Friday, Nov. 1
Makin' Deals -- Youbet.com is teaming up with Global Cash Access to supply its customers with the ability to transfer funds from their credit card or checking account directly into their Youbet.com account. The GCA product, called QuikFunds, ensures that funds are only transfered from a state where such wagers are legal. Once that is verified, QuikFunds asks the player to confirm the amount requested and acceptance of
a service fee. The player is then provided with a confirmation number to assure that the money was sent to his or her Youbet.com account.
Legal Stuff -- Land-based bookmakers in Bermuda are angry about the amount of their business Internet and offshore bookies take away from their business. As a result, they are asking their government to repeal the 20 percent tax on gambling, which is one of the world's highest gambling levies. Lee Beauchamp, the manager of SeaHorses, one of Bermuda's largest bookmakers, said if he didn't have to compete with tax-free Internet betting, his business would be doing better. "Over the past five years we have lost in
the region of 25 percent to illegal gambling and gambling on the Internet," he said. "We used to have three shops, but business has contracted. I put it mainly down to illegal gambling and Internet gambling."
Thursday, Oct. 31
War -- Financial Times reports that the U.K. Levy Board is meeting to consider proposals from its bookmakers' committee on ways to raise money from P2P betting exchanges. A number of bookmakers, most of which are based in England, are concerned with what they perceive to be an extremely unfair advantage for P2P exchanges, which are able to offer punters far better prices by enabling them to bet against each other instead against the bookmaker. The controversy has
escalated for months, and with leading P2P firm Betfair.com "matching" an estimated £50 million per week, it is quickly turning into what bookmakers consider an emergency situation. Bookmakers are pushing a proposal that would make punters who lay bets (as opposed to taking them) liable for a 10 percent levy on their gross profits. If the proposal is accepted, Betfair's customers would end up paying prices comparable to traditional sports books.
New Stuff -- attheraces, the joint horseracing venture backed by BkyB, Channel 4 and Arena Leisure, launched its interactive television betting facility on Sky channel 418. Viewers of the channel can place bets on horse races using their remote controls. . . . The list of online poker solutions on the market continues to grow, with CryptoLogic being the latest software provider to take a crack at it. The Toronto-based virtual gaming technology company today announced the rollout of its multi-player table poker software, CryptoLogic Poker. The game follows the central-poker-room concept in which Crypto-licensed casinos feed into a single poker site. This creates a poker community of sorts, but
more importantly, enables CrytpoLogic to quickly achieve the volume of players necessary to maintain a successful online poker service.
Wednesday, Oct. 31
Horse Bit -- Youbet.com Inc. reported a significant spike in business for Breeders' Cup 2002. The interactive race wagering service said that on the day of the event, handle increased by 83 percent and the number of simultaneous users was 28 percent higher than the previous record set during the 2002 Preakness. Breeders' Cup week (Oct. 21-27) raised the weekly handle record to $4.9 million. (The previous record, for the week of July 1-7, was $4.1 million.) CEO Chuck Champion said the company's overall numbers have been solid in recent months. "In the weeks since the 2002 Kentucky Derby, our handle, revenue and market share continue to rise, and we have repeatedly set new weekly and monthly records," Champion said. "In fact, our July and August monthly totals blew away the Triple Crown months. Our handle is up and our margins are as well."
Tidbits from Oz -- Hutchison Telecommunications out of Australia may consider carrying mobile betting and pornography services when it launches its $3 billion 3G mobile data network in early 2003, the Australian reported today. Steve Wright, the company's stakeholder relations manager, said the company acknowledges the success of interactive adult entertainment services, adding that "it is being looked at." Wright emphasized, though, that "adult services" doesn't necessarily translate to "pornography." The
company is rumored to be in talks with Playboy as well as with online sex shop Adultshop.com. On the gambling side, Wright said 3G could present a lot of opportunities in terms of delivering information. . . . Northern Territory-based online casino operator Lasseters is switching its backend software from a Microsoft-based system to a Linux-based system. The move came as a result of Microsoft raising its licensing costs.
Tuesday, Oct. 29
Name Change -- Global Sports & Entertainment Inc. has changed its name to GWIN Inc. The company, America's only publicly traded sports handicapping company, will now be traded under the symbol "GWINI."
UK Bit -- Financial spread betting company City Index has garnered the interest from several High Street banks looking to make more money than brokering stock is currently allowing them to make. While traditional stock broking business has slumped under the economic downturn, financial spread betting firms like City Index, Financial Spreads, IG Index and Cantor Index have seen their business increase. Clive Cook, chief executive of City Index, said brokers are hurting for business. "You can hear a pin drop at many brokers. They are doing very little business," he said. "We have a range of products that are attractive to them and so we are talking to online and offline brokers and many very
large organizations about joint ventures. We could provide the products and the expertise while they could brand them for their customer base."
Legal Stuff -- The New York State Racing and Wagering Board is investigating six Breeders Cup bets totaling $2.5 million that were made by the same person at an upstate off-track betting shop. One of the bets was allegedly made after four of the races were over. Stacy Clifford, spokeswoman for the racing board, said the tickets have been frozen while the situation is being reviewed.
Makin' Deals -- CYOP Systems International Inc. has reached an agreement with Rawhide Search Solutions Inc. through which CYOP has been given a license to use the Rawhide Toolbar on its CrediPlay skill-games network.
Monday, Oct. 28
Bit from Down Under -- Lasseters Online has a new Club Lounge feature that allows players to choose from 10 more games, including five new slots, two new video pokers and new roulette, baccarat and blackjack games. Bronze, silver and gold members will be taken directly to the lounge area when signing in at www.lasseters.com. Players who prefer the traditional games can simply click on a button labeled "back to main games."
New Stuff -- Chartwell Technology Inc. is releasing a new version, Version 4.0, of its online gaming software. The company, which is based in Calgary, added multi-language and currency features to the new edition. It also includes new games like Red Dog and Casino War table games. Darold H. Parken, president and CEO, said of the no-download, Flash program: "We are extremely excited about this new version of our Flash product and
once again we feel we are setting the standard for online browser-based gaming software."