FTSE Party Over --
In the wake of the United States Congress passing legislation to prohibiting Internet gambling and the subsequent fallout in the London market, PartyGaming's run on the FTSE 100 index appears to be over. Reuters reports that the compilers of the FTSE will drop PartyGaming from the list of 100 following the a drop in share price of 63 percent. In all, Reuters reports, the industry collectively lost US$7 billion in last week's crash. 888 Holdings, meanwhile, will be dropped from the FTSE 250 and replaced by PartyGaming.
Lithuania -- Finnish I-gaming technology supplier EGET on Sunday announced the launch of the first online gaming site based in Lithuania. The new site is operated by Olifeja, the Lithuanian national lottery operator, and operates on EGET's scaleable EnterGainment Platform. A wide range of supporting gaming services to should enable Olifeja to focus on its core business and promote its new e-gaming service. The initial launch of the gaming site includes two Olifeja-branded Internet bingo and keno games, with more games, including several multiplayer games. Mobile games, to be delivered via EGET's mobile subsidiary, WinOne, will be included in the next release phases. Olifeja holds a license for the operation of number lotteries and betting games granted by the State Gaming Control Commission of the Lithuanian Republic. It offers physical lottery games through retail outlets, with draws featured on TV. A majority share in the company is controlled by the Lithuanian Olympic Committee.
Consolidation -- Online poker aggregator Tribeca Tables Europe announced Monday that the Tain Poker Network will join the Tribeca Poker Network. The merger will allow all existing Tain Network partners to migrate their players to the Tribeca Tables platform. All existing Tain Poker Network customers, including Tain's biggest client, Expekt.com, are included in the merger. Tain will continue to develop its sports and casino software, but it will integrate its remaining poker skins onto the Tribeca platform. Tain will benefit from increased player liquidity, while Tribeca hopes to cash in on an increased presence in the Scandinavian market. In becoming part of the Tribeca network, Tain joins Paddy Power, Victor Chandler, Doyles Room, Bowmans, Golden Palace, Blue Square, G-Fed Games, City Poker and most recently Sporting Index. Further mergers are likely to follow. "As we are currently witnessing, the poker business is starting to consolidate," Tribeca Managing Director Steve Cook said." "Tribeca feels that the company is correctly positioned to take advantage of a consolidating market."
Crypto's Cubis -- Online gaming software provider CryptoLogic Inc. announced Monday that it has signed an exclusive five-year agreement for the rights to develop the online slot version of Cubis(R), an award-winning, hugely popular three-dimensional puzzle game. The game will be offered to licensees through CryptoLogic's subsidiary, WagerLogic Limited, starting in the fourth quarter of 2006.
Quoteworthy -- "This will prove to be a classic case of unintended consequences. In the guise of protecting vulnerable Americans--minors who want to gamble and adults who can’t control their gambling – Congress has actually heightened the risk to these groups. It has driven away the operators who followed the most socially responsible practices. It has also increased the possibility of online gambling being used for money laundering, because it has outlawed the most easily tracked methods of payment."
- Keith Furlong, deputy director of the Interactive Gaming Council, in response to the U.S. Senate passing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.