ProgressiveLogic -- WagerLogic Inc, the wholly-owned subsidiary of CryptoLogic Inc that is responsible for licensing its gaming software and services to clients, has delivered two new progressive jackpot games to licensees William Hill Casino and InterCasino. Both of the new games, "Millionaires Club" and "Progressive Blackjack," support multi-currency and multi-language functions. Millionaires Club is a one-line, two-stage progressive with the potential to rise to a $1 million jackpot. In Progressive Blackjack, players place a side-bet to qualify for progressive play and take the jackpot if they receive four red or four black aces in one hand. Secondary prizes are awarded for other ace combinations.
Quoteworthy -- "It wasn't as big back then because there was no Internet, but people were betting . . . not necessarily on our games. The thing was, nobody ever had a problem finding someone to take their bets. It was easy if you wanted to get involved in those things."
- Bill Cherpak, a former offensive lineman for the University of Pittsburgh football team who played from 1986 to 1989. Cherpak was responding to questions concerning gambling by student athletes, following an NCAA announcement yesterday that it is disturbed by the results of a 2003 survey. According to the data, nearly 35 percent of male student athletes have participated in some form of sports wagering behavior and ten percent of female athletes have done the same. 1.1 percent of college football players have taken money for paying poorly in a game and 2.3 percent have been asked to affect the outcome of a game because of gambling debts. 1.4 percent of college football players admitted to actually affecting the outcome of a game because of their gambling debts.
Quoteworthy -- Poker Portal PokerPages.com has added new features to its website in a new online poker section. PokerPages.com now utilizes an on-demand tournament finder that compares the "SitNGo" action at various Internet poker rooms. Users can also use the finder tools to locate ring games and tournaments and to check the current action of each poker site. Another new features include a recent winners page that shows the latest online tournament winners and a celebrity section that lists the top online poker celebrities and also which celebrities are currently playing online and at which site.
Working Peer -- Stanley Leisure's founder and chairman, Leonard Steinberg, has been named to a list of 46 new "working peers" issued by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Steinberg, 66, is a former deputy treasurer of the Tory party and donated over £100,000 to the party last year. He will attend a pre-determined number of events at the House of Lords and should be able to lend his expertise when the Gambling Bill comes up for debate.
New Facilities -- Costa Rican online sports book Betmaker.com in late April moved its operations to new facilities in the country and added new customer service care systems. The company says it will now be better equipped to handle increased call volume.