Thursday, April 8
Girlfriend's Account -- The British Jockey Club has released some of the details of their case against Miles Rodgers, the former managing director of Platinum Racing who was last week banned from racing for two years because he was found to have laid his own horses on Betfair. Rodgers had been using an account in the name of Joannie Richardson, his former girlfriend, to match bets four days a week, matching over £4 million a year taking turnover in the top 1 percent of Betfair's 300,000 accounts. Richardson's account actually listed an address, phone number, and pin number that belonged to Rodgers. Tuesday was the deadline for Rodgers to appeal the Jockey Club's decision.
Racing Deal -- Racecourse Holdings Trust (RHT), > which owns seven large tracks and six small ones and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Jockey Club, has reached an agreement with Channel 4 that will allow the channel to broadcast racing at its tracks for another 18 months. Cheltenham, Newmarket, Kempton, Sandown, and the six small tracks are included in the deal. Channel 4, which has covered racing for over 20 years, had earlier said that it would completely walk away from televising racing if it did not receive rights to the Cheltenham Festival.
Pop-ups -- Some online casinos have placed pop-up advertisements on the message board section of the Australian Gambler's Anonymous Web site, prompting administrators to post the warning: "Please be aware that there are pop-up advertisements in the top panel of the message board. Some of them are for online gambling, and it is recommended that you do not click any of the links." Gambler's Anonymous has so far been unable to block the pop-ups, but is currently attempting to update the site to prevent them. The group has condemned the pop-ups as an immoral attempt to lure those who are seeking help.
Quoteworthy -- "We are very pleased that the Committee, which has done an extremely thorough piece of work, has said that professional layers on exchanges should be registered, regulated, and taxed. It is a practical and sensible proposal and removes the anonymity of those layers who are quite clearly acting in way of business. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Betfair, should put this proposal into immediate effect via a Code of Practice. They should do that forthwith; they shouldn't wait for the passage of the Bill or the establishment of the Gambling Commission. We did the same with Fixed Odds Betting Terminals. We moved from our ideal position and reached an agreement with the government. It is entirely reasonable to expect immediate action on a Code of Practice."
-- Chris Bell, chief executive of Ladbrokes.
Odds on Fox -- BoDog.com is now the exclusive provider of sports lines on FoxSports.com, providing betting odds on NFL, NCAA football and basketball, NBA, NHL, and MLB. The specifics of the deal have not been disclosed, but Sports911.com, a site that frequently features articles by BoDog's CEO Cole Turner, states that BoDog paid $1 million for the exclusive privilege. Look for a story on IGN next week.
Disagreement -- CasinoWebcam, a provider of live online gaming software and services announced today that its exclusive agreement with HGN and its president Mel Molnick is still in effect and has been so since November 2003. The company also said it will vigorously enforce its rights under the agreement. The announcement comes three days after HGN announced that it had terminated its agreement with CasinoWebcam. HGN claims that CasinoWebcam may no longer use or sub-license its patent.
New Diamonds -- Software provider Diamond Games has released six new concept games that are available in all of its licensed casinos. The new offering includes two slot machines, Hidden Loot and Dash For Cash, which feature game-within-a-game bonus rounds. The company has also updated its On The Ball game and added dice to On A Roll, its instant play lotto soft games platform. Pontoon and Pirate 21, two blackjack variants, round out the new additions.
Wednesday, April 7
Security Recruits -- The British Jockey Club has attempted to strengthen its management of intelligence by recruiting three police intelligence experts to join its security staff. One of the recruits is a former chief inspector and the other two were civilian officers who specialized in managing and assessing information. The club plans to continue expanding security by recruiting a betting expert and investing in a massive IT system that could store information about every race in the country. Both measures would help the group detect irregular betting activities. Paul Scotney, the club's director of security, said he also hopes the Jockey Club can eventually become registered as an organization with access to the Criminal Records Bureau's data.
Flying Circus -- Following the success of its camel racing game, CamelLot, the fundraising betting site GoodLot has launched Flying Circus, a new Flash game that lets players bet on simulated races between planes and gyrocopters, which fly across the sky, trying to avoid ducks, balloons and UFOs.
iTV Stats -- Screen Digest, a market research and analysis company that publishes business reports on media markets, has released its iTV Betting and Gambling report, which estimates that Europe's iTV betting market should turnover 4 billion euro by 2007 with gross margins of 709 million euro. Screen Digest also found that the United Kingdom accounts for 76 percent of the iTV betting market, but speculates that by 2007 it will take only 65 percent of the market. Finland, France and Italy are expected to begin generating revenue from iTV lotteries in 2004.
State Law vs. Federal -- Lou Greenwald, the chairman of New Jersey's Assembly Budget Committee believes that a federal law which prohibits all but four states from permitting sports gambling is unconstitutional. Greenwald would like to allocate more money toward hospitals by passing legislation that would legalize sports betting in Atlantic City. "We have gambling in New Jersey. I think we've demystified the notions of corruption in the casino industry," Greenwald said. "We need to look at something that helps them and, in helping them, helps us." He believes New Jersey could win its case if it were challenged by the federal government, and Governor James McGreevey and hospital officials are eager to hear his proposal next week. New Jersey was once exempted from the federal law banning sports betting, but lost that exemption when it failed to approve sports betting by a Jan. 1, 1994 deadline.
I-Gaming in Philippines -- ABS-CBNNEWS.com reports that Philippine Sen. Robert Jaworski is preparing to file charges against Sports and Games Entertainment Corp (SAGE) for continuing to offer online gaming, even though the Supreme Court ruled in January that the company must discontinue service. The court ruled that state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) did not have the authority to grant an online gaming franchise to SAGE six years ago, and therefore declared SAGE's license null and void. IGN has been monitoring SAGE's Web site for the past four months, and despite Jaworski's complaint, it appears that the company's online gaming services are in fact shut down. Meanwhile Pagcor has launched several of its own online gaming operations with help from technology and information provider Philweb Corp.
Tuesday, April 6
Attheraces and Competition -- England's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) on Monday declared that 49 of the country's racecourses broke competition laws when they bounded together to negotiate a better broadcasting deal with the attheraces consortium three years ago. Vincent Smith, the OFT's director of competition, said, "We need to make it clear when collective selling may breach competition law. It is important that sporting bodies and others carefully assess whether collective selling agreements may restrict competition before they enter into them." The 49 racetracks will not incur a fine, but the ruling will complicate their efforts to negotiate new broadcasting deals.
Beton Float? -- Rumors speculate that Costa Rica-based online bookmaker BetonSports.com may try to capitalize on relaxed gaming laws in the United Kingdom by floating on the London Stock Exchange. The company unsuccessfully tried to float in London in 2000.
British Deregulation -- The Financial Times reported that "an influential cross-party committee of MPs and peers" is worried that deregulation could worsen gambling problems. It will therefore argue against some of the new provisions of the draft gambling bill. One of the group's main concerns is a provision that would allow casinos with more that 40 gaming tables to install an unlimited number of slot machines. The committee will also suggest that large casinos be restricted to regeneration zones. The group's arguments are likely to frustrate large U.S. companies like MGM Mirage and Isle of Capri, who have already invested much time and money into finding ideal locations for future casinos. Of course, the British government could ignore the group's recommendations, but it might then lose its support for the bill, which could delay passage beyond 2006, the government's target date. . . . The Parliamentary committee assigned to scrutinize the draft gambling bill and listen to evidence from relevant organizations and companies as well as the public will deliver its suggestions to Parliament in a written report this week.
Suns for Sale -- The Arizona Republic reports that Casino Fortune, the I-gaming company owned by John Wallis, has sent a letter of intent to Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo expressing his desire to buy the team. According to the newspapers' sources, Colangelo isn't taking the offer seriously, but Casino Fortune's spokesperson, Kevin Mercuri, insists the company's interest is legitimate. "Right now, this is about who has the wherewithal to buy an NBA team," Mercuri said. "We've been thinking about it for a long time, longer than you might think. It was part of our business plan long ago, and in light of that, we never engaged in sports betting so there is no conflict of interest."
Chartwell in Europe -- Chartwell Games Corp, a subsidiary of Canada-based online gaming software and content provider Chartwell Technology, has expanded into Europe by opening an office in London, from where it will continue to seek new clients. The company has also named Aideen Shortt as Chartwell Games' commercial director. Short recently served as marketing director for Skybet and has also held positions with Flutter.com and Coral Eurobet.
Quova's Acquisition -- Quova, Inc., which provides and develops web geography services and technologies, has acquired InfoSplit, a New York-based competitor. Quova will incorporate InfoSplit's product offerings and proprietary NetLocator technology into its own suite of solutions. The company has also welcomed InfoSplit president and CEO Cyril Houri to its management team.
Monday, April 5
Fair Gaming Advocate -- Tex Rees has been appointed as Fair Gaming Advocate for player protection body e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) by the organization's board of directors. As Fair Gaming Advocate, Rees is responsible for handling all player disputes with casinos that hold the eCOGRA seal of approval. She is experienced in customer relations and management of land-based and online gambling companies.
Downtime -- Betting exchange Sporting Options was struck by a DDoS attack that rendered it inoperable for 40 hours the weekend of the Grand National. Customers were unable to access the site from about 8 p.m. Friday night when the attack began until about noon on Sunday. Sporting Options estimates it lost between £10,000 and £15,000 during the downtime. Before the attack began, extortionists demanded that £26,500 euros to be delivered to them via Western Union, but Sporting Options refused payment. Britain's National Hi-Tech Crime Unit is now investigating the matter.
Trading Status -- The British Horseracing Board submitted a letter to Parliament's Joint Scrutiny Committee on the draft gambling bill to complain about actions taken by betting exchange Betfair, who last week placed full-page advertisements in national papers and sent letters to every member of Parliament in attempts to defend its case. The BHB says Betfair "gave the wrong and damaging impression to millions of readers, that horseracing was corrupt" It continued, "To compare laying on a betting exchange with the technical possibility which existed in theory before the advent of betting exchanges is disingenuous and reveals Betfair's true intent: to maintain their current business model, untouched in any way, no matter the cost to horseracing's reputation." The Joint Scrutiny Committee must deliver its recommendations to Parliament in a written report later this week.
Sponsorship -- Ladbrokespoker.com will initiate a six-figure online marketing campaign in July to promote the Sky Sports' Poker Million championship, which the company is sponsoring. Ladbrokes says it wants to "own the online poker space" while the tournament takes place. Ladbrokespoker.com is responsible for attracting 36 new players to the Poker Million tournament, for which first prize is $300,000.
Cross-Border Gambling -- Within the next few days the jockey clubs in Macau and Hong Kong plan to sign a pact that would permit bettors in Macau to wager on horse racing Hong Kong. Both clubs will need to obtain approval from their governments before such as agreement may take effect.
Poker Division Spins Off -- AngelCiti Entertainment's board of directors has given its online poker operations permission to spin-off from subsidiary Worldwide Management to form a separate publicly traded company. The goal is to allow the poker division to more fully exploit the quickly growing online poker market.
Quoteworthy -- "A major issue with the racing industry has always been its integrity and the probity of the industry. That's the thing that brings the industry undone. What we've seen over in Great Britain, which is the home of the racing industry, we're seeing a great cloud go over that industry as a result of internet betting and betting exchanges."
-- Grant McBride, Gaming and Racing Minister for New South Wales. McBride is pushing for a ban on Internet betting, claiming that it costs the racing industry A$10 million per year. He also advised the Federal Government to finalize a year-long inquiry into betting exchanges.
Gambling Watchdog -- Victoria's government rejected proposals to give independent powers to a new gambling watchdog--the Advocate for Responsible Gambling. A panel of social bureaucrats advised that it was not necessary for the advocate to be independent and warned that it could turn into an uncontrollable critic.
No Warrant -- TVG Network has decided not to exercise a warrant that would have allowed it to obtain 51 percent ownership and control of Youbet.com by purchasing $36.5 million worth of Youbet.com stock at $1.69 per share. TVG will instead receive 1 million shares of Youbet common stock, bringing its total ownership up to 5 million shares. In September a subsidiary of TVG Network, ODS Tecnologies, filed for injunctive relief to stop Youbet from holding a shareholders meeting that would attempt to alter the company's charter and by-laws, thereby denying TVG the opportunity to obtain a majority control in Youbet by exercising the warrant. In February Youbet agreed to withdraw its proxy proposals, and TVG agreed to drop all pending litigation. Youbet, the largest provider of horse race betting and content in the United States, will continue to carry TVG's horse racing signals.