Hope in Germany -- German cable television provider Premiere AG hopes to launch its Internet casino within the next two years if all goes well in the German Federal Constitutional Court, according to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Premiere offers the Premiere Win betting channel, which launched Aug. 1, and is said to be in talks with poker providers PartyPoker and 888. The court is scheduled to hold a hearing in two weeks on whether the gambling market should be opened up to private companies.
The AFL Factor -- Herald Sun reports that the Australian Football League is about to sign deals with Australian gaming giant Tabcorp and Betfair, the controversial exchange betting company, through which the league will take a cut of the money that is bet on its matches. The exact value of the deals depends on turnover, but the publication reports that the AFL has been guaranteed A$1 million. In return, Betfair and Tabcorp will be able to use the AFL brand in their marketing. Further, it has been suggested that the partnership with Betfair is a big step in the exchange's campaign to establish a business in Australia.
EGET Streams Global Mobile Games -- Finnish mobile games supplier EGET today announced a partnership with U.K. mobile content and applications provider Stream Group plc to introduce mobile gaming to new markets across the globe. EGET will supply its WinOne gaming platform, providing players worldwide access to a wide range of games, including bingo and casino games. Stream also plans to launch its own mobile gaming brand in England by the end of the year. Through the alliance with EGET, Stream will offer a white-label gaming solution based on the WinOne platform.
Chartwell and Paradise -- Calgary-based software provider Chartwell Technology Inc.'s poker community is growing thanks to a licensing agreement with ParadiseBet UK Ltd. The ParadiseBet poker room can now be accessed through Chartwell's online poker community, PokerNexus.com.
A New Boss Boss -- Johan Berg, 46, has been appointed as the new president of Swedish e-gaming software developer Boss Media. Berg has 20 years of experience in the software industry, including 13 years at Intentia. He will assume the position on Dec. 15, 2005.
Race-O Almost Ready-O -- After missing its original launch date in summer 2005, Race-O, a new British horseracing betting Web site, expects to get its operations off the ground by the end of the year. The Race-O system enables punters to wager small amounts and receive massive payouts by predicting the winners of eight races each Saturday afternoon. Consolation prizes will be awarded to punters who correctly pick all but one or two winners. The Tote holds an exclusive license for pool betting in the United Kingdom, so Race-O's servers will be based in Canada under the control of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
Bellies Up -- Internet casino GoldenPalace.com paid $5,000 to tattoo the bellies of three pregnant Florida sisters in an advertising stunt that will be seen at as many Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lightning games as possible. The sisters, Ann Zemen, Amy MacDonald and Kathleen Van Dyck, auctioned off their bellies to the highest eBay bidder, which turned out to be GoldenPalace.com. "We want to corner the market on innovative advertising," CEO Richard Rowe explained. "As we have seen with our previous pregnant belly billboards, this kind of advertising gets a massive amount of attention." He also said the company would help pay for future expenses of the three mothers-to-be.