Friday, Feb. 18
Boxing Sponsorship -- Sportsbook.com, a Sportingbet brand, is the title sponsor for this weekend's HBO World Championship Boxing card, which features Bernard Hopkins vs. Howard Eastman in the main event. This is the second time Sportsbook.com has sponsored HBO boxing. The company has also sponsored Ultimate Fighting Championship, golf and bull riding.
Quoteworthy -- "Our attempt to take on the justice department has not failed. Rather, it has been elevated to the circuit court level earlier in the process. Now we have a pure First Amendment rights case to be decided by the circuit court through the appeal process. No matter the outcome, the case would have been appealed to the circuit court level. Now the appeal to the circuit court will be able to be more focused on the First Amendment rights issues, and we believe this will likely result in broader support than if the focus were on the narrower issue of online gambling advertisements."
- Michael Corfman, president of Casino City, whose legal case involving the right to advertise for offshore gambling companies was this week dismissed by a district court. The company sought a declaratory judgment stating that the Department of Justice cannot hold advertisers accountable for charges of aiding and abetting illegal activities if they advertise for offshore operators. Casino City attorney Barry Richard stated, "The court did not address the merits of our claim. It ruled that our plaintiff did not have standing to invoke the court's jurisdiction because the government did not actually prosecute or directly threaten to prosecute our client."
Ad Space -- Elisa Harp, a pregnant woman who listed her belly as ad space for rent on eBay, will attend the Daytona 500 this weekend sporting a big, black tattoo of the GoldenPalace.com logo on her stomach. According to Harp, the winning bidder was actually SunPoker.com, but she decided after the auction to sell to Golden Palace instead because the company also offered her a spokeswoman job. She is now being sued by SunPoker for violating eBay's rules. Currently, an eBay search for items containing the words "pregnant advertising" reveals at least 25 different women who want to let advertisers place logos on their bellies.
BAW Deal -- Betandwin.com has signed an agreement with pay-TV network Premiere Austria, giving the network's subscribers the ability to bet on any live soccer game by using Betandwin's mobile betting facilities. Betandwin says it will soon introduce this type of betting to other countries as well.
Online Bingo -- Trade Zap Inc, a company in Vancouver, says it is changing it name to World Bingo League to reflect its planned entry into the online bingo market. The company intends to provide an online bingo software and service platform to "achieve the first worldwide bingo league."
Thursday, Feb. 17
Farewell -- Sportech, parent company of Littlewoods, has confirmed that Steve Taylor is no longer director of sports betting at Littlewoods Bet Direct. The company, which last month reported that half of its gross win came from non-sports betting activity, says Taylor has left on a "mutual and amicable agreement" because of "strategic differences regarding the continued development of the company." Kevin Dale, former marketing director of Betfair has been appointed to fill the vacancy for the interim. Sportech will release its financial results for the year 2004 on March 31, and it is likely to post a pre-tax profit in line with expectations at about £9 million.
Caricom Support -- Leaders of Caribbean nations are today concluding the 16th inter-sessional meeting of Caricom (Caribbean Community and Common Market) in Suriname. Many anticipate that Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer will ask the body to pass a resolution giving support to his country's I-gaming conflict with the United States in the World Trade Organization. Yesterday representatives from Antigua and Barbuda filed a document with the WTO listing certain findings of the dispute settlement panel that the nation plans to challenge.
Z4P Deal -- iTouch, a company that provides a wide range of information, entertainment and messaging to mobile users, has signed an agreement with I-gaming software developer Zone4Play. iTouch will provide a technology platform to distribute Zone4Play's mobile gaming services to iTouch customers through its direct mobile channel model and also via its media, telco and broadcast partners in the United Kingdom.
Arcadia -- Mobile gambling developer Cometa Games has launched its "Arcadia" mobile casino system, which enables users to download games via text messages. Arcadia operates as a stand-alone solution that provides an entry-point into the mobile gaming industry as a turnkey solution or white-label gambling site. The system also incorporates an affiliate tracking system that tracks players and automatically awards a percentage of revenue to sites that generate traffic.
Betting on Five -- Five, the United Kingdom's fifth terrestrial channel, today launched a service that enables interactive TV viewers to wager on the station's UEFA football coverage. The new service, made possible by a deal with Sky Bet, will enable punters to access sports wagering by simply pressing the red buttons on their remote controls.
Maybe Not -- Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. has announced that the feasibility study it said it would conduct for the Carolina Bobcats NBA team will not happen after all. The company announced yesterday that it had entered into an agreement to investigate the feasibility of deploying the SportXction non-wagering sports prediction game, called "SportXction Competition," for Bobcats games, but now the company says the study will not proceed.
Wednesday, Feb. 16
Contract Extension -- Online gaming software provider CryptoLogic Inc. and The Ritz Club London Online have agreed to extend their relationship for an undisclosed period. Under the terms of their stated multi-year renewal, The Ritz Club will continue to use CryptoLogic's online casino and poker software. The two companies began their software-licensing partnership in 2002.
Seeking a License -- Wi-fi communication solutions provider Diamond I, Inc. is seeking a gaming license in the Philippines for its "WifiCasino GS" wireless hand-held gaming system. The company has contracted the services of Philippines-based sales and marketing firm YCOM to assist in obtaining a gaming license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation. The company says it is also seeking gaming licenses in additional jurisdictions.
GoldenPalaceMobile -- A five-year deal between GoldenPalace.com mobile solutions provider Phantom Fiber will allow Golden Palace to offer mobile casino games via Phantom Fiber's wireless platform. The new mobiles site, www.goldenpalacemobile.com, was announced today and will feature casino games and mobile banking facilities.
SportXction in Charlotte -- Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. has entered into an agreement to perform a feasibility study of the play-for-free version of its SportXction Competition system for the Charlotte Bobcats National Basketball League franchise. The product is already running on some Web sites as a play-for-fun and prizes alternative in jurisdictions where sports betting is prohibited. The Charlotte study will investigate the feasibility of deploying the SportXction Competition product on interactive TV, mobile phones and other in-venue platforms.
Geolocation -- Internet payment solution provider SafeCharge has entered into an agreement with geolocation technologies and services company Quova Inc to deploy Quova's flagship GeoPoint geolocation service and thereby enhance its credit card fraud solution and improve its risk scoring for online transactions. By using GeoPoint to determine the location of each customer, SafeCharge will enhance the ability of e-merchants to prevent fraud, reduce chargebacks and maximize profitability.
Advice For Sale -- An Israeli sports investment company called Betforsure is launching an Internet site that will sell sports gambling tips. The company has already recruited a number of experts in various sports to provide betting advice, including former premier league soccer player Itzik Zohar and former Hapoal Tel Aviv basketball coach Shimi Reuger. Customers can buy information about a sport or event, but will only be charged if the bet the company recommends is a winner.
Welcome Aboard -- Empire Poker has welcomed former Baywatch star Traci Bingham as its new spokesperson. Bingham will appear at high-profile venues, red-carpet events and poker tournaments wearing Empire Poker apparel, and her image will be used on the company's Web site and at its media events.
Mob Tour -- Prima Poker has announced that it will again sponsor the Hendon Mob in 2005 on an international tour of high-profile poker tournaments. The $1.25 million sponsorship will send the Mob to 15 tournaments in destinations such as Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Dublin, Monte Carlo and London.
Tuesday, Feb. 15
Portals -- A new online poker portal called Poker Christa (www.pokerc.com ) allows visitors to post reviews of poker rooms so that players can better choose which sites are right for them. The site's administrator moderates reviews to ensure that only legitimate feedback is listed, and its staff plans to eventually review many online poker sites with a standard test. . . . A new U.K.-based bingo portal, OnlineBingo.co.uk, lists and reviews what it considers the best British bingo sites. The site features comparisons of bingo sites and makes distinctions between single-player and multi-player sites.
Poker Software -- Online poker software developer Full House Entertainment has finished the first phase of beta testing on Full House Poker V-1.3. The company says it has been generating interest in the software and obtaining feedback by directly contacting players on forums. Full House is on track for a full launch next month.
A Fleeting Branding Opportunity -- The owners of a stadium in Boston are seeking a new corporate naming rights partner, but for now they're auctioning off daily naming rights for what was formerly the Fleet Center on eBay. It should come as no surprise that GoldenPalace.com won the right to rename the stadium on Wednesday by bidding $35,099. By placing the winning bid, Golden Palace is allowed to put signage in the arena and on the jumbotron and to change the name on the arena's Web site and automated call center. . . assuming, of course, that the owners approve the name that the online gambling company chooses. In the last week Golden Palace has also won eBay auctions for ad space on the cleavage of two women (one is a size 42GG, the other a supermodel and ex-wife of baseball star Jeff Bagwell) and on the bellies of two pregnant women and one fat radio disc jockey.
Farewell -- Derek Jeffrey, the man appointed in July 2004 to lead the British Casino Association through a time of booming business under the new gambling bill, has resigned as chief executive of the organization. BCA chairman Penny Cobham said the job "no longer had the scope it promised last July. He would be presiding over a much reduced industry compared to what had been promised." The Association announced yesterday that it was embarking on a plan to kill the proposed U.K. Gambling Bill because it feels the policy is unfair to existing casinos.
Easy Office Pools -- A company called Rocketpool.com has launched a Web site that provides users with a free and easy way to create and manage office pools. The site sends out customized invitations and manages wagers, and after the pool is concluded it automatically calculates the pot and sends out notification of results to players.
CYOP Poker -- CYOP Systems International Inc., which develops online skill-games and services, is currently testing online multi-player systems for poker and bridge. CYOP says it will soon make the games available for cash play in jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, where poker and bridge are considered games of skill rather than games of chance. The games will only be available on a play-for-fun basis in North America.
Patriot -- U.S. President George Bush asked Congress yesterday to renew the controversial Patriot Act because certain key elements of the bill are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. The Act was passed shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 to give law enforcement officials greater powers of surveillance and has faced much opposition from civil liberties groups and privacy advocates who claim it threatens personal freedoms.
Monday, Feb. 14
BillWillKill -- The British Casino Association has begun a campaign to oppose the proposed Gambling Bill because it believes the legislation is unfair to existing operators. The CBA's main concern is that existing casinos will be at a huge disadvantage if they are restricted from participating in the regulatory environment that the Gambling Bill would impose. It also fears that the bill would lead to significant job losses and closures of some of its members' estates. The association has launched a new Web site for the campaign at BillWillKill.com.
Parlay in UK -- Internet bingo solutions provider Parlay Entertainment Inc. has completed a license agreement with St. Minver Limited, a provider of white-label fully managed gaming solutions. St. Minver will use Parlay's bingo software to launch a 90-number bingo network during the first quarter of 2005. The network will also offer 75-number bingo and operate on an aggregated model so that all of its partners, including Gala Bingo, can share liquidity and jackpots.
Cantor Fined -- PokerRoom.com next month will launch a Java-based version of its poker platform that will be accessible via mobile devices. Swedish company Poker Network, which has developed the mobile poker software, plans to launch mobile sites for all of its poker licensees.
Odds on the Brain -- AnyBets.com has signed an agreement with online odds comparison site BetBrain.com to become the only pool betting site whose odds are listed on Betbrain. The Betbrain portal, which features dozens of bookmakers' odds updated every two minutes, attracts hundreds of thousands of sports bettors each month.
TalkSport -- William Hill has signed a deal to begin airing a TalkSport program on its interactive TV channel on the Sky network. The company believes that live broadcasts of The Game hosted by Patrick Kinghorn will be popular with early evening viewers, and it says the previews that the show will provide for football matches later in the evening are a natural fit for the channel. TalkSport radio drew an average audience of nearly 2 million in the fourth quarter of 2004.