Friday, May 2
Names and Faces -- Dennis Wing is resigning his position as chairman and director of CryptoLogic Inc. , the company announced yesterday at its annual meeting. Wing is also president of Fahnestock Canada Inc. and a U.S. investment bank. Harvey Solursh will also be stepping down from the Toronto-based online software maker's board of directors.
Making Deals -- U.K. bookmaker Stanley Leisure plc is acquiring Palm Beach Club Ltd. from London Clubs International plc. Stanley Leisure, which also has an online gambling arm, will pay £36.25 million paid with cash from Stanley's present businesses. Palm Beach Club Ltd. owns the Palm Beach casino in Mayfair, London.
Thursday, May 1
US News -- On May 6 the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will mark up and vote on HR 21, the Internet gambling bill put forth by Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa. The Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill on Tuesday, April 29. Leach's bill would restrict online gambling merchants from accepting payment from Americans if they try to use a bank instrument such as a credit card or wire transfer. On Tuesday the Subcommittee also heard testimony on HR 1233, which would create a commission to study the feasibility of legalizing online gambling. It was introduced by Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.
Names and Faces -- Wednesday was the last day on the job for John Hensley, the chairman of the California Gambling Control Commission. Hensley resigned three months ago to spend more time with his family after reportedly not getting along with Indian gaming leaders. A replacement has not been named for Hensley's position, the Associated Press said. ... Pierre Bibeau will soon be appointed the leader of Loto-Quebec, Canadian newspapers reported today. The Quebec Liberal Party member will replace Gaetan Frigon, who resigned in February. Since then the position has been filled by Robert Crevier.
New Stuff -- Easybets.com and CasinoWebcam announced the development of EasybetsCasino, which will allow players at home to participate in live games taking place at a land-based facility. Tim Lambe, the CEO of Easybets, said the service would give players an added level of excitement and fairness. "By partnering with CasinoWebcam to launch EasybetsCasino, we are now able to provide our players with the same standards of fairness and integrity associated with regulated, land-based gaming," he said.
Making Deals -- SureFire Commerce announced it's become a certified and registered independent sales organization for Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard International. The designation means that SureFire can handle transactions for merchants who have both land-based business and online business. "This is a major development and a valuable asset for our company," said Mitchell Garber, CEO. "The registration and certification process is a long and serious one, and we are now ready to begin a major offensive in the U.S. card acquiring market."
Wednesday, April 30
US News -- The Associated Press reported that Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, may consider voting to legalize Internet gambling so long as residents in Utah would not be able to gamble online. During yesterday's hearing on two Internet gambling bills in the Crime Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, Subcommittee Chairman Howard Noble, R-N.C. asked on Cannon's behalf whether Utah residents could be blocked from the activity. The response, from MGM Mirage Online's Bill Hornbuckle, was that his site is able to block 99.9 percent of people from locations where Internet gambling is illegal. Last session, Cannon rejected Rep. Jim Leach's anti-Internet gambling bill because it would have interfered with Utah's ban on gambling. "Anytime you carve something out then you make it legal and that bill would essentially make gambling legal in Utah," he said. "I also have a deep reluctance to mandate what happens in the commercial market, so if we regulate gambling, it's an appropriate way to limit it and preserve the statutes of the state of Utah."
Tuesday, April 29
Making Deals -- Online gambling company betinternet.com is acquiring Oddsalive Ltd. , a bookmaker based in Malta. Oddsalive specializes in soccer betting in Scandinavian markets. Betinternet.com will buy all of Oddsalive's issued share capital for US $1 and says it will honor all customer deposits and trade creditors. Oddsalive has 14,000 registered customers and during its latest financial year it received revenues of $10.9 million.
From Down Under -- Australian media reported that Darwin-based International All-Sports would merge on May 1 with Ferncourt Pty. Ltd. , which is operated in Adelaide. Mark Read, owner of International All-Sports, said the combined entity would become "Betfair's biggest customers."
Tidbit from the UK -- The U.K. publication The Observer reported last weekend that Betdaq is employing aggressive marketing strategies to compete with Betfair, it's person-to-person betting competition. The marketing efforts include Betdaq signing up bookmakers by walking around the ring at Epson and offering its services via mobile phone.
Monday, April 28
New Stuff -- BetWWTS.com announced the opening of its land-based betting and wagering facility, the Grand Princess Casino, in Jolly Harbour in Antigua. The facility offers betting on horse racing, football, basketball, soccer and a variety of other sports as well as a full casino. Simon Noble, the CEO of BetWWTS.com, said having a bricks-and-mortar gaming site will be a marketing asset. "Opening a traditional sports book in a casino resort adds to the portfolio of gaming properties managed by BetWWTS.com while providing a distinct market advantage over other Internet gaming companies," he said. ... Zone4Play is offering a new game, called "Reals," in conjunction with the fixed odds slot machines on Sky's Avago portal in the United Kingdom. The game, a real-money slot machine, has a "cool and youthful design," according to Zone4Play. Avago has 80,000 registered viewers and has awarded £500,000 in prizes since March of this year. ... Victoria's Poker put out a press release saying that it's a site where "everyone plays," i.e., even novices and people interested in "female-friendly" games. The San Jose company states: "Women who play poker are delighted that the site is kept 'female friendly' through player protection monitoring that results in chat expulsion for lewd, offensive or threatening language or conduct. No one at Victoria's is allowed to bully anyone else, and the results make for a gentlemen and ladies [sic] game."
From Down Under -- The news site theage.com.au reported that the New South Wales government is not supportive of a proposal from Kerry Packer in favor of interactive television betting. Grant McBride, the minister for racing and gaming, has told state and federal lawmakers that the plan should be blocked because restrictions on gambling should be left in place. "It will lead to an expansion of gambling and that, because of the specific nature of it, will lead to for those people who have a gambling problem a greater risk for those people," he said. "I'm saying you don't need to have this in people's homes."
Legal Stuff -- The attorney general of New Mexico is warning consumers in her state to beware of "mail, e-mail, or other promotional information circulating about international lotteries," Attorney General Patricia Madrid specifically stated that consumers should not pay attention to promotions from the El Gordo Lottery in Spain. Madrid told her constituents "most promotions for foreign lotteries are likely to be phony." According to Madrid's office, many complaints have been received by the Consumer Protection Division about foreign lotteries requesting people's personal banking information.
Data Hub -- A study recently published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology concludes that people who narrowly miss incurring a big gambling loss will continue to risk more than gamblers who lose a jackpot. In the study, students were given tokens that could be exchanged for money at the end of the experiment. They could bet tokens on the outcome of a spinning wheel, which was manipulated, to often land on "bankrupt" or else just miss awarding a jackpot. Students who came close to hitting bankrupt ended up gambling more than those who just missed the jackpot. The study reports that the students felt it was their personal luck or skill that made them feel like they could change the chance outcome.
Names and Faces -- Mark McGuinness is leaving his position as marketing controller at betinternet.com as of April 30 after three years with the company. McGuinness said he is leaving to take a new position in London.