Partners -- British I-gaming software provider Orbis has announced a partnership with Ash Gaming (formerly known as Ash Leucker), which is also an interactive games provider. Together the companies will continue to develop games that can be delivered over a variety of digital channels. Earlier this week Orbis announced that it had acquired another I-gaming software provider named NT Media. Orbis is a wholly owned subsidiary of open end-to-end digital pay TV solutions company NDS Group Plc, which is itself a subsidiary of News Corporation.
Party on the Footsie -- Two months after floating on the London Stock Exchange, PartyGaming will soon join the FTSE 100 index. Changes to the index are based upon Tuesday's closing prices and will take affect on September 19th. Although PartyGaming suffered a sharp decline of more than 33 percent of its share price earlier this week as it announced a slowdown in revenue growth, the company is still valued at £4.2 billion, making among the market's 100 biggest customers.
Virtual Girl -- New online poker site GreenTiePoker.com has launched a new Virtual Girl Game, a free true-or-false quiz game that tests players' knowledge of women and poker. Questions are asked by supermodel Carey Lassard, who is currently training to join the World Poker Tour next year. Carey bares a little more flesh every time a player answers a question correctly, and any player who completes the game without missing a question earns an automatic $20 deposit in their account. Every quarter GreenTiePoker will select a new model to serve as the game's Virtual Girl. Operated in Antigua by eWorld Holdings, Inc—which also operates UltimateBet.com and UltimatePoker.com—GreenTiePoker belongs to the Excapsa network, which has a combined customer base of more than one million.
Self Ban -- Australia's largest betting company, Tabcorp, has launched a self-exclusion service called BetCare that allows gambling addicts to ban themselves from accessing their Internet or phone betting accounts. The service also allows addicts to access free help from the Wesley Gambling Counselling Service.
FIFA Task Force -- Following of string of revelations of corruption in European football in the last year, FIFA will soon establish a task force to deal with bribery, betting and match-fixing. After a meeting in Zurich on Wednesday between officials from FIFA and UEFA, FIFA issued a statement indicating that FIFA President Sepp Blatter will submit a proposal to the FIFA Congress suggesting that "a special task force be set up to examine these issues in more detail and determine appropriate action and solutions."
Marketing in China -- A pink sheets-listed firm called Dragon Venture, which seeks to become a holding company of hi-tech firms in China, announced last week that one of its subsidiaries, Yastand Hong Kong International Group Company, Limited, has signed a letter of intent to acquire the exclusive marketing rights for Costa Rica-based online poker site CardRoom.net. Yastand will market the poker site in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and will receive a 40 percent payout on all revenues received by CardRoom.net's operator Green Dolphin Marketing. Dragon Venture's CEO Lawrence Wang says his company is currently formulating a marketing strategy with marketing professionals in the Chinese gaming industry.