New Exchange -- Gaming Bourses-- a London-based portal for financials, commodities, media, political and sports betting exchanges-- announced last week that it intends to raise £5 million by floating on the Alternative Investments Market of the London Stock Exchange sometime around June 11. The company, which plans to add 8 million shares, is likely to have an issue price of 68p, which should set its market cap around £30 million. Hamish Raw, a former options trader who set up a company called FfastFill that provides software for electronic exchanges, will undertake the position of managing director of Gaming Bourses, which currently has 149 private investors and plans to go live next month.
Bid Rejected -- Tab Ltd. last week rejected Tabcorp Holdings' AU$2.07 billion takeover bid. According to NSW-based Tab, an independent expert report found that it was worth as much as $AU2.3 billion. The door seemed open for Victoria's Tabcorp to pursue a merger with Tab after it reached a compromise with Queensland's UNiTAB whereby UNiTAB would acquire certain assets of Tab and Tabcorp in exchange for leaving the bidding battle. Tabcorp said it would only raise its bid if Tab received a higher bid or if it struggled to gain 90 percent control of Tab.
eBet Deal -- eBet Ltd. has signed a deal to supply and operate a linked jackpot system in four Native American casinos in California. The company expects to generate US$7 million in revenue and $1 million in EBITDA during its first year. eBet could possibly expand across 26 more casinos in California, each of which operates about 1,000 machines each. To fund the initial roll-out of the project the company placed 24,613,800 ordinary shares at $0.09 per share, thereby raising $2,215,242 from investors.
South Africa -- Phumelela Gaming and Leisure, a company that owns seven racecourses in South Africa and operates horse race wagering and tote betting through a network of agencies and call centers around the country, plans to soon launch www.saf-tote.com, a site that would allow bettors to place bets online. The company is also planning to unveil betting via mobile phones and to increase the number of tote betting outlets in South Africa.
Channel 4 -- Channel 4 is close to signing a deal with an interactive TV betting partner that would allow viewers of Big Brother 5 to bet via remote control on which contestant they think will win the competition, and the channel's betting service could also extend to some of its other programs, such as cricket coverage. Andy Taylor, head of 4Interactive, the division overseeing Channel 4's iTV online and mobile activities, said, "We know betting is one of the things that works on iTV, but it's never been done behind a terrestrial broadcast, so it's going to be a massive project for us." Channel 4 is also negotiating a separate deal that would allow it to add iTV betting to its horse racing coverage.
New Blue Squares -- Blue Square will next month launch a new online casino called simply "Blue Square Casino." A little later in the year the company will also launch a poker room called "Blue Square Poker." Software for the new sites has been developed by Wagerworks, and users will be able to use the same account to play at both new sites as well as Blue Square's already existing sports book.
Poker Betting -- Betting on who will emerge as champion of the World Series of Poker is not allowed at Nevada casinos, but offshore books are more than happy to post lines on players. Bodog.com lists odds and prices on 51 of the top players and allows bettors to bet on the field at 5-7, meaning the bettor would win if any of the unlisted players win the tournament.
Stepping Down -- Michael Grade has stepped down as chairman of Camelot, the operator of Britain's National Lottery, to accept a position as chairman of the BBC. He will begin his role in that office today.
Pokerface -- PokerWorld.com announced that the winner of the PokerWorld Championship Tournament will win US$500,000 and will then go on to face a masked competitor known as "Pokerface" in a live, televised heads-up event called the "PokerWorld Million Dollar Showdown." Should the online champion win the battle, he will win at least $625,000, and Pokerface would be forced to unmask; but if Pokerface wins, his identity remains secret and the pot will be carried over to next year's event. Satellite tournaments for entry to the PokerWorld Championship Tournament begin June 1, The PokerWorld champion will be crowned Nov. 14, 2004, and the Pokerface Showdown will be held on Nov. 28, 2004.
Hill TV -- William Hill has signed a deal with Digital Interactive Television Group to launch its own branded television channel with live events and editorial content later in the year. Satellite viewers will place bets and play interactive games by pressing the red button on the remote control.
No Exchange Regs -- The Sunday Times reports that British ministers plan to reject calls by members of Parliament to treat betting exchanges differently than other betting Web sites. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell is expected to announce later this month that the government will not adhere to some of the joint scrutiny committee's main recommendations dealing with betting exchanges.