Data Hub -- According to a report released Friday, one in 50 adults in Arizona has a gambling problem and one in 10 is at risk of developing gambling addiction. The study was commissioned by the Arizona Lottery and involved interviews with 2,750 people. The study found that among problem gamblers, the largest percentage preferred slot machines to other types of gambling.
US Tidbits -- Officials with American Wagering Inc. said April's meeting of the Nevada Gaming Commission will be a formality in showing regulators that it has sold off its sports betting subsidiary. CFO Tim Lockinger said AWI sold MegaSports in July 2002 after Nevada regulators forced the company to sell its Ausralia-based Internet and phone betting operations, two-and-a-half years after stipulations to the company's initial license were broken. MegaSports was by permitted by Nevada regulators to conduct Internet gambling operations on the condition that it wouldn't accept wagers from customers located in Nevada. In July 1999, the Nevada State Gaming Control Board set up a sting operation in which board members located in Nevada, claiming they were located in Canada, signed up and placed wagers using the site. AWI agreed to sell the subsidiary after the investigation and paid a $10,000 fine. Lockinger said now the Gaming Commission has asked to see proof of the sale and ensure that AWI has divested itself completely from MegaSports, which he says it has.
Asian Bit -- Betfair, the highly successful U.K.-based person-to-person betting exchange Web site, is offering to pay the Hong Kong Jockey Club 10 percent of its profits from Hong Kong betting, the South China Morning Post reported today. Mark Davies, Betfair's communications director, said the company would like to pay tax if it means Betfair can legally offer P2P gaming in Hong Kong. "We're not out to steal Hong Kong revenue," he said. "We're not freeloaders." The Jockey Club, for its part, rejected the offer.
Names and Faces -- The chairman of William Hill, John Brown, told the U.K. press today that he will not be retiring from the company in May as reported. Brown said he will stay with William Hill until at least the end of the year.