Friday, July 2
Bet in Flight -- British bookmaker Ladbrokes has partnered with budget airline Flybe to develop an in-flight betting service called Flybet, which would allow punters on planes to place bets and receive instant printed betting slips via AirWare hand-held terminals. The companies have already performed a trial test, permitting passengers on a Flybe flight to Portugal to wager on soccer events. To comply with U.K. licensing laws, Ladbrokes can accept bets only when the plane is outside British airspace. The plan is to have the service ready for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Starclub Closes -- I-gaming software provider Boss Media has lost another licensee with the recent closing of Netherlands Antilles-based StarclubCasino.com. The casino's operator, Futura Internet Services, is currently closing out all player accounts.
Spotlight on WorldMatch -- Malta's first licensee under its new remote gaming operations, WorldMatch, has developed an I-gaming system to "give access to the gaming sector to other entities without any commitment in terms of management, technology, finance or legal matters." WorldMatch provides a no-download gambling platform and should have similar interactive TV and mobile gambling products on the market by the end of the year. The company has signed contracts with at least six additional licensees. One of those companies, Italy-based b>Digital Bros, which owns the satellite TV channel Game Network with video games-focused programming, has contracted WorldMatch to develop a Casino Game Network-branded Web site. For now, WorldMatch is focusing on obtaining European partners, although it hopes to expand to the United States and Asia.
Busy at eCOGRA -- e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) has drafted a new list of generally accepted practices (eGAP) to which eCOGRA-approved online casinos must adhere. The organization also says that PriceWaterhouse Coopers will this month begin reviewing the eCOGRA-approved casinos to ensure that they retain compliance with eGAP. e-COGRA is finalizing plans to begin advertising to players, and a redesigned Web site is expected to be fully functional by the end of the month. The group's fair gaming advocate, Tex Rees, recently reported that she has resolved 44 customer disputes for eCOGRA-approved casinos since taking her position in April. Forty-one percent of the disputes were over slow payouts; 25 percent involved bonus issues.
Fox joins MSN -- Pointspread.com, "a non-wagering sports content site," is now the exclusive odds provider for MSN, thanks to a deal forged between MSN and FOXSports.com. Pointspread, which posts odds established by its online sports book clients, has provided odds on the FoxSports network for several months, and now that FoxSports has been integrated into the MSN network, Pointspread has inherited a much larger audience. Pointspread has revamped its Web site to coincide with the integration of FoxSports in MSN.
RichWebmaster -- I-gaming affiliate program RichWebmaster.com has added PartyBingo.com to the list of clients it promotes. Powered by iGlobalMedia software, PartyBingo is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and features several bingo games, including slots, video poker and keno. Other RichWebmaster clients include Black Widow Casino, Grand Banks Casino, Sterling House Casino and BingoVille.
Thursday, July 1
InterCasino.co.uk -- InterCasino today announced the launch of a new U.K. Sterling version of its casino at www.intercasino.co.uk. The site offers all the same games and benefits as the original. The company says one of the keys to the new Sterling casino is its manager, Jane Bentley, who can be found at the tables every day under the screen name JaneB playing, chatting and offering advice and assistance. Apparently she also offers £25 spot prizes to players who say "Hi" to her on weekends.
Under Attack -- Some of Betfair's punters were unable to access the company's services yesterday because its online betting exchange was bombarded by a DDoS attack. According to a statement posted on the site, "Betfair [has] experienced a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by criminals using the Internet which affected the main exchange website between 16:40 and 17:45. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused by this action which was entirely outside of our control."
Sandown Terminals -- Seven terminals providing free Internet access to spectators were installed on June 1 at Sandown's race course in England, but the track has decided to block access to betting sites because of complaints that punters were using the terminals to wager with Betfair. The terminals were installed to provide race-goers with more information, but according to the on-course bookies, they had become little more than unauthorized betting areas. Internet access will still be provided at Sandown, but betting sites will be blocked.
More Biz for NETeller -- Online payment processor NETeller Plc has expanded its European operations by adding two more betting sites--Victor Chandler and BetOnSports.co.uk--to its merchant base. The two companies now accept financial transactions from players with NETeller accounts.
Consolidation in Australia -- Australian Financial Review reported today that UNiTAB's chief executive, Dick McIlwain, has expressed the belief that Australia's gambling companies will continue to consolidate. His own Queensland-based company is the most likely candidate to merge with a rival in the near future. Companies like Tabcorp, which recently defeated UNiTAB in a bidding war for Tab Ltd, are likely to begin showing an interest in mergers sometime after August 31, when UNiTAb's ownership restrictions expire.
Tassie Stats -- A new report on gambling from the Tasmanian Catholic Justice and Peace Commission claims that problem gamblers account for one third of the entire Tasmanian gaming market. It also claims that the average problem gambler probably loses about $12,000 per year. Overall, Tasmanians lose $80 million per year on poker machines alone, while the state government earns $48 million from gaming revenue.
Betsson.com Poker -- P2P operator Betsson.com has announced the launch of its new poker site in partnership with PokerNetwork, which is providing a non-download Java poker system as well as a network of 2 million poker players.
Casino Giveaway? -- I-gaming software company Atlantis Internet Group Corp says it will grant a one-year license to use its online casino software to any U.S. state that passes legislation allowing online casino betting within its borders.
Wednesday, June 30
p align="justify">Youbet News -- California-based race wagering and content provider Youbet.com has joined the National Thoroughbred Racing Association as a special member, thereby gaining access to several NTRA programs. Youbet.com can now use NTRA advertising and official marks and can participate in NTRA consumer promotions such as the DRF/NTRA National Handicapping Championship. The company will also work with the NTRA on various legislative and regulatory programs in state and federal jurisdictions. Youbet.com this week appointed former Ladbrokes executive Thomas E. Chaffee to oversee the company's international business development.
APIG's Suggestions -- Britain's All Party Internet Group (APIG) today released its report on the Computer Misuse Act. Overall the report, which is the result an inquiry begun in March, suggests that the maximum punishments for cyber criminals should be strengthened. The group strongly advises that DDoS attacks become explicit violations of the Computer Misuse Act so that police and courts will take the crime seriously. Other suggestions include increasing the term for computer hacking offenses from six months to two years, ensuring that the director of public prosecutions establishes a permissive policy for private prosecutions under the Act, adding educational material about the Act to the Home Office Web site, improving information on cyber crime by using statistical sampling and drafting a new Fraud Bill. Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said the government will review the report's recommendations and make necessary amendments to the Computer Misuse Act. The newly formed Association of Remote Gambling Operators in April provided APIG with written evidence illustrating betting operators' struggles with DDoS attacks.
IASbet News -- Following the resignation of < as director and CEO in April,
IASbet has appointed Robert Edge as its new CEO. Edge replaces former CEO and Director, Roger Smeed, who resigned in April. He joined the company as chief financial officer in June 2003 and was quickly promoted to chief operating officer. A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Edge served as a senior partner for BDO and Ernst & Whinney. Today he delivered a full year profit warning, announcing that IASbet has revised its profit expectation for the year ended June 30, 2004 and expects to report a loss of $4 million over the period. He reported that remedial actions to alleviate a $3 million loss over the first half of the year had been successful, but some unfavorable betting results in May prevented the company from recovering its loss. Edge expects the company to be profitable next period. Meanwhile shares in the company have dropped from $1.92 to $.32 in the last year. Edge was also busy this week explaining that Kim Faithful, the bank manager that had stolen $17 million from the bank and then lost it to IASbet, had actually been quite a successful gambler and had won tens of millions of dollars over the course of five years before eventually losing it all. Edge said Faithful was no different than its other premium players, so the company had no reason to suspect him of stealing his funds.
Video Roulette -- Gaming & Entertainment Group, Inc, (GMEI) which provides server-based gaming systems and downloadable games for online casinos, has released a range of video roulette games and has completed developing a slot operating system for the amusement with prizes arcade market and for licensed betting offices in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company has traditionally developed Internet gaming systems, but its new central-server gaming platform now enables it to service the needs of land-based gaming operators seeking to deploy new electronic games and monitor their performance. GMEI estimates it will sell 300 devices in the second half of 2004, which should generate about $1.8 million for the company. A portion of the proceeds from the company's recent $2.45 million private placement will go toward deploying its new video roulette machines.
In New Zealand -- The New Zealand Olympic Committee rejected the TAB's proposal to allow wagering on the Olympic games in Athens this August. New Zealand's Olympic Committee said the International Olympic Committee "is clearly opposed to providing any opportunity for sports outcomes to be influenced by any form of betting on results." New Zealand's Gambling Act, which passed last year, takes effect tomorrow. The Lotteries Commission and the TAB are the only two gaming companies licensed under the bill to operate online games. Both companies, however, are restricted to selling only products that are normally sold through their retail networks. The Lotteries Commission is, thus, limited to selling only lottery products and the TAB, which has been online since 1998, may offer only sports, dog and horse betting.
Oberthur Gaming Technologies -- Lottery specialist Oberthur Gaming Technologies and Bell Canada have reached a servicing agreement that will enable Oberthur to offer infrastructure management and a wider range of solutions for Internet lottery games and applications. Bell Canada will provide Oberthur and its clients with rapid installation of technology, products specifically tailored to the needs of lottery organizations, stringent control measures offering the highest level of security, scalability to several simultaneous platforms, and around the clock service. Bell Canada will also host Web sites, manage servers and databases, and manage the entire information system.
Tuesday, June 29
p align="justify">Re-Launch -- Under new management, Privilege Casino has re-launched with gaming software powered by Byworth Investments. The casino previously used software from Boss Media. Netherlands Antilles-based Bingo Entertainment now manages and markets Privilege Casino.
Casinos on CNN -- Cable financial news network CNNfn on June 8 broadcast a report providing elementary information on how to sign up and play with an online casino. The segment targeted a consumer audience with limited or no awareness of online casinos. Casino Fortune and its software were used in a presentation, and Kevin Mercuri of Casino Fortune provided brief comments about online casino gambling.
Idle Accounts -- Tabcorp has expressed plans to penalize TAB's telephone betting account holders whose accounts remain idle for six months with a $5 fee, but Victoria's Premier, Steve Bracks, worries that the fee would hurt casual punters. "I'll get some more details on this before we have discussions with them" Bracks said, "but obviously we want an overall message out there that we're not anti-gambling, we're anti-people who have a problem with gambling and that's the clear distinction we make as a government."
Dealing -- Internet gaming solutions provider WagerWorks and wireless technology company Phantom Fiber have signed an agreement whereby the two companies will work together to create a mobile gaming solution that utilizes WagerWorks' games and platform with Phantom Fiber's wireless framework. Together the companies will offer Java-enabled mobile devices to access fast, media-rich gaming for real-money or free play.
Farewell -- Tony Hartnell has retired as chairman of Racing NSW due to ill health. Hartnell began serving as chairman in June 2000 and was re-elected for another four-year term in February 2004. He was instrumental in handling the UNiTAB and Tabcorp's merger proposals for New South Wales-based Tab Ltd.
Monday, June 28
Angel Acquires -- AngelCiti Entertainment has purchased another online poker site, CityPoker.com, and plans to follow up with a heavy marketing campaign in the fall. One of the company's other recent acquisitions, Midas Entertainment, will soon begin trading under its own ticker symbol and is now pursuing financing and strategic alliance opportunities.
Totesport on Silk -- Totesport has signed a £150,000 deal with the Racehorse Owners' Association to become a two-year sponsor for racing silks, whereby owners will receive payments for the endorsements of their colors. The deal will grant owners £100 for each horse signed up to the sponsorship and an extra £650 if the horse runs in a Grade A race in the United Kingdom.
Hill Pays Anyway -- It seemed that British soccer player Sol Campbell had scored a game-winning goal in the 90th minute of last week's game between Britain and Portugal until a referee called a penalty and stripped the goal away. Bookmaker William Hill, however, said that it was so outraged by the decision that "we feel it only fair to pay off those punters" who picked Campbell to score. William Hill had offered odds at 8-1 for Campbell to score anytime in the game and 33-1 to score the final goal. Honoring the goal means that William Hill will have to pay about £100,000 to punters, which is much less than the £3 million they would have paid if Britain had gone on to win the tournament.
Anticipation in Australia -- Australia is buzzing with anticipation that the federal government's review of the Interactive Gambling Act will become public sometime next week. Rumors speculate that the Howard government does not plan to ban offshore betting exchanges. Rather than being dominated by foreign competitors, Australia's bookmakers and TABs say they would have no choice but to launch their own betting exchanges if the platform were to be allowed in Australia. Tim Ryan, chief executive of the Australian Bookmakers Association, said, "Bookmakers will not be left out of the biggest explosion in gambling in Australia since the introduction of poker machines. If the rumors are true of the Howard government's ringing endorsement of both cross-border gambling and betting exchanges on the basis of competition, then Australian bookmakers will be at the forefront of that battle for increased share of the entertainment dollar - and their share of the gambling dollar." The ABA, however, remains worried that the betting exchange business model would crush Australia's horse racing industry and therefore still hopes the government will ban exchanges. According to Ryan, an independent report from last year "clearly stated, beyond any shadow of doubt, that exchanges cannot match the TABs' contribution rates and that racing must suffer."
Racing UK -- Simon Bazalgette, former chief executive for Music Choice Europe, has joined Racing UK as executive chairman and Will Wyatt, former BBC director, has joined as an independent director. Also, through its rights agreement with South African betting operator Phumela, the television channel has entered deals to show its pictures in six different countries, the money from which will provide basic funding for the network. Racing UK still plans to become a subscription-based channel, although it is negotiating with betting operators for sponsorship deals that would allow it to remain a free-to-air station.