Fore! -- Online betting exchange Betfair and the PGA Tour of Australasia today announced an agreement that will see the PGA Tour receive a fair share of the revenue Betfair generates from wagering activity on their events. The agreement is also designed to help maintain the integrity of the sport. "Importantly, this agreement also gives the regulators of professional golf in Australia complete access to our audit trail of betting transactions, including customer details, should they ever need to investigate betting transactions on a tournament played under their auspices," said Betfair's director of corporate and business affairs in Australia, Andrew Twaits.
Shocking -- Internet gambling sites saw a drop in traffic in October after U.S. President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. The research firm reported that the number of unique visits from United States citizens to any of 10 Web sites tracked dropped 56 percent from September. The decline followed several months of steady growth, so there was still an increase of 19 percent in October compared to the same time in 2005. Nielsen tracked Sportsbook.com, PartyPoker.com and Ultimatebet.com, among other sites.
Finality -- Shareholders of Australian online sports book Betcorp Limited today approved the final sale of the company's Canadian and Antiguan operating subsidiaries to Bodog Entertainment Group SA. Because Bodog does not operate within Canada, all Canadian customers now receive their service from online bookmaker and poker operator Bowmans.com.
Dwindling Presence -- The 2006 Global Gaming Expo trade show and conference, held this week in Las Vegas, is feeling the effects of the U.S. government's recent Internet gambling prohibition. Casino City reported that at least five online gaming companies have pulled out of the mostly land-based show, and industry experts say recent arrests of Web-gambling executives make operators leery of coming to the U.S. Officials at the American Gaming Association (AGA), one of the organizers of G2E, said 15 online companies signed onto the event, but only 10 planned to attend. Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the AGA, said the government crackdown on Internet gambling represents a "Puritan spirit" in American politics. The cancellations represent just a fraction of the more than 750 companies participating in G2E.
Quoteworthy -- "The same government who says you shouldn't gamble on the Internet expects us to believe that Social Security will be there when we need it."
Dave Barry, humor columnist and keynote speaker at the G2E conference, held this week in Las Vegas, announcing his candidacy for President of the United States (tongue in cheek).
India -- India's Kerala Sports Super Bumper lottery will be formally launched at a glittering ceremony on Friday. Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said at a press conference on Tuesday the difficulties in providing adequate budgetary support for sports had prompted the government to launch such a venture. He said all the proceeds from the lottery would be earmarked for the overall development of sports and games in the state, and this was the first in a series of six lotteries aimed at raising sufficient funds for various social causes. For the price of 100 Rupees (about US$2.21) a ticket, the winner of the lottery would get 20 million Rupees as prize money. The draw will take place in Kozhikode on Jan. 26, 2007. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will make the ceremonial first sale of the lottery.