Wimbledon Betting Bust
Betting exchange Betfair contacted tennis authorities Tuesday after heaps of money was bet on a seemingly insignificant opening round match of Wimbledon that was won by Britain's Richard Bloomfield. Betfair reported that up to £340,000 was bet on the favored Carlos Berlocq of Argentina to lose just hours before he went down 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to Bloomfield in Tuesday's match. Betfair reported the oddity to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), with whom it has an information-sharing agreement, as well as the Grand Slam Committee. The bodies are now investigating the reports.
Legalized Betting in Vietnam
Vietnamese Sports Minister Nguyen Danh Thai spoke to the press this month about possible plans to legalize football betting by next year, though he stressed that a football-betting proposal has not been fully drafted yet and that there are still many issues to be discussed and reviewed. He further said that betting would become legal once the government approves the proposal, which would probably be in another year or two. Legal betting, according to Thai, is betting placed with firms approved by the government and he said there would be a limit placed on the amount a person can bet on a game, but that number had not been decided.
ISWI es Muy Caliente
Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Global Interactive Gaming Limited (GIG), signed a letter of intent June 12 with Latin American gaming company Hipodromo de Agua Caliente S.A. de C.V. (Caliente). Caliente owns or operates 160 betting shops, known as Race & Sports Books, throughout Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. GIG will provide its patented SportXction software, which will enable Caliente to offer an enhanced play-by-play sports betting service in its betting shops. SportXction will also be deployed on Caliente's website in Spanish. Completion of the deal is expected within 45 days.
World Cup Deals and Scandals
Malaysian police reportedly busted a major gambling syndicate near Kuala Lumpur this month and arrested 18 men for taking illegal bets on World Cup football matches. The gang netted an average of $272,000 on bets placed through the Internet. Police said that since the World Cup began on June 9, they have conducted 22 raids and arrested 56 bookies in Selangor. Football gambling is illegal in Malaysia, but analysts estimate that some $1.37 billion dollars or more is wagered annually on English Premier League and other matches via illegal bookies. Malaysian police have been working with their counterparts in Hong Kong and Singapore to nab illegal bookmakers during this year's tournament.
Three people have been sued in Beijing during the World Cup for participating in an online football gambling scheme, the Beijing Daily reported. According to the paper, in a case involving RMB 7 million (US $875,000), three suspects who acted as agents for overseas gambling sites organized football gambling through dozens of local subsidiaries that were charged a fee for the ability to operate within the offshore firms' network. The person who reported the trio operated one of the twelve subsidiaries. He began online football betting in 2003 and lost RMB 8 million (US $1 million) in three years. To pay for the debt, he mortgaged his house and his mother's restaurant and in turn, she mortgaged her sister's restaurant and house. In desperation, the man reported his own crime and cooperated with police to catch the three suspects. According to current Chinese laws, the maximum sentence for gambling is three years.
Online gambling company PinnacleSports.com launched June 7 a portal providing up-to-the-second World Cup information, odds and statistics for gamblers worldwide. World Cup Live 2006 includes updated odds, match results, group standings, upcoming schedules and statistics on every game played during the month-long tournament. The site includes a link to the PinnacleSports betting site for player to place bets after reviewing the information. World Cup Live 2006 includes betting options with limits of up to $50,000, plus a 6-cent line on Asian handicaps, which accounts for substantial savings of $12 on each $100 bet.
Unibet.com has launched a World Cup-themed game developed by software provider GTS as part of its World Cup promotion. All players that stake at least 1 euro and score at least one goal in the game during a specified week will be entered into a draw in which they can win a ticket to the World Cup Final
Eleven elephants in Thailand, each one's back painted with a different national flag and carrying a rider, played football against 11 humans June 22 in a campaign to show the game is about fun and not gambling. The game ended in a 3-3 draw.
The UNiTAB Saga
Gaming group Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. launched a takeover bid June 1 for UNiTAB Ltd. that trumped rival lottery/gaming operator Tattersall's Ltd.'s offer. Tabcorp offered A$14.25 per UNiTAB share, assuming Tabcorp shares remain at a value of between A$15 and A$17--either between 0.84 and 0.95 Tabcorp shares per UNiTAB share, or A$8.25 cash and between 0.35 and 0.40 Tabcorp shares per UNiTAB share. Tattersall's offer was at a value of A$12.90--offering 4.33 of its shares for each UNiTAB share, plus A$522 million for an alternative cash offer of A$14 per UNiTAB share.
UNiTAB's board on June 6 rejected Tabcorp's offer, however, stating that it prefers the merger deal with Tattersall's. The A$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion) bid from Tabcorp would value UNiTAB--the continent's second largest gambling company--at A$14.25 per share, which is 60 cents below its current trading price.
On the other hand, the proposal from Tattersall's, Australia's largest lottery company, values UNiTAB at a lower price--about A$1.7 million, but it would give UNiTAB greater control of its business, with half the board of the newly merged company coming from UNiTAB. The merged company would also have the opportunity to extend its wagering services into Victoria, but only if it is successful in winning the license away from its current holder, Tabcorp.
Tabcorp has now attacked Deloitte Corporate Finance, who conducted an independent review of the merger proposal between UNiTAB and Tatt's, saying it gave UNiTAB an inflated valuation. The report endorsed the proposed A$1.7 billion "merger of equals" in the absence of a higher offer.
UNiTAB chief Dick McIlwain said June 13 that the attack is doing nothing to help shareholders decide which offer is more attractive and that both companies might want to now consider upping the ante.
Recently, Tattersall's said it would not rule out increasing its bid for UNiTAB.