URU -- GB Group plc, a U.K.-based provider of age and identity verification solutions for the gaming industry, has launched a new portal providing the latest news and advice on combating identity fraud and money laundering. The portal, uru.co.uk, offers guidance to gaming organizations on dealing with customers while meeting legal requirements. It also provides information on GB Group's Web-based age and identity verification service, URU, designed to prevent identity fraud and money laundering, which is already being used by Betfair and PartyGaming.
BoS Affliate Offer -- BETonSPORTS Plc will begin accepting applications today for a new affiliate program that will offer the first 1,000 applicants the opportunity to promote the BoS brands and, for a limited time, earn 50 percent of the net gaming revenue generated by their referrals. "I don't think it will be long before those in the affiliate world realize that this is a great opportunity to build relationships with a select group of the largest brands in Internet gaming that are part of a publicly traded company. Affiliates will be surprised to see the exceptionally high conversion rates that BoS presents," Les Ruzsa, marketing promoter for BoS, explained. "This is the most exciting project I've ever worked on, and I'm confident it will be a huge success."
Betair and Victoria -- The Virtual Form Guide reports that Betfair, which days ago won its battle to become a licensed betting exchange in Tasmania, has formally applied to Racing Victoria and the Harness Racing Board for approval to post their race fields--a requirement under new Tasmanian legislation. The applications were sent by e-mail Sunday, but Racing Victoria's Robert Nason claimed in a radio interview Tuesday that they had not yet received it. The news surprised Betfair's director of corporate and business affairs, Andrew Twaits, who said Betfair had received an acknowledgement of application from Harness Racing Victoria. "We expect that our applications for approval to publish Victorian thoroughbred and harness race fields will be treated in exactly the same way as the applications submitted by other interstate and overseas wagering operators," Twaits said. "In exercising public powers, we expect that RVL and HRV will comply with the rules of procedural fairness in making their decisions and, as a result, we are confident that approval will be forthcoming in the very near future."
That's the Spirit -- Golden Spirit Gaming Ltd., a publicly traded Delaware-based online gaming company, today announced the completion of beta testing and subsequent launch of its new real-money online poker site at GoldenSpiritPoker.com. The company says it has already built a decent sized player base through its play-for-fun poker site, GoldenSpiritPoker.net, which went live in September.
Phantom of the Orbis -- Wireless platform software developer Phantom Fiber Corporation today announced a five-year license agreement with online gaming provider Orbis Technology to provide Orbis with wireless gaming technology. Under the agreement, both companies will share the revenues generated from mobile betting.
Mobile Blackjack -- PokerRoom.com has added blackjack to its menu of mobile games, which already includes Texas Hold'em, mobile poker and mobile fruit slots. The company's new offering is a single-player blackjack game game played against a computerized dealer. All winnings are cashed out to players' PokerRoom.com real-money accounts.
Bad Price -- The Bank of Halifax, from which former financial consultant Graham Price stole £10 million to cover gambling debts, has promised to pay back the 84 pensioners who lost their money in the fraud. Price also ran a separate investment arm, which he used to bilk customers. He was jailed earlier this month, and Halifax Bank was reportedly seeking to recover the stolen cash from the victims. The bank has since announced that, even though it will cost them up to £2 million, it will not seek money from any of the victims.
Pressing Cowan -- Racing Post reports that bookmaker Ivan Yates, who owns the 34-shop Celtic Bookmaker chain, implored Irish Finance Minister Brian Cowan Monday to reduce the 2 percent off-course betting tax in his budget so betting shop punters can bet tax-free throughout the republic. In areas of intense competition, the shops bear the tax, but in other places punters pay the tax when placing their bets. "My problem in the shops where we do not charge the tax is that I am not making 2 percent net." Yates said. "The tax is costing me 26 grand a week and it is destroying my business. The off-course industry employs 7,000 people, but the betting shop share of the business has fallen from 90 percent to 56 percent in the past six years.