New Stuff -- U.K.-based Littlewoods Leisure today launched the Isle of Man's third licensed online casino. Powered by CryptoLogic's I-gambling software, Littlewoodscasino.com features 16 single and multiplayer casino games. The new site also offers numerous consumer safeguards, including player identification; physical address verification; deposit, withdrawal and bet limits for fraud control, anti-money laundering and responsible gaming; an account lock feature; online player game and e-cash logs; and geographic restrictions. Littlewoodscasino.com will not accept bets from U.S. players. Littlewoods is one of five companies awarded online casino licenses from the Manx government, which intends to issue at least seven more licenses. ... Amid ongoing heated debates in the United Kingdom over the possible taxing and regulating of betting exchanges, British sports betting technology group Orbis, is throwing its hat in the person-to-person betting ring. The company announced today the launch of its P2P betting product "BetX." The new feature is available as an add-in module to Orbis' OpenBet system or as a standalone system. It facilitates bets on all types of sporting events as well as on financial markets. Currently an Internet-only application, BetX will eventually be available through mobile devices and interactive TV. It also has multilingual and multi-currency capabilities. ... Doubling everyone's pleasure, Orbis additionally announced the upcoming launch of a virtual racing product called I-Race. The system will enable bettors to own and train virtual horses and then watch them race in real time online. Players will bet on races or buy a horse to play the I-Race management game with a chance of winning real cash. All bets will be pooled. I-Race is the first offering from VIS iTV, a joint venture between Telewest (England's second biggest cable TV provider) and computer games developer VIS Entertainment.
Tidbit from Sin City -- For one week, the casino entertainment capital of the world will also be the center of attention for gaming businesses. The doors at the second annual Global Gaming Expo show opened today to thousands of gaming professionals from all over the world. Among several highlights of this year's expo is an interactive gaming pavilion, where 50 industry suppliers and operators are showcasing their products and services. On the conference side, there will be a one-day supplementary symposium dedicated to interactive gambling as well as a handful of I-gaming sessions at the main conference. Topics include regulatory issues; the conversion of offline and online gambling; interactive television; marketing strategies; transaction processing and more.
Tidbit the UK -- Thoroughbred Times reported today that Ladbrokes PR director Mike Dillon has been the subject of a three-year inquiry by England's Jockey Club into his relationship with jockey Michael "Mick" Kinane. The British Broadcasting Corp. has reportedly received permission from an English High Court to air a program featuring surveillance photographs of Dillon and Kinane. The regularly featured program, "Panorama," will show the photos later this month during a show about corruption in racing. Dillon hasn't been accused of wrongdoing, but Thoroughbred Times reported that former Jockey Club head Roger Buffham referred to Dillon's relationships within the industry as "inappropriate."