BOT BLUES Concerns about playing against bots now top the list of worries among online poker players.
The latest data from Poker Players Research Ltd. shows that nearly 40 percent of players are concerned that competitors across the table may not be real people.
Bots are players' most commonly reported worry as they become less troubled by traditional fears like collusion and the veracity of random number generation.
Bots concerns are most prevalent among limit Hold'em players who play at multiple tables, simultaneously, and repeatedly face the same opponents.
CAUTIONARY TALE The Royal Gazette reports that Bob Richards, Bermuda’s shadow finance minister, has warned the British territory that online gambling could anger authorities in the United States.
Government-hired consultants have been looking into the region’s credentials to possibly welcome online gaming to the island.
”We don't want to go down the same road Antigua went down,” Mr. Richards told The Royal Gazette.
SIGNING Gtech Corporation announced today that it has signed a five-year contract with the Maryland Lottery to provide and service 1,000 new Instant-Ticket Vending Machines.
The contract, which includes five one-year extension options, is slated to begin in November 2008. Gtech said it expects revenues of $12 million during the five-year term starting in the first quarter of ‘09.
“In Maryland, nearly 25 percent of instant-ticket sales come from instant-ticket vending machines,” said Jaymin B. Patel, president and chief executive of Gtech, in a prepared statement. “This contract from the Maryland Lottery is further validation of the benefits of Gtech's proven instant-ticket vending machine product.”
LAUNCHING Orbis Technology Ltd. announced yesterday that Roulette69.com will launch on its OpenBet platform.
Roulette69.com will offer players more than 60 instant-play games, including table, card and slot games together with video poker.
In a prepared statement, Sandra Barton-Nichol, spokesperson for E-tainment, operator of Roulette69.com, called the construction of Roulette69 a “complex technological challenge.”
“For our live streaming features and innovative casino entertainment, we needed a very flexible and robust casino product,” she continued. “After discussing our unique requirements with Orbis, they decided this was a challenging and innovative project they wanted to be a part of and could do.”
PLAYING FAIR Stanleybet International launched the Fair Play for Sports Betting campaign yesterday, which calls for fair, open and equal access to all European markets for all European Union-based sports betting operators.
According to a prepared statement, the initiative was launched with an open letter from Adrian Morris, campaign manager, to the president of the European Commission. The letter called on Jose Manuel Barroso to prevent member states from further delaying the opening of their sports betting markets and to enforce compliance with the principles of European Union law.
“It seems clear to us that some member states do not accept the clear legal rulings,” Mr. Morris said in the statement. “Rather than following European law, they are seeking to opt out of it. The European Commission, as the defender of the E.U. Treaty, has not only the legal right to intervene, but more importantly the duty to do so.”
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