Friday, May 20
Implementation -- Delegates from Antigua and Barbuda and trade representatives from the United States met Thursday in front of the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body in Geneva. Antiguan spokespersons have reported that the United States did not provide information about how it intends to comply with the body's ruling that the United States' restrictive approach to remote gambling violates the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Dr. Errol Cort, Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Finance and the Economy, stated before the Dispute Settlement Body, "First, I would like to express my delegation's disappointment in the statement just made by the United States Ambassador. Prior to this meeting, we have had no contact or communication from the United States regarding its intentions in this matter. Under Article 21(3) of the DSU, we believe we were entitled to hear at this meeting specifically what the United States proposes to do to comply with the decision and what time frame it suggests in which to accomplish that. The statement of the United States ambassador today gives us no substantive guidance as to the United States' intentions, and we would respectfully ask the United States to be more specific in front of this Body today. Failing that, at the very least, I will extend an invitation to the United States delegation to meet with our delegation following this meeting in order that we may promptly get the clarity to which we are entitled."
Integrity Analyst -- Ireland's Turf Club has appointed Hugh Hynes, a former trader for Paddy Power, as the first person to take the group's newly created role of integrity analyst. Hynes is to meet with both the U.K. Jockey Club and Betfair within the next few weeks, and Turf Club CEO Denis Egan says he expects the club to have memorandums of understanding in place with Betfair and Betdaq by the end of June. According to Egan, the club is anxious to "sign memorandums with every exchange that trades on Irish racing if volumes are respectable." The agreements will be similar to the one already existing between Betfair and the U.K. Jockey Club.
Russian Mobile -- Russian publication Biznes reports that Russian cellular operator MTS has signed a contract with mobile solutions provider Jupiter Trade, whereby Jupiter will create a number of Java games for use on the MTS mobile network, including slot machines, dice and virtual horse racing. According to Biznes, the first mobile casinos appeared in Russia in 2002. The market for mobile casino gambling is estimated at US$7 million (compared to $20-30 million for Internet casino gaming) with an annual growth rate of 20 percent. With 89.2 million mobile subscribers in Russia as of April 2005 (according to ACM Consulting), mobile phone penetration has already exceeded 100 percent.
Carsands 6.0 -- Sands of the Caribbean (www.carsands.com) has released version 6.0 of its casino gaming software. The new software version includes a suite of 24 new games, including casino solitaire, pontoon, casino war, super fun 21 and several multi-line slot machines and rapid fire jackpot games.
WARPoker -- GWIN Inc., a U.S.-based publicly-listed sports handicapping company, has signed a letter of intent with online gaming solutions turnkey provider Live Cast Media to create at least two Internet poker sites that will utilize the Wayne Allyn Root (WAR) brand name. (Root is Chairman and CEO of GWIN.) Live Cast will create, support and operate WARPoker.com, which will focus on an international market, specifically Asia and Europe, but will not accept play from U.S. citizens. The second site, WARPoker.net, will allow U.S. resident to participate in non-rake games for fun and prizes. The two companies plan to promote the sites through GWIN's various media properties, including the "Wayne Allyn Root's WinningEDGE" television and radio shows and the winningedge.com Web site. GWIN will receive 50 percent of the profits of the WARPoker.net site and 25 percent of profits from the WARPoker.com site.
Gaming and Happiness -- A comprehensive study conducted by research group MMI and Professor Svein Aage Chrisoffersen of the Theological Faculty at the University of Oslo suggests a link between gambling an happiness among Norwegians. Some of the general findings of the study are that lottery games create joy among most participants, either through the act of playing games--especially in a social environment--or in daydreaming of victory or in actually winning. Commissioned by Norway's lottery operator, Norsk Tipping, the study also revealed that although Norwegians do not on average play for large stakes, a very large portion of the population does engage in gaming. In 2004, more than 2 million people gambled more than US$12 billion.
Thursday, May 19
Mobile Solutions -- Multi-platform gaming solutions provider Zone4Play Inc. has granted South Africa-based online casino operator Cosmotrade Investments Ltd. a non-exclusive, non-transferable five-year license to distribute, promote and sub-license Zone4Play's mobile gaming solutions. In addition to front-end development of mobile casino games, Zone4Play will provide its ZoneMAS back-office system and ZoneITS interactive terminal server. The companies will target a European audience.
New York Bust -- "Operation Toll Free," a two-year investigation into an illegal sports betting ring in New York, culminated this week with the indictment of 36 people, including the head groundskeeper for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. Allegedly controlled by the Bonanno organized crime family, the ring is said to have operated three wire rings--in Kew Garden Hills, Flushing and Costa Rica--and relied on computers, the Internet, e-mail and AOL's instant messenger to do business. The various defendants face a combined 39 counts of offenses, including promoting gambling, possession of gambling records, conspiracy and more.
New Merchants -- Isle of Man-based online payment processor NETeller has added European betting companies Betfair.com and Expekt.com to it merchant base, giving those companies the ability to offer wagering services to the more than $1.5 million worldwide users of NETeller accounts. However, neither company accepts bets from residents of the United States, where a large number of NETeller account holders originate.
China Busts -- More than 1,000 police officers in Shanghai participated in a massive citywide sting Tuesday that resulted in the detainment of 13,000 individuals suspected of a number of crimes, including illegal gambling. Among those detained, two were on a national wanted list for allegedly organizing gambling over the Internet.
Youbet -- California-based Youbet has appointed James Wang, a former business and process planning manager with United Airlines and Telepacific communications, as its new director of player services. Wang will oversee the design, development and implementation of deposits, withdrawals, wagering and reporting processes to support the company's online and telephonic interface with customers. . . . Part of Youbet.com's endorsement contract with legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas includes the launch of a new Web site (www.dwlukas.com) devoted to Lukas' career. The site will feature weekly racing commentary, photos, Lukas-related chronologies, and Lukas' views on his Triple Crown entrants. Last month Lukas won his 597th grades stakes race, boosting his career thoroughbred earnings to $241 million.
RNG Certification -- Sweden-based online casino software provider Net Entertainment has had its random number generation certified by both Canadian testing facility Technical Systems Testing (TST) and the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science (SKL). Net Entertainment is the Internet gaming division of Swedish Stock Exchange-listed gambling firm Cherryforetagen, which has over 350 land-based casinos.
Welcome Aboard -- Online skill gaming and betting exchange software provider FUN Technologies has appointed Avi S. Greenspoon as a director of the company. Greenspoon is a partner of Toronto law firm Fogler, Rubinoff LLP, where he practices corporate and securities law. He has also served as a director at Hy & Zel's Inc.
Wednesday, May 18
GP Tour -- Richard Rowe, CEO of GoldenPalace.com, appeared live on popular German television show Stern TV to deliver a US$244,590.83 check to Benjamin Albe, the man who set up an eBay auction for the 1999 Volkswagen Golf formerly owned by Pope Benedict XVI. The company will soon take the holy auto on a worldwide tour that will raise money for charity. People can vote for a tour stop in their hometown by participating in an SMS text messaging campaign. Golden Palace will take the car to the major towns and cities with the most votes, and profits from the text messaging will be donated to charity. The SMS voting will begin this week in Germany, and the first stop of the tour will be in Cologne.
Revamp -- Pointspread.com, which allows users to compare sports betting odds offered by sponsored bookmaking partners, has revamped its Web to include a new layout, new graphics and new content. The site now features a parlay and teaser calculator and articles relating to sports, entertainment, casinos and gaming in addition to wagering odds from some of the most popular Internet sports books that target the American market, including PinnacleSports.com, BetCRIS.com, Bodog.com, TheGreek.com and more.
Marketing Conference -- Costa Rica-licensed betting company Bodog.com has announced the second Bodog.com Poker & Sports Marketing Conference will take place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas July 6 and 7. Topics on the agenda include future trends, technologies, regulation and consolidation of the online gambling industry as well as legal issues and the adoption of Internet gaming as a popular form of entertainment by mainstream markets.
Community Features -- Online skill gaming site Worldwinner.com has announced the launch new community features that allow players to issue direct challenges to opponents of their choice, rather than having to face opponents who are automatically appointed, as is the case with most skill gaming networks. Players are also now able to customize their personal profiles, use advanced search settings to find other players, create buddy lists, wage instant rematches and receive awards and badges for tenure, number of competitions played and other accomplishments (such as winning big tournaments).
Poker Beat -- UltimateBet.com has signed up as the presenting sponsor of Camp Hellmuth, a poker fantasy camp weekend running Aug. 18-21 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Led by poker pro Phil Hellmuth with assistance by fellow players T.J. Cloutier, Josh Arieh, David Williams, Evelyn Ng, John Bonetti and Barry and Jeff Shulman, the event will offer poker lessons, tournaments, workshops and entertainment. UltimateBet.com will promote the camp through online satellite tournaments. . . . Meanwhile, another venture of Hellmuth's--the Phil Hellmuth Poker Challenge, scheduled for May 21 in Houston--has been canceled because the venue that was to hold it, Reliant Park, has withdrawn. Complaints from an anti-gambling activist in Colorado led to questioning by legal authorities and the inevitable cancellation by the park. Between 600 and 1,000 players were expected to enter the $500 entry tournament from which all proceeds were to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Tuesday, May 17
Quoteworthy -- "Betting through the Internet, the telephone or digital TV are not currently allowed in Greece. Therefore, there is today an extensive illegal market that develops through these channels, and our goal is to go after it. In the short term, we will achieve this objective through strategic advertising as well as by inducing the Hellenic Republic to take measures against illegal gaming. In the medium term, we will introduce new attractive games, while in the long term, we will ensure our presence in the market of electronic gaming, once these become legal."
--Basile Neiadas, managing director of Greek gaming company OPAP. The Greek government is preparing to reduce its shareholding in OPAP from 51 percent to 34 percent.
Poker TV -- Pokerzone, a new station dedicated to the game of poker, debuted today on channel 226 of the Sky Digital television network in the United Kingdom. The station's programming will feature exclusive tournaments, poker-themed classic movies (such as "The Man with the Golden Arm") and inside-track documentaries that explore the history of poker and interactive gaming. The channel's launch kicked off with exclusive coverage of the Monte Carlo Millions tournament sponsored by The Prima Poker Network, followed by a new live new interactive participation show called "Poker Night Live," which televises live Internet poker tournaments. Greg "The Axeman" Winters and "Dr." Tom Sambrook provide analysis of the online action.
Skill Gaming -- SkillJam Technologies, a subsidiary of FUN Technologies, has entered into an agreement with Skyworks Technologies to develop, host and manage a private-label, pay-for-play skill-gaming platform for Skyworks' newly launched consumer gaming site Rcade.com. Skyworks provides entertainment content for Web sites, online games, wireless devices, kiosks, videogame consoles and CD-ROMs. The company's interactive content enables its clients to deliver brand messages to large, targeted audiences. It has created sponsored games for BMW, ESPN, Ford, Fox Sports, GlaxoSmithKline, Mattel, Microsoft, MTV, Yahoo! and others. SkillJam and Skyworks will co-create new pay-to-play versions of selected game titles from Skyworks' existing library.
Working Together -- Gambling Federation has signed an agreement to implement customized online poker software from Tribeca Tables on some of its websites. Commodore Casino will be the first site to use the software.
Monday, May 16
Chinese Law -- China's Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate have declared that new interpretations of China's gambling law (Article 303 China's Criminal Law) that take effect this Friday will provide the ability to prosecute Internet gambling operations. Article 303 states that "whoever, for the purpose of reaping profits, assembles a crowd to engage in gambling, opens a gambling house or makes an occupation of gambling is to be sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention or control, in addition to a fine." With the introduction of the new interpretations, anyone who sets up an Internet gambling site will now be treated as one who opens a gambling house. Furthermore, anyone who "knowingly offers capital or Internet services and telecommunications facilities to gambling participants or organizer" will be regarded as an accomplice to the gambling operation. Especially severe punishments will be delivered to gamblers or operators who are civil servants, who organize civil servants to gamble overseas or who organize juveniles to gamble. The National Coordinating Office to Strike at Illegal Gambling (the agency charged with eradicating gambling) has stated that the Ministry of Public Security will united telecom departments, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and other departments in an effort to crack down even harder on online gambling operations. The agency also revealed plans to create a judicial expertise center that would specialize in appraising electronic data to solve the problem of gathering admissible evidence of online gambling.
Mobvision -- Sweden-based mobile content and services provider Abiro has partnered with U.K.-based mobile solutions company MobVision to launch a mobile casino offering of six games: Nudge7, Roulette, Sunset Slots, Hawaii Hi-Lo, Big Apple Blackjack and Pirate Poker. The two companies say they will collaborate to apply stringent measures on age verification, fraud prevention and problem gambling (by limiting deposits to £15 per day).
Yahoo! Poker -- Yahoo! has announced that Yahoo! Poker will be the "flagship" game of its soon-to-debut PC-to-mobile Yahoo! Games network in the United States. Beginning this summer, cellular phone operator Sprint will begin bundling Yahoo! Poker in the games menu of new handsets, enabling players to play in no-limit, multiplayer tournaments from mobile devices or home computers. Players will also be able to participate in a single-player career mode that takes them through five different casinos and uses customizable avatars to represent them at the tables. Real-money wagering will not be permitted.
Casino-Club Poker -- Boss Media has signed an agreement to provide the online poker system for Gaming VC's online casino, Casino-Club.com. Boss already supplies Gaming VC with casino gaming software as well as operation and maintenance of the client server software and payment processing services for Casino-Club. Casino-Club Poker is scheduled to launch in July, and players will be pooled into the massive Boss Media poker network.
MyECheck -- California-based online payment processor MyECheck has begun offering a payment solution that allows merchants to accept checks online as a payment method. The MyECheck solution does not involve the Automated Clearing House and is therefore not subject to NACHA rules and regulations. While ACH e-checks can be reversed by the check writer anytime within 60 days of a bank statement, there is no automatic reversal mechanism for MyEChecks, which are accepted at every U.S. bank that offers checking accounts.