Anti-competition trojan endemic to GF casinos

With the week coming to a close, a major scandal started hitting the headlines after players discovered a trojan virus in proprietary gambling software downloaded from a number of Gambling Federation online casinos.

The trojan was discovered after players found that they were unable to access certain other gambling sites once they had played on GF casinos....and there are many GF-powered casinos.

IT specialists then found that the installation process from G-FED casinos modifies 7 files,one called "hosts" located at C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. The file had been altered by the addition of malware that short circuited any subsequent attempt to visit specific online casinos such as Royal Dutch Casino, The Blackjack Table and Casinoxo. Other operations may also be suffering loss of business as a result.

Once the malware has been identified and removed, access to the affected sites is returned.

Indignant players pointed out that the covert insertion of this sort of material on their computers was a gross invasion of privacy, and the potential damage to business at the targeted sites can only be imagined.

Late yesterday, a luckless Gambling Federation PR person appeared on the message boards with an astonishing, and highly unlikely explanation - GF had knowingly included the trojan in their software download as an "anti-spam measure."

IT specialists in the gaming community immediately debunked and ridiculed the excuse, which was accompanied by an apology and an assurance that the trojan would be removed from the GF download immediately.

In one of the most bizarre incidents yet involving an industry company, this incident would appear to still have a way to run, and the consequences of Gambling Federation's covert trojan blunder are likely to be serious.

Read more about this here

But CEO Corfman says the fight has just begun

There was bad news for freedom of speech and the advertising industry this week when the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana upheld the government’s call for the Casino City case to be dismissed.

CasinoCity.com’s attempt to take the Department of Justice to court for a declaratory judgement that it had infringed the constitutional right of free speech is still very much a live issue, however.

Casino City CEO Michael Corfman told InfoPowa emphatically that an appeal was "...very much on the cards - this fight is just heating up. We have 60 days to file a notice of appeal, and we will do so as soon as we have completed the necessary preparation.

"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."

Barry Richards, Casino City's lead litigator said, "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.

"The decision places in clear focus the question of whether a prosecutorial agency can threaten, but not actually carry out, prosecution and thereby chill the exercise of free speech by citizens who believe their constitutional rights have been violated but have no ability to seek court protection."

On Monday the Court upheld the government’s call for the case to be dismissed.

The suit, which was filed last August, claimed that the Department of Justice is violating the principles of the First Amendment by warning broadcasters who advertise for the online gambling industry that they may face prosecution if they continue to do so.

Company CEO, Michael Corfman, said at the time: “The public has the right to see the wealth of information we provide on casinos and sportsbooks, and we have the First Amendment right to advertise online gaming on the web to support its free publication.'

Mobile gambling revenues could set new records

Revenue from mobile phone gambling is set to exceed all other forms, according to a new report out this week

The report by Juniper estimates that by 2009, mobile gambling services will generate revenues of more than $19.3 billion, nearly one-third of all mobile entertainment revenues. And that's a conservative estimate. "Given the ubiquity of mobile handsets, and the desire of many [gambling] providers to exploit this, then potentially the resulting sales could be substantially higher," the report says.

Java-enabled graphics, colour-filled screens, technology that invoices on the monthly phone bill, and 3G networking combine to provide a service that is gaining momentum and acceptance.

The report says: "More than 90 percent of the population in the UK and US have at some time played a lottery in its traditional paper form. Coupling this huge market with the immediacy and penetration of the mobile phone is a logical and lucrative proposition."

Sports betting, already popular, is set to surge on the mobile platform. "It may offer the opportunity not only to allow players to place a bet about the outcome of a particular event, but also to dynamically bet through their handset as to the outcome of particular events within the game."

Its success depends on the availability of GPRS or 3G for most mobile users, but at the rate this technology is advancing, this seems likely, the report says.

The online casino sector of mobile gambling may remain a small niche market for the forseeable future as only 14 percent of UK adults partake in casino gaming (including slot machines). While complex graphics will allow consumers to play games such as poker, roulette, craps and black jack, either for fun or for money, "regulatory proscriptions are likely to hinder or prevent the launch of casino-style services in many countries".

The UK gambling bill, which is due for debate in the House Lords next week, has divided industry experts. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) says reform is essential: "Almost all relevant British gambling legislation predates the internet. Nobody had such a powerful communications system in mind when that legislation was being enacted."

Most of the bill, the government says, regulates remote gambling - on mobile telephones, the internet and interactive television - which specialists suggest 800,000 adults per month use.

"Our controls on commercial gambling are being undermined by technology," a DCMS spokesperson says. Once the bill is made law, the Gambling Commission will award remote service providers with licences only after certain conditions are met.

These will include secure billing, and credit and age checks. "For the first time it will be a criminal offence to allow a child to play [remote gambling]," says the spokesperson.

Most resp[onsible gambling organisations are taking the advent of mobile gaming very seriously, and some are in the process of drawing up guidelines for operators, with discussions taking place on how to prevent under-age gambling. One suggestion is the use of number blocks, and advising parents to keep an eye on phone bills.

With mobile gambling set to become even more profitable than online gambling, analysts are urging the industry to play their cards right. "The market for these services is potentially vast," the report says. "It is now up to the service providers to seize the opportunity."

State votes for regulated internet poker

Last week, InfoPowa reported on the legislative moves in North Dakota to recognise Internet poker as a skills game offering wide tax potential for a regulating State. After glowing speeches about its potential for economic development, jobs and unique opportunities this week, the House voted Wednesday for companies that host worldwide live Internet poker.

Rep. Bill Kretschmar, R-Venturia, said North Dakota would offer to regulate the industry here, collecting taxes and fees for its general fund in the process.

Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1509 and said the state could enjoy tremendous revenue from licensing and regulating the industry.

He said if the state licenses 200 poker sites, it could take in $40 million. There are 50 million Internet poker players in the USA alone now and 300 million worldwide. If the state licensed 50 million players, "That's 500 million dollars per year new revenue to North Dakota."

After poker, the favoured trend is....mobile!

Analysts and research companies can generally be depended to get in on promising trends, and this seems to be the case with mobile gambling this week, as yet another study hit the media - this one from Irish company Research and Markets.

R & M report that traditional methods of gambling such as casino gaming, sportsbetting and playing lottery games are increasingly being augmented with electronic forms of gambling, most notably using the Internet, where casino services and betting services are already generating substantial revenues.

The next progression in this process is to transfer these and similar services to the mobile handset, they advise. And they're going to help clients do that with a new report that provides analysis and opinion regarding the size and shape of this opportunity and identify which applications, content and service provision is leading the way.

Mobile Gambling: Casinos, Lotteries & Betting 2nd Edition covers a wide geographical, applications and implementation spread and presents key findings in the following business-critical areas:

Business projections and sector focus.
The Opportunity and the market.
What mobile brings to gambling.
Mobile Penetration, Technology.
Types of gambling services.
How much is Mobile Gambling worth?
The hurdles and regulation.
Billing.

A new way to punish fraudsters...and reward real players

Judging by player experiences currently appearing around the Internet, the English Harbour group has found a new way to deal with money confiscated from fraudulent players - it distributes it as a bonus to regular gamblers!

Players said they had been pleasantly surprised to find amounts of up to $200 in their accounts when they logged on, and were told by a manager that this was part of the distribution to players of the ill-gotten (and confiscated) gains of fraudsters.

Apparently 20 regular players were chosen at random and their accounts bonused.

Fraud by players can take several forms in internet gambling, including opening multiple accounts to skim extra bonusing and using false ID.

English Harbour had not answered our request for a company comment as we went to press.

$1.8 million in aid on the way

Kudos to software provider Playtech and its licensees who are co-sponsoring a large-scale humanitarian relief mission to send $1.8 million in medical supplies to Sri Lankan victims of the tsunami disaster.

Coordinated by Knightsbridge International, a non-governmental organization, in conjunction with other NGOs the project is in full swing. Over the past month Knightsbridge has been flying into the region desperately needed medical supplies, food and medical specialists. Playtech and its licensees will sponsor one of these missions, which includes a fully-loaded 747 especially equipped for operations of this kind.

Though much international aid has flowed into Sri Lanka in the five weeks since the disaster, which claimed over 150,000 lives and wreaked havoc on a further 5 million inhabitants, more yet will be needed throughout the year as the country struggles to provide long-term hospitalization, care and counseling for tens of thousands of its civilians.

Knightsbridge International, co-founded and chaired by philanthropist Sir Edward Artis, provides humanitarian assistance and disaster relief worldwide. It has run large-scale operations in harrowing and devastated places such as Afghanistan, Rwanda, Chechnya and the Philippines.

The medical supplies being provided by the relief mission will support over 10,000 people for over a year. Once on the ground the aid will be distributed through a large and well organized network of local centers - early volunteers included heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and Cincinnati Reds owner Carl Lindner.

Sponsors in the Playtech effort are:

New York Casino, USA Casino, Carnival Casino, Club Dice Casino, Monaco Gold Casino, Baraka Casino, Baraka Bingo, Prestige Casino, Prestige Poker, Prestige Bingo, Diamond Club Casino, Diamond Club Poker, Playgate Casino and Playgate Poker.

Latest poker site coming online is Banner Poker.com which is part of a new and probably multi poker room network powered by IKO-Soft. Another brand on the network is likely to be Crown City Poker.com. Manager William Smith tells us that extensive Beta-testing has been successfully completed on the download software and the new room will go live within the next few days with full Support and financial facilities. On-site hand histories are promised, together with WSOP tourneys and games like Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Hi/Lo. There will be a sensible signup of around 10 percent maxed at $50.

Caution - change of ownership imminent
One of the problems of gambling in a largely unregulated industry is that strange business happenings can impact player rewards. It is not unknown for the "old" owner of a site to falsely tell the "new" owner that players have been paid when they have not. The new guy is saddled with an indignant player, and messy disputes break out.

Such an issue, involving Royal Dutch Casino was recently reported by InfoPowa, so this week we make no apologies for urging caution in regard to BetsAvenue.com.

One player owed by BetsAvenue from the beginning of the year experienced cash-in delays and promises that were not met before finding out this week that an ownership change was in progress and that no funds had been made available to the processor to pay the players. Added concern came from a bouncing email address, and the fact that the software provider is Odds On, which did not initially distinguish itself in the Forty Plus Casino scandal.

BetsAvenue is currently licensed in the Netherlands Antilles and is owned by Crail Holdings Limited out of the Turks and Cacos Islands.

Fortunately the player has both the processor and a well known mediator rooting for him, which will eventually ensure he is paid, but noone needs this stress and anxiety, so play it safe until this situation is clearer!

Extra money
A number of irritated poker players were critical of the Midas-Angelciti operated poker site City Poker.com this week when they discovered that the poker room was not content with only it's rake - it is also hitting players with a 2 percent charge on all cashouts, winnings, deposit and bonus.

The percentage may seem small on the face of it, but can amount to significant dollars and cents for regular players.

"This is unlike ANY other Poker Room I know of," grumbled one player in a statement agreed by fellow gamblers. "They also do not mention this anywhere on their web site so you don't find out until it is too late."

WWV comes through
Last week's tale of player woe regarding a suspended $20 000 payout at World Wide Vegas casino had a happy sequel this week when the player was paid by the casino.

Readers will recall that the player has been stressing out for over a month after his account was locked on suspicion that there had been a software malfunction. Parlay Entertainment, the software provider ignored emails and took an inordinately long time to reach a decision, but it transpires that all was in order.

The player is also perhaps fortunate that an influential manager from the Gone Gambling portal took up his case and mediated with the casino - we're sure that played a role in resolving this regrettable occurrence. Parlay's uncommunicative attitude will long be remembered, too and worrying tales of other malfunctions remain a cause for concern.

Lots of zeros in Miss Millions closedown
InfoPowa has previously reported the imminent closure of RTG-powered Miss Millions Casino, but this week there were numbers of stressed out players wondering where their positive account balances had gone. And emails to the casino were bouncing, which didn't help.

Players were recently emailed on the closure and were advised to clear their accounts before the doors shut on a "use it or lose it" policy. But the accounts were all showing a zero balance. RTG's advice was not very helpful, suggesting they contact the casino (bouncing emails, remember?) or lodge complaints at RTGs notoriously slow Panama-based Montana disputes site.

It has been suggested to RTG that a more professional job than this is possible, and that now is a good time to get on the stick and look after these worried players who need help with one of their licensees. As we went to press RTG and Montana issued a statement assuring players that all legitimate claims would be paid, and urging them to contact the casino.

Huge numbers of land-based players could venture online

The World Wide Vegas story serves as a convenient introduction for the news that Parlay Entertainment Inc. has just completed a license agreement with St. Minver Limited, a European provider of 'white label' fully managed gaming solutions.

The deal highlights Parlay's further expansion into the UK, an indication perhaps that this is where the companys main focus resides.

Using Parlay's software, St. Minver will launch the UK's first 90-number Bingo network in Q1 2005. The network, which will also offer 75-number Bingo, will operate on an aggregated model so that all partners in the network will benefit from shared liquidity and large jackpots.

That liquidity will include Gala Bingo which is the UK's largest land-based Bingo operator with approximately 40 percent market share, 168 clubs, some 35 million admissions annually and a database of over 6 million UK customers. Additional brand name partners will be announced after the network's successful launch in the coming months.

With some GBP 1,222 million spent in UK Bingo clubs annually, much has been made of converting some of this land-based play to the Internet.

"Bingo is the most socially acceptable form of wagering in the world and, as such, is a global phenomenon with vast untapped numbers of land-based players who can convert to Internet play," explained Andrew Branscombe, Vice President of Sales for Parlay Entertainment.

And here we were thinking there might be an instant millionaire

We went along with last week's Super Bowl Millionaire press release hype from Sportsbet.com, carrying the story and then awaiting the results with enthusiasm.

But it appears that Sportsbet were not as keen to issue press releases on the result of the competition, which required players to accurately predict the answers to 20 Super Bowl Final questions.

Eventually we called them to find out what was happening, and we were referred to the results on their site - a series of relatively small prizes and no millionaire. Apparently no-one managed to get all 20 questions right, so no cigar...or million bucks. But it did generate some good publicity....

AGA's position on i-gaming has not changed in five years

IGN is currently carrying an informative interview with Frank Fahrenkopf, CEO of the AGA, interviewed by Sue Schneider of River City Group.

In the interview, Fahrenkopf remarks on the big growth in i-gaming and comments that the main impediment to it "busting loose" in the USA is legislative and commercial developments that have restricted the use of credit cards. He refers to comments made by Kerzner International and MGM Mirage confirming this - the two land groups moved away from online gambling ventures under Isle of Man regulation in 2003.

Despite growth in the United Kingdom particularly, the US remains the key to success for the online gambling sector, he opines.

Asked for his view on online gambling regulations, the land casino leader said that he was not personally qualified to comment on whether regulation could be effective in terms of technology. "The question is, do the official regulatory authorities in the United States believe it can be regulated?," he said, adding that convincing regulators is difficult, but that companies like MGM Mirage felt that they had the requisite technological ability when they were more actively pursuing online gambling.

Predicting more anti-online gambling moves in 2005 from Senators Oxley (credit card restrictions) and Kyl (outright prohibition) Fahrenkopf said that these moves could again be defeated or run out of time this year.

He felt that a better course might be to have a formal, in-depth study of the entire subject and its implications, which would get the attention of the regulators as well as legislators. Although the Connors Bill had suggested this, there had been no appetite for it at the time, but that may have been a consequence of late timing and the proposers behind it.

Online gambling had not generally been accepted by US state legislatures with one or two exceptions, and this was an important qualification. Fahrenkopf quoted the Nevada moves toward regulation some time ago which came to a halt when the Department of Justice gave an opinion that the Wire Act covered all online gambling, making it an illegal activity.

The AGA's position on online gambling has remained essentially unchanged over the past five years and there are currently no plans to revisit it. "It is not a front burner issue, considering legal and legislative activity" says Fahrenkopf.

That position is that sufficient Internet gaming technology does not yet exist to properly regulate online gambling. The AGA had three basic questions in approaching any gaming law proposals:

Does it make something legal that is presently illegal?

Are the rights of States preserved?

Does it treat equally five legal types - including lotteries, land casinos and Indian gaming.

Fahrenkopf was outspoken in responding to a question on the Casino City legal action against the Department of Justice in respect of its activities against online gambling advertising.

Describing the approach of the DoJ as "atrocious" he commented that he could not understand why the mainstream media had not defended the First Amendment and declared the conduct of the D o J out of bounds. The results could be far reaching, but the downside was that a favourable declaratory judgement might energise Congress in its efforts to ban.

The WTO ruling on the dispute between Antigua and the USA was an indication that the USA had erred in not placing limitations on the original trade agreements, but he felt it unlikely that major trade relations would be affected, although there could be future ramifications if a bigger player like the UK were to enter the picture.

Turning to the British legislative scene, Fahrenkopf reasoned that, "The UK Gambling Bill has not played out well," mainly due to the PR aspect and the consequent severe media reaction which had brought about a less ambitious proposal that was not as attractive to major investment from American interests.

The interview ended with a key question - would Fahrenkopf personally bet on favourable sportsbetting legalisation? Commenting that he felt this was still a long way down the road, Fahrenkopf added that he felt online casino acceptance and regulation could come sooner, with legal actions like the Casino City challenge influencing events.

No surprises, as stability is the key

The Isle of Man licensing jurisdiction has a new Gambling Control Commission chairperson, and stability is assured as the basic policies remain unchanged.

The three core principles which govern the regulation of gambling in the Isle of Man are not likely to be affected in the event of a review of the legislation, according to Jane O'Rourke, the new chair of the Gambling Control Commissioners.

The Island's gambling laws have been dated by technological advances and the Department of Home Affairs has signalled that an update is in the pipeline.

Ms O'Rourke said the Commissioners have alerted the legislators to areas of the laws governing gambling in the Island that would benefit from a review.

"We have a good system of regulation which perhaps could be improved to match the way in which the industry is changing. When the legislation was drafted we were not living in an internet age, we weren't even living in an electronic age. The legislation doesn't reflect in many ways the means by which the industry is operated," said Ms O'Rourke.

She said the Commissioners would be keen for the three overriding principles governing regulation to be retained. The principles are to: keep the gambling industry crime free; protect the young and vulnerable and; ensure that the facilities offered by licenceholders are fair and that players receive their true winnings.

Ms O'Rourke said she did not believe that a date had been set for a review of the legislation.

The Commissioners' current sphere of regulation includes online or remote gambling activities in addition to public and restricted betting offices; amusement or slot machines; the casino; pools betting and lotteries.

The Isle of Man is, however, a leader with regard to online gambling in many respects. It is one of the few jurisdictions to have introduced dedicated online gaming legislation. The legislation came into effect in May 2001.

"There is no doubt about it, the online business was a very steep learning curve for us as a jurisdiction and for the body of commissioners. And I think that as online operators fell away reasons were sought for why they weren't doing business here any more.

"It may have have been thought that the reason was overregulation but I can honestly say that I was never aware of any operator having said they were ceasing operations for this reason," Ms. O'Rourke said.

Born in Lancashire, Ms O'Rourke gained her first law degree from Manchester University, before being called to the Bar in London in1982. She gained her masters degree in competition law in the United States and worked in industry in London as a lawyer, gaining commercial experience until 1988 when she withdrew from the workplace on the birth of her first child.

She moved to the Isle of Man when husband Greg Jones, taxation director with KPMG, took up employment in the Island.

A mother of four, Ms O'Rourke joined Simcocks Advocates, specialising in employment and data protection law. In the late Nineties, after working on the government's empty properties initiative, Ms O'Rourke was asked to join the board of the Office of Fair Trading and the Gambling Control Commissioners. STOP PRESS: The Isle of Man budget came out as we went to press this week, providing another reason why the Island has potential for e-gaming businessmen. The extension of zero tax rate to businesses operating within manufacturing, agriculture, fishing, film, e-gaming and tourist accommodation industries remains in the budget.

Casinofeed joined by some big names

Since its launch mid-January this year, Casinofeed.com has been building up an impressive list of users for its innovative concept.

The site includes a full list of casinos that have committed to providing real-time bonus and promotions data, and our information is that this useful venue has already attracted a great deal of attention from casinos, affiliates and players.

It's an opportunity for players to get the latest updated information on bonuses, provided direct by the casinos themselves or their licensed affiliates.

Fortune Affiliates have now joined up, bringing a further 9 new casinos and 2 more poker rooms on board. All the bonuses and promotions for these properties are now available and as usual, will update in real-time.

Full List of Properties On Casinofeed

1on1
3 Diamonds
32Red
49er
7 Sultans
777 Dragon
Aces High
Arthurian
Aztec Riches
Casino King
Casino Las Vegas
Casino UK
Casino US
Challenge
Cinema
Crazy Vegas
Desert Dollar
Fortune Room
Gaming Club
Golden Reef
Havana Club
Jackpot City
Lucky Nugget
Magic Box
Maple
Music Hall
Omni
Platinum Play
River Belle
Royal Vegas
Sands Of The Caribbean
Showdown
Slotland
Sun Vegas
Swiss
UK Casino Club
VC Casino
Vegas Palms
Vegas Towers
Vegas Villa
32Red Poker
7 Sultans Poker
Aztec Riches Poker
Caribbean Sun Poker
Royal Vegas Poker
VC Poker
Poker Metro
STOP PRESS: As we went to press the news was coming in that the giant Poker Room group has signed up with Casinofeed, too.

$1.25 million sponsorship for poker professionals

The Microgaming powered Prima Poker international network has extended its sponsorship of The Hendon Mob with a new $1.25 million 2005 agreement.

The four members of the mob are among Britain's top professional poker players and have built international credibility through their Prima activities at competitions around the world. The sponsorship will send the fabulous foursome jet-setting on the 2005 Prima Poker Tour that includes 15 of the most exciting poker tournaments of the year.

The Mob will start their new season with this month's tournaments on February 18th in Los Angeles, CA for the televised, WPT Poker Classic.

Prima Poker first sponsored the Hendon Mob in 2004, setting a new trend in the poker industry as the first ever $1 million sponsorship of a professional poker team. 'The Mob' became media stars, demonstrating their poker skills on Fox Sports Net, tutoring 'Cousin Sal' on Jimmy Kimmel Live and being featured in cameo appearances during the 2004 WSOP on ESPN.

Apart from numerous tournaments in the U.S., the 2005 tour will take the Hendon Mob to Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Dublin, Monte Carlo and London, where they will match wits against the top professional and online players in the world. The tour includes such premier internationally televised tournaments as the World Series of Poker, the Master Classics of Poker, the Commerce Invitational and numerous WPT and EPT events.

Players can register for "real money" test phase

InfoPowa has previously reported on the activities of Full House Entertainment and its ambitions in the online gambling industry. This week the company announced further poker software developments.

Phase one beta testing of the new online multiplayer poker system Full House Poker V-1.3. is progressing well, the company claims, and feedback from poker players has been very positive,

“We have been able to generate a lot of interest in our new software at grassroots level by going directly to the players on forums like cardschat.com” said marketing exec Jean-Guy Leconte, “our next phase of testing will already have 200 players ready for it and this time it will be for real money.”

Full House poker is on track for full launch next (March) month, the launch will feature 5 games initially: Texas Hold'em, 7-Card Stud, Omaha High, Omaha High/Low and the old favorite, Five Card Stud; with more to follow, every real money player will have the option of creating his or her own tables with his or her own rules.

Players who want to register for the next phase can still do so. There will be special prizes offered and registration is open at Fullhouseinc.com.

Popular sports TV program to run on Sky iTV platform

William Hill, the UK’s leading fixed odds bookmaker has announced that it has bought the popular TalkSport television venture to run on it’s interactive TV arm on Channel 425 on the Sky platform.

David Hood, William Hill PR Director said; “There is a lot of interest in UK sports betting and football - the Premiership in particular. We believe live broadcasts of "The Game" hosted by Patrick Kinghorn will prove extremely popular with the early evening viewer and we like the content and the look of the show from Talksport."

Hood said his group feel the previews the show provides to football matches later in the evening, on which William Hill is providing a range of bets, is a natural fit for Channel 425.

“Since it launched in October 2004, Channel 425 has built up a dedicated core of evening punters with its nightly presentation of live greyhound racing, and whilst we currently carry previews of other live sporting events, particularly football, the addition of the Talksport format is sure to widen our audience naturally. It provides the armchair viewer with live sports content between 4pm and 11pm a night.”

Debate in the Lords due next week

The parochial interests of the UK land casinos was in evidence this week as they tried to wring a better deal from the UK Gambling Bill, which has now gone to the House of Lords and is due for debate on 22 February.

The British Casino Association officially launched its campaign against the Government's Gambling Bill, and particularly objects to proposals that will permit new casinos a larger number of gaming machines than at existing casinos. It fears the new regime will benefit foreign operators at the expense of British companies and wants a level playing field.

Viscountess Cobham, BCA chairman, said: "As an industry, we simply cannot fathom why the Government has chosen to experiment with a large increase in the number of new gaming machines... while restricting our members from participating in these profound changes."

The proposal for 24 new licences will allow eight regional casinos to have 1,250 machines and 16 smaller ones to have 150 or 80 each. Britain's existing 136 casinos will have to operate with a maximum of 10 machines.

The BCA attacked the proposed law as "breathtaking in its discrimination against the... British industry" and warned of "significant job losses".

Big guns in US television get involved in the poker boom

Capitalizing on the popularity of poker and previous poker broadcasts on NBC, NBC Sports in May will air the first poker tournament to appear on a major television network.

The 2005 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is also the first poker tournament to be produced by a television network, will feature a $1.5 million purse and air on four consecutive Sundays beginning May 1, concluding with a two-hour finale May 22. The tournament will take place at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

The invitation-only championship will include poker pros such as Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Johnny Chan, 2003 World Series of Poker Champion Chris Moneymaker and last year's World Series of Poker champ Greg Raymer.

Unlike most other tournaments where the winners of each poker table gather for a run-off, players in NBC's tourney will play each other one-on-one. The event will start off with 64 players who will be paired off and eliminated over time, similar to the way the National Collegiate Athletic Association structures their tournaments, NBC officials said.

"This is a unique and exciting format" that lends itself well to television, NBC Sports Senior Vice President of Programming Jon Miller said.

The tournament stems from the success of previous one-time poker broadcasts on NBC around the past two National Football League Super Bowl games, Miller said.

In 2004, NBC aired a "Battle of the Champions" poker event featuring the best players in the World Poker Tour, but the new event will be the first multi-day, tournament-style event on a major network.

This month, the network aired the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament, an event pitting eight poker pros against one another at the Palms resort in Las Vegas. Each of the players bought in for $400,000 for a game of no-limit Texas Hold 'Em and a collective prize pool of $3.2 million. That event attracted 8.6 million viewers, Miller said.

The two events were the highest-rated poker shows of all time, he said.

Ratings were especially strong among men 18-34 and men 18-49, a "very difficult demographic to reach consistently," Miller said.

The tournament would compete with the World Series of Poker, a Las Vegas-based tournament owned by Harrah's Entertainment Inc. that airs on ESPN. It also would compete with the World Poker Tour, a worldwide series of poker tournaments broadcast on the Travel Channel.

Harrah's last month said it had retained the former president of CBS Sports as a consultant to renegotiate its agreement with ESPN to televise the historic poker tournament.

ESPN has aired the World Series of Poker, held at Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, for the past seven years and has broadcast poker on television since 1994. Harrah's took of the tournament last year, the same year of record turnout for the event as well as ESPN's highest ratings for the tournament.

The World Series of Poker championship is an open event, with entrance allowed for anyone 21 or older with the $10,000 buy-in. Miller said poker pros have said the invitation-only, 64-person field of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship will include many of the world's top players.

Miller said NBC affiliates have welcomed the high-rated poker events and don't appear to be concerned about a potential backlash from states that have fought programming and advertising featuring gambling.

A little fun with your face

INQ7 reported on a bit of fun that might also have marketing possibilities for alert online poker operators this week - it's a site called Poker Faces.net.

The operators of the site are inviting people to post their most "give-nothing-away" poker face on the Internet as part of a gimmick to lure more visitors to sign up. The online poker site is also throwing in free packs of playing cards for new members who join its growing community of online poker players.

Aiming to become a one-stop poker shop for players from all over the world, the website allows players to create their own profiles for display and chat with other players. The profiles allow users to give other people a brief overview on their play, their favorite online poker rooms, as well as their accomplishments.

"In the faceless world of online poker, PokerFaces.Net provides players with an additional way to realize that they are playing against other human beings," the website says.

Players also get to access the rec.gambling.poker newsgroup, which is integrated with PokerFaces.net. Other features on the online poker website include a strategy and tips section, news and articles about various tactics of poker, and tutorials.

In the future, the website indicated that each member will be able to maintain a schedule of their playing hours, and allow other members to contact and arrange games together.

Raids continue in attempts to control porn, gambling....and access to the West?

China has stepped up its Internet cafe blitz, but could there be a more sinister motive behind closing down avenues of communication with the global internet community?

Mainland authorities are moving aggressively to shut down "illegal" Internet cafes that are claimed to corrupt youth through exposure to pornography, gambling and too much computer gaming.

The government reported this week that it shut down 12,575 Internet cafes from October through December last year, up sharply from the 1,600 it shut down during a previous seven-month crackdown that started in February and levied about $12 million in fines.

Officials began the crackdown on cafes in 2002, after a widely reported deadly fire at one venue. Chinese officials have targeted "illegal businesses" that are near primary and middle schools and says that teenagers under 18 aren't supposed to use such i-net cafes, according to Chinese regulations. Many of the cafes allowed young people to access pornography, officials said, or while away hours playing videogames. Hundreds of websites have also been shut down, state media reported.

China's state-controlled press said parents had complained that the cafes had "severely affected students' cultural lives."

State media put the number of China's Internet cafes at 1.8 million. However, Beijing-based telecom consultancy BDA China Ltd. estimated a more conservative 120,000 cafes with about 600,000 PCs. The cafes are often a gathering place for youth, who use high-end PCs to engage in networked games or to video-conference with friends far away.

The government estimates China has an estimated 87 million Internet users, more than half of which are under 24. The cafes serve as a key access point for tens of millions of cybersurfers in China, which is second only to the US in numbers of people accessing the Web.

Five year deal to provide global mobile gambling

Wireless technology whizzes Phantom Fiber Corporation and Golden Palace Casino.com, have inked a five-year license agreement that will bring GP onto the mobile gambling stage.

Under terms of the agreement, Phantom Fiber's advanced wireless framework will be used to deliver wireless wagering to the casinos customers worldwide.

GoldenPalace was one the online gambling industry pioneers in 1997 and plans to continue its aggressive marketing approach which combines the power of media and over-the-top promotions to capture and convert customers to its wireless service.

GoldenPalace Mobile.com will offer entertaining casino-style games that include mobile banking facilities for Java-enabled phones and mobile devices powered by Windows Mobile's PocketPC Phone Edition and Smartphone, PalmOS, SymbianOS and RIM Blackberry - support which literally dominates the global mobile device ecosystem consisting of 400+ models worldwide.

Richard Rowe, CEO of GoldenPalace.com said, 'We feel that wireless gaming is imperative in delivering a complete solution for our customers and will further serve to increase our market leadership in the industry. With many more phones, many wireless games, and a huge emphasis from carriers to promote data wireless connectivity, we strongly believe momentum is on our side.'

Smash hit with over $70 million in prize money

The World Poker Tour (WPT) will launch its third smash-hit TV season on March 2 this year on The Travel Channel, awarding a record-breaking $70+ million in prize money.

Debuting 16 much-anticipated new shows featuring its high stakes, take no-prisoners brand of poker action, the WPT will air every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and showcases professional poker pros challenged by talented amateurs. And the ac tion will be viewed by millions in over 50 countries worldwide.

“We enter our Third Season with a legion of fans eagerly awaiting our new shows,” said Steve Lipscomb, Founder and President of WPT Enterprises, Inc. “Viewers watch for the sheer dramatic entertainment of the WPT, but many also watch to improve their own game. That is the cornerstone of our success and we believe that this year we’ll teach some exciting new lessons to WPT viewers.”

This season two new tournaments have been added to the tour, The Mirage Poker Showdown and the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at Bellagio. Every week, viewers can expect the unexpected as amateurs take on pros, pros take on other pros, and fortunes rise, fall, and change hands in a matter of seconds. Anyone can win, and many times even the least likely candidates do. And it’s all seen from the vantage of the WPT’s revolutionary hole card cams.

The action will again be laced with expert commentary from the show’s hosts, now hailed as poker icons themselves – Shana Hiatt, Vince van Patten, and Mike Sexton, author of the forthcoming WPT:Shuffle Up and Deal (HarperCollins, anticipated March 2005.)

New section launched at Casinomeister

Casino operators, are you looking for a new casino manager? Casino Managers are you fed up with your stoner customer service reps? Game developers, are you looking for fresh new blood? Graphic designers, do you have some talent to share - for a nominal fee?

From this week you'll have a new venue to post your personnel needs at the popular Casinomeister portal. Webmaster Bryan Bailey is about to launch the new "Help Wanted" section in his "Strictly Commercial" section. Check it out here.

Poker special from Bodog
Don’t miss the 2nd Annual Bodog.com Conference - it's reportedly going to be bigger and better with new sessions on the hottest topic in the industry - online poker!

The venue is the Mandalay Bay Convention Centre in Las Vegas, so diarise July 6 and 7 and make your travel plans early.

Details are here: http://www.bodogconference.com/index.html

Two weeks to go....
The South Pacific's largest I-gaming conference is two weeks away, so if you don't want to miss out on the Pacific Rim's most dynamic forum for networking and discussion for gaming companies you need to get weaving.

Pacific Congress on Interactive Gaming
March 1-2, 2005
Marriott Sydney Harbour
Sydney, Australia.

Now in its third year, PCIG has become a mainstay for online gambling veterans in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands and abroad, as well as the perfect opportunity for those entering the Asia/Pacific markets.

With so much changing in these regions, this year's event in particular has attracted an impressive number of new delegates--many of whom are new to the industry--from all over the world. The influx of new faces is evidenced as well by the conference's outstanding lineup of first-time sponsors: Accurate Software, RapidSend.com, Viocard, Click2Pay, Routledge and Hitwise.

This year's program brings together an extraordinary assembly of respected gaming professionals, including Saar Cohen-Ronen from the Department of Internal Affairs, Jason Chan from G-Master Technology Company Ltd. in Macau, Chris Downy of the Australian Casino Association and others.
This is where you register: www.rivercitygroup.com/pcig/2005.

Changes at the top and a long row to hoe

It looked like plenty of blood on the boardroom table this week as news leaked of radical changes to the directorate of the troubled turnkey provider.

IQ-Ludorum PLC confirmed that Gurcharan Singh was removed as a director and officer of the company and from all positions at its subsidiaries with effect from Feb 10. No reason was given for the action taken against Singh, a founder of the group. Another director, Dick Wright has also departed.

On the same date, Joseph M McFadden, Samuel B Drennen and Phillip S Rhee were appointed as non-executive directors of the company.

Board member John J Reynolds has been appointed interim chairman, until the board has had the opportunity to review and recruit a nonexecutive chairman. This follows the resignation last month of Nicholas Wills as chairman.

IQ-Ludorum has been lying low for some time, but a recent check on the London Stock Exchange's AIM board shows that there has been a fair amount of activity at the struggling company, which at one time boasted many licensees.

The statistical graphs on the site showcase a depressing downward trend in the company's share price and value of shares traded, perhaps confirmed by a notice posted on the 9th of this (February) month that the company requires additional funds to "....take advantage of opportunities available and meet it's on-going expenses."

Offers of such funds have apparently been received from more than one party, the company claims. These were due for review by the Board this week, and a further announcement is now awaited.

Other company directorships have been changing too. In August 2004 the resignation of Roger G Stone (who was at one time reported as having kept IQ-L afloat with loans) was announced. He was replaced as CEO and executive director by one John J. Reynolds, a 43 year old Irishman from County Sligo who immigrated to the United States in August of 1981.

Reynolds has apparently enjoyed some success in owning and building companies involved in design construction, products, telecommunications, oil and gas maintenance, compliance management, environmental engineering, development of retail centers and gas stations, banking, and testing laboratories.

Companies in which he has been involved include Meridian Alliance Group, LLC; RFG, LLC; Zima Holdings, LLC; Standing Stone Development, LLP; Standing Stone Horizons, LLP; Alliance Maintenance & Services, Inc; Shell Oil/SAGAS Partnership- Mexico; BP Oil/SAGAS Partnership - Mexico; USA Installations, LLC; POPO Development - Mexico; and Revolutions LLC. Langham Creek National Bank merger with SouthTrust Bank, Vertex Services, LLC; Millennium Laboratories, Inc; ATS Telecom Services, Inc.; National Communications Contracting, Inc.; Olycorp Development LLC; and Olycorp Food Services LLC.

Reynolds is also credited with successfully turning around under performing companies throughout the United States and Latin America.

Taking the IQ-L Boardroom exit door in January 2005 was Nicholas Wills, who was Chairman and non-executive director of the company. His replacement has not yet been announced.

According to the latest announcement, IQ-L is now entering the final stage of an extensive restructuring plan, which includes the strengthening of key managerial functions, especially customer service and reporting. Strong focus will be on the marketing and selling of its existing sportsbook, racing and casino products, as well as the addition of its new EPOS and kiosk wagering products. STOP PRESS: At press time, we noticed that IQ-L had taken the unusual (for a public company) step of posting an open letter on gambling fora, advising that a new website has been introduced at www.IQ-L.com

Licensees are offered imminent poker room facility

Futurebet licensees are being offered a poker room facility through a sub-licensing deal with Poker Room.com's Ongame developer, acording to information posted by a casino owner this week.

Bearing in mind the colourful past of some Futurebet licensees and the company itself, we hope that all parties involved have appropriate player protection and other safeguards in place in what will probably be a whole new range of online poker rooms.

We don't have operational dates at present, but is likely that things will start moving in the near future.

International player protection body teams with G4

Player protection and online casino regulator eCOGRA has teamed with the Global Gambling Guidance Group (G4) to provide more cohesive and formal precautions against underage and problem gambling.

"The top online casinos regulated by eCOGRA have all made in-house responsible gambling provision as part of their operational structures, and we will beef up this vital function through a partnership with the respected and professional G4 organisation," says Andrew Beveridge, CEO of eCOGRA.

eCOGRA will work with G4 to create a set of policies and procedures that will set the global benchmark for responsible gaming. eCOGRA Seal casino and poker operators will be required to implement these detailed policies as part of the Generally Accepted Practices (eGAP), and compliance will be reviewed on an ongoing basis by independent auditors.

G4 management have extensive experience with responsible gaming programmes in both the terrestrial and online environments, and provide a worldwide accreditation programme. The G4 e-Gaming Code of Practice has already been successfully implemented at major online site PokerRoom.com, proving to be both practical and effective.

Top G4 executive, Pieter Remmers says that partnering with eCOGRA dramatically extends the beneficial reach of his organisation's code. "These 51 first rate Seal casinos represent a very significant share of the online casino gambling sector, and the real enforcement that is part of the eCOGRA system makes for effective application," he says.

"Although we have other partnerships in process, this is the big one for us, because eCOGRA will offer brand recognition and allow us to contribute to their sites. It is the first step in getting their members to come aboard. We have also held discussions with other groups, like the Interactive Gaming Council and certain large online poker networks, and those will continue to be our focus in the short term."

Bill Galston OBE, who is both an independent director of eCOGRA and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Gamcare, commented "We are extremely pleased with this alliance and the efforts that will be made by the Seal operators in the area of social responsibility."

eCOGRA link-up on the cards

The growing importance in online gambling boardrooms of precautions against underage and problem gambling was reflected in an interesting IGN interview this week with senior responsible gambling group G4 exec Pieter Remmers.

G4 is the acronym for the Sweden based Global Gambling Guidance Group which has achieved impressive growth over the past year due to the practicability of its eGaming Code of Practice and an extensive knowledge of appropriate systems. Online gambling operations signing up at G4 have found the implementation of the code effective in preventing underage or problem gamblers from penetrating their defences against this class of gambler.

Remmers is also a sitting member for the European Association for the Study of Gambling, and says that G4's acceptance by both the land based and Internet casino sectors has delivered positive results since the launch of G4 in May 2004.

The group has established protocols for information sharing, program development, benchmarking and accreditation of responsible gambling programs which could set a global benchmark.

The exploding poker room business has been responsible for part of the G4 success, with many signups including major industry groups like Poker Room.com. Reports from the recent International Casino Exhibition in London also indicate that an announcement will soon be forthcoming on an alliance with player protection body and regulator eCOGRA's 51 quality Seal casinos, too.

Remmers remarks that the need to preclude problem gamblers, together with the nature of the online gambling industry means that responsible managements want to be above question by adhering to professional programs. As Remmers amusingly puts it, "They need to be more Catholic than the Pope. There is an enormous amount of operators that want to do good."

Nordic-based companies are especially keen to address this critical business area and have been quick to enlist the services of G4 for their operations.

The eCOGRA agreement is particularly significant, says Remmers because that organisation practically enforces its eGAP regulations, which will be teamed with the G4 code. Implementation at 51 top-ranking online casinos will not only be effective, it will give the G4 brand high awareness.

The IGC has also been approached, but no results have flowed from that so far. In the short term, says Remmers, G4 will concentrate on getting large groups and networks on board so as to embrace as many gambling sites as possible.

"The more sites we get the easier it will be to share information and conduct our business," he told IGN. "It has been tough to manage, but we believe that it is worth doing and will have great benefits for the industry and consumers alike for a long time to come. It has been good to get input from everyone in the e-gaming industry because it shows how serious they are about all of this."

ex-AOL engineer sold off millions of email addresses

Widespread interest in an old email theft case was re-ignited this week when Reuters reported on the latest developments in the Smathers case.

The former America Online employee pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that he stole 92 million e-mail screen names and sold them to a "spammer."

Jason Smathers (24) admitted to conspiracy and interstate trafficking of stolen property, charges that could carry a maximum prison sentence of 24 months under federal guidelines.

The federal case charged that Smathers, of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, stole the screen names from AOL, a Time Warner Inc. unit, and sold them to an Internet marketer.

The marketer paid $28,000 for the names, then allegedly used them to promote his online gambling operation while also selling them to other spammers, according to prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who last year refused to accept the guilty plea because he had a "technical" question, set a sentencing date of May 20.

Processor included in UK online gambling index basket

E-processing company Neteller, which recently introduced an electronic wallet for online gamblers, experienced better share prices this week amid talk that the company has been included in an internet gaming index basket created by broker Merrill Lynch for its clients.

Neteller's executive VP for Corporate Development, Dale Johnson told InfoPowa that the explosive growth of the online gaming sector has recently attracted the attention of the investment community, especially in the UK where online gaming is a regulated industry and where there are several publicly traded companies in the sector.

"The visibility of this sector has been enhanced by the recent announcement that PartyGaming (which owns PartyPoker) is intending to float on the London Stock Exchange with a value in the range of GBP 3 billion (US $6 billion), putting it on the FTSE 100," he said.

"Although NETeller is not an online gaming company, it is presently seen by many in the investment community as a proxy for the industry because the majority of the world's online gaming merchants are registered with NETeller. Accordingly, NETeller has been included in the index basket that Merrill Lynch UK has established to better inform investors of trends in this sector," Johnson says.

The MLSB index is comprised of the following stocks with corresponding weightings and listing exchanges:

SportingBet    25.5 %    London (AIM)
NETeller    23.8 %    London (AIM)
Bet&Win    15.9 %    Vienna
UniBet Group    10.3 %    Stockholm
Boss Media    8.5 %    Stockholm
UK Bet    8.3 %    London (AIM)
BETonSPORTS    7.7 %    London (AIM)

Top bookmaker Paddy Power has joined the poker scene

Ireland’s largest bookmaker Paddy Power has signed an online poker deal with turnkey provider Tribeca Tables Europe Limited, joining other major licensees using the software like Blue Sq, Victor Chandler, Golden Palace and Doyles Room.

Paddy Power’s Breon Corcoran says, “Online poker has been a key requirement for growing Paddy Power’s portfolio of online gaming products. We are confident that our customers will enjoy all the excitement that a poker room brings.”

Tribeca Tables Europe Limited is a registered company in the Channel Island of Alderney.

Tribeca Tables, reports that the company received a gratifying response from a wide range of visitors recently when they exhibited at the International Casino Exhibition in London.

This Sunday, 13th February at 9.45 GMT sees the Tribeca Tables network hold their second spectacular guaranteed tournament event with $100,000 prize money in which Paddy Power’s new poker players can participate.

Paddy Power plc is listed on both the London and Irish Stock Exchanges and recently recorded a 36 percent increase in turnover with excellent growth across all interests.

Ex-Starnet execs together again

According to a press release this week Gaming Transactions, a Delaware registered public company founded last year and headquartered in Vancouver, Canada intends to open an online casino on its Keno.com site in the near future.

The casino will be powered by no-download software from RedRuth Ventures, branded CrediPlay which also powers SkillArcade.com, run by CYOP Systems International Inc. The operation will run on servers based in Costa Rica, although there are ambitions to move to the UK, dependent on the fate of online gambling legalisation under the Gambling Bill in that country.

CEO Patrick Smyth, who has been involved in the industry since 1997 says that the casino will have Neteller, and its own processing in partnership with a gateway partner. "Our current stock price is 30 cents and we have 125 million shares outstanding giving us a market capitalization of $37.5 million," he told us.

Smyth, together with fellow Gaming Transactions director and software development specialist Stephen White were both executives at World Gaming (Starnet) at one time. Smyth went on to found the Wiremix Media advertising agency before becoming President of digital marketing company Next Level and then President of CYOP Systems International.

No hazing or PT - just good poker tuition

Latest development in U.S. online and offline poker playing is the WPT Boot Camp, where for a fee aspirant world champions can learn all the wrinkles from expert poker players over a weekend.

The camp is the brainchild of Ron Rubens and Steven Berman, co-founders of River Gaming, LLC. The duo developed the program after years of work in the gaming industry and prior experience producing instructional seminars. River Gaming is a licensee of WPT Enterprises, Inc., which also holds an ownership interest.

Amateur players get an intensive immersion in poker strategy, presented by commentators Mike Sexton and Vincent Van Patten, as well as poker expert Alex 'The Insider' Outhred, the man behind the camera who analyzes all hands played at WPT Final Tables. This core instructional group is augmented with an impressive roster of poker champions, and students receive a copy of Sexton's latest book "WPT: Shuffle Up and Deal" which is due for release in March this year.Top students who perform well in tournament play at Boot Camp will be rewarded with entry into a WPT sponsored satellite tournament.

Enrolment is limited to only 50 students to ensure the learning experience is maximized. The cost is $1,495 per person, and seats can be reserved at www.wptbootcamp.com or by calling 866-WPT-BOOT. The initial cities WPT Boot Camp will visit are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Hollywood, New York and Washington.

A classic from Integrity
Latest full service, Microgaming-powered Flash and download Internet casino is Casino Classic.com, which joins the Australian group Integrity Casinos and sisters Captain Cooks, Captain Cooks Poker, Casino Kingdom, Captain Cooks Flash Casino in English and Spanish and Flash Casino Kingdom. The design, by ISpye Marketing is clean and simple but has a professional touch and solid informative content. The gambling suite has 80 or more games including all the latest slots and progressives. Fully contactable Support and a huge range of Proc Cyber based financial options are available, together with multi-currency capability and a decent loyalty program. The licensing is Kahnawake, and there are a number of bonuses that should suit most tastes, including a 150 percent signup maxed at $150.

How long does it take to "...make a determination"
Pity the stressed and anxious player who for a month has been waiting for an explanation from World Wide Vegas Casino on why they have arbitrarily removed $20 000 from his account after three days of gambling with them. The casino has told the player that they suspect a software malfunction in their Parlay Entertainment-powered software, and that they are QUOTE Awaiting a determination from the software provider UNQUOTE, whatever that implies. No explanation, and apparently not a lot of action either. We can understand the player's frustration - InfoPowa is now on our fourth chaser to Parlay Entertainment. We have yet to receive the courtesy of a business response. And the clock is ticking on this one, with a growing sense of indignation in the player community....

35 000 city poker players from Poker Room alone

The Vancouver Sun published some interesting facts about Poker Room.com's market penetration in the city this week, saying that 35 000 players, mostly Texas Hold Em fans played online from the area.

In at least 10 per cent of the games, the newspaper reported, there's a bundle of real hard cash on the table.

"Every day, on Internet poker alone, $175 million US is wagered," said Patrik Selin, CEO of Swedish-based Ongame, owner of PokerRoom.com, which rakes off an average two per cent of each pot.

Online poker is big on Canada's West Coast, despite its grey legal status. Out of 3.5 million registered players on PokerRoom.com more than 35,000 of them are from Vancouver.

While North America is the largest online poker-playing area, Selin said his company sees Europe as the place where the game will catch on next and then Asia.

Turnover up 80 percent, profit 32 percent.

Isle of Man licensed global betting group, Betinternet.com plc published improved half yearly numbers this week following what appears to have been a successful operational period.

Interim results for the 26 weeks ended 28 November 2004 highlights included:

* Group turnover up 80% to GBP 47.06 million (2003: GBP 26.20 million);

* Pari-mutuel activities, re-branded as European Wagering Services, reported turnover of GBP 32.26 million and gross profit of GBP 0.68 million for the 5 months of full ownership.

* Financing in place for future growth. GBP 0.8 million received after date.

* Gross profit up 32 percent at GBP 1.48 million (2003: GBP 1.12 million)

* EBITDA loss reduced to GBP 0.18 million (2003: loss of GBP 0.93 million)

*Net funds pre December 2004 fund raising GBP 0.54 million; an increase of GBP 0.14 million in the period.

Commenting on the results, Denham Eke, chairman of betinternet, said:

"The Company is now strongly placed to build upon the initial impressive growth of its pari-mutuel business, European Wagering Services. In addition, the recent successes of its casino and football game offerings are a blue-print for future expansion within the sportsbook business."

"Explosive growth" says Dresdner Bank

Shares of UK companies that own online gambling sites have soared this year on speculation of mergers and acquisitions and the profit potential of online poker, reports Dresdner Bank analyst Andrew Lee this week.

Online poker businesses were "hugely cash-generative in an explosive growth market", said Lee. "The market is finally rerating them to reflect their organic and acquisitive growth prospects."

The internet poker market is worth $1.5 billion (R9.3 billion), according to Sportingbet, which in October bought Paradise Poker, a major provider of poker on the Web, for $297.5 million. Since then, the stock has surged 88 percent.

And shares of Gaming Corporation, the owner of Playcasino.co.uk, have more than doubled.

Companies that operate online poker sites are benefiting from increased traffic and the average rake, analysts claim. There is "...incredibly good growth potential coming from poker", says another report from analyst Paul Leyland.

About 4 percent of British adults who have access to the internet have gambled online in the past two years, according to figures published by the Gaming Board for Great Britain, which regulates UK land casinos.

CNet News interview with Mark Stone

The internet gambling industry was the focus of several media interviews this week, including a CNet chat with the new head of the Interactive Gaming Council, Mark Stone.

Stone is a financial executive with a web design company called Creative Edge Enterprises when he is not heading the IGC, which is a trade association with 70 online casino industry members. Stone revealed that his company became involved with the Interactive Gaming Council by designing a portal called TheCasinoNet.

Much of the interview dealt with old ground on the confusing legal situation vis-a-vis online gambling in the USA, with Stone outlining the IGC position that Internet gambling is an activity that should be regulated, and that the United States ought to follow the lead of other countries that have done so. He pointed out that many countries were working toward regulation rather than prohibition in an industry with revenues that Christiansen Capital Advisors estimate will top $10 billion this year.

The interviewer concentrated on legal issues, touching on the WTO case involving the US and Antigua and the Casino City action against the Department of Justice.

Positive numbers in Ongame interview with Canada.com

One of the more interesting mainstream media interviews touching on the Internet gambling industry this week was with Poker Room and Ongame CEO Patrick Selin.

Sweden based Selin told the interviewer that poker and the Internet are a winning bet, where his five-year-old card game site has attracted a membership of more than 3.5 million in more than 120 countries, circulating between $10 million and $12 million US every day.

PokerRoom.com is among 200 other similar Internet gaming sites fuelling a $2-billion US worldwide industry, according to U.K. based Numis Securities.

"It is growing at 100 per cent per year and has become popular due to TV coverage and multimillion-pound jackpots with entry available to online players," said Andrew Burnett, Numis director of gaming research.

Much of PokerRoom.com's success lies in the speed of game play from its Ongame software. Selin said the site's ability to handle more than 7,000 members playing simultaneously on thousands of tables at any time with fast card draws makes it attractive. It's also one the few sites that works from Apple computers. He claims that PokerRoom.com is the fifth-largest real money poker site and the second-largest "play" money site.

"We have 70 staff programmers constantly improving on the game software, which in poker, with limits, has many more possibilities than computer chess," he said. And with no limits it's even more challenging."

The site's computer servers are located in Montreal, monitored by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission. Canada was chosen because of its fast Internet routing and because 85 per cent of PokerRoom's users are in North America.

Canadians represent almost 10 per cent of the players at the site with 28 per cent from Toronto, 11 per cent from Vancouver, 11 per cent from Edmonton and 11 per cent from Calgary.

The phenomenal growth history of the industry, according to Selin was 630 per cent in 2003, last year it was 154 per cent, compared to Poker Room's 323 per cent. These statistics prompted the interviewer to ask Selin , "Is this the new ice hockey, the new football or soccer?"

"It can be," said Selin, recounting that when the World Cup ice hockey semi final between Finland and the U.S. was broadcast last year, ten times more viewers watched a televised poker game broadcast at the same time."

Poker Room tops in Inside Edge poll

Hot on the heels of the Canada.com story on Poker Room came the news that the huge poker room has picked up the Best Online Poker Site award at the inaugural Inside Edge magazine awards 2005.

The readers of Inside Edge magazine voted for the awards through two different voting rounds and the sites in the category were judged on their ease of use, variety of games and tournaments and the speed of pay-out.

PokerRoom.com beat off competition from the likes of Paradise Poker, BetfairPoker, Party Poker, VC Poker and Pacific Poker.

Inside Edge commented: 'We asked our voters to tell us how they rated their online poker sites for three different criteria. Our top scorer was PokerRoom.com, which did well to achieve such a solid user satisfaction score among our readers.'

Nearly all those who voted gave PokerRoom.com a very satisfied or satisfied rating across the board. PokerRoom.com were so pleased with their award that they also donated over £10,000 to the charity auction in aid of SPARKS.

New WPT tournament offers scholarship

World Poker Exchange is busy organising the first annual Intercollegiate Poker Championship encompassing 100 top universities throughout the United States.

The championship will begin as an online tournament on February 13, 2005 and culminate on March 10, 2005 during spring break with a live tournament in Cancun, Mexico.

The tourney is an online and offline poker championship that requires no entrance fee and awards as a Grand Prize a $25,000 school scholarship package. The lucky Grand Prize Student Winner will receive a $10,000 cash scholarship, a laptop computer and an all expenses paid 5-day trip to the United Kingdom to compete in the World Poker Exchange London Open in August, 2005.

At the London Open, the "Best College Player in the Country" will receive free entry into this high stakes tournament, worth $10,000, and have the opportunity to share in a minimum prize pot of $2 million while playing against some of the top poker players worldwide.

There will be three phases to the tournament, the first of which occurs online to find the "Best Player on Campus" in which rival schools will be scheduled to compete on the same day. Those winners will then continue on to the second phase where they will compete for "Best Player in the Region."

The six regional prize winners will each receive a laptop computer and a free trip for two to Spring Break in Cancun, where the third and final portion of the championship will be held to determine which student will be crowned "Best College Player in the Country."

The World Poker Exchange will also be awarding to the 321 best student poker players in the country valuable prize packages in a combination of cash scholarships, MP3 players, DVD membership subscriptions, free music download service and major retailer gift cards.

Players must be a U.S. or Canadian resident at least 18 years of age and currently registered at one of the 100 participating colleges. Players can sign up starting February 7, 2005 at http://www.worldpx.com/college, the official site for the championship, where complete rules, regulations, deadlines and a list of participating schools can be found.

Poker champ goes retail

Online poker and World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker held a press conference at Jacksonville Landing last weekend to start his own poker supply company.

Moneymaker, who parlayed his $10,000 World Series entrance fee into $2.5 million in winnings launched Moneymaker Gaming which manufactures everything poker, from high-end poker sets, gaming accessories, apparel and licensed commemorative chips.

The company has license agreements with Death Row Records, Johnny Chan and FHM Hottie, Vida Guerra.

The interest in poker is so great, that the year after Moneymaker beat out 837 players to win the World Series of Poker's main event, the field tripled in size to 2,576. This year, organizers expect 5,000 people to pay the $10,000 World Series entry fee.

"After Moneymaker, poker hit a real critical mass," says Bhu Srinivasan, publisher of the new poker magazine, All In. "The growth was tremendous." With an estimated 70 million Americans now playing the game, media companies are betting big on poker.

Agreement with UEFA should obviate betting collusion

Market leader P2P betting exchange Betfair.com signed a memorandum of understanding with UEFA this week aimed at increasing transparency.

The European football association and Betfair seek to help safeguard the integrity of the game by allowing UEFA access to the betting exchange’s records, should suspicion of match fixing or insider betting arise.

UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson, told the press: "We are happy that we have reached this agreement with Betfair, as it is an important step forward in ensuring the continued integrity of our competitions. This is in line with our permanent efforts to protect the game from match-fixing and will facilitate the gathering of information in case of suspicious results."

Betfair's CEO Stephen Hill, said that the company was pleased to add the agreement to those already made with the governing bodies of other sports. "Working closely with sporting regulators, and allowing them access to the information we have, is the best way to ensure that sport is kept free of crime. Betfair has no vested interest in the outcome of any event and our interests are absolutely in line with those who run the events. This is good news for the integrity of sport.," he said.

April in Brussels

European Gambling Conference.
Many of Europe's leading lawyers, regulators and operators will be among the speakers at the European Gambling Briefing, a two-day symposium taking place across 25 and 26 April at the Conrad Hotel, Brussels.

The first pan-European conference of its type, the European Gambling Briefing will provide essential market data, trends, legal, political, economic and industry opinion from 25 key opinion formers. Headline topics to be discussed at the ATE organised conference include:

The regulation of European gambling markets

The European Commission's position and strategy for gambling

The case for and against dismantling state gaming monopolies

The business and investment opportunities in Europe for the global gaming industry

Additional topics include an appraisal of social responsibility policies for land-based and remote sectors, the current thinking on laws controlling money laundering, a review of cross-border legal challenges and a critique of the gambling advertising laws and their enforcement across different EU jurisdictions.

Peter Rusbridge, CEO of ATE said: "The conference will comprise many of Europe's important players including Jean Bergevin of the European Commission, John Whittaker of Stanleybet, Martin Sychold of the Swiss Comparative Law Institute, Mario Galea, CEO of the Maltese Gaming Authority, Philippe Vlaemminck, EU law specialist and Belgian regulator, Marc Callu. The conference will examine all of the major issues and draw upon the expert opinion of the leading thinkers in their respective fields. It is the best single opportunity for business strategists, investors and gambling operators to get the inside track on legislation affecting the changing European gambling landscape."

Enquiries on the European Gambling Briefing should be directed to Penny Gruber; tel +44 (0) 20 7713 0302, email pgruber@ateonline.co.uk

Online gambling under the spotlight in Dakota and Indiana

Legislative manoeuvring in American states is off to an early start this year with news of activity in two areas.

In North Dakota legislators have suggested that the state's citizens should vote in 2006 on whether the definition of gambling should be revised to exclude Internet poker, instead classifying it as a game of skill and therefore legal. This would allow the state to license Internet poker companies to operate within its borders and realise projected millions of dollars in tax revenues for education, property tax relief and other public funding.

Introduced in mid January by Republican representatives, House Bill 1509 could amend the North Dakota Century Code by revising the definition of gambling. Exemptions like "lawful contests of skill" would be clarified by adding "including Internet live poker."

The proposed bill provides for the licensing of live Internet poker games and empowers the state attorney general to regulate Internet poker activities, using external consultants to put an infrastructure in place.

Taxation at 8 percent on the first $1 million earned by a licensed operator is envisaged on a sliding scale, with 6 percent on the second million, 4 percent on the third and so on up to a maximum 0.25 percent on amounts over $58 million. Even players would contribute to the taxman, with a suggested annual license fee of $10 for each player!. An estimated $ 500 million from these taxes could be raised, say the authors of the Bill.

Over in Indiana, their first gambling legislative attempts of the season in the US come from the Indiana House of Representatives which is apparently trying to interfere with ISPs among other restraints.

The proposed law, House Bill 1191 would appear to apply only to professional gambling. Recreational gambling would still be legal, or so it seems according to the Digest, which has the following summary:

"Internet gambling. Makes Internet gambling a Class B misdemeanor. Makes committing or promoting professional gambling through the Internet a Class D felony. Requires an interactive computer service to: (1) discontinue its service if notified by a law enforcement agency that the service is being used to promote professional gambling; and (2) block access to a site used to promote professional gambling."

There's still aways to go on this one - following a first reading it has been referred to the Committee on Public Policy and Veterans Affairs.

Next week may see a brand new instant millionaire...is it you?

InfoPowa was busy chasing the results of the Sportsbook.com Million Dollar Sportsbook competition this week following the Super Bowl victory by the New England Patriots over the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday.

Readers will recall the story last week, when online gamblers were invited to enter the competition on Sportbook's site and create an opportunity to win a million dollars.

It seems that there may have been plenty of entries, because we were informed by the company:

QUOTE At present, this contest has not yet been graded completely, so we do not have a winners list at the moment. The contest should be completely graded, and all winners determined by the end of this week, or early next week.

Should you wish to email us back at that time, we should be able to provide the answers to your query.UNQUOTE

More when we have it....

Big win for two English roses

Best feel-good story this week is the big Bingo win by two ladies from the English Midlands.

Playing at Bingo Ballroom.co.uk with a starting stake of GBP 1 (yes, one pound), they ended up with GBP 6,000 from wins on the popular coverall jackpots while simply chatting online and watching the online bingo calls - a nice bank balance booster to ease the Festive Season aftermath.

BingoBallroom runs GBP 1,000 online bingo jackpots on the hour every hour on given days, and give their online bingo players generous Mega coverall jackpots when advertised, with the biggest bingo jackpot in the UK due for release next month.

Problem gambling aims for wider views

The National Center for Responsible Gaming is widening its membership by creating an advisory council for increased diversity, according to news reports this week.

Established by the American Gaming Association to raise money for research on problem gambling, the Centre inaugurated the council at its biannual meeting in Las Vegas in December.

Members of the advisory council include Greg Avioli, executive vice president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association; Thomas Brosig, faculty fellow at Tulane University's University College and co-founder of the Grand Casinos chain; Marc Falcone, a gaming stock analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities; Penelope Kyle, executive director of the Virgina Lottery and Bo Bernhard, director of gambling research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The council will include members who cannot accept the responsibility of a full board membership but still want to be involved, together with Board members who want to step down but remain be involved at the advisory council level.

First activity will be the development of a mission statement and identifying additional candidates for the executive committee. The council is expected to add members and include a diverse group of people "beyond traditional stakeholders" in the gaming industry.

Like board members, advisory council members will be involved in fundraising for the Centre.

Partnership with Spin3 results in Gamewire - the first complete mobile casino system

Creating a major stir this week at the Mobile Gambling Summit in London, and in the media was Microgaming's launch of its long-anticipated "....first complete mobile casino system."

Partnering with Spin3 (www.spin3.com), as the developer of the mobile system, and using purpose built, leading edge games, including a well-established progressive, the surprise launch electrified industry experts and became a major talking point.

By utilizing the Spin3 wireless casino system, casino operators, mobile network providers and any company with an internet presence can now offer a secure mobile casino under a trusted industry brand via a large selection of mobile phones and other wireless devices.

The Spin3 wireless casino system carries six real-time networked casino games, including blackjack, roulette and scratch card. The Spin3 mobile casino system also includes a progressive jackpot slots game, Treasure Nile. Players have the chance to win a continuously growing jackpot that starts at US$40,000, right from their mobile device.

"Industry analyst Juniper Research has forecast that the mobile gambling industry will reach US $16 billion in revenues by 2008," said Matti Zinder, CEO, Spin3. "We are ideally positioned to provide a complete casino system for any company wishing to compete successfully and capture a significant portion of this exploding market."

Microgaming's integrated gaming and casino management technology powers the graphics-rich, Java based mobile casino games via the GameWire server to complete the Spin3 system, which is comprised of the GameWire suite of mobile play-for-real casino games and the SpinFone suite of pay-per-download casino games.

The system provides CRM (Customer Relationship Management) capabilities giving operators player management, reporting, data analysis, promotion management and loyalty programme tools. In addition, player authentication, financial transactions and gaming activities within the system are protected by an array of highly advanced security measures that make up the patent-pending SpinLoc technology. This proprietary security and authentication system constitutes the most secure wireless gaming system currently available.

"By combining our gaming and casino management technology with graphic-rich games, advanced player management capabilities and reporting tools, customers can now benefit from a complete mobile casino that will set the standard worldwide," said Dion Hatton, Product Manager of Microgaming.

For customers who prefer to distribute a non-gambling version of the wireless casino technology, Spin3 has created the SpinFone suite of interactive casino games. These applications, which are based on the same client-server architecture as those in GameWire, are especially suited to be deployed as an acquisition, promotional and marketing tool with such features as a leader board, interactive communication capabilities and unique branding opportunities.

UK betting giant deploys new Microgaming - Spin3 mobile games

The major Ladbrokes gambling group is first out of the gate with Microgaming's new mobile technology it seems.

The new product has hardly been launched, when the British gambling group announced that it is to introduce a set of full colour casino games for mobile phones in order to tap in to the wireless market, which is expected to mushroom over the next few years.

The announcement confirmed that the games came from Spin 3-Microgaming.

"This new channel for our products enables us to effectively take advantage of the enormous opportunities in mobile commerce," said David Briggs, commercial director at Ladbrokes eGaming.

Customers will be able to use their online accounts to download games onto their handsets and play for money. The suite includes slot machines, blackjack and Ladbrokes Balls.

Lending impetus to this week's enthusiasm for mobile applications comes news of a study by the Alatto Research Group, which predicts that the m-gambling market could reach almost GBP 500 million as early as 2006. The danger this level of potential revenue brings is that the market could grow too fast. If users are targeted with low quality applications, the market will create low levels of customer satisfaction, leading to unsustainable expansion and lower revenues in the long-term.

The survey finds that in time, over 4.5 percent of users will visit a casino via their mobile, with average spending estimated at around GBP 53 per month.

Top casinos from a respected portalmaster

Ted Loh's very professional Got2Bet portal published its 2004 awards this week, providing a solid guide to safe and efficient places to gamble online.

Best Overall Casino this year was Trident group's very popular King Neptune's Casino, and the online gambling group also carried off a well-earned Best Support medal. Despite an isolated but high profile bonus dispute which was finally resolved in favour of the player, Lake Palace Casino was judged best new casino, and the Best Website went to First Web Casino.

32 Red Casino must have been a close contender for the top spot, but can be well satisfied with the achievement of Most Reputable Casino - thoroughly deserved after almost universal player approval this year.

Best Theme went to Havana Club Casino, and Intercasino was a good choice for Best Promotions - this is a veteran site that keeps up a constant flow of exciting and innovative ways to attract and entertain the player community.

Playtech and RTG casinos did not feature in the list this year.

Readers can see the full list, and Ted's judging sheet, at http://www.got2bet.com/2004awards.php

New project will take Texas Hold Em mobile

WPT Enterprises and MFORMA Group have unveiled an innovative poker project that will enable mobile users to install Texas Hold Em to their phones.

MFORMA a company specialising in mobile entertainment, has teamed up with the most recognisable poker brand World Poker Tour in order to cash in on the continuing poker boom, satisfying a demand for casino-style mobile games.

The new game features real-time, six-player capability.

"We set out to make the best mobile poker game and we are very pleased to be working with World Poker Tour to bring World Poker Tour Texas Hold 'Em to market," said Scott Jensen, for MFORMA.

"The World Poker Tour has vastly increased the audience for poker and this game, associated with the leading poker brand, delivers the most realistic poker environment in mobile, incorporating the style of the top-rated TV show. Each of our WPT-branded applications will allow interaction with the show or WPT events through promotions, on-air commentary, tournaments, and prizes."

World Poker Tour Texas Hold 'Em has developed a unique way of displaying the environment as the camera pans smoothly from side-to-side to follow the action.

Gamblers can play against five others at one time, simulating a real six-player-to-a-table game.

Users will have an opportunity to try the World Poker Tour Texas Hold 'Em game beginning early March from leading wireless operators in North America, followed by Europe and Asia.

Latest technology being deployed by WWTS

It's that time of the year when Superbowl fever takes firm hold as this weekend's epic match between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles generates a frenzy of betting - some estimates claim it could go over $450 million this time.

Making wagering a little easier for the many gamblers putting money down on this game is BetWWTS Wireless accessed from a player's cellphone. A leading offshore gaming company for over 10 years, BetWWTS.com has launched an updated version of their wireless sports book application that is available on over 600 mobile devices.

Powered by Phantom Fiber, a wireless technology and mobile solutions specialist, BetWWTS Wireless gives sports bettors the convenience of placing wagers anytime, anywhere, at data speeds comparable to Internet land-lines. The application is compatible with every wireless network standard and supports devices with every major wireless operating platform, including Windows Mobile PocketPC(R)/PocketPC Phone Edition, PalmOS(R), SymbianOS, Windows Mobile Smartphone, Java and browser-enabled phones, and RIM.

"Whether at the big game or watching the Super Bowl at a friend's house, our wireless sports book gives bettors the ultimate convenience of betting any place, anytime, on their mobile device," said Stuart Doyle, wagering director of BetWWTS.com. "Now available on over 600 mobile devices including RIM Blackberry, our wireless application offers customers a comprehensive mobile betting solution by encompassing every major wireless platform and operating system in the world."

Free to download and use, BetWWTS Wireless offers single account convenience by utilizing the same account to place Internet, telephone and wireless wagers with BetWWTS.com. The wireless application also provides a fully secure mobile betting environment with the same 128-bit encryption technology used for Internet transactions.

MVP goes "live over the Internet"

The MVP online gambling group is to introduce updated "live-over-the-internet" gambling using the CasinoWebcam platform.

The Costa Rica-based group says that in response to double digit growth at its live online casino, MVP Casino is launching its second-generation live gaming platform in conjunction with CWC Gaming.

Featuring smoother video, crisper sound, and sharper animated graphics, the browser-based Flash Casino allows players to have quick access to the games as there is no casino software to download. The casino can be played on both PCs and Macs, and through a variety of browsers including Internet Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, and Safari.

Explaining the need for the new software, a casino manager for MVP said that player registrations at MVP's webcam casino grew at a rate of 75 percent over a six month period.

"Players are demanding the transparency and fairness that only a webcam casino can offer," he said. "When we saw CWCs new flash software, with its fantastic new streaming video, we knew we had to implement it as soon as possible."

To celebrate the launch of the new flash software, MVP is offering all players a special deposit bonus of 100 percent up to $100.

MVP Casino reportedly has plans to introduce live over the Net blackjack tournaments in the near future. Close to 200 people are apparently on MVP's waiting list for this new venture that takes gaming to the next level, with live interactivity between players and dealers and players and players.

Nothern British city chosen for Gambling Commission offices

Controversial reforms of the gambling industry are to be overseen by a new watchdog based in Birmingham, British Government Ministers announced this week.

The northern city has been named as the preferred location for the Gambling Commission, which will regulate commercial gambling across the United Kingdom in terms of the gambling law reform presently underway.

The decision to choose a location outside London follows a review of Government agencies by Sir Michael Lyons, former chief executive of Birmingham City Council. The commission will be created by the Government's Gambling Bill, which will liberalise the gambling industry.

The commission will replace the existing regulator, the Gaming Board for Great Britain.

Congratulations to a veteran
Industry giant 888.com (Casino On Net) announced this week that its international membership had risen to 13 million from 2.7 million in 2002. Casino On Net has an aggressive and professional conventional marketing team that has achieved wide brand awareness in 151 countries throughout the world. The group hold a major share of the online casino market and has committed to self-regulation through the eCOGRA initiative.

C.O.N. increased its members from 10 million to 13 million in the space of the last year alone, and this week has seen the brand scoop the prestigious ‘best online casino’ at the Inside Edge Awards 2005. The award was voted for by over 50,000 Inside Edge readers.

The UK Marketing Manager for C.O.N., Matt Robinson says: “888.com is the only casino and poker room, both on and offline, to have over 13 million members. This is a huge achievement for the online gambling industry.”

Good poker news
Television coverage has fueled the phenomenal growth in the poker industry in recent years and nowhere more so than in the virtual gaming rooms on the Internet.

In January 2003 around $11.1 million was wagered every day on major poker websites. Two years later, that daily average has grown to $180 million, according to PokerPulse.com, a Canadian company that tracks the industry.

And with as many as 1.8 million players active at any given time, poker sites are expected to pull in more than $2 billion in gross revenue this (2005) year.

Relaunching with Viper
Latest Microgaming online casino to switch to the cutting edge Viper software platform is All Jackpots Online Casino.com, which relaunched bright and sassy this week.

The gaming suite now offers players over 170 games and 17 progressives, all backed by the facilities-laden Viper. Among the games are top faves like Tomb Raider and Thunderstruck.

To celebrate the re-launch, All Jackpots Online Casino is partying throughout February, offering guests special treats including a Buy $50 Get $200 Welcome Bonus and daily cash promotions. The casino is part of the well-established Jackpot Factory group, which includes All Slots, First Web, All Jackpots, 999 Casino, Wild Jack, All Win Bingo, and Wild Jack Poker.

Three cheers for Michael
Gutsy Casino City CEO Michael Corfman's legal tussle with the U.S. Department of Justice has received significant publicity in a Business Week article just published. The article reviews the questionable actions of the Department of Justice in in its attempt to shut down online gambling advertising in American media, and gives interesting insights into the character of the mild-mannered but tough portal and online media owner, who was actually not among those threatened by officialdom.

Corfman isn't taking on Justice single-handed. The 51-year-old, who worked as a software engineer at Digital Equipment Corp. and other tech companies before founding his gambling portal 10 years ago, has been supported by online gambling companies and trade associations to help pay for the pricey lawsuit. One of Corfman's financial supporters is Britain's Sportingbet PLC, BusinessWeek has learned. Sportingbet Chief Exec Nigel Payne confirms that his company has helped fund the case, but he says it has done so through a third party, which he declines to identify. Corfman, who won't specify how much money has been contributed, says he can't afford the lawsuit on his own, since Casino City makes a small profit on revenues of several million dollars.

Going, going...gone
RTG-powered Miss Millions Casino has been jerking players around for the past couple months on slow-pays, and speculation has been mounting that it is headed for the knacker's yard.

The rumour mill was this week insisting that RTG is sorting out the players who remain unpaid, and that Miss Millions will cease operations in the near future.

War on the Island
Generating plenty of forum heat on leading message boards this week was a dispute between a player and the management at Island Casino.com involving some $11 700. Accusation and counter accusation flew in the case with one side initially claiming robot play as grounds for even sports bet winnings disqualifications, followed by the more serious charges of multiple accounts and rubber cheques, and the other denying fraudulent conduct.

Trying to reach balanced and unemotional truth is never easy in these acrimonious scraps, but we consulted the respected and independent webmaster at Sports Book Review, who has been presented with documentary evidence in the case. Without going into too much perhaps damning detail, this is a summary of SBR's opinion on the case:

1) The software provider said there was no conclusive proof of robot play by the complainant, and SBR therefore concluded that there was no justification for the winnings being witheld when this issue first surfaced.

2) However, SBR felt that Island Casino does have some grounds to investigate a number of other irregularities involving multiple accounts and suspicious financial moves which apparently came to light during the intensive examination of records that attended the original complaint.

3) SBR is "...no longer assisting this player" apparently due to inconsistencies with which they are not comfortable.

As we went to press the issue was heating up, with another portalmaster and watchdog - Casinomeister - presenting findings which did little for the player's case but sought to get at the truth on the basis that fraudulent players are as evil as fraudulent casinos.

The Donald's Taj Mahal named as venue for major women's poker tourney

Women’s Poker Club revealed this week that its next WPC Showdown Tournament will be held between April 14 - 16, 2005 at Trump’s Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.

With four tournaments, optional poker classes, a seminar, and a satellite tournament for the World Series of Poker ladies event, the WPC Atlantic City Showdown promises to be one of the most exciting and anticipated events for women’s poker this year.

“Even though more women are playing poker now then ever before, some men still feel that women are easy targets and don’t have the ability to finesse their opponents at the tables," said Maryann Morrison, President of Womens Poker Club. “The WPC Showdown gives women an opportunity to show their poker playing talent by competing in major poker events, while having a tremendous amount of fun.”

The Womens Poker Club was formed to encourage more women to play poker by providing them with a supportive and friendly environment to improve their skills. WPC offers peer mentoring, free poker classes, and league events for women only. The club has over 1700 members world-wide.

Women have an opportunity to win their trip to the WPC Showdown for as little as $5 through competing in online satellite tournaments available exclusively at Pokerhost.com. The satellites are being held through February and March.

The main tournament event of WPC Showdown will be played on Saturday, April 16th, a No Limit Texas Holdem Tournament with a buy in of $150+$20. The prize pool is estimated at $15,000.

Omaha hi-lo, Limit Hold’em, and 7-card Stud Tournaments will precede the main event, and women can play to win their entry at the Ladies event of the World Series of Poker.

Online poker site advertising at Superbowl XXXIX

Look out for InterPoker ads this Sunday - the company has clinched a major mainstream advertising deal to display 147 thirty second advertisements for its new play for fun site, InterPoker.tv at Super Bowl and other prominent sporting events throughout the year.

Eye Candy, the company that places and manages giant screen media at major sport and cultural events worldwide, has signed similar deals for Super Bowl airtime with major corporations such as Coke and Citibank.

Besides the Super Bowl coverage, InterPoker has been appearing in U.S. homes on the television program ‘Caribbean Poker Classic’ which aired this week on Rogers Sports. The CPC chronicled the trials and successes of InterPoker online poker players, as they battled for their share of almost $1 million in a high pressure, high stakes poker tournament set in the idyllic island paradise of St Maarten.

“We are keeping the Superbowl ads a closely guarded secret before the game, so you’ll just have to wait and see what InterPoker.tv has done,” said Mike de Halpert, Manager of InterPoker.com.

The budget for the campaign was not disclosed.

Advertising "game within the game"

The Super Bowl is not only the most watched U.S. broadcast each year because of the game, but is viewed by millions who tune in just to see the innovative commercials. The ads now serve as water cooler fodder the day after the game and have become so popular that polls ranking the best commercials are now commonplace.

With this in mind, BetWWTS.com entered the advertising 'game within the game' this week by announcing odds on which Super Bowl commercial will win USA Today's 17th Annual Ad Meter poll.

With five minutes of airtime purchased for this year's game and a long tradition of popular advertisements, BetWWTS.com has made Anheuser-Busch an overwhelming favorite to win USA Today's poll at 1/15 odds (i.e., win $1 for every $15 bet). The second biggest advertising spender in this year's game, Pepsi, has been listed with the second best odds at 7/1 to be voted the most popular Super Bowl commercial. With Spike Lee directing its Super Bowl ad, BetWWTS.com feels that Frito-Lay could be a contender in this year's poll, listing the company at 10/1.

Showing that the dot-com era of Super Bowl advertising has truly diminished, this year's two Internet-based companies have been installed as long shots to win USA Today's poll with GoDaddy.com at 25/1 and CareerBuilder.com at 30/1. Erectile dysfunction drug Cialis (25/1) and halftime sponsor Ameriquest (30/1) have also been listed with long odds to be voted the most popular advertisement. All other companies advertising during Super Bowl XXXIX have been included in the field, which bettors can wager on at 10/1 odds.

Superbowl could mean a million buck bonanza for one Sportsbook.com bettor

Bettors on Super Bowl XXXIX this weekend can get more action if they use Sportsbook.com - the company is celebrating the world’s most spectacular sporting event with a million dollar giveaway.

By the time the Eagles and the Patriots are done battling for football’s most prestigious crown this Sunday, one shrewd sports fan will be one million dollars richer!

The contest is open to everyone who visits www.sportsbook.com/contest/million.php

Simply answer 20 questions on different aspects of the game, from the outcome of coin toss to the total rushing yards by the Patriots. Should you answer all 20 questions correctly, there is a million dollars prize.

Should no one answer all 20 correctly, then the closest contestants will share a prize pool of $6,000. $2,000 will go to the winner, with $1,500 for second place, $1,000 for third place, and $500 and $250 for fourth and fifth respectively. Sixth through tenth will receive a free $50 free wager and a Namco video game. All customers enter a prize draw to win one of 50 Rolling Stones Forty Licks CDs.

“We wanted to make Super Bowl Sunday more exciting for the players at sportsbook.com than anywhere else,” explains Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportingbet PLC, Americas Region. “After all the props and exotic betting options we have for the game, we decided we should give players the chance at a big jackpot win as well. This contest will have fans on the edge of their seats right through the end of the game.”

CAN $30 million worth of shares bought

British institutional investors clearly like what they see in turnkey provider Cryptologic - the founders of the Canadian company have sold shares worth about $30 million Cdn - eight per cent of the company to them this week.

The Toronto-based developer of Internet gambling software said Monday that Andrew and Mark Rivkin, who until 2000 were chief executive officer and chief operating officer, made the sale of 1.075 million shares at GBP 12.50 per share through the London Stock Exchange.

"We are delighted to have attracted blue-chip U.K. institutional shareholders, and view their investment as a positive endorsement of CryptoLogic's growth strategy," stated Lewis Rose, president and CEO.

"The U.K. is emerging as the global centre for regulated online gaming, and the diversification of our shareholder base into this major market reflects our international expansion and should help enhance liquidity in the London market."

CryptoLogic shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange were up 95 cents or three per cent to a 52-week high of $30.95 after news of the deal was made public.

According to CryptoLogic's April proxy circular, Andrew Rivkin owned 1.775 million shares, 13.8 per cent of the total, and no other stockholder owned more than 10 per cent.

American investment fund Royce & Associates disclosed in May that it had increased its holding to just over 1.5 million shares or 12 per cent of the total.

Blackjack variants on new Flash platform

Oasis Casino, Sportsbook & Racebook takes the covers off its new Macromedia Flash (7.0) driven blackjack games this week. The online casino is set to go live with brand new Flash versions of its two most popular casino games, single deck blackjack and six deck blackjack.

Single deck and six deck blackjack, which were developed by Netherlands Antilles-based Telecommunication Information Systems Services NV. (TISS), are the first two of twenty-three Flash-powered casino games that the casino will be introducing in 2005. The launch will be the first of several events planned to introduce the new games, including a "Blackjack Launch Party" on February 4th and the "Super Bowl Halftime Blackjack Extravaganza," which will take place this Sunday during the intermission of Super Bowl XXXIX.

During these two online promotional events, Oasis will be giving away cash and prizes at random to casino players who are actively wagering at its new Flash casino blackjack tables.

Oasis has been active recently in upgrading its website and progressive jackpots.

Site availability underwritten by cash prizes

Sun Poker.com seems to be backing its claim to top efficiency with cold, hard cash.

The company upgraded its poker room software and services recently, and is guaranteeing 99.8 percent Up-Time on its poker servers with a $50,000 Overlay Tournament. If the site is offline for longer than 1.5 hours in any month, the tournament guarantee is activated.

"Our poker room now boasts increased capacity, access speeds, and near 100 percent availability,” says a confident manager, Nick Melrose.

“In January, we experienced explosive growth in SunPoker.com, and we’re now the fourth largest poker room network on the Internet. Such quick growth sometimes leaves room for outages due to server upgrades for increased capacity, and on the off chance there is more than 1.5 hours of downtime in any given month, we’re guaranteeing a $50,000 overlay tournament on the first Sunday of the following month.”

Unfortunately for Melrose, an outage did happen in January, and Sun Poker will therefore be honouring its commitment by hosting the first ‘$50,000 DOWNTIME’ tournament this Sunday February 6th, at 12:00 PM (noon) EST. Registration is limited to 1000 players and begins two hours before the start of the tournament.

An overlay tournament means that in addition to the prize pool derived from the $20 + $2 entry fee, the poker room will add the $50,000 of it’s own money to the prize pool.

New chairman appointed

IGGBA, the Interactive Gaming Gambling and Betting Association, has announced the election of its new chairman, Richard Flint, of BskyB.

The decision was made at the fourth iGGBA Annual General Meeting, held on 27th January at the ATEI/ICE show. Flint will replace Andrew Tottenham, council Chairman for the past two years.

Tottenham said that "...serving as iGGBA's chairman has been a fantastic experience. It is a pleasure to see someone of Richard's stature taking over for me".

The trade association says that 2005 will see the council "tirelessly representing the remote gambling industry’s interests, particularly with respect to the UK Draft Gambling Bill and EU cross border gambling issues."

The council also promises "a host of other activities aimed at broadening the horizons for the remote gambling industry".

$28,4 million seized.

The Chinese Internet gambling crackdown continues to attract mainstream news attention - this story is from the Xinhua agency and reports a major case that occurred recently.

Amid a nationwide blitz on illegal gambling, Beijing police have recently broken an Internet gambling case, seizing more than 235 million yuan (28.4 million US dollars) and three suspects, Beijing News reported this week.

Another suspect, surnamed Huang, believed to be a leader of the gambling ring, remains at large.

It appears that ISP cpollaboration with the authorities played a role in the busts.The police said they received a report late in December that an IP address from a complex in Chaoyang District, Beijing, had been frequently logging onto an overseas gambling website. The police raided an apartment in that complex on Jan. 7, 2005 and arrested a suspect named Yang Yi on the spot and another suspect named Jiang Dong the next day.

Police said the IP address received 96,274 stakes ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 yuan in Dec. 2004 alone. The total funds involved reached 235 million yuan. A batch of gambling diaries written by Huang, weighing more than ten kilograms and detailing Huang's daily gambling activities,was also found at the apartment.

The police also seized two laptops and a router.

Next up - Pacific Rim and then Montreal
River City Group's next two I-gaming events now have online registration up and running, so save time and money with an early booking through a secure and easy-to-use online registration server.

The Pacific Congress on Interactive Gaming (PCIG) - March 1-2, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. Meet and network with I-gaming companies and individuals in the Pacific. Registration includes passage on the Sydney Harbour Networking Dinner Cruise. http://www.rivercitygroup.com/pcig/2005/?page=register

After that, it's the popular Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo (GIGSE) - June 13-15, 2005 in Montreal, Canada. The world's largest conference and tradeshow exclusively for the global interactive gaming and gambling industry. http://www.gigse.com/2005/index.cfm/page/registration

Asian Gaming Expo
Investment opportunities in the fast- growing Asian gaming market will be the topic of the Asian Gaming Investment Forum, a program that will be presented by Deutsche Bank at the Asian Gaming Expo, June 14 -15 at Macau Tower.

The Asian Gaming Investment Forum will supplement the existing program at the expo, which is produced by the Australasian Gaming Machine Manufacturers Association (AGMMA). Marc Falcone, managing director of Deutsche Bank's Gaming, Leisure and Lodging practice, will lead the sessions.

Deutsche Bank has been designated the official investment bank of the expo. International Gaming & Wagering Business (IGWB) magazine has been named exclusive media sponsor of the forum

Winter is cool for business

Players hold 'em and fold 'em on the World Wide Web -- especially when the temperature dips.

"As cold weather approaches, EmpirePoker.com routinely sees a 5 percent increase in player activity," says EmpirePoker.com President Ron Burke. "When snow appears on the horizon and people stay indoors and home from work, that number jumps to 27 percent."

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa