Boris -- Online poker group PokerStars today announced that tennis champion Boris Becker will be the new face of the company. The six-time Grand Slam and three-time Wimbledon champ will represent PokerStars in live and online tournaments, as well as star in a new TV advertising campaign. Becker will appear in the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) in Dortmund from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, 2008 and the Grand Finale in Monte Carlo April 12-17.
Multitaxes -- Sweden's tax authority, Skatteverket, has filed a claim of SEK40 million (US$6.4 million) in unpaid taxes against the former owners of online poker site Multipoker.com. Multipoker.com, formerly owned and operated by EPR Investments of the British Virgin Islands, was sold to PartyGaming Plc in November 2005 for US$14.5 million. The unpaid tax claim relates to activities prior to the acquisition and does not relate to PartyGaming. According to Skatteverket and the Swedish National Economic Crimes Bureau, EPR Investments' presence in the British Virgin Islands was purely a front, and all of its business was operated from Sweden, without ever declaring the revenue generated by the business.
Courting Sportswetten -- Online bookmakers Sportwetten.de said today in a prepared statement that it has received an acquisition bid from German online betting company Fluxx AG. The offer of 1.09 euro per share is valid until Dec. 21, and Sportswetten, according to today's statement, will make a recommendation on the offer "in due course."
Intralot - Will They or Won't They? -- Intralot Director John Katakis on Sunday said he is open to SMS betting after the company's Victorian license takes effect in 2009, contradicting the previous statement of a fellow director. Intralot's Victorian lottery license, which was tabled in state parliament last week, contained details of new games as well as new ways to play the lottery games, including on mobile phones, the Internet and vending machines. But another director, Tony Sheehan, said last week that the company had no plans to introduce Internet or mobile lotteries. "They're things that could be done, but not things we are going to do," Sheehan said.
Almost Ready -- Testing of Cantor Gaming's handheld gaming devices will begin in early 2008 at the Venetian in Las Vegas after completing lab testing in the Nevada Gaming Control Board's slot lab. Meanwhile, Cantor's handheld device is ready to enter a field trial at the Venetian in Macau, the company announced last week at the Global Gaming Expo.
Courting Rank -- London-based casino and bingo operator Rank Group has rejected an approach from Las Vegas-based casino giant Harrah's Entertainment that would have seen the U.S. company sell a huge chunk of London Clubs International (LCI) to Rank in return for a stake of around 28 percent. Harrah's bought LCI in 2006 for around US$621 million, according to the Sunday Telegraph. It is unknown why Harrah's made the offer, but the company did announce recently that it was interested in launching an online casino in Europe. A spokesperson for the company confirmed, however, that they were only exploring the idea at this point. Rank closed up 1.75p to 82.25 on the LSE today.