Friday, July 25
Data Hub -- A recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows that offshore financial centers could reduce in number to 20 from 90 during the next five years. "The trend to erode protection and enforce the exchange of information is putting pressure on the offshore centers," the report states. "It is evident that wealth managers will continue to consolidate their operations and reduce the number of offshore centers in which they operate to one key center in each region."
Quoteworthy I -- "Gambling at this point in my relatively staid, wholesome family life represents a real outlet for the id. If you have to let your id run wild, gambling is as good a way to do it as any." -- Rudy Stegemoeller, lawyer and co-author of "How to Win a Million," quoted July 25, 2003 in the New York Law Journal
Quoteworthy II - "If 'Seabiscuit' has a weakness, it's the movie's curious indifference to betting. Horses race and bettors bet, and the relationship between the two is as old as time, except in this movie, where the Seabiscuit team seems involved in pure sport and might even be shocked! shocked! to learn that there is gambling at the track." -- Roger Ebert, film critic, in a review of the movie "Seabiscuit," in the Chicago Sun Times, July 25, 2003
Thursday, July 24
Making Deals -- Access Gaming Systems Europe said today that it has signed a new five-year contract with the French State Lottery -- La Francaise des Jeux -- which uses Access' "Xenia" interactive gaming product. Paul Barnes, vice president of sales and marketing for Access, said the French State Lottery is his group's flagship client. "LFDJ have created an extremely interesting product set and AGS is supplying some of the key enabling technology to help them fulfill their business objectives on interactive channels," he said.
UK News -- New Media Zero reported today that Sky Digital and Avago, an interactive gaming channel on the Sky platform, have made an agreement regarding Sky's announcement earlier this month that by July 21 it would not allow gaming operators to offer non fixed-odds gaming. The agreement includes changes to Avago's offerings to make the channel comply with Sky's new rules.
Names and Faces -- Magna Entertainment Corp. is announcing the resignations of Ed Hannah, its executive vice president of corporate development and general counsel; and Peter Beresford, its vice president for marketing and strategic planning. Hannah is leaving for a position with Magna International Inc. and Beresford is pursuing other business opportunities.
Wednesday, July 23
Legal Stuff -- The European Commission is requesting more information from Greece about its July 29, 2002 law making it illegal to play any game on a computer in public. The commission, which sent the country a letter last October warning it that the law could violate the European Commission treaty on the free movement of goods, is saying that the law is a possible infringement of European Union Directive 98/43/EC, which requires nations to notify the Commission if they are going to regulate the online distribution of goods and services.
Congrats -- Michael Shackleford of Wizard of Odds is the winner of the Alaskan Carnival Cruise that Casino Pays gave away during this year's Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo in Montreal. The promotion was part of Casino Pays' grand opening celebration for CarnivalCasino.com.
Tuesday, July 22
Names and Faces -- Paddy Power plc is appointing Nigel Northridge to its board of directors. Northridge is the chief executive of Gallaher Group plc.
Testing -- Cigital Inc. recently completed an evaluation of PokerStars' random number generator to confirm its reliability and security. The Dulles, Va., company said it tested PokerStars' source code, entropy sources and documentation to make sure that the site's RNG was generating truly random seeding values. "Software that can generate reliable random numbers is an absolute requirement in the gaming industry," said Gary McGraw, the chief technology officer at Cigital. "Our analysis included extensive examination of the underlying algorithm for random number generation. We can state with confidence that use of the PokerStars RNG results in statistically random sequences used to generate the poker hands dealt on PokerStars.com. This, in turn, should provide a safe and fair gaming environment for the site's players."
New Stuff -- The Las Vegas Sands Inc. announced plans today to build what it is calling a "mega tourism development" in Cotai, which is one of the Macau islands. (Macau is a peninsula attached to mainland China that also consists of a few islands attached by bridges). The company, which owns and operates The Venetian hotel and casino in Las Vegas, also recently announced that one of its subsidiaries, Venetian Interactive, will launch an Internet gambling site.
European Stuff -- To no one's surprise, streakers emblazoned with GoldenPalace.com tattoos made their way to two of the weekend's major sporting events, the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona and the British Open. Mark Roberts jumped into the synchronized swimming pool of the swimming championship wearing only a pink tutu, red swimming cap and the Golden Palace URL. The golf streaker, Laura Gosling, was less successful and was escorted away by security before she could accomplish her goal of kissing winner Ben Curtis during the presentation of the trophy while being topless except for pasties and the URL.
Monday, July 21
Making Deals -- Terry Lillis, the chairman of Multibet.com and one of the original founders of Centrebet, said today that two publicly listed companies are interested in taking over Multibet. Multibet was launched in August of 2002 and is licensed by the Northern Territory government. "We are pleased with the intense interest exhibited by both players and other Internet gambling businesses regarding MultiBet.com," Lillis said. "We are currently on an enormous growth curve, and in terms of an acquisition, would always consider offers from other companies to purchase our business or amalgamate and work together."
Keeping Count -- Jackpot Madness said today that it has, for the third time in a year, given away a jackpot in excess of $1.5 million. The Microgaming-powered gaming network includes Lucky Nugget Casino and a variety of other sites. "We promised our players millions and we are keeping our promise," said Jennifer Nemirovsky, a representative for Jackpot Madness.
New Stuff -- Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. has launched a new version of SportXction for the U.K. Open Golf Championship. The patented system is being released by ISWI's wholly owned subsidiary, Global Interactive Gaming Ltd. and ukbetting. The new version allows GIG to offer balanced betting pools on wagers with a variety of potential outcomes, whereas the previous software only allowed betting on two outcomes. Bernard Albanese, president of ISWI, said it took 8,500 man hours put in over 11 months to make the software come to life. "The current launch will open up endless possibilities for our company and makes our games substantially more interesting," he said. "We are looking forward to utilizing the multi-sided propositions for all of our sports."
Canadian News -- Poker.com will begin beta testing on its new Skill Poker System on Aug. 1, the Vancouver-based company said today. Poker.com plans to aim the new game at U.S. and Canadian players, as well as a worldwide market. The company also said today that Microgaming will no longer license its card room software services. Poker.com is waiting on a decision from the Supreme Court of British Columbia regarding its domain dispute over the domain Poker.com.
Names and Faces -- VirtGame Corp. is adding Glenn Wichinsky to its board of directors. Wichinsky, a lawyer, holds several Nevada gaming licenses, including on as a co-owner and operator of the Regency Casino.
Bit from Asia -- The Hong Kong Jockey Club will begin taking soccer bets on Aug. 1, MSNBC is reporting. The HKJC was awarded the sole soccer betting license in the SAR last week on the heels of the Legislative Council making the practice legal. The license, which lasts for five years, will allow the HKJC to take bets on soccer leagues including those from England, German, Italy and Spain. Soccer betting will be available through on-line services, Telebet, service counters and vending machines, according to the South China Morning Post.
Tidbit from Down Under -- Peter Bridge, managing director of Lasseters Corp. , is switching its software from that of Access Gaming Systems to that of Online Gaming Systems. The change will give the company a change to launch multi-lingual sites and target markets in South America, Asia and Europe. Bridge also said the deal will save his company AU $1 million per year. Legal Stuff -- Park Place Entertainment Corp. said last week it is changing its name to Caesars Entertainment Inc. , but it appears that the domain name caesarsentertainment.com is already home to a Thai massage parlor. Park Place spokesman Robert Stewart said it is to be expected that a well-known brand like Caesars would have trademark infringement issues. "This is not a big issue," he said.
More Legal Stuff -- Australian IT quotes Vanuatu's online gambling regulator today as saying that Australia's move to block payment for online gambling through credit cards would push more business toward unregulated operators. Vanuatu's online gambling licenses are managed by a company called Interactive Gambling Consultants. Simon Fletcher, the head of the company, is suggesting a special code be given for jurisdictions like Vanuatu, which regulate and permit Internet gambling. "The federal government is cracking down, but they are not making the distinction between regulated and unregulated jurisdictions," Fletcher said.
Congrats -- U.K.-based interactive marketing company Connextra recently won the a prize for its online advertising for Ladbrokes in the New Media Age 2003 Effectiveness Awards in the category of sports and gambling. One of Connextra's advertising techniques allows its clients to change the content of the ad themselves in real time via a Connextra Internet site.