Friday, Oct. 25
Legal Stuff -- An Evansville, Ind. man is suing a riverboat casino there to get back the more than $175,000 he lost there between 1996 and 1999. David Williams, 52, is alleging that the operators of Casino Aztar should not have let him gamble there after he had been involuntarily hospitalized for gambling addiction in 1998. After the hospitalization, the casino told him he could come back only with medical documentation that it posed no threat to his safety, yet somehow he was let back in to gamble again. Williams is suing for his gambling losses as well as punitive damages.
Makin' Deals -- Global Entertainment Holdings/Equities Inc. 's subsidiary, Interactive Gaming & Wagering, has signed a deal for a new licensing relationship with www.SpinnerSports.com, an online sports book. Jay Harwood, the operations manager for SpinnerSports, said IGW offered the best combination of features it could find. "The IGW business model we chose was a perfect fit for our
company strategy," he said. "By being able to delegate the operations of the site to a service provider, we are able to concentrate on what we do best--marketing and customer service."
UK Bit -- The Times of London reports that bookmaker William Hill saw a massive increase in bets last week when the winner of the Man Booker Prize for fiction was announced prematurely. Yann Martel was named the
winner when a press release was mistakenly posted on the official Booker Prize Web site before the prize committee had even voted on a winner. Martel ended up being designated the official winner by the committee for his book, "Life of Pi," when the committee voted on Tuesday.
Thursday, Oct. 24
Greek Bit -- The European Commission has notified the Greek Foreign Ministry that Greece's law banning all electronic computer games including online gambling programs may violate European Union legislation. The BBC reported today that the letter states that the Greek law could be in conflict with article 28 of the European Community Treaty because it may restrict imports from EU member states. The letter is the first step in a process that could eventually bring Greece
before the European Court of Justice.
Tidbit from Down Under -- Telephone operators at Tabcorp protested a cutback in their hours this week by gathering with a life-size papier-mache horse with a dummy riding it outside a room where the company was holding its annual meeting. The workers said they are upset that their hours are being cut while executive salaries are being increased. AAP News reports that Jason Gibson, a representative of the Australian Services Union, said the horse was supposed to send the message that the workers are tired of being treated like dummies and taken for a ride. One Tabcorp worker said Internet betting, the AU$5 minimum on bets and voice-activated betting services are taking away from phone operators' income.
New Stuff -- Ladbrokes' online casino is moving forward with a new marketing campaign starring popular actors from the 1970s, including Peter Sellers and Richard Burton. The ads are aimed to reflect the glamorous image of British casinos in that period. The commercials will feature the tag-line, "Beautiful people come to Ladbrokescasino.com," and will show Burton and Sellers at blackjack tables, winning money and surrounded by beautiful women.
Wednesday, Oct. 23
New Stuff -- The Mobile
Games Interoperability Forum on Monday released its new specifications for mobile phone companies to follow to address problems associated with Java-based mobile games that must be re-written to run on different handsets. Paul Goode, a Motorola employee and the chairman of the MGIF, said interoperability issues have plagued the mobile gaming industry. "Since its inception, mobile gaming has been fragmented because of a lack of standards and a plethora of portability and interoperability issues," he said. "This specification is about lowering the technical barriers so that the entertainment industry can exploit the great potential of mobile phones as a channel to market."
Makin' Deals -- CYOP
Systems International Inc. has made a deal with Troma Networks Inc. to provide its skill-based, pay-for-play gaming software to Troma's sites, which include www.troma.com, www.tromaville.com and www.newgrounds.com. Troma bills itself as an independent movie studio and says it has produced such titles as the Toxic Avenger series. ... King Solomon's Casino, an online casino operating out of Kahnawake, Quebec, said it has signed a sponsorship agreement with Dan "The Beast" Severn of the Ultimate Fighting Championships.
Dominic Mansour, a marketing consultant for the casino, said it's a match made in heaven. "The pugilistic arts have a long association with the gaming world, and we feel this promotion will be an ideal vehicle with which to create a memorable impression with our audience." ... Chimera Technology Corp. has completed its acquisition of 724Bingo.com, which specializes in developing Internet gambling software. Chimera also said today that it is appointing Ken Chua as president and CEO.
TV Appearance -- PartyPoker.com will host the second semi-final competition for the "PartyPoker.com Million II" tournament from Nov. 21-24 on the Internet. Players will be competing to win spots in the final competition, which will take place on a Caribbean cruise and will feature a $1.5 million prize pool. On Oct. 26, the Travel Channel will show footage from last year's PartyPoker.com Million I tournament, which took place on a cruise last March.
Tuesday, Oct. 22
Makin' Deals -- Grenada Enterprises Interactive and ukbetting are embarking on a partnership in which ukbetting will provide betting content for Grenada's iTV football homepages at itc.com/football and itv.com.f1. The online sales manager of Grenada said he believes ukbetting's services will be an important part of itv.com. "It is great to have ukbetting.com on board to help enhance our users' interaction with fixed-odds betting and as such ukbetting.com will become an integral part of itv.com," Jeremy Rosenberg said.
New Stuff -- PayPal, whose services were once only available in U.S. dollars, is now allowing customers to send and receive transactions in euros and pounds sterling as well as U.S. dollars. The company, which will shut down all online gambling transactions once its sale to eBay is complete, said currencies including Japanese yen, Australian dollars and Canadian dollars will be added in the upcoming months.
Quoteworthy -- "When something is of murky legality, a company is stuck between customer desire to do what they think is legal and the law-enforcement folks who may have a different view. When something is clearly illegal it makes it easier for a company to ban something without drawing the ire of our own customers. We just need to know what we're expected to do." -- Vince Solitto, spokesman for PayPal, on the subject of Internet gambling. Quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 21, 2002.
Monday, Oct. 21
New Stuff -- A Croatian company, Casino Solei, recently launched an online casino that is operating out of Costa Rica. Casino Solei.com is the online counterpart of the company's land-based casino in Umag, Croatia. The site features Playtech software, including more than 58 games. Borut Lozej, president of Casino Solei.com, said in a press release that research indicates that Internet gamblers prefer using online versions of land-based casinos when they gamble on the Internet.
Names and Faces -- Lottery services company GTECH Corp. is appointing Timothy B. Nyman as senior vice president of global services. Nyman has been with the company since 1981 and was most recently the vice president of client services.
Bowing Out -- Spread betting company FinSport is in liquidation after its U.S.-based partner, Cantor Index, backed out of the partnership. South Africa's gambling regulators had unexpectedly looked in to the business of FinSport, causing Cantor Index, which is an arm of Cantor Fitzgerald, to withdraw its deal with the company.