Friday, Sep. 16
Floater -- eGaming Review reports that Cyprus-based I-gaming software firm Playtech met with advisors in London over a potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. A source indicated that a listing could occur as early as November and that a trade sale was an alternate possibility. A spokesperson from Playtech stated, however, that a listing would occur before the end of 2005.
Quoteworthy -- "The WTO held the U.S. had not shown that it applied its prohibition on remote wagering on horse races in a nondiscriminatory manner. But the solution is easy. Congress should immediately amend the IHA to allow what is already being done: expressly allow Americans to bet on foreign races and allow foreign bettors to wager on American races. The U.S. could then safely prohibit all other forms of Internet gambling, foreign and domestic. Of course, if Nevada casinos ever start taking bets online, or state lotteries begin selling their tickets on the Internet, everything changes. At that point, Antigua might go back to the WTO, and this time, win."
- concluding lines of an article written by I. Nelson Rose, Professor at Whittier Law School. Titled "Internet Gaming: U.S. Beats Antigua In WTO," the article was written for the Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS), of which Rose is a member of the editorial board.
Danish Restrictions -- The government of Denmark is planning to cut back on the amount of advertising done by its gambling monopolies to demonstrate that the country's restrictions on foreign operators are consistent with their laws. The Remote Gaming Association believes this "is likely to be indicative of how many EU states will react if challenged [by the European Commission]."
Services Directive -- The gambling industry is excluded from the country of origin rule in the current E.U. draft directive on services in the single market as a transition measure, but no deadlines have been set. The draft directive was introduced in January 2004 and does not force member states to abolish monopolies in betting and gambling, but does include gambling and betting in the scope of application of the directive without applying the principle of country of origin to them. The European Commission has contracted a comparative study on national legislation on gambling and the results will be published at the end of the year.
Study Questioned -- MEP Pervenche Beres of the French Socialist Party has tabled a formal question with the European Commission regarding the potential bias of a study of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law. Some of the work on the study was subcontracted to the Gaming Studies Research Centre of the University of Salford in Manchester, which is sponsored by British gaming company Stanley Leisure, a proponent of liberalization of gambling.
Italian Site -- Italian firm Lastminute.com, which finds bargains on travel and leisure prices, has signed a deal with Malta-based I-gaming software and services provider WorldMatch to launch a gaming section on its Web site. The site is online at www.casinolastminute.com, and all games are available in Italian with no downloading required.
GP Purchases -- GoldenPalace.com's eBay purchases this week include the only known copy of the property deed for the White House (a duplicate of the original) for $43.45 and the naming rights to a hybrid Daylily flower, which for $5,000 will now be called the GoldenPalace.com Lily.
Celebrity Reps. -- BETonSPORTS Plc has named actor, comedian and star of Fox Sports' "The Best Damn Sports Show Ever" Tom Arnold as the representative of its two online gaming brands, BETonSPORTS.com and BoSPOKER.com. . . . The World Poker Tour has introduced Courtney Friel as a host of Season 4, which will commence in March 2006. Freil has previously worked as a correspondent for "America's Most Wanted" on FOX, "E! News Live" on E! Entertainment Television, and "Trackers" on the Oxygen Channel.
Thursday, Sep. 15
Floater -- Betting firm Betex, operator of the elite128.com soccer betting site, has appointed Numis Securities as an advisor to a float on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market. The company is already listed on Ofex--a less regulated market for smaller companies--but intends to raise £10 million and £15 million through an AIM float to fund gaming contracts in China. Betex in July became the first non-Chinese company to win a lottery contract in the country when it received a contract to manage the state lottery of the province of Guizhou. The company is also in discussion with other Chinese provinces to potentially run more lotteries in the country.
Sportingbet Sued -- AFX reports that U.S.-based fantasy sports company RotoPlay Inc. is filing legal proceedings in a Pennsylvania federal court against Sportingbet, alleging that Sportingbet infringed upon RotoPlay's copyrights by copying its games and using them on its Web sites. "Sportingbet copied all of our lottery games, unique scoring system, game rules, HTML code and tie-breaker information verbatim," RotoPlay President Korey Gardner said. He added that RotoPlay had previously discussed with Sportingbet the possibility of licensing the games.
Quoteworthy -- "We don't think commission levels are a driving force behind the attraction of exchanges, talking to our clients, and people will go where they get the best service and deals. We have invested massively in the product and we believe our third version technology is the best around. We have tried to differentiate our product in a competitive industry with multiple bet and each-way options. This is working well, especially with multiples in the football field."
- Russ Wiseman, public relations director of Betdaq, explaining to the Racing Post why his company is raising its commission rate from 3 percent to 5 percent. New clients are paying the new rate, while existing clients pay 3 percent until the end of October and 4 percent until the end of the year. Wiseman also mentioned that Betdaq's number of active users has doubled since the beginning of the year and its matched bets have tripled over the previous year.
Shop Franchises -- Independent Irish bookmaker Boylesports plans to offer franchises for some of its betting shop operations. The company will provide all backup services in return for a percentage of profits. CEO John Boyle told the Irish Independent that he prefers to keep the value built up in his shops to remain within the industry, rather than be exported to outside investors through a stock market flotation, which is the plan rival Irish bookmaker Paddy Power--as well as about a dozen other online gambling firms--is pursuing. Funds gained through franchises will enable Boylesports to focus on developing its online gambling business.
DV8Poker -- Irish company AVA Leisure, which manufactures gaming machines and operates a chain of arcade outlets, has launched an online poker site called "DV8poker.com." The site is part of the Excapsa Poker Network and is powered by software from Excapsa, which supplies the network and software of UltimateBet.com and UltimatePoker.com. Excapsa recently announced its plans to float on the London Stock Exchange.
Fixing Trial -- Former soccer referee Robert Hoyzer and five other suspects will go on trial Oct. 18 for fraud charges relating to the manipulation of more than 20 German soccer games. The trial will likely last at least until the end of the year.
Wednesday, Sep. 14
Quoteworthy -- "We plan to be very much involved in leading the discussion about online gaming in the United States. I don't think there is much of an alternative to legalizing, taxing and regulating it. I'm sure we will be involved in that. The current administration is very conservative, and I doubt this is going to be an issue they will try to move on. On the other hand, there is only, what three years left {laughs}. I think it has to happen eventually. You and I are both very much aware that what is going on now is the great gold rush. Now, you hear stories of all of those online sites moving all their employees, and all their assets out of the United States so they get over to the U.K. and go public. Eventually, that has got to be perceived as a huge loss in this country."
- Steve Lipscomb, founder of the World Poker Tour and CEO of WPT Enterprises. Limpscomb delivered these remarks in response to the question "Can you find a way to do that (take U.S. bets), and is that a goal?" during an interview with PokerNews.com.
Debt Problems -- British insolvency specialist The Debt Advisor warns that the increasing popularity of online gambling is contributing to the country's consumer debt problem. The company says it is already seeing individuals who have run up debts over £100,000 gambling online and expects to see increasingly more in the future. Spokesperson Bev Budsworth said bettors run up debts much quicker gambling online than gambling via traditional means. "Unlike traditional gambling venues--where there is very much a cash culture--online gaming relies on credit cards," Budsworth explained. "Once you have registered your card details you can play for as long as your credit limit allows without breaking off to get more money. I believe this is why we are seeing such high levels of debt amongst the new wave of online gamblers who are coming to us. It is reminiscent of the mid 1990s when some of the biggest debtors we saw were people who had been speculating on the futures market."
Ladbrokes Bid -- The Times Online reports that Ladbrokes is likely the best candidate to purchase spread betting firm Sporting Index now that the firm's private equity owner, Duke Street Capital, has narrowed the auction of Sporting Index down to Ladbrokes and two private equity firms. Duke Street is working with investment bank NM Rothschild on the auction and is expected to enter into exclusion with one party after the potential buyers update their offers next week. Ladbrokes is thought to have the best advantage because it is in a position to cross-sell its own betting products to Sporting Index punters and to offer Sporting Index products to Ladbrokes customers. Further, Sporting Index's chairman, John Jarvis, was once chairman of Hilton International, which is part of Ladbrokes' parent company, Hilton Group Plc. Ladbrokes dabbled with spread betting products in the '90s but abandoned the plan until just recently when it partnered with Cantor Index to introduce a new fixed-odds betting service called "Ladbrokes Financials."
Two for the Money -- Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey star as sports handicappers in "Two For the Money," a high-profile movie due out in U.S. theaters on Oct. 7. The trailer features a voiceover of Pacino saying, "Networks don't talk about it, the government can't tax it, but sports betting is a $200 billion a year business." The movie was inspired by a true story.
CYOP Games -- I-gaming software provider CYOP Systems International Inc. has entered into an agreement with Slovakia-based Interkod Technologies Inc. to begin developing online casino games of multiplayer craps, blackjack, roulette and baccarat. CYOP announced in July that it would open a game studio in Central Europe but has decided instead to contract a third party for the development work after further review of the costs and liabilities of operating another foreign subsidiary. CYOP will own games and license them to third-party gaming operators in addition to offering them on its proprietary portals.
China Mobile Payments -- TOM Online Inc., a wireless Internet company in China, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with UMPAY (Union Mobile Pay Ltd), which is the only authorized mobile payment gateway on China Mobile's platform. The companies will jointly develop and market bank card, debit card and credit card-based mobile payment products and services in China. TOM Online will be the wireless and online payment portal company partner of UMPAY and will work with UMPAY to offer more comprehensive mobile payment products. TOM Online will also leverage its vast online and wireless resources, including its wireless Internet user base of more than 70 million, to help further expand UMPAY's merchant and user bases to accelerate the adoption of the payment service. There is no word yet on whether the service will permit payment transactions for online gambling services, but it is doubtful considering the some of the many policies instituted by the Chinese government to combat not just online gambling but all forms of gambling. . . . China's Ministry of Public Security has urged local police in border areas to stop Chinese citizens from gambling in neighboring countries. Some Casinos in neighboring countries have reportedly re-opened specifically to entertain Chinese gamblers. Many of them closed earlier this year after China initiated a campaign to stop its citizens from gambling with them. Public security departments are now ordered not to issue tourist exit permits to Chinese citizens who are destined for neighboring countries with casinos.
Consumer Mag -- Publishing firm Future Technology plans to launch a digital version of its Online Gambler magazine title for consumers. The magazine launched in March 2005 in England with a print run of 500,000 copies that were distributed as a supplement to the company's male-interest magazines such as PC Format, PC Gamer, PC Zone and T3.
Handicapping Contest -- GWIN Inc., a U.S.-based publicly traded sports handicapping company has announced a contest to find the country's best amateur football handicapper. The contest is sponsored by Hooter's Hotel Casino Las Vegas, sports memorabilia retailer The Field of Dreams Inc., and sports memorabilia Web site starslive365.com. The grand prize winner will win a contract with GWIN's WinningEDGE to become a professional sports handicapper.
Tuesday, Sep. 13
Go For Gold -- All proceeds for "Go For Gold," a new instant interactive game launched by Camelot on the UK National Lottery Web site (www.national-lottery.co.uk), will be allocated to supporting the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Lottery funding is expected to contribute up to £1.5 billion toward the costs of the 2012 events. The National Lottery now has about 1 million players registered via interactive channels after two years of interactive operations. Interactive sales have grown to over £2 million per week and contribute over £500,000 per week to charitable causes. Last month Camelot launched a traditional scratch card version of "Go For Gold."
Tyche -- Isle of Man-based online gaming operator betinternet.com has signed a contract with software developer IGW Software to use Tyche, IGW's highly scalable sports book software platform designed to give operators greater control over their content, liability and customer management. betinternet will go live with the new system in the first quarter of 2006. The company has used a sports book solution from PDMS for the last five years.
Multiple Betting -- Online betting exchange Betdaq has introduced multiple betting to its network. An easy-to-use interface enables punters to select more than one betting proposition across Betdaq's entire line of markets.
Tournament Blackjack -- Online skill gaming provider GameAccount has launched a skill-based version of blackjack that enables players to engage in heads-up play against online opponents instead of against the house. The player begins the game with an imaginary chip stack of $10,000 and tries to build a larger chip stack than his opponent, with the exact same sequence of cards dealt to both players. Players can participate in tournaments with entry fees as low as $2 or as high as $900.
Monday, Sep. 12
Advising -- The Financial Times reports that PartyGaming is believed to have appointed Deutsche Bank to advise on the potential purchase of Empire Online, a marketing firm that drives an estimated 9 percent of the entire global online poker market to PartyGaming's PartyPoker.com. Empire received a £700 million offer on Sept. 2 from online gaming company Sportingbet, and if Sportingbet were to acquire Empire, it might be able to redirect the players to its own site, ParadisePoker.com. Among Deutsche Bank's accomplishments in the I-gaming sector is running William Hill's initial public offering two years ago and the representation of Gala's shareholders when they recently sold a 30 percent stake in the company to private equity firm Permira. FT reports that Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the bank that handled PartyGaming' IPO, is now advising Sportingbet, but will continue to act as a joint-advisor to PartyGaming. Sportingbet has also recruited the assistance of Investec.
Compulsion Controls -- The Jackpot Factory Group, which operates All Slots Casino, All Jackpots Casino, First Web Casino and Wild Jack Casino and Poker, has implemented the responsible gaming program guidelines formulated by eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance). All of the Jackpot Factory Group's casinos provide advice on how to gamble responsibly and how to detect potential gambling problems. Customers can also take a confidential diagnostic test from the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago to determine whether they have symptoms of gambling addiction.
Superheroes -- I-gaming software provider CyrptoLogic Inc. says it will soon release a series of Marvel superheroes-themed slot machine games as part of an exclusive multiyear licensing agreement signed in late 2004 with Marvel Enterprises. The first set of five 9-line progressive jackpot video slot games feature The Hulk, Daredevil, The X-Men, Blade and The Punisher and offer multi-stage, interactive bonus levels with three separate jackpots available.
Ontario Stats -- The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto has published a population study called "Internet Gambling Among Ontario Adults," which examines the prevalence of Internet gambling among adults in Ontario. Data for the study was collected from 2000 and 2003 and shows that 5.3 percent of adults reported gambling over the Internet in 2000. The percentage declined to 3.2 percent in 2001 before climbing to 6.8 percent in 2002 and 6.6 percent in 2003. The survey found that 8.2 percent of adults aged 18-34 gambled online, while the percentage was significantly lower for older age groups (4.6 percent for ages 35-54 and 3.9 percent for ages 55+).
3D Poker Platform -- This fall will see the launch of StacksPoker.com, a site that promises to improve the online poker experience by integrating video game technology and graphics, thereby offering a visually stunning and animated three-dimensional table. Players will choose whether they want to run the three-dimensional table view or the classic overhead two-dimensional table. A teaser trailer of the software is available on the StacksPoker Web site, which is operated by CTT Group Enterprises.
Regional WPTs -- WPT Enterprises has signed deals with ABS-CBN Broadcasting Crop in the Philippines and Aidan Tracey in Canada that will create regional World Poker Tour tournament events in casinos in each of the respective countries beginning in 2006. ABS-CBN will create and exclusively air four episodes of the regional World Poker Tour in the first year of the contract, while Aidan Tracey--a marketing, promoting and sponsorship firm--will develop, stage and market a regional tour in Canada. The World Poker Tour television series is broadcast in 116 countries and territories around the world. WPT Enterprises anticipates licensing additional regional tours.
Two Way TV deal -- Interactive media firm Two Way TV Australia Ltd. has signed a deal allowing it to operate interactive competitions using mobile phone-to-TV technology on Asia Television Ltd.'s "Kick Off Hot Talk" football program, which should catch an estimated US$130,000 to $330,000 in revenue. More importantly, the agreement could lead to more deals in Asia. Two Way TV Australia already provides subscription games channels on pay TV providers Foxtel and Austar, and its interactive racing product has been integrated into Tabcorp's NSW wagering system. The racing product's integration into the Victorian wagering system is now underway.