Friday, Jan. 14
Bid Rejection -- A Virginia couple who tried to raise money for a difficult operation required by their nine-year old son by selling a bumper sticker that says "Frank Must Die" on eBay have rejected the winning $10,700 bid placed by GoldenPalace.com. The parents say they are not comfortable accepting money from an Internet gambling company.
Comprehensive Study -- South Australia's Independent Gambling Authority has ordered a comprehensive study of the effects of all forms of gambling on the state's economy to begin in March. Slated to last at least six months, the study will profile all reaches of the industry, including casinos, pokie venues, lotteries, TABs and more. It will also examine the gambling industry's effect on unemployment and on related industries.
SkillJam on GSN -- CES Software announced that its subsidiary SkillJam Technologies Corporation, has entered into an agreement to provide a pay-for-play skill games system to GSN, The Network for Games. Jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation, GSN is a U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming and interactive game playing. SkillJam will host and manage a private-label skill gaming platform on GSN.com.
Minor Gambling -- Underage gambling on the Internet was a focal topic at a Westminster Media Forum conference on Internet gambling in London Thursday. Children's charities groups and government officials once again argued that online gambling operators are not doing enough to stop children from betting on their Web sites. John Carr of the children's organization NCH said, "The way to stop under-18s gambling online is to force all payments to be made from credit cards, which are not issued to under-18s. It is clear that the majority of online gambling outfits have not made stopping children betting a priority." Banks were also brought into the criticism for not working hard enough with the gambling industry to share information to better validate the age of online customers. iGGBA's Andrew Tottenham asked the government to lobby the banking industry to install the necessary age verification systems. "The current systems for age verification are ineffective," Tottenham said. "We need the assistance of the banks to set up a foolproof system, and we also need more pressure from government."
Auditor's Report -- England's National Audit Office reports that its gross profits tax reform on betting in 2001 was successful in encouraging bookmakers to keep their core operations in the United Kingdom. Before 2001, bettors paid a 9 percent tax on each stake, creating an environment that made relocation to offshore jurisdictions a tempting option for betting businesses. (Moving offshore would allow them to offer punters tax-free betting.) The 2001 reforms replaced the 9 percent levy with a 15 percent gross tax on bookmakers. According to a report published today by the Comptroller and Auditor General, gambling duties collected in the year to April 1999 fell from £1.53 billion to £1.35 billion in the year to April 2004. Yet the report points out that if no tax reform had been made the loss could have been much greater. The report also reveals that "Customs underestimated the popularity of new gambling products with low profit margins such as betting exchanges. Consequently, the duty revenue rate has been much lower than expected (down 6.7 percent in 1999-00 to 1.2 percent in 2003-04 as percentage of bets placed), even though spending on betting has been higher than expected in terms of value placed on bets." As a result, the report suggests that Customs receive more IT expertise to carry out compliance work on new products such as gambling via interactive TV, mobile phone, the Internet, spread betting and betting exchanges.
Offer Retracted -- California-based horse race wagering and content provider Youbet.com, Inc. has withdrawn its proposal to acquire American Wagering, Inc. for $12 million. American Wagering, which owns two gambling-related businesses in Nevada, is currently operating under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and fought unsuccessfully for a court order denying anyone from filing plans to acquire it. Youbet Chairman and CEO Charles Champion said that it had become clear that none of his company's proposals would be favorably received by American Wagering's controlling shareholders.
Thursday, Jan. 13
Money Laundering -- A new report by the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, a British non-profit financial think tank, examines gambling via traditional bookmakers and betting exchanges and speculates on the ease with which criminals can use such gambling services to launder money. According to authors Michael Mainelli and Sam Dibb, although money laundering fears usually focus on Internet betting operations, the best potential opportunity to launder actually comes from cash betting with betting shops. "We believe the main risk may lie with more traditional betting activities," they wrote. "The key point is that High St. betting shops will still accept very large cash wagers without knowing the identity of the person placing the bet. To convert cash to an apparently legitimate check is very easy." Though cash-based betting is not addressed by the U.K. Money Laundering Regulations of 2003, Mainelli and Dibb suggest it may be a loophole that should be examined. The report addresses betting exchanges by claiming that they have introduced "real market discipline into the gambling area" and have used technology to allow punters to assume the role of layers, which was previously exclusive only to bookmakers. The report recommends that traditional bookmakers must "adapt or die" and states, "Allegations that [exchange betting] undermines the integrity of racing (or sports in general) are self-serving nonsense put about by those who have had their snouts firmly in the public's pockets for years."
Good Deeds -- GoldenPalace.com has purchased the URL "TsunamiRelief.com" and is using the site to raise funds for victims of December's Indian Ocean Tsunami by providing links to 13 charities that are accepting donations. The URL was a source of much controversy before it finally came to rest in the hands of Golden Palace. Free-lance journalist Michelle Tirado registered the domain name and put it up for sale for $99 on eBay the morning she learned of the disaster. After the death toll climbed and she decided she no longer wanted to turn a small profit, she instead donated the URL to a man from Canada who claimed to be with a group called Tsunami International that was trying to raise funds for disaster relief. The man turned out to be a 20-year old Canadian student named Josh Kaplan who immediately put the URL back on eBay, this time for a sale price of $50,000. Tirado then alerted the New York Post that Kaplan was trying to profit off the disaster, and the story was circulated all over the American media. Kaplan, who maintains that he never intended to profit from the sale, eventually sold the URL to Golden Palace for $10,000, all of which has been delivered to Jewish relief agency Chabad of Thailand.
Golden Palace has deviated lately from publicity stunts that involve sporting events, naked people and tattoos and now seems to favor gaining attention by purchasing oddities or by donating to charity. Among its latest charitable deeds is the $10,700 purchase of a bumper sticker that says "Frank Must Die," the proceeds of which will be used to pay for a difficult biopsy of a possibly malignant tumor at the base of a nine-year old boy's skull. The boy nicknamed the tumor "Frankenstein" because he figured if he could get over his fear of a monster he could also get over his fear of the tumor. Last week Golden Palace purchased an authentic plate from the sunken Titanic for $10,000 on eBay from a homeless man.
More Relief -- Other groups in the I-gaming industry continue to help victims of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. Neteller now allows users to donate to the American Red Cross from its Web site and waives all fees associated with donations. . . . BetonSports.com and its shareholders have made an initial donation of $25,000 to a relief fund, and the company's employees have also started a collection that will go toward the fund. In addition, BetonSports will match all customer donations over the next 30 days by 100 percent. The fund will eventually be distributed to UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders and the International Red Cross.
Mobile in Israel -- In two months the Israeli Sports Betting Board will permit the country's citizens to bet via mobile devices with its Toto and Winner brands. Mobile betting is possible now that Israel's Council for the Regularization of Gambling in Sport has signed an agreement with content provider Logia, a subsidiary of cellular provider Cellcom. Betting will only be available to customers of Cellcom at first, but other wireless operators are expected to strike similar deals soon after the launch of mobile betting services on Cellcom. Toto is also anticipating the inevitable regulation of horse racing in Israel after the ministers of finance, education and agriculture approved a proposal to legalize horse racing. Legislation to permit betting on horse races, however, hasn't yet been submitted to the government.
Charity Lotto -- A new lottery called Lucky 7 Lotto is targeting people who are concerned about how the U.K. National Lottery handles charity funds. Operated by Sisson Marketing International, a certified external lottery manager and a bookmaker licensed by the Gaming Board of Great Britain, the company can manage lottery games of any kind in shops or over the Internet on behalf of charities. Each week one the lottery's seven participating charities receives 20 percent of the lottery's profits. The maximum number of tickets that can be sold is 1 million, and the maximum prize fund per week is £500,000. Drawings take place every Friday.
Simulcast Network -- Scientific Games Corporation and Greco & Emmit Creative have announced the launch of the GETV Network, a television network that will air on the thousands of screens at on-track and off-track betting locations in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean that are currently uplinked by Scientific Games Racing.
Wednesday, Jan. 12
UK News -- Peter Dean, chairman of the U.K. Gaming Board, recently indicated that the country's planned gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, will probably not be able to start operating until the beginning of 2006, though he added that "this will inevitably slip." Dean said the Gaming Board's transition team has already dedicated a tremendous amount of work toward transforming the Gaming Board into the Gambling Commission, but there is still much to do. Once the transformation is in process, new functions will be implemented on a staggered basis. Among the new powers the Gambling Commission will assume are the ability to investigate and prosecute cheating, the ability to enforce gambling debts, and the authority to regulate betting. The Gambling Board has so far only dealt with regulating casinos, bingo, machines and certain lotteries.
One Million Customers -- Austrian betting company BetandWin recently logged its millionth customer and will celebrate by holding a 10,000 euro jackpot. Anyone who places a bet with the company between Jan. 15 and Jan. 31 automatically qualifies for a chance to win the jackpot. BetandWin claims it now processes up to 4,000 bets per day.
Quoteworthy -- "The Financial Services Committee has had a long-standing interest in combating the scourge of Internet gambling, advancing legislation in each of the last three Congresses to bar Internet gambling sites access to the U.S. financial services system by preventing the use of credit cards, wire transfers and other bank instruments to fund gaming transactions. While we have twice succeeded in achieving House passage of this important legislation, the Senate has failed to act. Our Committee's attempts to add anti-Internet gambling provisions to the legislation implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission late last year also fell short."
--Michael G. Oxley, R-Ohio, Spencer Bachus R-Ala., and James A. Leach, R-Iowa, all of whom are Members of the House Committee on Financial Services. The three submitted the above statement in a letter to the editor of the Christian Science Monitor in response to an editorial that discussed the "unfortunate" growth of online gambling in the United States. Their letter concluded, "We agree with your editorial's assessment of the dangers of Internet gambling, and will continue our efforts in the newly convened Congress to deny offshore gambling interests access to the U.S. market."
Speed Poker in Australia -- The 2005 Australian Poker Championship began at Crown Casino in Melbourne last Thursday. Making its debut at this year's event is "Speed Poker, a made-for-TV poker variation that involves six players, two dealers and a 15-second timer. Close to A$300,000 in prize money will be awarded in the World Speed Poker Championship, with A$100,000 going to the tournament winner. The 2005 Australian Poker Championship also marks the first time that poker in Australia will be filmed for an international television audience. Both the Fox network in the United States and the Nine network in Australia will pick up eight one-hour episodes of the World Speed Poker Championship.
Excellence in Gaming Management -- In November, a partnership between the University of Nevada in Reno, the University of Ljubljana and Slovenia-based company HIT d.d., will begin offering an educational program called EGM MBA, whose students will work toward attaining a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis on Excellence in Gaming Management. The program is billed as "the first European-based accredited MBA program targeted at the gaming and leisure industries, especially casinos." The classes will be held at the University of Ljubljana's campus in Slovenia and will be taught in English. The program's organizers will launch a recruitment effort for students and supporters at the International Casinos Exhibition in London later this month.
Tuesday, Jan. 11
Quoteworthy -- "We don't want to see them banned, but we want a level playing field. If people are using exchanges to conduct a business, they should be subject to the same licensing system that we are, and if they are layers, they should be subject to the same tax. We are going to continue to lobby the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to implement an equitable tax regime."
--David Harding, CEO of British bookmaker William Hill, discussing his company's attitude toward betting exchanges at a recent seminar organized by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants in London. Betfair spokesperson Antonia Sharpe was also on hand to argue against Harding's claims. Sharpe stated, "Licensing a section of the betting exchange customer base adds nothing to the three aims of regulation, which are protecting the vulnerable, keeping crime out and ensuring fairness to the punter. Amending the Gambling Bill as the traditional bookmakers wish will actively work against the aims of the bill, by encouraging people to seek out alternative platforms on which to bet, outside the regulatory framework. This will fundamentally undermine the legislation, and kill the award-winning exchange model in the UK." Also in attendance was Tristram Ricketts, the British Horseracing Board's secretary-general, who stated, "We are not going to continue to rail against them. We think they are worthwhile and thoroughly welcome new kids on the block."
New iGGBA Member -- iGGBA (interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association), a European industry body that represents companies involved in the operation or provision of interactive gambling platforms, announced that it has welcomed Malta-licensed bingo and lotteries operator Euro Gaming Ltd. as its 52nd member.
Tote Sale -- British Tote officials have stated that they expect the sale of the Tote to the Racing Trust to be complete by the end of 2005. According to Tote chairman Peter Jones, the last remaining step is for the European Commission to approve the deal. The Racing Trust, which is composed of five different elements of racing--racecourses, owners, the British Horseracing Board, the Jockey Club and the BHB Industry Committee--who will be joined by three independents and a Tote staff trustee. The hope is that the Tote will be able to run an independent business that is free from political pressure from individual racing factions. The trust will pay a price that is 50 percent of the Tote's fair market value, a sum that will be determined by Rothschilds and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
French Lotto Stats -- French lottery operator La Francaise des Jeux experienced a 9.8 percent increase in turnover to 8.55 billion euros in the year 2004 as compared to the previous year. The growth in turnover is primarily due to the company's partnership in the Euro Millions multinational lottery draw. Scratch card revenues grew by 2.3 percent during the year, while revenues from the company's other lotteries, such as Kino and Rapido, rose by 1.9 percent. La Francaise des Jeux paid a total of 5.16 billion euros in winnings and donated 2.3 billion euros to the French government.
Gizmondo -- RAM Investment Group, an AIM-listed firm, has formed a joint venture with Tiger Telematics, a company that has developed a mobile gambling console called "Gizmondo." Under the terms of the agreement, a new company called Tiger Gambling Ltd. will be created. Tiger Telematics will own 75 percent of it while RAM will own the other 25 percent. Profits will be shared on a 50-50 basis. Edward Adams, a spokesperson for Tiger Gambling, stated that the company is already in discussions with gaming companies for partnership and licensing deals.
Monday, Jan. 10
Betfair on Mobile -- Rapid Mobile, an Edinburgh-based developer of Java-based solutions for mobile devices, has developed and introduced "Mobex," a mobile betting exchange application that's being licensed by Betfair. Scheduled to launch this month, Mobex is a fully transactional mobile client that enables punters to back and lay a full range of markets via mobile devices. Users will pay a small monthly fee for a fully transactional version of Mobex; an information-only version will be available for free.
Paddy Power Poker -- This week Irish bookmaker Paddy Power will soft launch an online poker network for 200 pre-registered players. The company has already added a poker games icon to its Web site, although a link to the poker site is not yet enabled. Paddy Power Poker will target players in Ireland and Britain but will also be accessible to residents in other European countries.
Quoteworthy -- "There is still much more to do but regrettably I do not feel I am in a position to move GamCare forward to the next essential level without ruffling a few feathers and, therefore, after almost two and a half years with GamCare, I have decided it is time for me to look for something new."
--Peter Cox, managing director of British gambling charity GamCare, who is resigning at the end of the month to pursue other interests.
Exchange Evidence -- Based on evidence delivered by the British Horseracing Board Secretary General Tristram Ricketts to the All Party Parliamentary group on betting and gaming, it appears that the BHB no longer opposes the proliferation of betting exchanges. When Ricketts was recently asked by members of Parliament why the BHB had supported a plan to distinguish between recreational and non-recreational layers on betting exchanges, he replied, "I think we have gone beyond that now. There has been a recognition that perhaps that was not the most practical way forward. We are not looking at this stage to go down the recreational/non-recreational route." Furthermore, according to The Telegraph, BHB insiders now willingly acknowledge that betting exchanges are officially welcomed. Even more signs of the acceptance of betting exchanges in England were displayed in the testimonials of the Jockey Club's executive director, Christopher Foster, and its head of security, Paul Scotney. "I use the information from the exchanges almost on a daily basis, and the audit trail they provide us is excellent," Scotney said. "It makes my job a whole lot easier. We do not have that situation with traditional bookmakers."
Credit Card-Free -- Phantom Fiber Corporation, a provider of secure wireless technology and mobile solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with Navaho Networks Inc., a provider of credit card-free payment processing technologies. Under the agreement, Phantom Fiber will integrate Navaho Networks' proprietary credit card-free payment technologies--Phone Billing, eWalletXpress and Navaho Netcard--into the Phantom Framework, thereby reducing the time required to market m-commerce-enabled wireless solutions across several verticals. Enterprise clients will be able to immediately offer m-commerce functionality through their wireless applications and eliminate the need for customers to have multiple m-commerce transaction accounts across several providers. Navaho Networks will also introduce Phantom Fiber's mobile solutions to its own portfolio of clients and partners.
Boss Supplies Littlewoods -- Boss Media will supply a casino and poker system to Littlewoods Gaming under the terms of a deal signed between Boss Media and Littlewoods' parent company, Sportech. The casino will be available in both downloadable and Web-based formats. The poker application will link directly to the Boss Poker Network community.
Gaming Search Engine -- GameAbyss.com, a company whose portal site provides reviews of online gambling services, says it has generated a substantial amount of new traffic since launching a gambling search engine at GameAbyss.net in November. Since the search engine's launch, the company has gained over 100 affiliates and finished the year 2004 with a ranking of 64,6111 according to Web ratings site Alexa.com.