Friday, Aug. 12
Israeli Lottery -- Israeli newspaper Globes reports that Israel's National Lottery, Mifal Hapayis, has asked for and received permission from the country's Ministry of Finance to operate its products online. Only games that are currently offered by the lottery will be permitted, so there will be no poker or casino gaming. Mifal Hapayis Chairman and CEO Shimon Katznelson said he hopes to have a site running by the end of the year.
Farewell -- Peter Bertilsson has decided to resign as president of Sweden-based I-gaming software developer Boss Media for family reasons. Bertilsson explained that has family situation has become untenable due to the great deal of travel the position requires combined with the fact that company headquarters is located in a different city than his family. Bertilsson held the company's presidency since October 2001.
BSkyB Expansion -- BSkyB has announced its intentions of taking advantage of England's pending new gambling regulations by launching Sky Vegas Live 2, a new interactive entertainment channel that will provide a range of casino-style games. The channel will not only offer the fixed odds services that are already playable on the original Sky Vegas Live, but will also feature casino-style games like roulette and poker. BSkyB's average annual growth in betting revenues has been higher than 40 percent over the past four years, and the company expects betting to overtake advertising in the next financial year as its second biggest source of revenue, behind only subscription fees for its pay-TV service.
VIP.com -- Leisure & Gaming--the trading name of Curacao-based online gaming firm VIP Management Services following a reverse takeover of an AIM-listed shell company at the end of May--has acquired the domain name VIP.com for a total consideration of US$1.4 million, which will be paid initially by $600,000 in cash and $400,000 in ordinary shares. The remaining consideration of $400,000 will be paid in ordinary shares upon the first anniversary of the transfer of the domain name. The company says the domain will help drive customer recruitment and strengthen its brand of I-gaming entertainment, which includes VIPsports.com, VIPhorses.com, VIPcasinos.com and VIPpoker.com.
Quoteworthy -- "Every week thousands of customers bet on our lotto products and it is easy to see why. By matching just three numbers you would win £460, a lot more than you would get on the U.K. National Lottery. Last weekend, one lucky customer won £44,371 by matching 5 numbers, the same weekend matching 5 numbers on the National Lottery would have only netted him £1,319. And with only 42 numbers to choose from your chances are even better."
- Taken from the text of an e-mail blast sent by Ladbrokes--writing on behalf of its partnership with the Irish Lotto--to 20,000 people. After receiving a complaint that the e-mail is misleading, the BritishAdvertising Standards Authority warned Ladbrokes against issuing similar e-mails. Although Ladbrokes argued that each claim was factually accurate and honest when read on its own, the ASA declared the statements misleading because they focused on winning comparisons but neglected specific odds comparisons. No disciplinary action was taken against Ladbrokes.
Stat Dispute -- Betfair claims that one of the instruments being used by the Australian Racing Board to argue against the licensing of betting exchanges is a report that is flawed and based on incorrect facts. The company claims that the report ignores the Productivity Commission's assessment of price elasticity for wagering and uses market share estimations for Betfair that are grossly inaccurate. Though the ARB argues that betting exchanges will hurt horse racing Australia, Betfair points out that since the year 2000, the U.K. tote has become stronger than ever, race-day attendance figures have risen to their highest point since World War II, prize money is at record highs, and funding to British horse racing has doubled. "Tasmanians and the racing industry should be very wary of this report," Betfair's Mark Davies explained. "It has been commissioned by people running an agenda and is based on incorrect assumptions about the U.K. experience with betting exchanges."
Thursday Aug. 11
PlayAway Denied -- Connecticut's Division of Special Revenue today denied Foxwoods Resort Casino approval for PlayAway, a game that entails purchasing keno tickets at the casino and then logging onto a Web site from home to see the results. Although players can participate in games on the PlayAway Web site, performance in the games in no way affects whether the tickets are winners or losers. The Special Revenue Division says PlayAway is illegal because it violates a state law that "prohibits any interactive online lottery games for promotional purposes." The division also says Playaway violates a tribal gaming compact that authorizes gaming services on the reservation.
888 IPO Radar -- Israeli newspaper Globes reports that Cassava Enterprises recently organized a meeting of its 300 employees to update them on the status of its expected public offering on the London Stock Exchange. CEO Shai Ben Yitzhak reportedly told employees that the IPO is likely to occur before the end of the year and that management has already launched the road show among investment houses. The company is expected to issue 25 percent of its shares and seek a valuation of around £750 million to £850 million.
Media Relations 101 -- Curacao-based betting company PinnacleSports.com issued a press release today explaining the details of its betting propositions on the price of gas in the United States. "Although several in the [oil] industry have suggested that gasoline prices will drop in the near future," the bookmaker stated, "the betting public believes that there is no end in sight for rising prices at the pump." The sports book on Friday opened wagering with the odds of the average price of gas in New York or Los Angeles rising to $3 per gallon by New Year's Day at a 30/1 long shot, but has dropped the odds to 9/5 because 90 percent of bettors have backed the price rising above $3. PinnacleSports' well crafted press releases have been quite successful in recent months in catching the attention of major media companies in the United States. CNN Money published an article about PinnacleSports' gas propositions within a few hours of the release, and with oil prices being such a big issue in the United States, it will not be surprising if more newspapers follow the story. At the end of May, hundreds of U.S. newspapers and television programs gave PinnacleSports.com exposure because of its odds on the final episode of American Idol.
Tas Stats -- The Queensland government's Office of Economic and Statistical Research reports that Tasmanians on average each gambled AU$6,750 in 2003-'04, an increase from $6,447 in '02-'03. Although the numbers indicate that Tasmanians gamble less than the Australian national average of $8,869 each, the figure is still far greater that the per capita figure of $2,141 in Western Australia, where gaming machines are outlawed. The number of gaming machines has been capped in Tasmania, but their turnover still rose by more than 10 percent. British betting exchange Betfair is trying to obtain a license to operate in Tasmania, and many of those who oppose the expansion of gambling argue that a full economic impact study of gambling should be conducted before any more licenses are granted.
Quoteworthy -- "They're making a mockery of the laws and the regulations here because what they've found is a loophole that allows them to advertise a site that is clearly--in a covert kind of way--promoting gambling with real money."
- Rick Broadhead, a Toronto-based Internet consultant, speaking to Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail in article that portrays the televised advertising of dot-net online gambling sites as clever ways of skirting Canada's laws prohibiting the advertising of online gambling sites.
Binary Bets -- Finspreads, the financial spread betting arm of IFX Group Plc, has officially launched its binary betting product. Binary bets are similar to fixed-odds bets in that punters know their odds and the time of the trade. Binary bets are typically of very short-term duration, such as hourly or daily, and give the punter a simple choice about a future event, such as whether an equity index will improve or decline over the specified time period.
Poker TV -- U.S.-based development-stage company The Poker TV Network Inc. and Pink Sheets-listed Nevada corporation TechSecure Partners Inc. have merged to form a new company that will engage in the production, distribution and transmission of poker-related programming through various media outlets. The new company will be called The Poker TV Network and trade under the symbol PKTV. It also hopes to acquire established cable or over-the-air television stations and production facilities and eventually launch a 24-hour all-poker television channel.
Wednesday, Aug. 10
Broken Vow? -- Virgin Enterprises has registered the domain name VirginNationalLottery.com despite founder Sir Richard Branson's vow (after the contract was awarded to Camelot in 2001) to never again bid for the U.K. National Lottery license. According to a company spokesperson, "He has no intention of bidding. It was purely a defensive measure. We register Virgin Web sites the whole time to stop third parties taking advantage." Bidding for the next National Lottery license will begin in 2006, and bookmaking giant Ladbrokes is also expected to vie for the prize.
Closer Analysis -- Officers of Racing Victoria met today to outline measures designed to combat illegal drugs and betting in racing. The organization says it will expend its real-time analysis of betting trends across all local and out of state wagering operators, and the technology to provide the relevant information to the Stewards' Room before each race is expected to be in place before the Spring Racing Carnival.
Macs Welcome -- Gibraltar-based Cassava Enterprises, operator of 888.com (Casino on Net) and Pacific Poker, this month launched versions of its casino and poker software that have been designed exclusively for Macintosh users. Players at both new sites can play for free or for real money and have access to all the same bonuses, promotions and features available via standard Windows-operated computers. Mac Pacific Poker users can also participate in the same player network as the other PC users.
Anti-Betfair -- The Australian Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Council and the Queensland Racehorse Owners Association have both issued statements in opposition to Betfair's potentially receiving a license to operate a betting exchange out of Tasmania. Wayne Milner, chairman of the Australian Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Council, stated, "Despite many efforts, racing does not face the same intense public scrutiny as publicly listed companies and there seems to be an assumption that unethical, unfair and dangerous practices only occur on race days. What Betfair does is to open a can of worms where the well being of the horse can be put at risk by unscrupulous trainers who can choose to over feed or over train or race a horse with an injury because now there is a the chance of making money from the horse losing." He added, "The Tasmanian government may be getting some short term financial gain but they are buying themselves a wide range of problems that can only hurt the health of Tasmanian Racing and Australian Racing."
Quoteworthy -- "With Internet betting, we've seen the money doesn't come from track betting, it comes from OTBs. We've got to figure out a way to bring in new fans, but we’ve got to realize our fan base always is going to be older people. You’ve got to get young people aware of the sport so that in ten to 15 years when they have a little more free time and a little more disposable income, they'll turn to horse racing. Any way you can get the sport in front of people, you have a chance of building a fan base. You’ve got to keep up with changes in society. I think if people could bet in the comfort of their own homes, that would be a key."
- Jim Edgar, the former two-term governor of Illinois who is now a director of horse race wagering and content provider Youbet.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 9
Betfair Poker -- I-gaming software provider CryptoLogic has revealed that Betfair, one of its biggest poker licensees, intends to begin using poker software developed in-house. No definitive decisions have been made on the matter, but it is apparent that Betfair would like to terminate its contract with CryptoLogic's subsidiary, WagerLogic Limited, in early 2006 so that it may launch its own poker network. Betfair's departure would not affect CryptoLogic's financial results for the year 2005, but could have a material effect on 2006 earnings unless the loss of revenue can be balanced by growth from other existing and potential new licensees. . . . CryptoLogic has appointed Stephen Taylor as its chief financial officer. Taylor has more than two decades of experience in financial and business management, public markets and mergers and acquisitions.
eBingo Caliente -- Internet bingo solutions provider Parlay Entertainment Inc. has completed a software licensing agreement with Hipódromo de Agua Caliente, a 90-year-old race and sports book operator based in Tijuana, Mexico. The agreement will result in a new Web site called "eBingo Caliente" (www.caliente.com.mx) that will target the Mexican and South American markets with a Spanish language, 90-number bingo product. The Web site will launch sometime in the third quarter of 2005 and will feature a Spanish language user interface as well as Spanish-speaking bingo callers.
Self Regulation -- The latest initiative from self-regulatory body eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming, Regulation and Assurance) focuses on barring minors from gaming sites and protecting gambling addicts from financial harm. The 56 online casino and poker rooms that are members of eCOGRA will implement specific policies and requirements that were designed in collaboration with the G4 responsible gambling group. All sites will be required to carry a prominent "Responsible Gaming" section in which the dangers of underage and problem gambling are explained. The sites must also provide seven-day "cooling off" periods and six-month self-exclusion periods for problem gamblers in addition to deposit limiting mechanisms. Training programs are being established at the sites to familiarize staff with the financial and playing patterns that are typical of problem gamblers.
Cybersquatting -- A U.S. District Judge in Alexandria, Virginia has ruled that a number of domain names used by Costa Rica-based online gambling company Global DIP are "confusingly similar" to Las Vegas casino The Venetian's trademark. The company has consequently been ordered to cease using the URL's "VenetianGold.net," "VenetianGold.com," "VenetianGold Casino.com," "VenicianGold. com," "VenetianGoldCasino.net," "VenecianGold.com" and "VeniceGoldCasino.com" because they violate the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999.
UK Ads -- The British Casino Association is reportedly expressing its concerns to the British government about the increasing amount of advertising done by foreign-based online poker operators. Although foreign operators may advertise as long as they do not invite customers to deliver any money, the traditional casinos are concerned that the nature and extent of the ads now breaches the relevant laws (Section 42 of the 1968 Gaming Act). Meanwhile, the advertising of online casinos was supposed to have been discussed at a meeting of the Gaming Board, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the ASA and Ofcom. Law firm Olswang reports that the groups were supposed to issue a joint statement on the matter, but none has yet been released. Considering that the ads will become legal as soon as the new Gambling Act takes effect, it is doubtful that any legal action will be taken.
Guilty -- The Lincoln Park dog track in Rhode Island and two of its former executives were found guilty on Monday of conspiring in 2000 and 2001 to bribe the state's former Speaker of the House with up to $4 million to support legislation that would allow the park to introduce slot machines. Lincoln Park, its former general manager Dan Bucci, and Nigel Potter-the former chief executive of British company Wembley, which owned the park at the time-were each convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud. The sentencing date has been set for Oct. 28, and all three parties could be fined up to $1 million while Bucci could face up to 25 years in prison and Potter 20 years in prison. No bribes were ever actually paid, and former House Speaker John Harwood never faced any charges. The first trial of the case ended in February with a deadlocked jury. The track was recently sold to a Connecticut-based company that plans to add slot machines.
Monday, Aug. 8
Exchange Platform -- Betbull 's Gibraltar-based subsidiary has signed a deal with betting exchange operator and technology provider The Global Betting Exchange (also known as Betdaq). Under the deal, Betbull has migrated its two websites, betbull.com and betbull.de , onto a new technology platform that allows it to share its markets and liquidity with other betting exchanges, including Betdaq 's. Betbull says its co-operative racing and bookmaking partners will benefit from the ready to go white label capability and the flexibility to implement their own business model. The deal should also allow Betbull to put more pressure behind its co-operative strategy and to free resources to pursue other opportunities, particularly in the German retail sector.
Sweeping Australia -- Australian casino operator Jupiters Limited has announced plans to add poker games to its gaming operations within the next two months. Proposals to hold nightly poker games at Conrad Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast and the Conrad Treasury Casino in Brisbane have already been sent for approval to the Australia's gaming authorities. The overwhelming popularity of poker also caused South Australian casino Sky City Adelaide to bring poker tables back to its floors last month after a four-year absence.
Virgin in Space -- A new crossover promotion could involve Virgin Games rewarding lucky players with a seat on one of Virgin Galactic 's flights into space by 2008. Virgin Games CEO Oscar Nieboer told eGaming Review that plans are still a long way from fruition, but said that work on building games specifically tailored toward the space flight prize is already underway.
Marketing Contract -- PartyGaming has awarded its marketing contract to a UK company called InterAge Limited . InterAge's CEO Kobi Freund says that PartyGaming has decided to become significantly more aggressive in its marketing, and could begin boosting its efforts to promote its online bingo and casino properties.