Floating -- The Financial Times reports that Interactive Gaming Holdings will float on Aim in an effort to add more Web sites to its online gambling network, which already contains over 1,100 gaming portals and online casino and bingo sites. The company also just announced that it has acquired Gambling.com for £2.5 million. It plans to offer white label I-gaming contracts to other I-gaming operators. The Financial Times says the company, which was established to acquire other I-gaming Web sites, hopes to capitalize off high-profile domain names and to attract advertising revenue. Managing Director Thomas Taule' said, "We've created a prime vehicle to move forward and embark on consolidation within the sector."
What Williams Didn't Say -- Australia's gambling industry is quite anxious to see how incumbent Minister of Communications, Internet Technology and the Arts Daryl Williams will handle the ongoing review of the country's Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. If Williams' recent interview with InformationWeek Australia of where the review lies on his agenda, they could be in for some delays. When asked for his views on handling important IT issues, among them Internet gambling, Williams made it clear that spam was on his mind. "One of my immediate priorities is to get spam legislation and a range of related measures in place. We can do a great deal to stamp out spam sent within and from Australia with the legislation that is presently before Parliament," Williams told the publication. "Tackling the international dimension is just as important. We've made a start on the international aspects. But to move forward in that arena we first need to demonstrate our resolve at home. There is a groundswell of activity internationally to develop mechanisms for international cooperation on spam reduction. For example, Australia signed an anti-spam memorandum of understanding with Korea last month." Williams mentioned nothing about Internet gambling.
In the Courts -- Risk Convergence Group (RCG), a firm of three financial executives, is suing foreign exchange and spread betting firm IFX Group for £200,000 in costs and damages, claiming that IFX violated an exclusivity agreement when it sold the 70 year-old Zetters football pools business to Sportech. RCG was apparently in negotiations to purchase the business for about £600,000 and had signed a deal whereby IFX would not negotiate with any other parties. IFX later began negotiations with Sportech and eventually sold them Zetters football pools for £1.35 million. IFX has said that the sale was made in a proper manner and plans to battle the suit. The case is scheduled to appear before the High Court in December.
Interstate Fee -- According to the Thoroughbred Times, Victoria Racing Minister John Pandazopoulos has said that Victoria Racing will impose a product fee on interstate bookmakers to prevent betting exchanges and interstate-based corporate bookmakers from taking revenue away from the racing industry. State and territory gaming and racing ministers will meet with Kay Patterson, Australia's Minister for Family and Community Services, on Nov. 21 to discuss several issues, including the effects of interstate betting and exchanges on the racing industry.
German I-Lotto -- Fluxx.com AG, a lotteries and betting service provider based in Keil, Germany, has concluded its agreement with lottery and pools management company Verwaltungsgesellschaft Lotto und Toto in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany on the purchase of the anybet Gaming Platform. anybet GmbH, a B2B subsidiary of fluxx.com, will manage and operate the state-run lottery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on a service and purchase agreement. The new service will be launched on www.mvlotto.de before the end of the year.
5 Hand Poker -- U.K.-based Jackpotjoy.com has launched an online version of 5 Hand Video Poker as a browser-based Flash game. After a winning hand, players can double their payoff by guessing whether the next card will be higher of lower than the last. Users can either play for money or for free. Jackpotjoy.com is built and managed by Gamesys.
Research Program -- Federal, state, and territory governments in Australia will fund a $1 million per year national research program on problem gamblers. Lasting five years, the program aims to better define problem gambling and to examine the current remedies. Sen. Kay Patterson, federal minister for family and community, saidm "They'll be looking at various things--whether some sort of process that people can actually limit their capacity to gamble by pre-committing a loss of limits on the machine that they're playing on, maybe having mandatory breaks in play, various things."