Quoteworthy -- "So many of the people who do this are offshore, or make it appear they are offshore. We weren't going after people in their homes; we were going after people who furnish (online gambling)."
- Indiana State Sen. David Ford (R), who earlier this year authored a new Indiana law that prohibits Internet gambling in his state, as quoted by the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
In Running -- William Hill has launched a new live betting console application on its Internet sports book that enables online punters to view and participate in all of the live betting in running markets. Gamblers can also see all current and future interactive betting events, view streaming live prices and place bets on multiple markets on any event.
Match Fixing -- The German Football Association (DFB) and the German Football League (DFL) on May 17 hosted a conference for representatives from football leagues and associations as well both domestic and international bookmakers to discuss ways for all the groups to collaborate on an effort to fight match fixing. Most parties in attendance reportedly favored the suggestion that an early warning and reaction system be introduced in the future. Such a solution would involve the European Sports Security Agency (formed by the European Betting Association) imposing obligations on its members to communicate early warnings detected by sports betting analysis firm Betradar. The conference concluded with a vote in favor of composing a code of conduct. . . . The suspected leader of a recently revealed match-fixing ring--a Croatian man identified only as Ante S.--has reportedly told prosecutors that 10 more players helped to fix at least two more undetected fixed matches, both of which took place in 1994. Investigators suspect that four referees and 14 players have been involved in fixing at least 10 games, mostly in lower divisions.
Welcome Aboard -- Lord Leonard Steinberg, the founder and chairman of England's largest casino operator, Stanley Leisure, has been named non-executive chairman of Tradal, the operator of online poker site EmpirePoker.com. In April Tradal appointed stockbroker Numis to advise on a public flotation, which the company could execute for £550 million as early as June. Last week Stanley Leisure sold its Stanleybet sports betting shops and Internet bookmaking sites to rival bookmaker William Hill for £504 million.
Skill Games -- FUN Technologies' SkillJam Technologies subsidiary has signed a definitive agreement with multi-channel interactive solutions provider Zone4Play through which Zone4Play will supply LodgeNet Entertainment Corporation with games for its TV GameRoom offering to hotels. Lodgenet provides broadband interactive services to about 180,000 hotel rooms across North America. Zone4Play already supplies LodgeNet with its play-for-fun casino pack, which features two SkillJam games. The new deal will put 13 more games on the network.
Mobile Poker -- Gaming software company MobileGamingNow Inc. has announced the launch of its turnkey multi-player mobile phone-based poker platform, which handles up to six players per table. The play-for-fun version is available for download via the company's Web site, and a real-money wagering product is available for licensing.