Match Fixing -- In China, the general manager of one of the country's professional soccer teams has claimed rampant corruption is ruining the league. Yang Zuwu, general manager for Beijing Hyundai, says the China Football Association is plagued by "faked matches, black whistles (corrupt referees), betting on games and other ugly phenomena." His statements come after a fiasco involving his team on Saturday when, in protest of a referee's decision late in the game, Yang ordered his team off the field. At the time the match was tied 1-1, but in the aftermath of the incident the referee awarded the other team a 3-0 win. Yang said his decision to call the team off the field was made "after considering the overall situation and the political angles." Yang and his team might now face censure by the league.
Quoteworthy -- "Why is it that feature bookies from NSW can bet on Listed races and we cannot? Why is it that they can bet up until the start of a race when we must halt all activity in the vital 30 minutes before the jump? Why is it that we cannot stand at the races (as NSW bookies do)? And why is it that the TAB can bet at venues such as the MCG and we cannot? These are questions I have put to the Minister and his department. They seem to think I am pestering them, but what am I to do? Sit back and watch bookies from NSW, Canberra, the Northern Territory and international betting exchanges take all the riches from Victorian races when they are not even licensed here?"
--bookmaker Michael Eskander, as quoted by the Melbourne Herald Sun. Eskander has called for the resignation of Racing Minister John Pandazopoulos and other betting officials because a lack of support for local bookmakers is damaging Victoria's industry while interstate and global betting exchanges enjoy growing profits. Eskander concluded, "If we took a fraction of the energy and resources utilized by Victorian gaming authorities in attempting to outlaw betting exchanges and channeled them into developing the industry in this state we would be much better off."
American Gamblers -- Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell and The Innovation Group have co-authored a report called Portrait of American Gamblers which attempts to generally define the lifestyles, social values, gaming behavior and political preferences of gamblers in the U.S. The report is based on information from a survey of 2,500 active gamblers who have visited a casino at least once within the last year.
Mobile Lottery Results -- Lottery.com, a site operated by Games Inc. that lets users purchase lottery tickets for most of the U.S. state lotteries, has launched a new mobile service that provides lottery results via text-messaging. The service, designed by SMS Media Group, is available to cell phone subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and features results for about 200 games. There is no fee to use the service, but users may incur messaging fees from their cellular provider.
Player's Only -- PlayersOnly.com, a brand that falls under the Sportingbet flag and bills itself as the "World's Sexiest Sportsbook," has launched its own poker room with software from Boss Media. PlayersOnly's current promotion awards players a $15 bonus after their first 100 raked hands. In addition to the regular sports betting, poker, and casino gaming content, PlayersOnly features an area filled with hundreds of pictures of scantily clad female models.
Welcome Aboard -- Ian Milligan, former sales and marketing directors for Camelot, has joined mobile gaming company Million-2-1, which in June launched a non-profit lottery for charities in Greater Manchester. Established in 2000, Million-2-1 also operates online and mobile fixed-odds betting, prize competitions and other lotteries.