Bolivia -- Goldenpot, a Spanish lottery solutions provider, is launching a lottery system in Bolivia enabling players to participate in games via the Internet and mobile phones. The company will make four games available on the Internet starting Nov. 1. One of the games will also be available through text-messaging. Players can purchase coupons at lottery outlets and then log on to the Web site to play the games, which are supervised by the Bolivian National Lottery. Goldenpot, which also provides interactive gaming systems in Serbia and the Dominican Republic, hopes to bring similar products to other South American countries.
Impreveduto Investigation -- New Jersey State Police served subpoenas at the Town Hall of Secaucus Wednesday as part of an investigation into Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto's campaign funds. The officers were searching for records relating to how much money Impreveduto has and is spending. In May police raided the home and office of Impreveduto, who is deputy speaker of the New Jersey Assembly's ethics committee. Apparently thousands of dollars in expenses to one of his credit cards may have been reimbursed later by his campaign fund. The credit card charges included expenses from trips to Curacao, Toronto and London. Impreveduto, who sponsored a bill that would permit Internet gambling at Atlantic City casino, was a featured speaker at I-gaming conferences in Toronto and Curacao in 2001.
Dispute Stats -- Tex Rees, the fair gaming advocate for eCOGRA (e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) reports that the organization's 44 approved casinos have received few disputes in the last year. In all, 74 complaints were filed against eCOGRA-approved casinos, and most of them have come within the last three months, which could be indicative of the organization's growing profile among online gambling portals. Of the 74 complaints, 80 percent were bonus and cash-in queries.
Aussie Tidbits -- The Queensland state government has produced teaching resource kits to help children in grades 4-12 learn about the potential risks of gambling. Treasurer Terry Mackenroth stated, "What we're doing is teaching young people about gambling and the reasons that you shouldn't become a problem gambler. It's a very smart thing to do and as you've heard in there today from the people who actually run the gambling help lines, they welcome it. They think it's a great resource." . . . Part of an initiative in Victoria to combat problem gambling includes accountants being trained to scrutinize their clients' spending habits to determine whether they have gambling problems. When a problem gambler is identified, the accountant directs him to areas where he can get help.
Betting Analyst -- The U.K. Jockey Club completed its new security team yesterday by appointing a new betting analyst and a new researcher. The betting analyst position is being filled by Mark Phillips, the 32-year-old former senior racing trader at superodds.com. According to Scotney, "The betting analyst role is a crucial post for the department, and while the recruitment process took longer than we originally anticipated, our objective was to make sure we got the right person." Also joining the security team is 23-year old Tom Chignell, who joins the Intelligence Unit as a researcher after having worked at the Tote.