Friday, Sep. 10
Fox Hunting -- Peter Hain, leader of Britain's House of Commons, plans to introduce a bill on Wednesday to ban fox hunting--an action that could delay the passing of the Gambling Bill. "A vote banning fox hunting in the Commons will have serious consequences for any gambling bill," Gambling Consultancy's Steve Donoughue explained. "If the Lords rebel against the use of the Parliament Act, this will probably mean upsetting the government's timetable and peers not responding to the party line, all of which could impact on the passage of the Gambling Bill through the Lords."
Licensing Agent -- First Cagayan, the master licensor of online gaming in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Free Port of the Philippines, has appointed G-Master Technology Company--a Macau-based provider of online gambling solutions to companies interested in entering the Asian market--as its agent for contracting restrictive Internet sports book licenses to companies in Thailand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau, China, Tawain, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia. The restrictive licenses permit companies to operate soccer and basketball books without paying any gaming tax beyond the annual licensing fee to First Cagayan.
Hold'em Buddies -- Macrogaming LTD, a company that develops free-to-play multiplayer games for the instant messaging environment, has created the Web site Buddyplay.com, from which surfers can download multiplayer blackjack and Texas Hold'em games for MSN Messenger. Players can initiate games with friends on their buddy list and then invite more buddies to play. The company plans to launch more games in the near future.
Predictions -- Most Australian sports books have shortened the odds on the Coalition winning the Oct. 9 election after the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Centrebet has shortened the Coalition's odds from $1.50 to $1.30, while SportOdds also puts the odds at $1.30 and Sportingbet Australia puts them at $1.33. Prices for Labor meanwhile are $3.20 at Centrebet and SportOdds and $3.00 at Sportingbet Australia. Within roughly 24 hours of the bombing, Centrebet received $70,000 worth of wagers on the Coalition and just $100 on Labor.
Raking in Millions -- Pokerpulse.com, a Web site that monitors and collects data on the Internet's top poker sites, reports that poker rooms are taking in a combined revenue of nearly $2 million per day. On Sept. 9, sites received a rake of $1.93 million, with PartyPoker taking more than half of that figure. That same day Internet poker players staked $131 million.
Thursday, Sep. 9
PokerStars UK -- Costa Rica-based PokerStars plans to open an office in London within the next few weeks. Initially the new office will staff just six employees, but the company says it is hoping to eventually make London its international headquarters. Having a British office should help the company raise its profile in the European market and add more legitimacy to its operations. PokerStars, the network that qualified the winners of both the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold 'Em champions, will begin a marketing campaign in the UK near the end of 2004.
Quoteworthy -- This MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is either a device tricked up to give them some semblance of legitimacy, or worse, it is a means of watering down access to information by our professional investigators."
--Andrew Ramsden, chairman of the Australian Racing Board (ARB). Following last week's revelation that British jockeys and other racing personnel have allegedly used the exchanges illegally, racing authorities in Victoria and NSW on Friday asked UK-based betting exchange Betfair to release information about Australian punters so that they can determine whether any individuals have placed wagers that breach the rules of racing. On Tuesday Betfair, which is not licensed in Australia and is not required to honor the request, refused to reveal the names of its clients. Ramsden made the statements above in response to Betfair's refusal. He added, "Betfair's so-called offers of assistance are next to useless. If Betfair is this uncooperative when they are on their best behavior trying to get a license, how much worse would their attitude be if we allowed them to become established here."
Crypto Version 5 -- I-gaming software company CryptoLogic, has released the fifth version of its casino suite with six new nine-line video slots- Coral Cash, Doctor Love, Dolphin King, Northern Lights, Salsa, and Sirens- that are all linked to one progressive jackpot that pays out in U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds sterling. Licensed through CryptoLogic's subsidiary WagerLogic, Version 5 also introduces a turbo button that allows faster play for single-hand Blackjack and poker. Version 5 also includes an auto-play option that lets players automatically bet for a preset number of spins.
Proposition 1 -- Costa-Rica based BetOnSports is planning a broad public policy initiative in the U.S. called Proposition 1: To Regulate or Prohibit Online Gambling?, the goal of which will be to create a framework for sensible and realistic online gambling regulation in the U.S. Part of the initiative entails a national summit tour in September that will engage experts in law, academics, the gaming industry, and government in debates over critical issues. Among discussion topics are proposed legislation in Congress and the Justice Department's efforts to prohibit online gambling advertisements. The tour is scheduled to stop in New York, Washington, D.C, Chicago, and Los Angeles. After the summit tour BetOnSports will publish a white paper explaining the key findings of the initiative to assist lawmakers with regulatory efforts. The company also plans to host a series of debates at college campuses addressing important issues such as responsible gambling and the ethics of gambling on collegiate games. BetOnSports has already begun a television advertising campaign urging U.S. citizens to voice their opposition to federal prohibition attempts by signing a petition on the BetOnsports.com website.
Freeroll Tourney -- In December Kahnawake-licensed online poker room Royal Vegas Poker will host what it calls The World's Largest Poker Tournament-- a freeroll tournament with $100,000 in cash prizes. All of the money in the tournament (except for $5 buy-backs within the first hour) will be contributed to the prize pool by Royal Vegas Poker. To qualify for the tournament a player simply needs to become a first-time Royal Vegas Poker member by registering sometime before December 14th. Existing members can qualify by playing 2,500 raked hands before December 14th or by playing 1,000 raked hands in any month.
Chimera -- Las Vegas-based software provider Chimera Technology Corp., has announced the completion of its horse race betting platform that will offer real-time odds from most major North American racetracks. Chimera, which plans to eventually implement live video streaming of races, is now working to expand its network to include odds from Asian and European racetracks.
Design Specialists -- Glen Conybeare and Alex Kelleher have founded a new London-based design company called Cut and Deal (cutanddeal.com) that specializes in stock photography and images for the sports, betting, and gaming industries. Established to fulfill the demand for a one-stop gaming and betting design solution, Cut and Deal provides both royalty free and exclusive use images. In the past Conybeare has worked with Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler, Intercasino, and Paradise Poker and has also worked as a freelance consultant for design agency NOWWASHYOURHANDS. Kelleher founded his own design agency in 1995 that he built up to a staff of 50 employees before selling it to a large European agency in 2000. He also co-founded online marketing company Touch Clarity and has been involved in several e-commerce start-up projects.
Wednesday, Sep. 8
p align="justify">National Lottery via Text -- Camelot, operator of the UK's National Lottery, has chosen mobile phone company O2 as its technology partner for text-based mobile lottery games. The new mobile lottery will integrate the same O2 cross network technology platform that is used by Pop Idol and Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Users of all of the mobile networks in the UK will be able to purchase National Lottery tickets by sending text messages to Camelot's interactive service. Assuming the National Lottery Commission approves the venture, Camelot plans to launch the service later this year.
Legal Suit -- Racing UK has filed legal documents asking British courts to order Satellite Information Services (SIS) to stop supplying racing data and audio coverage of Racing UK races. Racing UK currently has an exclusive deal with South Africa-based Phumela to exploit the media rights of Racing UK's racecourse partners in foreign lands. But Phumela has had difficulty selling racing data to international users because SIS has been broadcasting audio commentaries and information about runners, riders, starting prices, and more to customers in the international market. Racing UK's chairman Simon Bazalgette told the Racing Post, "This situation has destabilized the international market because SIS has misrepresented what they can offer overseas customers, who can't work out what is going on. They are being told one thing by us, on the basis that we have exclusive rights to exploit our racing internationally, but another by SIS. The result is that overseas betting operators are not signing up." Racing UK therefore filed for an injunction to bar SIS from exploiting on-course data and audio commentary that is derived from Racing UK's partner racecourses. Racing UK and Phumela also seek damages and legal costs from SIS.
Betting Analyst -- Following a six-month investigation into the effect of betting exchanges on Irish racing, the Irish Turf Club has created a new betting analyst position, which will liaise between the Club's security department and offshore bookmakers and exchanges. The Club's investigation found that without legislation to ban exchanges, the best way to uphold racing's integrity is to gain access to betting information. Ideally, the analyst will relay any suspicious betting information it obtains from the exchanges and bookies to Turf Club officials prior to the races in question. The Club plans to place ads for the position within the next two weeks. Betfair's manager of Irish operations, Graham Ross, stated, "It is a step in the right direction, but without signing a memorandum of understanding with ourselves, the Turf Club is going to find it very hard to get the level of information required to put a complete solution in place." He added, "We were surprised to see in the Racing Post today that the Turf Club had gone so far down the road in terms of putting together a solution without coming back to us for more details on how the MoU actually functions in the UK." The Turf Club, which currently receives no funding from betting exchanges, has also asked Horse Racing Ireland to pursue commercial negotiations with the exchanges in order to cover the increased costs incurred by the Turf Club now that it has taken an active role in combating corruption.
Hill TV -- William Hill announced that on October 6th its new television channel will launch free-to-view on channel 425 of the Sky digital network. The channel will initially focus on greyhound racing in an effort to capitalize on the strong fan base that has grown as a result of Sky's coverage of the sport in recent years. At first the channel will broadcast live greyhound racing Tuesday through Saturday nights, but it hopes to provide live racing seven days a week within a matter of months. William Hill is already in discussions to bring other live sporting events to the channel.
Betcorp Investigation -- In Australia, the Northern Territory Licensing Commission is now investigating the status of Betcorp and will determine within a week whether its Darwin-based subsidiary Sportsbet will be able to retain its license. Within the last month, three of Betcorp's four directors resigned from the company, prompting it to cease trading on the Australian Stock Exchange. The problem is that Betcorp is now believed to be under the control of BetWWTS.com founder Bill Scott, who is also now believed to be Betcorp's largest shareholder. Scott is a convicted racketeer and fugitive of the U.S., and the Licensing Commission issued Sportsbet's license last January only under the stipulation that Scott be prevented from becoming the largest shareholder or from controlling the company.
PrimaPoker Adds WWTS -- BetWWTS.com has announced that its forthcoming poker product, BetHoldEm.com, will become part of the PrimaPoker.com network. The site is scheduled to launch later this month.
WPT Online -- World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc. has entered into an agreement with software developer WagerWorks Inc. to offer a WPT-branded, international, real-money poker room. The site will not take bets from players located in jurisdictions such as the U.S. where online gaming is prohibited. WPT Enterprises recently expanded distribution of the World Poker Tour television series into Canada, the U.K., Australia, Sweden, the Philippines and South Korea, and is negotiating for distribution in other nations.
Tuesday, Sep. 7
More Soccer Bans -- The Italian Football League's disciplinary commission has delivered another series of punishments to players and clubs after its investigation into illegal betting and match fixing. Second-division club Catanzaro, which won the Serie C1 championship last season, was penalized five points while one of its players was banned for three years and three others were suspended for five months. The team was able to retain its championship despite the fact that prosecutors attempted to annul. Prosecutor's also wanted to cancel the team's promotion to Serie B but failed. Four other players from different teams also received bans ranging from five months to nearly four years. The disciplinary commission delivered its first wave of punishments in the match-fixing scandal last week, suspending several players in the top two leagues and penalizing Modena with a five-point deduction.
Cellular Resistance -- Smart Communications, the largest mobile phone company in the Philippines, has publicly stated its objection to Pagcor's (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) plan to operate games of chance via cellular phones. Dr. Rogelio V. Quevedo, Smart's legal counsel, stated, "The majority of cellular phone users are young people, including a large number of minors. Pagcor's plan to offer games of chance through mobile phones would inevitably expose them to the dangers of getting hooked on gambling." In July Pagcor first revealed that it would like to operate games of chance over cellular phones by asking the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to grant it four access numbers to handle text and multi-media messages. Smart, however, has refused to give the access numbers to Pagcor because as Quevedo explains, "we are against allowing games of chance to be made available through our mobile phone network." Text-gambling on school campuses recently became so prevalent in the Philippines that the Department of Education has banned the use of cellular phones during school hours.
Flutter At the Races -- Interactive media group YooMedia will soon begin operating fixed-odds games on the AttheRaces television channel through its subsidiary Fancy a Flutter. Sky Digital users will be able to access the Fancy a Flutter portal by pressing the red button while watching AttheRaces. Fancy a Flutter, which currently offers seven play-for-cash keno and other fixed odds games, was launched in May of 2003 and then acquired by YooMedia in March 2004.
Legality Challenged -- The Ontario Racing Commission has asked the Canadian Federal Courts to decide whether HorsePlayer Interactive-- an Internet site run by Woodbine Entertainment Group-- is legal. The Commission argues that former agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief did not have the authority to permit Internet horse race wagering by expanding the definition of telephone services to cover Internet services. As head of the Agriculture Department, which presides over the Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency, Vanclief ruled that horse-racing bets could be placed with "any telecommunication device." A court decision on the matter could take up to two years, and for now the site will continue to operate unless the government declares otherwise. Nick Eaves, Woodbine's senior vice-president of marketing and business development, commented, "We're absolutely flabbergasted and, frankly, offended that the Ontario Racing Commission has filed the application in an area over which they don't have jurisdiction. I mean their mandate is to do that which is in the best interest of Ontario racing. And essentially, what they're doing is being the instigator in an action which, if successful, would have the effect of discontinuing one of the only recent services in the Ontario racing business that's actually attracting new customers and really performing in a way that our customers have told us they want."