Case Delayed -- Casino City's appeal in its First Amendment declaratory judgment case against the U.S. Department of Justice will probably be delayed at least until the beginning of 2006 as a result of the damage suffered by the U.S. Gulf Coast. The case is pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which is located in New Orleans, the city that inflicted the most damage by Hurricane Katrina.
Betbull in Retail -- European betting exchange operator Betbull will acquire 100 percent of the German retail bookmaker the Leip Group for 10 million euro and 700,000 ordinary shares of Betbull. The deal will become effective on October 1st, and Betbull says it is an important step in the company's establishing itself as a leading retail betting provider in continental Europe. The Leip Group operates 80 retail shops under the Wettenleip brand, and in the year 2004 the company reported 1 million euro in profit off of 51.7 million euro in turnover and 8.1 million euro in revenue.
I-gaming Japan -- Japanese Internet group Softbank Corp., which runs the Yahoo broadband service in Japan, has signed a deal with the lwate Prefecture Horse Racing Association that will allow it to become Japan's first company to offer betting online. Beginning in April 2006, Softbank will begin taking bets over the Internet on races at two courses in lwate Prefecture, which is about 250 miles north of Tokyo. The company says that if the venture proves successful it will spread the service to other regional races.
Mobile Party -- Gibraltar-based online gaming giant PartyGaming has taken its first step toward making its products available over mobile networks by launching a java version of its Starluck Casino site. Developed in cooperation with Cellectivity, a London-based developer and marketer of mobile solutions for online merchants, Starluck Casino Mobile currently offers European Roulette and Golden Gopher slot machines for fun or real money. PartyGaming and Cellectivity will continue to work together to launch more mobile games and eventually roll out a mobile version of the world's largest online poker room, PartyPoker.
PXP On WWTS -- Antigua-based betting operation BetWWTS.com has expanded its product offering by launching the PXP Live Play-by-Play wagering platform. Until now the PXP system was only available on CyberSportsBook.com, which was this year acquired by BetWWTS' parent company Betcorp. PXP allows punters to place wagers on the outcome of individual plays within a contest. For American football games for example, odds for a number of betting propositions are posted on the wagering interface, and bettors can wager as little as $1.00 on any play. The system displays real time results, including payouts based on the odds and amount wagered.
Donation Rejected -- The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York has rejected Sportsbook.com's proposed donation of Barry Bonds' 700th home run baseball. The Sportingbet-owned gambling site reportedly offered the ball with no strings attached, but the Hall of Fame "will never accept artifacts from any company known to be involved with gambling," said spokesperson Jeff Idelson. Sportsbook.com purchased the ball for $85,000 in June through a public auction in New York.