fraud as a punishable crime. Social Democratic Member of Parliament Jukka Gustaffson has also been working on the proposal that would apply to "anyone who gives or receives an economic benefit, or who otherwise makes an agreement concerning a competition that is the target of a monetary bet with the intent of manipulating the result, and incurring economic benefit for him, or herself, or someone else." Ordinary gambling fraud would be punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison. Serious cases could bring up to four years imprisonment. The initiative has been signed by 122 of Finland's 200 MPs.
US P2P? -- Scottish software start-up Fasbet has signed a deal worth £500,000 (US$939,722) with U.S.-based online horse race betting operator BetEHorse.com to bring P2P betting on a large scale to the North American gambling market. With the help of Fasbet's software, BetEHorse.com is launching a new betting exchange site called EHorseX.com. Fasbet was founded 18 months ago by Tom Mathews and Ian Gilfillen. Mathews said the company plans to launch a financial betting package within the next six to eight months.