Friday, Oct. 8
Moving -- Pay per click search engine Kanoodle recently announced that as of October 1st it no longer accepts advertisements for online gambling sites.
Quoteworthy -- "Six or seven thousand organizations are paying online extortion demands. The epidemic of cybercrime is growing. You don't hear much about it because it's extortion and people feel embarrassed to talk about it. Every online gambling site is paying extortion. Hackers use DDoS attacks using botnets to do it. Then they say 'pay us $40 thousand or we'll do it again'."
--Alan Paller, director of research for security organization SANS, speaking on Friday at the SANS Institute's Top 20 Vulnerabilities conference at the Department of Trade and Industry in London. Both Paller and a later speaker-- Roger Cumming, director of the National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Center-- went on to speculate that DDoS attacks could easily be used to disrupt organizations in the critical national infrastructure (CNI). The SANS Institute's list of the twenty most critical Internet security vulnerabilities can be viewed at http://www.sans.org/top20/
New and Improved -- Betting exchange Betdaq has launched a new version of its web site that it claims is faster and easier to use than before. It also offers new features such as a status bar near the bottom of the page that allows a punter to see whether any of his bets are fully matched, partially matched or unmatched.
Moving -- Online betting company Interwetten is moving its sports betting operations from Cyprus to Malta within the next two months. The company's primary motivation for the move is reportedly concerns that the Cypriot government has been taking too long of a time in progressing with legislation to regulate online gambling. Last month British law firm Poppleston Allen announced that it had helped the Cypriot government draft I-gaming regulations that would likely become law within a few months.
SharkPoker -- SharkPoker.com, a new site that uses software from AngelCiti Entertainment's subsidiary Midas Entertainment, reports that it has signed up 1,500 players and processed over $600,000 during its first month of operation. SharkPoker.com is the second company to license Midas' software.
Thursday, Oct. 7
Betting Info Kiosks -- SportsDatabases, a company that provides sports betting information to online bookies, has signed an agreement with NetBooth Corporation, a subsidiary of Carnegie Cooke and Co Inc, to provide its information services via touch-screen terminal printouts. The companies hope to begin putting terminals in pubs, restaurants, casinos and other venues in the US and UK by the end of the year. Users can pay by credit card or cash and receive information on league schedules, game reports, team charts and more.
Watch It. Play It. Live It. -- Next week Victor Chandler will initiate a six-figure cross media marketing campaign to promote both its online poker room at www.vcpoker.com and the Victor Poker Cup, a made-for-TV poker tournament that will air on Sky Sports later this month. Using the phrase "Watch it. Play it. Live it." as its theme, the campaign will feature a range of promotions and will include both online and offline ads, including spots in popular national publications such as Metro, The Evening Standard, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian and The Racing Post. The campaign was planned and bought by Mediavest Manchester.
Expanding -- California-based provider of horse race wagering and content Youbet.com is trying to acquire American Wagering, Inc. for $9.5 million. American Wagering's subsidiary, Leroy's Horse and Sports Place currently operate sports and horse race wagering facilities in 49 locations across Nevada and has announced plans to expand to 60 locations by the end of November. American Wagering also owns and operates Computerized Booking Systems, Inc., which supplies a large portion of the sports wagering computer systems in Nevada casinos, and AWI Manufacturing, Inc, which produces and distributes self-service sports and race wagering kiosks. American Wagering is currently operating under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and a Bankruptcy Court recently denied the company's motion to exclude Youbet and other interested companies from filing plans to acquire it. Youbet's proposal is subject to approval from the Court.
Farewell -- John White, general manager of Tote Ireland since 1999, announced that he will resign from his position at the end of this year.
Wednesday, Oct. 6
MOU Clarification -- The National Horseracing Authority of South Africa, which last week
signed a memorandum of understanding with Betfair, has issued a statement
clarifying that it does not condone betting exchanges in its
jurisdiction. According to the group's CEO Rob de Kock, "Betting exchanges are
not permitted to operate in South Africa, and we strongly believe that
this prohibition should be maintained. It should be understood that South
Africa's only commercial arrangements with betting exchanges are
strictly limited to betting that was already taking place in Britain on South
African racing. The [memorandum] with Betfair was an option given to us
through these limited commercial arrangements, and our primary interest
is in determining whether people resident in South Africa are using
their service in contravention of South African Foreign Exchange
regulations and legislation. This arrangement is not an endorsement of Betfair,
and it would be misleading for anyone to portray it otherwise."
Ausvegas -- Lasseters Corporation, a Northern Territory-licensed and Australian
Stock Exchange-listed company, has launched its second Internet casino.
The new site, Ausvegas.com, features hip neon graphics and 16 games, 7 of
which are new slots games that are exclusive to the site. Lasseters is
currently offering new players a 200 percent sign up bonus on their
first deposit.
Tuesday, Oct. 5
Match Fixing -- In China, the general manager of one of the country's professional soccer teams has claimed rampant corruption is ruining the league. Yang Zuwu, general manager for Beijing Hyundai, says the China Football Association is plagued by "faked matches, black whistles (corrupt referees), betting on games and other ugly phenomena." His statements come after a fiasco involving his team on Saturday when, in protest of a referee's decision late in the game, Yang ordered his team off the field. At the time the match was tied 1-1, but in the aftermath of the incident the referee awarded the other team a 3-0 win. Yang said his decision to call the team off the field was made "after considering the overall situation and the political angles." Yang and his team might now face censure by the league.
Quoteworthy -- "Why is it that feature bookies from NSW can bet on Listed races and we cannot? Why is it that they can bet up until the start of a race when we must halt all activity in the vital 30 minutes before the jump? Why is it that we cannot stand at the races (as NSW bookies do)? And why is it that the TAB can bet at venues such as the MCG and we cannot? These are questions I have put to the Minister and his department. They seem to think I am pestering them, but what am I to do? Sit back and watch bookies from NSW, Canberra, the Northern Territory and international betting exchanges take all the riches from Victorian races when they are not even licensed here?"
--bookmaker Michael Eskander, as quoted by the Melbourne Herald Sun. Eskander has called for the resignation of Racing Minister John Pandazopoulos and other betting officials because a lack of support for local bookmakers is damaging Victoria's industry while interstate and global betting exchanges enjoy growing profits. Eskander concluded, "If we took a fraction of the energy and resources utilized by Victorian gaming authorities in attempting to outlaw betting exchanges and channeled them into developing the industry in this state we would be much better off."
American Gamblers -- Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell and The Innovation Group have co-authored a report called Portrait of American Gamblers which attempts to generally define the lifestyles, social values, gaming behavior and political preferences of gamblers in the U.S. The report is based on information from a survey of 2,500 active gamblers who have visited a casino at least once within the last year.
Mobile Lottery Results -- Lottery.com, a site operated by Games Inc. that lets users purchase lottery tickets for most of the U.S. state lotteries, has launched a new mobile service that provides lottery results via text-messaging. The service, designed by SMS Media Group, is available to cell phone subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and features results for about 200 games. There is no fee to use the service, but users may incur messaging fees from their cellular provider.
Player's Only -- PlayersOnly.com, a brand that falls under the Sportingbet flag and bills itself as the "World's Sexiest Sportsbook," has launched its own poker room with software from Boss Media. PlayersOnly's current promotion awards players a $15 bonus after their first 100 raked hands. In addition to the regular sports betting, poker, and casino gaming content, PlayersOnly features an area filled with hundreds of pictures of scantily clad female models.
Welcome Aboard -- Ian Milligan, former sales and marketing directors for Camelot, has joined mobile gaming company Million-2-1, which in June launched a non-profit lottery for charities in Greater Manchester. Established in 2000, Million-2-1 also operates online and mobile fixed-odds betting, prize competitions and other lotteries.
Monday, Oct. 4
Snooker Xction -- Global Interactive Gaming Limited, the subsidiary of Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc, has launched a version of its SportXction platform that is equipped to handle play-by-play wagering on snooker games. The company timed the launch to take place on October 2nd, just as the Snooker's Grand Prix tournament was beginning in Preston, England, marking the beginning of the World Snooker Association's new season.
Fast 50 -- Calgary-based I-gaming software provider Chartwell Technology Inc. has been ranked 6th on the Deloitte Canadian Technology Fast 50, a list of the Canada's fastest growing technology companies based on percentage revenue growth over a five-year period. In the last five years Chartwell's revenue has grown from under $500,000 to over $7 million. 2003 was the company's first full profitable year and it posted earning of $.11 per share. The company has continued to rise in 2004 with earnings of $.16 per share on revenues of $8.7 million over the first nine months.
Doyle's Room -- Blue Rock International Ltd. has announced the launch of www.DoylesRoom.com, an online poker room endorsed by poker legend Doyle Brunson, winner of the World Series of Poker's Main Event in 1976 and 1977 and author of what is revered by many as the bible of poker: Super System - A Course on Power Poker. Brunson will serve as a consultant to the poker room and so will Mike Caro, a poker theorist commonly called "the Mad Genius of Poker." The site will implement software from Tribeca Tables and will join the Apex Poker Network, which already has over 150 other brands. DoylesRoom will also be the only place poker players can obtain Super System 2, the upcoming sequel to Brunson's first book. The site will be giving the book away as a free gift to people who play on the site.
Skill Gaming Sites -- Irish betting company Paddy Power has launched a skill-based gaming section on its website. The new section, called Power Play, uses software from UK-based GameAccount and features gin rummy, multiplayer golf, mah jong, darts and more. Players can play for the games for free or compete in cash tournaments.
Meanwhile Virgin Group says its I-gaming site at VirginGames.com will also launch a skill games section by the end of the year. Last week GoldenPalace.com announced that it would soon implement the skill-based software developed by CES software's subsidiary SkillJam Technologies.
Grab.com -- Intermix Media, an Internet marketing and entertainment company, has created Grab.com, a skill-games network with an emphasis on community. Intermix says the site combines features from some of its other online properties, such as the leagues and tournaments of www.CasesLadder.com, the social networking of MySpace.com, the avatar technology of Superdudes.com, and casual gaming community tools from Gamerival.com.