New Age Bets in Financial Trouble
Another shadow has been cast over the offshore sports betting industry with news that New Age Bets sports book and casino is in financial trouble.
The site posted a message to its users informing them that a number of rumors about the site had been circulated and the operators wanted to set the record set.
According to the message, the site owes four gamblers around $300,000. It owes another 200 customers around $400,000, and is $500,000 short of being able to take care of these debts.
Officials said they intend to pay back all bettors promptly and have been in communication with all account holders who are owed money.
Laws Regarding Sports Book Ads Ambiguous
In a report carried by the New York Post on Sunday, the chief of the New York state attorney general's Internet division said, "What we don't know is whether the courts would consider those who carry advertisements of illegal operations as facilitators."
The statement was made in regard to the controversy surrounding Costa Rica-based Betonsports.com's major advertising blitz throughout Manhattan.
The ad campaign includes two billboards (one outside the Lincoln Tunnel and another near the Long Island Expressway), local cable stations, radio spots and ads on 250 cabs.
On Friday, Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus ordered the remaining ads removed.
New York Attorney General Elliott Spitzer has been especially aggressive in trying to stop online gambling activity within the state. In recent months he has ordered both PayPal and CitiBank to stop conducting business with Internet casinos and sports books.
Betonsports CEO David Carruthers insisted there was nothing the attorney general's office could do to keep his company from advertising in the state.
"I'm licensed where I am and I see nothing wrong with it," Carruthers told the Post. "There is still freedom of speech in America."
Luvbet.com Ceases Trading
Garry O'Halloran, sole director of Luvbet.com, informed users of his site on Tuesday that he is pulling the plug on the operation.
The follow message was posted on the site:
"Yesterday whilst attending the I-gaming conference in Barcelona I received a call from the Irish helpdesk that 2 clients phoned re cheque payments which were dishonoured," the statement read. "I immediately phoned the Bank of Ireland to investigate and was informed that an error of a minor nature may have occurred. Late last evening I was informed that a total of 9 cheques were returned unpaid. No further information was forthcoming. This development took me totally by surprise. On returning to Ireland this morning I sought immediate clarification from the Bank of Ireland with regard to the traumatic change in circumstances. At 5:25pm this evening I was advised that the bank would not guarantee further payment of cheques presented."
"Once this information was available, I immediately suspended trading as to continue for even a short time would be reckless," the statement continued. "I affirm my commitment that all transactions and deposits will be honoured. Due to my current financial embarrassment I am not in a position to state when. I deeply regret the consequences visited upon luvbet clients, many of whom have become close personal friends throughout the past 3 1/2 years. We will post further information on this page once the situation has been clarified over the next few days."
O'Brien-Trained Horse is Breeders Cup Favorite
Coral Eurobet opened betting on the Breeders Cup Juvenile on Thursday and immediately made the Aiden O'Brien-trained Hold That Tiger the 5-1 second favorite. Sky Mesa is Coral's 7-2 favorite for the race, which will see Hold That Tiger looking to emulate stablemate Johannesburg, who won last year's race.
Coral spokesman Simon Clare said the Cup should create a lot of betting action and excitement from European bettors, as has been the case in the past.
"Hold That Tiger must have an outstanding chance of repeating Johannesburg's win last year," he said. "He has the form, the breeding and the trainer to beat the best of the U.S. on their own surface."
Coral also opened betting on the Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies and make Storm Flag Flying the even-money favorite.
The company is now offering betting on all eight Breeders Cup races taking place at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.
Angels Favored in First World Series
The Anaheim Angels are 8-11 favorites to win their first-ever World Series against their West Coast rivals, the San Francisco Giants.
Having booked their place in baseball's showpiece series after a 4-1 American League Championship Series play-off win over Minnesota, the Angels have been fancied by both the Tote and Paddy Power.
Bet365 also has Anaheim as the favorite but is going a little longer at 10-13.
San Francisco, in the World Series for the first time since 1989 after beating St Louis, are currently 11-10 across the board, with Game One of the best-of-seven series starting on Saturday.
Sportingbet Still Looking to Grow
Online gaming group Sportingbet.com held its annual shareholders meeting last month and reported healthy customer growth to shareholders for the seasonally quieter first half of its fiscal year.
From March 31 to the end of fiscal 2001, the company generated an additional 141,000 customers, swelling its account base to more than 699,000. More than 72,000 of these new accounts were the result of organic growth, and 68,000 came with the acquisition of SportingOdds in July.
The company has previously indicated that marketing spend to add one new customer tends to cost between £300-£500, so it remains in the hunt for acquisitions that will add an established customer base to their own.
It has also launched an exchange betting site, to take advantage of the rapidly growing peer-to-peer market. Betfair, the P2P gaming market leader, is on course to achieve as much as £2 billion in matched bets this year.
Sopranos Betting Action Piques Gamblers' Interest
America’s most popular mob family returned for another season when the premiere episode of the fourth season of The Sopranos aired on HBO recently.
When last season ended, the turmoil in the crime family seemed to be hitting a high point with people going behind Tony Soprano's back, family members facing criminal charges and the Feds trying new ways to infiltrate the family.
BetWWTS.com announced odds on the first Sopranos character to be die during the upcoming season of the show.
The site listed Ralph Cifaretto as the favorite to be the first character killed during the upcoming season at 5/6 odds. Uncle Junior, whose cancer is in remission, is listed at 8/5 odds, while Furio Giunta is at 2/1 odds. Surprisingly, two of Tony's top confidants, Paulie Walnuts and Christopther Moltisanti, are listed with relatively low odds at 3/1 and 4/1, respectively.