Friday, July 11
News from the UK -- ic Liverpool reported today that Stanley Leisure, the Liverpool-based gaming group, is preparing to bid for the state-owned Tote betting network if the government decides to sell it. The group announced Thursday that it has secured a £275 million war chest for possible future acquisitions. The Tote owns 400 betting shops and holds the monopoly on pool betting in the United Kingdom.
This Bites -- AngelCiti Entertainment's Worldwide Management subsidiary announced today that it's donating, through its SharkCasino.com site, an undisclosed amount of money to support The Pelagic Shark Research Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Santa Cruz, California. The money will be raised through an online video poker tournament and will be used to pay for research and marine equipment and supplies for the foundation. The foundation will market the tournament to members.
Oh Brother... -- Where there's reality TV there's Internet betting, and BetWWTS.com is always in the thick of it. The Antigua-based online sports book, well known for taking wagers that are out of the ordinary, today announced odds for Big Brother 4. The latest edition of the CBS reality series began this week with a twist when five of the eight original houseguests discovered that their exes were moving into the house.
Thursday, July 10
Names and Faces -- The Las Vegas law firm Snell and Wilmer is planning a gaming practice with the help of two lawyers, Lou Dorn and Brad Kerby. Dorn is a former chief of the securities division of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and a former deputy attorney general for the Nevada Attorney General's Office. Kerby is the former vice president and corporate counsel and secretary of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. Snell and Wilmer has more than 350 lawyers in six cities.
News from Down Under -- The Australian group of racing ministers have released their recommendations relating to person-to-person betting exchanges. The group, which formed in February, is advising that the betting exchanges not be licensed and regulated in Australia and that the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001 be expanded to make them illegal.
Wednesday, July 9
Asian Bit -- North Korea's Korea Lotto Joint Venture began selling lottery tickets via the Internet on Sunday. The company is apparently advertising that many lotteries around the world do not do their part to inform players about the total lottery sales amount and prize percentages.
Legal Stuff -- The Hong Kong Legislative Council today voted to legalize soccer betting in the SAR, the Associated Press and Reuters are reporting. Those representatives in favor of the bill said it would provide Hong Kong some much-needed new tax revenue and would also allow individuals to make up their own minds about wither to bet or not. Opponents, such as Cheng Kar-foo, said it would cause people to be "gambling like crazy." Selina Chow, a pro-business representative, said legalizing the practice does not mean the government is endorsing it. "Soccer betting should not be linked to morality," she said. "We are only legalizing soccer betting, not encouraging it." Last summer the LegCo made all offshore and Internet gambling illegal except for the online gambling activities operated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Tuesday, July 8
Making Deals -- Boss Media is announcing an agreement for an Internet casino with HIT Enterprise, the state-owned casino and hotel association in Slovenia that operates five casinos. HIT's casinos accommodates 1.5 million visitors per year, 90 percent of whom are from other countries. Peter Bertilsson, CEO of Boss Media, said the deal gives his group a foothold in a geographical area where gaming is increasingly popular. "HIT is a perfect customer for us, as it operates in a region where there is a rapidly growing market for the type of gaming products we develop and supply."
New Stuff -- Parlay Entertainment Ltd. announced today that WinwardCasino.com is the first online casino to launch with Parlay's fully functional suite of wireless casino games. The site opened for business on June 27. "Players can now experience the next level of functionality, enjoying a wide range of gaming options from both their PC and wireless device with one WinwardCasino.com account," said David Outhwaite, CEO of Parlay. The wireless service works on cell phones and PDAs powered by PocketPC or PalmOS. The wireless games were developed in conjunction with Phantom Fiber.
Semi-New Stuff -- Peak Entertainment yesterday announced the re-launch of its One on One Online Casino. The online casino is "invitation only," and to receive an invitation, interested players must fill out a request on the front page of the site. Peak says the site offers a higher level of customer service than most Internet gambling sites, and that it includes perks like concierge services, higher table stakes and customized billing systems. "Our focus is simply delivering the utmost, personalized service solely devoted to the dedicated, discriminating casino player, enabling us to provide the ultimate online casino experience," said Shelley Noon, the VIP manager.
Hong Kong Bit -- About 24 Christians kept an overnight vigil outside Hong Kong's Legislative Council building to protest the impending legalization of soccer betting, the Associated Press reports. The protestors sang hymns and cried, and one held a sign that said "soccer betting will ruin your life." The bill that would legalize the practice is to be considered by the LegCo on Wednesday, and so far it is unclear whether the bill has enough votes to pass. The Hong Kong government says that it could raise about $192 million per year in tax revenue from soccer betting.
Tidbit from Germany -- Scaraboo, a German company, is developing a wireless betting platform for horse racing that will work on both UTMS and WAP technology. "The UTMS horse racing platform opens up the path to new applications with a high level of interactivity," said Dietrich Ulmer, CEO of Siemens Mobile Acceleration, which is a funder of Scaraboo. "The Scaraboo platform focuses on concrete benefits for the user."
Monday, July 7
Hong Kong News -- A bill allowing soccer betting in Hong Kong is expected to pass the Legislative Council on Wednesday, but various anti-gambling groups in the SAR are still fighting against it, the South China Morning Post reported today. The Great Coalition to Oppose Legalization of Soccer Betting is composed of 55 Christian, social welfare and education groups, and it gathered outside the LegCo building over the weekend to show its disapproval of the bill. Their main argument is that not enough consideration has been given to the topic. "The government has said that legalizing soccer gambling was needed to fight illegal bookmaking," said Wong Hak-lim, the spokesman for the group. "But it has so far failed to tell how serious the problem is."
Bit from Down Under -- Australia's moratorium on betting exchanges is going to be lifted this week, thereby allowing the exchanges--companies like Betfair--to apply for sports wagering licenses. The lifting will possibly coincide with the betting exchange taskforce releasing the results of its study on the impact of online betting exchanges. The taskforce was initiated in February by state racing ministers. The Australian Financial Review reports that Betfair has already been approached by several gaming ministers about the possibility of licensing the P2P betting operation.
Names and Faces -- Ed Stevens has been hired by TBG, a digital marketing company, to oversee its casino division, where he will handle clients such as Ritz Casino, The Gaming Club and 32red. Stevens is the former online marketing manager for the Stanley Leisure Internet casino. He has also worked for Casino Atlantis Online and Aspinalls. ... Chartwell Technology Inc. of Calgary has appointed Don Gleason as its CFO. Gleason has 17 years of experience in the information technology industry, and for the last nine years he led EFA Software's financial planning. ... Blake Tohana is being appointed as an executive vice president and CFO by Magna Entertainment Corp. , effective July 28. Tohana was most recently with Fireworks Entertainment Inc. , where he was the executive vice president of corporate development. Graham Orr, currently the executive vice president and CFO of Magna Entertainment Corp., will be leaving his post to join Magna International Inc. as an executive vice president.
Lotto Update -- Recently proposed changes to the United Kingdom's National Lottery has some people in Scotland fearing that the re-organized and more centralized lottery won't benefit Scottish charities enough. John Swinburne, a Scottish member of parliament, is proposing that Scotland launch its own lottery that would solely support Scottish charities. "Scotland should apply to do its own lottery with all the funds from that ploughed back into Scotland," Swinburne said. "At the moment, (the lottery) is controlled down south, and very little comes to Scotland."
Canadian Tidbit -- A judge in Ontario has ruled that a man who stole money from the Canadian Forces to supply his gambling habit will not have to serve jail time because the government is partially responsible for causing gambling addiction since governments are the beneficiaries of gambling. "The federal, provincial and, to some extent, municipal governments must share some of the responsibility for creating people who fall prey to this addiction," said Justice Paul Belanger. "The same might be said if the government started selling cocaine."