Mobile Rising -- The popularity of mobile gambling will rise from just under US$2 billion to more than US$23 billion by 2011, according to analysts with Juniper Research. The trend is due primarily to an increase of mobile lotteries, which are projected to account for 41 percent of total mobile gambling expenditure in the next five years. Juniper further forecasts that mobile casino gambling will also continue to rise in popularity, but its expenditures will trail lotteries and sports betting slightly.
Warning -- The Isle of Man's Lord Bishop Graeme Knowles, the Bishop of Sodor and Man, warned the Legislative Council in a speech last week against the risks of online gaming, articulating fears that Internet gambling provided fewer checks against addiction than traditional methods of gambling. "I find e-gaming more difficult than face-to-face gambling," Knowles said. "The individual who sits on their own in their own home engaged in the business of bet gaming is separated from other people; when doing it in a social gathering, there are people around who can see help is needed to stop them running into problems."
New Stuff -- The board of betinternet says the company successfully launched an updated version of its sports book site on May 25, 2006. It has also rolled out a download version of a new casino, which will be available in an instant-play Flash version in due time, and a suite of fixed-odds games will go live within the next 10 days. Finally, July 1 will see the launch of multiplayer sports management simulator called "coreFootball." The product was developed by GlobalcoreSports and is partially owned by betinternet. . . . Online sports book Betmaker.com has introduced its first Spanish-language sports book and casino just in time for the World Cup. "Spanish speaking people are some of the most passionate sports fans in the world," Mike McComb, director of marketing at Betmaker, said. "No sport or sporting event means more to the Spanish-speaking world than the World Cup. Our new Spanish-language Betmaker lends even more excitement and entertainment to the greatest sporting event in the world to the over 400 million persons worldwide who speak Spanish."
Federation of Swedes -- The World Poker Association (WPA), the non-profit governing body of tournament poker worldwide, announced today the induction of its first organizational member, the Swedish Poker Federation (SPF). The SPF is an umbrella organization for poker clubs and players that protects the rights and interests of Swedish poker players. The WPA has only existed since November 2005, but it already boasts more that 100 individual members, including 17 founding members, and some of the most recognizable names in poker, such as Phil Helmuth, Joseph Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Kristy Gazes, Kenna James, and Steve Brecher.
Stepping Down -- Nat Le Roux is stepping down as CEO of spread-betting company IG Group. Le Roux will remain on the board as non-executive chairman and work as a consultant once a week, but he is leaving to pursue other opportunities. He is reportedly setting his sights on earning a PhD at Cambridge University.