Advisors appointed for possible listing

Turnkey provider Playtech has reportedly triggered plans for a listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Media reports say that the companys officials have met with advisers in London over potential plans for an initial public offering. A City source said the firm was looking at a possible listing on the LSE as soon as November this year. But a spokesperson for Playtech played down the rumours saying the firm had no plans to list before the end of 2005. A seperate source close to Playtech said a trade sale was also a possibility. He added the firm will be closely watching the market reception of casino firm Cassava / 888 Holdings, which started marketing for a September listing this week. The 888 flotation will be viewed as a bellwether for the egaming industry, and could potentially delay or cancel some IPOs being considered for later this year.

Playtech is likely to present a strong growth story with the firm adding several major clients in the past year, most notably the recent addition of Empire Online which purchased the Club Dice group.

Analysts said the firm could potentially claim a valuation in excess of that attached to rival software firm CryptoLogic of GBP195 million.

Online gambling regulatory body strengthens industry representation

Michael Hirst OBE, the independent chairman of eCOGRA has announced the appointment of Swedish national Karl Magnusson (30) to the board of directors of the online gambling self-regulatory body.

Magnusson is a director of software developer Ongame in Stockholm Sweden which powers one of the largest poker operations, PokerRoom.com in the booming poker room industry. He is also a director of UK companies Ongame Limited and Nordicone Limited and has extensive financial and general management experience with major organisations like ABN Amro's Alfred Berg Asset Management and the financial statistics department of the government of Sweden.

He holds a Master's degree in Economics from Uppsala University in Sweden.

"We welcome Karl's membership of eCOGRA's board of directors," said Hirst. "He brings valuable financial and management expertise which complements the high calibre of professional management capability eCOGRA already has in its independent directorate through respected figures such as Bill Galston and Frank Catania, together with leading industry executives John Anderson of Cassava and Roger Raatgever of Microgaming."

Ongame recently became the third major online gambling software company to join the eCOGRA self-regulatory initiative, which seeks to protect players through the "Play It Safe" seal on 56 top online casino and poker room sites. eCOGRA's members now account for over 80% of the online casino industry's turnover, and provide software to 3 of the top 6 poker networks.

Although directors representing eCOGRA's members now equal the number of independent directors, the organisation's constitution is such that board control is still in the hands of the independent directors, as well as fundamental decisions such as which software suppliers may be admitted as members, and which online gaming sites have earned eCOGRA accreditation.

eCOGRA provides an international framework of best operational and player protection practice requirements called eGAPs which is enforced through inspections and reviews, and continuous monitoring by independent global audit companies. Membership remains open to all software companies and their operators. Presently the organisation is developing industry practices for mobile gaming and multiplayer casinos .

King Cashalot big win jackpot hit at $1,218,306.82

The King Cashalot progressive slot has been won for a staggering $1,218,306.82. Jackpot City casino officials confirmed that the lucky winner, Tim F. will receive his fortune in one lump sum.

Released in July 2004, King Cashalot was launched by Microgaming, the leader in online casino systems and the King Cashalot progressive is available at more than 60 Microgaming online casinos. Once started, the progressive game accumulates deposits from players on all its participating casinos enabling the jackpot to quickly grow by the minute until it is won.

Jackpot Madness, run by Jumbo Jackpots of Curacao, is the world's largest online progressive network. All the jackpots won on the casinos providing these games are offered through full, direct cash payouts - the only games on the Internet offering this benefit.

The goal of the portal is to provide jackpot enthusiasts with a single destination offering a wide choice of progressives, featuring frequent payouts and record-breaking jackpots. The jackpot totals are "live" and Jackpot Madness provides constantly updated information together with links to over 85 casinos.

Total payouts are over $170,000,000 and counting.

Advertising purge helps

More customers from the UKBetting content network has followed a purge of rival advertising from the sites, the company reveals in its current report which shows a GBP 500 000 pre-tax profit in the first half year.

The firm, which owns the majority of the UK’s sports content sites, recorded an EBITDA profit of GBP 0.9 million from a turnover of GBP 55.5 million as customer registrations rose 37percent to 308,000.

UK Betting said the rise in player numbers was driven by removing most of the advertising for rival sportsbooks and casinos from its sites.

"We have seen a significant increase in ‘click-throughs’ to our own gaming sites as we have taken competitors off, as well as an increase in average spend per user,” Peter Dubens, chairman of ukbetting, said.

Ukbetting’s content network, which includes sites such as sportinglife.com and oddschecker.com, accounts for 60 percent of the firm’s customers. And Dubens added punters originating from the content sites spent twice as much as those coming from outside the network.

"As the cost of gaming customer acquisition and retention continues to rise, ukbetting’s position of originating its own customers from its sports content network becomes more and more valuable,” he added.

Turnover in the gaming division was GBP48.9 million with the remainder coming from advertising revenue from its sports content sites. The firm said more than 60 percent of its GBP 6 million gross win came from its casino, poker and games sites with poker and casino revenue leaping 106 percent.

The firm said the introduction of a single wallet for casino and poker customers was a major priority for the year.

Party Gaming dip dissipates

The depressing picture of public company gaming stocks heading southwards last week changed after the weekend, showing that the Party Gaming pessimism was temporary.

Egaming shares rebounded after an anxious time in which Sportingbet took a 30 percent hit, for example. The stock soon recovered however.

The story was repeated in other areas this week.

Empire Online, listed owner of Empire Poker, recovered from a low of 231p to a healthy 254p although PartyGaming is still trading at below its listing price.

But analysts said it was a positive sign, and Paul Leyland, leisure analyst at Seymour Pierce, said the sector appeared to be “bouncing back nicely”.

Sportingbet said there was no reason for the share price movement, with its next results expected to be in line with expectations.

It is also believed the firm’s poker operations are performing strongly on the back of a massive marketing campaign in the US.

Paradise Poker has launched a dotnet advertising campaign with television spots running on sports channel ESPN

New deal will boost distribution

AskMen.com and Bluff Magazine, the widely read international poker magazine founded by Eric Morris, have signed a deal to showcase content on AskMen.com’s online poker channel.

AskMen.com, the largest men’s portal on the Web, reaches over 5 million unique readers a month. That audience will now have access to Bluff Magazine’s collection of celebrity interviews and tips from professional players and poker experts. AskMen.com’s hookup with Bluff is the latest in a long line of deals with market-leading brands such as MSN, AOL and Google.

Bluff Co-founder and Publisher Eric Morris says: “We’re very excited about this deal and it illustrates just how popular poker is right now. We wanted to showcase our content to an audience who have yet to be exposed to Bluff Magazine and are interested in learning more about the game.”

James Bassil, an editor at AskMen.com, shared Morris’ enthusiasm: “Bluff Magazine has established itself as the go-to publication for poker players, just as AskMen.com has established itself as the number one source for male lifestyle content. It makes our partnership a logical one.”

The AskMen.com poker channel is live and currently featuring an interview with poker pro Daniel Negreanu

Takeover discussions halted "by mutual agreement"

Sportingbet Plc, a U.K. online betting company, said this week that it has ended negotiations to buy Empire Online Ltd. Shares of Empire Online fell as much as 16 percent.

Discussions were halted by ``mutual agreement,'' London-based Sportingbet said today in a statement. The companies disclosed Sept. 5 they were in talks, three days after Empire said it had received an approach worth GBP 790.5 million ($1.4 billion) See previous InfoPowa reports.

``Talks were only ever at an early stage and were not able to move to completion,'' Empire spokesman Ged Brumby said. Chief Executive Officer Noam Lanir was ``very impressed'' with Sportingbet management, led by CEO Nigel Payne, ``and now better understands the leadership positions they've achieved,'' he said. No due-diligence information was exchanged, according to Brumby.

Sportingbet spokesman George Hudson declined to comment on the reason why talks between the companies had broken down.

Shares of Empire Online dropped 40.5 pence to 213.5 pence, the day's lowest price, at 1:39 p.m. in London. The drop cut the company's market value to 625 million pounds ($1.1 billion). Sportingbet stock fell 4 pence, or 1.2 percent, to 339.5 pence.

Empire Online, which helps gaming Web sites such as EmpirePoker.com gain customers, said Sept. 2 it had received an approach which involved the suitor combining its business with Empire for 270 pence a share in cash and stock. Sportingbet identified itself as the suitor three days later.

PartyGaming, the world's biggest Internet gambling company, also may make an offer for Empire Online as it is the company's biggest Web site marketing customer, the British media has previously speculated.

Sportingbet customers had their doubts....

Sportingbet's reverse out of the takeover talks with Empire Online may have had it's genesis in customer fears that EO does not actually have any customers - and the end of talks led to a share price plunge of 20 percent.

Sportingbet ended discussions to buy Empire Online for GBP 790 million amid concern in the City that the targeted company does not actually have any customers. And Sportingbet execs failed to deny speculation that the poker websites Empire Online runs under the aegis of PartyGaming and 888 Holdings meant it was essentially a marketing team without a customer base.

Fears that Empire Online could be much less valuable than previously thought after the emergence of the “customer issue” sent the company’s shares plunging 20 per cent.

Paul Leyland, an analyst at Seymour Pierce, said: “All that was being offered was about 16 personnel and a marketing war with Party and Cassava (now known as 888). Empire offers an excellent marketing team, but it does not control its own customers.”

An analyst at Daniel Stewart & Co, the UK broker, said that the lack of customers meant that Sportingbet would have been buying a revenue stream that was largely controlled by other gambling companies.

One of Empire’s main lines of revenue is empirepoker.com, a website that is technically a subsidiary of PartyGaming. PartyGaming actually runs the website for Empire, which does not have a gaming platform. It takes a percentage of the poker “pot” — known as a “rake” and typically between 1 per cent and 5 per cent of the amount wagered — passing a portion of this on to Empire.

Although “ownership” of the customers is a grey area, analysts agree that they belong more to PartyGaming and 888 than to Empire. At the same time, because PartyGaming holds all the customer information relating to the empirepoker.com website, any potential purchaser of the operation would probably need to talk to both companies.

Analysts expect PartyGaming itself eventually to buy Empire Online, for a much lower price than Sportingbet was considering. PartyGaming would not comment on the potential acquisition yesterday.

Sportingbet said: “On September 5, the board of Sportingbet confirmed that it was in discussions with Empire which might or might not have led to an offer and that discussions were at a very preliminary stage. Sportingbet can now confirm that, by mutual agreement, it has ceased discussions with Empire in respect of the potential offer.”

Sportingbet’s shares fell 17p to 326.5p, while Empire stock lost 52p to close at 202p.

Mobile gaming will do especially well

A trading statement from Gaming Corporation, the publicly listed portal owner, has reported year-end profits will be much higher than predicted partly as a result of strong performance in its mobile gaming business.

The firm launched its casino.co.uk mobile service on UK network Orange earlier this year, and plans to supplement this with the launch of mobile poker in the next few weeks.

But it said the popularity of mgaming had taken it by surprise and will have a significant impact on results for the year ending September 2005.

"The mgaming business continues to outperform our initial revenue forecasts, having signed 2,500 registered customers during the initial soft launch phase,” the firm said.

"As Orange intensifies its marketing effort we would anticipate further rapid growth in our mobile gaming operation," it added.

The firm said the additional strong performance of the recently acquired gambling.com site meant operating profit for the year would be “materially higher” than expected.

Gaming Corp said it was also benefiting from a “significant reduction in its costs” following a migration from the Boss Media software platform. And the current surge in costs pre-acquisition was also playing in its favour by boosting revenues from its portal sites.

"Operators are paying up to 50% more to acquire customers from our gaming portals,” the firm said.

The firm’s poker site is set to launch in the next few weeks, and Justin Drummond, chief executive of Gaming Corp, said it was expected to be a major source of new revenue.

"The mgaming division is going from strength to strength and we believe the new poker site will provide a considerable new revenue stream to the group,” Drummond said.

British gambling group Victor Chandler, a Gibraltar-licensed egaming operator, has signed a deal with software firm Orbis to use its OpenBet gaming platform. Orbis will provide software for the firm’s VC Games soft gaming site, which will be integrated into its existing software. “We want to quickly expand the range of games we offer and with Orbis’ input, we will be in a position to do this,” Andy Harris, Head of Product Development, Victor Chandler said.

Following on fromur earlier InfoPowa reports, we can now advise that WPT Enterprises, the company behind the World Poker Tour (WPT), has launched WPTonline.com, the WPT-branded real-money poker and casino site. Complementing its TV coverage, WPT aims to spread its message throughout the UK’s online poker community with professional training, educational sessions and merchandise. Steve Lipscomb, president and chief executivr of WPT Enterprises, said: "We want to give our players every opportunity to participate in the entire WPT experience, which is why online players will be given opportunities to enter WPT land-based tournaments as well as WPT Invitational events."

G2E served as the launchpad for skill gaming provider GameAccount's new Tournament Blackjack, a person-to-person (P2P) skill-based version of the blackjack casino game. The game launched at the 2005 Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas. Players can take part in ‘Heads-Up!’ play against each other, rather than against the house, and start out with an imaginary chip stack of US$10,000. Andy Bell, casino and gaming manager for GameAccount licensee BetCORP, said: “Tournament Blackjack represents a compelling opportunity for operators to generate incremental revenues from existing customers and re-activate lapsed customers.”

777betz.com, the online sportsbook, casino and poker operator, has launched a multi-table poker Texas Hold’em platform. James Po Ho Cheung, president of 777, said: "Our poker enthusiastic members will find the final version of multi-table poker worth the wait. The table options and the number of players will make our multi-table poker an exciting addition to our website."

Bored on those airline flights? A U.S. company has come up with the answer - gambler while you fly.

eFlyte announced this week the introduction of their latest product for the airline industry – inflight gambling. At the conclusion of a two year development program, the company is ready to launch gambling on the world's international airlines.

"We believe that the time is right for inflight gambling to be introduced." David Morgan, CEO of eFlyte commented. "A combination of factors influenced our decision to launch now. eFlyte's software architecture is proven, the new generation of IFE platforms are totally compatible with our software, while financial back office support has been validated to ensure the efficiency and reliability of the transaction processing. In addition, a number of international airlines have expressed interest in being updated on the feasibility of inflight gambling after all the excitement of nearly a decade ago."

eFlyte intends to provide airline passengers with a fun, challenging way to pass time on long flights, with the added bonus of accumulating winnings while relaxing at 35,000 feet.

The system will have strict player controls, with access by the swipe of a credit card which will be credited or debited in the same way as any other credit card transaction.

"The idea is to provide airline passengers with a low-stakes gambling environment that will co-exist with movies, audio tracks and even our own casual games," Morgan concluded.

Management shake up seems to have worked

BetonSports has posted solid figures for the first half of 2005, showing a 23 percent increase in gross profits, up to $28.6 million from $23.3 million in the last half of 2004. The figures also showed a big rise in the gross margin percentage of an extra 36 percent, increasing to 7.9 percent and gross operating profit had also risen 21 percent to $5.1 million.

BetonSports has seen an increase in the amount of new customers, over 6,000 up 5 percent on last year. The company’s acquisition of Easybets in May 2005, a large Internet bookmaker and casino serving Asia, will no doubt have had some impact on the firm’s impressive performance.

The company has had a good year with a shake-up in the management team, website overhauls and new poker software being rolled out.

University of Dundee study

The Scotsman reports that ncreasing numbers of women in Scotland are turning to online gambling as a "coping mechanism" to block out failed personal relationships and depression, a new study claims.

The study, by an academic at the University of Dundee, also says easy access to gambling is likely to be a hidden cause of homelessness. Women are being tempted online to enjoy the thrill of casino-type games such as roulette and blackjack by off-shore internet firms offering free practice sessions and personal chatrooms.

The on-line gambling market - worth £15 million in Britain last year - has tripled since 1997. In the UK it is currently legal to gamble in an online casino, but illegal to run such companies from Britain. The Gambling Act 2005, which takes effect in two years' time, will allow a new Gambling Regulator to impose indefinite fines on socially irresponsible operators who encourage promotions such as "happy hours" and "cash back when you lose your first bet".

Lesley McMahon, a research fellow in the school of town and regional planning at the University of Dundee, said women are keeping the problem secret because they believe they will be refused help from social services if the root cause of mortgage arrears or debts is revealed.

"With men, gambling is much more an 'ego thing' about status, and they like going into casinos where they can be seen playing. "With women it tends to be hidden, and a shame issue. With online gambling women don't need to leave the house to gamble and this, coupled with the ease of getting credit cards, is leading to massive problems," Ms McMahon said.

"It is such a quick and easy thing to do - you just download the software, put in your credit card number and get your log-in and password. From then you can place bets, play the machines or take part in casino games."

Last month, a couple from Dundee were jailed for three months at Arbroath Sheriff Court after severely neglecting their four young children after becoming addicted to online gambling. One of the children aged seven, had to have all her teeth removed. Sheriff Norrie Stein described the conditions the children were living as "as bad as could be imagined".

Ms McMahon, a former casino croupier, said the problem was hidden in Scotland and not recorded in statistics because it was still a "no-go" area. She is calling for the government to launch a health education programme on gambling similar to that for domestic violence.

A spokesman from Gamblers Anonymous in Scotland said it was receiving an increasing number of calls from women in Scotland concerning the issue. Chris Campbell, the depute director of the Scottish Council for Single Homeless, said: "As an umbrella organisation for homelessness, our members are well aware of the financial links to homelessness and clearly technological advances such as the internet and gambling can exacerbate this.

"We have invited Ms McMahon to our National Homelessness Conference in Scotland to be held in November." A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The government recognises that a small number of people can develop problems through gambling and with technological advances this now includes online gambling."

Acquisition of Club Dice et al completed

Empire Online has announced that,following its satisfactory due diligence, it has completed the Acquisition of Club Dice from Crown Solutions Gaming Limited and Uniplay International Limited.

Established in 2001, Club Dice comprises three casino brands and one bingo brand: Club Dice Casino, MonacoGold Casino, Carnival Casino and YouBingo. The Club Dice database currently comprises over 75,000 registered real money customers.

The Acquisition comprises, inter alia, the player database, certain intellectual property, and a license to operate Playtech Limited software across the four platforms. Club Dice has seen substantial recent growth in revenues, profits and new sign ups.

The consideration for the acquisition, payable in cash, is the aggregate of (i) US$5 million which was paid on 22 August 2005; (ii) US$22 million payable on completion of the Acquisition; and (iii) the balance which will be deferred consideration payable based on the profitability of the business between 1 August and 31 December 2005. This final amount is currently expected to be approximately US$13 million.

In the year ended 31 December 2004, the assets the subject of the transaction would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.7 million to Empire Online and, in the six months ended 30 June 2005, would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.4 million to the Company. The Directors are intending to invest in the re-launch of Club Dice in order to increase its revenue in the future.

Acquisition of Club Dice et al completed

Empire Online has announced that,following its satisfactory due diligence, it has completed the Acquisition of Club Dice from Crown Solutions Gaming Limited and Uniplay International Limited.

Established in 2001, Club Dice comprises three casino brands and one bingo brand: Club Dice Casino, MonacoGold Casino, Carnival Casino and YouBingo. The Club Dice database currently comprises over 75,000 registered real money customers.

The Acquisition comprises, inter alia, the player database, certain intellectual property, and a license to operate Playtech Limited software across the four platforms. Club Dice has seen substantial recent growth in revenues, profits and new sign ups.

The consideration for the acquisition, payable in cash, is the aggregate of (i) US$5 million which was paid on 22 August 2005; (ii) US$22 million payable on completion of the Acquisition; and (iii) the balance which will be deferred consideration payable based on the profitability of the business between 1 August and 31 December 2005. This final amount is currently expected to be approximately US$13 million.

In the year ended 31 December 2004, the assets the subject of the transaction would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.7 million to Empire Online and, in the six months ended 30 June 2005, would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.4 million to the Company. The Directors are intending to invest in the re-launch of Club Dice in order to increase its revenue in the future.

Senate throws out amendment after debate

As we went to press this week the good news was coming - U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl's latest efforts to kill off online gambling in the USA have been defeated.

Kyl, a longtime and skilful anti-online gambling politician for the past several years sought to amend an appropriations bill to include language prohibiting Internet gambling in the United States.

The amendment was defeated in the Senate Thursday morning after a night of debate and political gamesmanship. Democratic leaders invoked a point of order on the amendment, arguing that it should be placed on a bill in the Banking and Finance committee and not an appropriations bill.

The point of order was passed by majority vote, essentially killing Kyl's amendment. Early reports from Reuters suggested that Kyl remain undeterred, promising to be back with another proposal.

Kyl said his legislation would require banks and credit card companies to block payments to online Internet gambling sites. He said some firms were already voluntarily blocking money transfers. "We will proceed with this, it will become law at some point at some time," the Arizona Republican said on the Senate floor. "There should be no reason why we can't move forward on this."

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said that a member of her party had objected to attaching Kyl's language to the spending bill but she was not sure who. Kyl urged the lawmaker to come forward so the concerns could be addressed.

Shares of online gambling sites in Britain moved higher on Thursday in anticipation of the Senate action. Partygaming Plc moved up 5 percent to 105 pence while Sportingbet.com Plc moved up 11.3 percent to 321 pence on London trading.

Stock value for IPO cut

Last week's much publicised comment by the Party Gaming CEO Richard Segal that online poker was slowing down had a predictable impact on the IPO being put together by Cassava Enterprises this week.

UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported that the Internet gambling company is to cut the value of the stock exchange float for its online casino 888.com by at least 20 percent.

The London flotation will now be valued at between GBP 550 million and GBP 650 million, the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed source close to the flotation. Original speculation was that the value might be as high as GBP 1.5 billion.

Later reports suggested that the price had been set at between 162- 212 pence per share, which will give it a market value of up to GBP 714 million.

Check your account!

The fora have been lighting up lately with player reports of unexpected, and frequently automatic bonuses. Where's the problem with getting some free money, you may ask?

The answer is because these bonuses carry wager-through requirements and in many cases the player didn't ask for them. The bonanza is frequently just credited to an account, and the first the player knows about it is when a cash-out is denied because the W/T has not been met.

A growing number of players eschew bonuses because these marketing inducements too frequently lead to nightmare hassles of extensive minimum wagering requirements, denied pay-outs, confrontations with ill-trained or briefed Support and even the danger of being unilaterally declared a "bonus abuser" and subjected to disqualifications and lock-outs. In short, many believe that bonuses are just not worth the trouble they can bring.

Some pretty surreal live-chats have taken place, where Support workers have said they are actually unable to remove these bonuses when requested, and there have been cases of bonuses being credited despite a player calling Support prior to playing and telling them to hold off on the bonus!

No doubt these bonuses could be reversed once a manager is involved, but who needs the trouble?

It's something that deserves attention at casino and maybe even software level. It should not be too difficult to give the player an opportunity to reject a bonus before it is credited, especially where it involves obligations on his or her part. And the player should definitely be advised when a credit is about to made.

In the meantime, players need to keep a close eye on the transactions going through their accounts in order to catch any *surprises* before they are used and that endless cycle of bonus arguments gets into gear.

Poker brings youth to the table games

Vegas casinos report that younger gamblers are taking an interest in table games. Industry analysts believe that many 20- and 30-somethings like playing blackjack and similar games because they can socialise at the tables, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

The return of table games was one of the topics discussed at the G2E Training & Development Institute, which preceded the annual Global Gaming Expo held in Vegas this week.

Analysts credited the fad for poker, saying it has spilled over to other games, and the popularity of television shows that depict gambling, including Las Vegas.

Gamblers in the 21 to 39 age group are not only more likely to play table games than the older crowd, they are also willing to risk more when they bet.

Bart Pestrichello, vice president in charge of casino operations at Hard Rock, said that casinos have to provide the atmosphere the younger crowd wants at the tables, including training dealers to be more like an entertainment employee, and less like a cop.

British betting group rumoured to be going after Sporting Index

Ladbrokes, one of Britain’s biggest bookmakers, has emerged as a key contender to buy Sporting Index, the spread betting group, for up to GBP 70 million, The Times reported this week.

Duke Street Capital, the private equity owner of Sporting Index, has whittled the auction down to a handful of bidders and set next week as the deadline by which they must table their second-round offers.

The shortlist is believed to comprise Ladbrokes, which is owned by Hilton Group, and two private equity firms. Bridgepoint is thought to be one of the contenders.

Duke Street, which is working with NM Rothschild, the investment bank, is expected to enter exclusive discussions with one party after next week’s updated offers. The originally mooted asking price was closer to GBP 100 million.

Analysts said that Ladbrokes appeared to have the best chance of winning the auction. The company would have an advantage over private equity rivals by being able to cross-sell its own betting products to Sporting Index punters while offering Sporting Index to Ladbrokes customers.

There is also a historical link between the two companies in the figure of John Jarvis, Sporting Index’s chairman, who was once chairman of Hilton International, the hotel arm of Hilton Group. Mr Jarvis left Hilton to set up Jarvis Hotels in 1990.

Ladbrokes, which abandoned a spread-betting foray in the 1990s, recently teamed up with a rival firm, Cantor Index, to offer financial fixed-odds bets.

Duke Street backed the GBP 53 million management buyout of Sporting Index in December 2002. The deal was led by Richard Glynn, the company’s chief executive.

High interest in UK group's shares

ShareCast reported this week that investors were piling in to online gambling outfit Gaming Corp after the AIM-listed company gave a cheery update on trading for the year ending September.

Gaming Corporation has been dynamic this year in the online gambling acquisitions field, snapping up the popular portals Got2Bet.com and Gambling.com among others. The company has ambitious growth plans within the industry that include casino and mobile gaming according to CEO Justin Drummond.

Gaming Account the supplier

Online casino operator and holder of the eCOGRA seal, Fortune Lounge Group, has launched a new and exciting skilled games website called Royal Vegas Games. This is in conjunction with a deal signed with GameAccount, a leading skill gaming software provider.

GameAccount has agreed to provide its full range of skill games including Backgammon, Gin Rummy and Pool to Royal Vegas Games. This is in an effort to attract more players and to up the stakes within the online casino industry.

GameAccount's skill gaming services supports full multi-lingual white-label solutions with seamless log-in and real-time exchange rates, and all games have multi-player capabilities. They also boast competitions like the world's largest knockout tournament and various progressive jackpots.

"Securing a partnership with a proven global player like GameAccount means we can provide our customers with the best skill gaming services available", says the Director of Royal Vegas Marketing, John Hughes. According to Matt Welch, Business Development Manager at GameAccount, "the deal with Fortune Lounge is a lucrative venture for both parties".

Partnerships and synergies like the Fortune Lounge/GameAccount deal signals new heights that can be reached by gaming online and it opens up new avenues for recreational as well as experienced gamblers. Now there's even more reason to try out a Fortune Lounge casino because the opportunities are endless and there's no way that you cannot be tempted by their bevy of new games.

Hi-tech micro camera scam defeated

Two men and a woman - accused of operating across the UK - have been arrested, Sky News reported this week.

The trio are thought to have netted more than GBP250,000 from six London casinos.

They are the first to be arrested in the UK for allegedly using such a hi-tech operation, police said. The Metropolitan Police's Clubs and Vice Gaming Unit was brought in to investigate the con after a number of casinos in the capital became suspicious about people playing three-card poker.

They carried out a sting operation to snare the suspects as they played the game at a casino in the centre of the capital. Detectives said the scam worked by two players playing the game and using "micro-cameras" to beam pictures to a third person watching on a computer monitor.

The third person then instructed the two players, who were wearing hidden earpieces, whether to bet or not.

David Mills, of the UK Casino Security Managers Association, said: "We have been tracking the increasing trend towards technical casino crime for some years now and are pleased that our internal procedures proved successful once again."

All three suspects have been bailed to return to a central London police station in December pending further investigation.

DV8Poker launches

An Irish firm is betting on Internet poker with the launch this week of DV8poker.com - powered by the Excapsa Poker Network, which also includes two of the top sites in the market, UltimateBet.com and UltimatePoker.com

Behind the venture is AVA Leisure, which manufactures gaming machines and operates a chain of arcade outlets. Online gaming is a natural extension of the Company's existing operations, while a partnership with Paradigm New Media ensures that the new online brands, including an interactive bingo site launched in July, are backed by top class expertise in interactive marketing.

"As we continue to expand our business in the UK market it is important that we enter into strategic partnerships with licensees that have a presence in the market," stated Jim Ryan, CEO of Excapsa. "UK-based AVA Leisure is able to leverage its customer base to our poker network with their background in the arcade arena. We believe the tie in to poker will be a natural."

Internet gambling continues to grow at a rapid pace in the UK, as the increasing availability of broadband encourages more people to try out a quick flutter online. The online gambling audience in the UK has increased by 45 per cent over this time last year, with 3.2 million visiting a gambling site in February 2005.

The marketing campaign for DV8poker.com includes a $125,000 guaranteed prize pool every Sunday and qualification for major International tournaments through the site.

People can have fun learning to play poker for free at DV8poker.com before they feel ready to cash in on their newfound skills. DV8poker.com players can try their luck against Team UB pros including: David "The Devilfish" Ulliott, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari.

Bold new step from Aussie public company

BetCorp has announced its white label partner program, WhiteLabelGaming.com. BetCorp Limited’s White Label program offers companies the opportunity to operate their own e-gaming site using the Betcorp model. Partners will be responsible for managing their own brand development, marketing and player acquisition while outsourcing all other aspects of operations to a trusted partner.

Bye Bye 49ers

It's goodbye to the veteran brand 49ers Casino, in the Cryptologic-powered Peak Entertainment Group, which is being rolled into big brother Omni Casino's operation, Peak's flagship brand. Players have been receiving notifications this week advising them of the move and how it will effect them.

Mac Poker

Backgammon and poker games software pprovider GamesGrid has released what it claims to be the first poker software developed especially for Macintosh users. The new software, developed by CyberArts, located in California, has been exclusively licensed to Malta-based Skill Games Ltd., which operates the GamesGrid brand.

Super Heroes from Crypto and Marvel

Following a major and exclusive licensing deal with Marvel Comics, turnkey provider CryptoLogic will soon be launching new Marvel-branded casino games (including characters such as the Hulk and X-Men) in a novel series of themed games for online gambling casinos that are sure to prove popular judging by the player response to Microgaming's Tomb Raider earlier this year.

University of Dundee study

The Scotsman reports that ncreasing numbers of women in Scotland are turning to online gambling as a "coping mechanism" to block out failed personal relationships and depression, a new study claims.

The study, by an academic at the University of Dundee, also says easy access to gambling is likely to be a hidden cause of homelessness.

Women are being tempted online to enjoy the thrill of casino-type games such as roulette and blackjack by off-shore internet firms offering free practice sessions and personal chatrooms.

The on-line gambling market - worth £15 million in Britain last year - has tripled since 1997.

In the UK it is currently legal to gamble in an online casino, but illegal to run such companies from Britain.

The Gambling Act 2005, which takes effect in two years' time, will allow a new Gambling Regulator to impose indefinite fines on socially irresponsible operators who encourage promotions such as "happy hours" and "cash back when you lose your first bet".

Lesley McMahon, a research fellow in the school of town and regional planning at the University of Dundee, said women are keeping the problem secret because they believe they will be refused help from social services if the root cause of mortgage arrears or debts is revealed.

"With men, gambling is much more an 'ego thing' about status, and they like going into casinos where they can be seen playing.

"With women it tends to be hidden, and a shame issue. With online gambling women don't need to leave the house to gamble and this, coupled with the ease of getting credit cards, is leading to massive problems," Ms McMahon said.

"It is such a quick and easy thing to do - you just download the software, put in your credit card number and get your log-in and password. From then you can place bets, play the machines or take part in casino games."

Last month, a couple from Dundee were jailed for three months at Arbroath Sheriff Court after severely neglecting their four young children after becoming addicted to online gambling. One of the children aged seven, had to have all her teeth removed. Sheriff Norrie Stein described the conditions the children were living as "as bad as could be imagined".

Ms McMahon, a former casino croupier, said the problem was hidden in Scotland and not recorded in statistics because it was still a "no-go" area. She is calling for the government to launch a health education programme on gambling similar to that for domestic violence.

A spokesman from Gamblers Anonymous in Scotland said it was receiving an increasing number of calls from women in Scotland concerning the issue.

Chris Campbell, the depute director of the Scottish Council for Single Homeless, said: "As an umbrella organisation for homelessness, our members are well aware of the financial links to homelessness and clearly technological advances such as the internet and gambling can exacerbate this.

"We have invited Ms McMahon to our National Homelessness Conference in Scotland to be held in November."

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The government recognises that a small number of people can develop problems through gambling and with technological advances this now includes online gambling."

Hitting the jackpot

THE global online gambling market is now worth almost £827 million and has more than tripled in two years.

Online firms PartyGaming and Empire Online sell shares and are worth more than British Airways.

The activity is being promoted among young people as a way of paying off student loans. Last month, a student won $100,000 from slotland.com.

Acquisition of Club Dice et al completed

Empire Online has announced that,following its satisfactory due diligence, it has completed the Acquisition of Club Dice from Crown Solutions Gaming Limited and Uniplay International Limited.

Established in 2001, Club Dice comprises three casino brands and one bingo brand: Club Dice Casino, MonacoGold Casino, Carnival Casino and YouBingo.

The Club Dice database currently comprises over 75,000 registered real money customers. The Acquisition comprises, inter alia, the player database, certain intellectual property, and a license to operate Playtech Limited software across the four platforms.

Club Dice has seen substantial recent growth in revenues, profits and new sign ups. The consideration for the acquisition, payable in cash, is the aggregate of (i) US$5 million which was paid on 22 August 2005; (ii) US$22 million payable on completion of the Acquisition; and (iii) the balance which will be deferred consideration payable based on the profitability of the business between 1 August and 31 December 2005. This final amount is currently expected to be approximately US$13 million.

In the year ended 31 December 2004, the assets the subject of the transaction would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.7 million to Empire Online and, in the six months ended 30 June 2005, would have contributed net profit of approximately US$2.4 million to the Company. The Directors are intending to invest in the re-launch of Club Dice in order to increase its revenue in the future.

Growth continues in latest financial reports

Chartwell Technology Inc. has announced good unaudited financial results for the three and nine months ended July 31, 2005.

Highlights of the quarter included revenue growth of 25.3%, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $1,180K and an eleventh consecutive quarter of profitability.

Don Gleason, Chief Financial Officer, said: “I am pleased to announce another solid quarter of results. Despite increased operating expenses associated with the acquisition of Micropower Corporation and a weakening in foreign currency markets resulting in a foreign exchange loss, we were able to deliver another quarter of profitable growth. For the remainder of the year we will maintain our focus on profitability, diversifying our revenue and investing in key areas of our business.”

Compared to the same nine month period of 2004, total revenue increased by 51.5%, software license fees increased by 52.9%, EBITDA increased by 72.0%, operating margins increased to 37.9%, net income increased by 23.0% and earnings per share diluted remained constant at $0.16.

Chartwell’s Board of Directors also authorized the Company to make a normal course issuer bid. Purchases under the bid may commence following receipt of regulatory approvals and will terminate within one year after commencement.

ICE tips will be on fighting cybercrime

‘Combating Cyber Crime in the Betting and Gaming Business’, the conference launched in February 2005, will this year run at Earls Court Conference Centre, alongside ICE, the International Casino Exhibition, which opens on 24th January 2006.

“I am delighted to be working in association with Clarion ATE on the second Cyber Crime Conference. The decision to run it on the first day of the globally acclaimed ICE event, with its ever growing iGaming component ICEi, will only add to its prestige and significance in the i-gaming event calendar“, Paul Webster, the organiser of the launch event, said.

At the first conference many important issues discussed included DDoS attacks and blackmail; card fraud; identity fraud; mobile phone security; age verification; staff screening and money laundering. Developing the fight to combat these issues will continue to be a major concern for on-line bookmakers, betting exchanges, iGaming operators, regulatory authorities and suppliers. Many of these subjects can be expected to be included in the 2006 program.

President Bob Evans drives in with truckloads of relief

Another online gambling company has joined the effort to provide aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina (see earlier InfoPowa reports)

The president of the Nine.com gambling group, Bob Evans flew into Houston over the weekend to join a team delivering several large truckloads of relief items such as nutrition bars, bottled water, blankets, pampers, flashlights and other necessities that the company had bought and driven from Dallas, Texas. The supplies were taken to the Astrodome and other refugee staging areas, where Nine.com staff helped distribute same personally.

Publicity was the last thing on Evans's mind, and the gambling exec said that it was "...just a great feeling to simply give anything you can, drive it right into the fray, roll up your sleeves and pitch in as the best way for Nine.com to make an immediate impact."

The company also plans to run a celebrity poker tournament to raise money for the victims of Katrina.

Nine.com is not the only online gaming company trying to help; Bodog, PokerStars, Vegas Partners Lounge and Absolute Poker companies all mounted generous fund-raising efforts within hours of the disaster.

777rock.com, a sportsbook based in San José, has also been active among the several of private organisations in Costa Rica that are donating to relief efforts. The firm gave $20,000 to officials in New Orleans and a Hummer loaded with supplies will join a 20-truck convoy headed towards emergency shelters in New Orleans where the items will go to whomever needs them, said Marshall Williams, a spokesman for 777rock.com.

And over at Olympic sportsbook the owners and management are matching player donations to raise $100,000 for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Olympic will match donations from its online sportsbook players through Sept. 15 in an effort to send $100,000 for Katrina assistance.

Quarter of the profits on three popular online games over 2 weeks will go to victims

With the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has wrought in New Orleans in the USA, Vegas Partner Lounge Online Casinos have joined several other online gambling companies in assisting to raise funds for the victims.

All 7 Vegas Partner Lounge Online Casinos (CrazyVegasCasino.com, SunVegasCasino.com, CinemaCasino.com, 777Dragon.com, MapleCasino.ca, CasinoUS.com and ArthurianCasino.com) have pledged to donate 25 percent of casino profits over 2 weeks on three popular online games.
http://www.casinomeister.com/casinos.html#casinos

"In this time of disaster and humanitarian crisis, Vegas Partner Lounge believes in helping those in need and therefore by donating to the Salvation Army we hope we can make a difference," says Austin Green, SunVegasCasino.com Casino Manager on behalf of Vegas Partner Lounge.

For two weeks starting September 1 all seven Vegas Partner Lounge Online Casinos will donate 25 percent of online casino profits on three of their games: Tomb Raider, Cashville and Munchkins to the Salvation Army to assist with the Hurricane Katrina Crisis.

Top poker experts involved in fund-raising

Excapsa Software, and its main network licensee, UltimateBet.com, is to run three fundraising poker tournaments to benefit the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Two smaller events will lead up to the main event on September 10th, and 100 percent of all revenues generated will be donated.

In addition, both Excapsa Software and UltimateBet.com have pledged to match 100 percent of all funds raised up to $25,000 each and poker pros, Phil Hellmuth Jr. and Russ Hamilton have challenged the poker network by adding $10,000 each.

Players in the September 10th event also have the opportunity to win a variety of generously donated prizes that include lunch with celebrities like Jennifer Tilly, Troy Aikman, Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari; VIP tickets for an ESPN college football game with UCLA and Rose Bowl quarterback and ESPN college football color man, David Norrie.

All proceeds from the online poker tournaments will be donated directly to The American Red Cross and earmarked for Hurricane Katrina recovery.

Rate of growth in online poker is moderating says CEO Segal

Party Gaming's results announcement had them front and centre in the UK financial and business press this week, with CEO Richard Segal producing great results, but dampening enthusiasm with the comment that the online gambling boom may be starting to slow down.

Segal's pessimistic view sent the stock price southwards by almost 37 percent, marking the shares down from 156¾p to 121p in the first minutes of trading with more than 8 million shares changing hands, and seriously depressing the stock for the rest of the week.

Nevertheless, the company, which runs the world's most popular online poker site PartyPoker, saw stunning growth in the first half of the year as first-half profit rose 25 percent. Net income increased to $171 million from $136.5 million a year earlier, the Gibraltar- based company said in a statement. Profits rose to $186.3m from $146.6m a year ago

PartyGaming controls about 54 percent of the online poker market, which according to Christensen Capital Advisors has grown from $90 million in 2002 to $1 billion in 2004. Analysts say growth in the industry will outweigh any potential regulatory concerns. The company makes 87 percent of its revenue in the U.S.

But chief executive Richard Segal sounded a note of caution when he said: "As expected, whilst the online gaming market and poker in particular continue to show strong year-on-year growth, the rate of growth is continuing to moderate." One indicator of the slowdown is that although there are still more people signing up to play poker online, their average spend is falling.

PartyGaming saw a 73 percent surge in sign-ups during the six months to end-June and the number of active player days doubled, but the actual yield per player per day dropped by 7 percent from $19.20 to $17.80. Margins for the group also slipped from 64 percent to 59 percent reflecting higher marketing and admin costs.

Segal said that as these trends continued the group will "...adapt its marketing strategy and infrastructure to provide greater focus on customer retention and player value."

He made no immediate comment on whether he might bid for Empire Online, the marketing services group which has strong links with PartyGaming and has received a GBP 791 million approach from rival Sportingbet.

Segal simply said: "We are monitoring developments." Revenues for the first half year soared 81 percent to $437million (GBP 237 million) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and the costs of share options and the flotation came in 70 percent higher at $258 million. The share options cost $39.7 million while the share offering on the London Exchange cost $22.6 million. Prior to Segal's cautionary comments, the stock had gained 35 percent since it was offered at 116 pence a share, giving the company a market value of 6.27 billion pounds.

PartyGaming increased the share of revenues from outside the US from 12 percent to 14 percent. Sales in the U.S. gained 77 percent, while growth outside the U.S. more than doubled. The number of players regularly using the company's PartyPoker.com site reached 415,633 in June, an 89 percent increase on the previous year, the company said. The site has gained active players every quarter since it opened in 2001.

The company is seeking to expand in international markets including the U.K. "Poker isn't dead but the talk of 45 percent growth now looks unrealistic," said Robin Chhabra, from Evolution Securities.

"Poker operators are having to attract casual players who are not as profitable as the hard core and that is changing the economics of the business."

The group announced the launch of a casino game for mobile phones, which allows players to download its Starluck Casino games to their handsets in minutes.

PartyGaming said it was confident of making further progress in growing its international revenues in the second half due to a detailed programme of international advertising campaigns.

It said it was planning to launch a multi-lingual and multi-currency option during the second half of 2006 in a bid to broaden its international appeal.

Party Gaming statement may impact listing price

The London flotation of online casino and poker group Cassava Enterprises will go ahead on schedule, says a company spokesman....but the price of the listing may be weaker after PartyGaming's CEO warned of slowing growth early in the week.

Cassava spokesman Nick Lambert told the media: "The float is still totally on track. The investor education process has been getting very positive feedback.”

The knock-on effect of the Party Gaming CEO's pessimistic statement that the online poker phenomenon is slowing down became more obvious as the week wore on, with some uncharitable speculation that PG was deliberately "pulling the ladder up after itself" following it's own successful listing, with the objective of cramping competitors' style.

Analysts have warned that Cassava's plans to sell shares will at the very least sorely test investors' appetite for internet gaming stocks as fears grow that the industry's near-exponential rate of expansion is cooling.

Shares of PartyGaming Plc, the online operator which competes with Cassava in poker gaming, fell as much as 37 percent on Wednesday after the company said revenue growth is slowing, wiping about GBP 2.4 billion ($4.4 billion) from the company's market value. Until Monday, PartyGaming shares had risen 35 percent since its IPO in June, but the stock is now trading below the offering price.

PartyGaming's valuation is being used as a benchmark for Cassava's business, bankers said. Shareholders of Cassava, who plan to sell $500 million of stock in an IPO that would value the company at about $1.5 billion, may raise less now in the offering, bankers predicted.

Newly listed online gambling company is a tempting dish....

Hot news this week was an announcement that Empire Online, which in June became the first internet poker operator to float in London, had received a 270p-a-share offer valuing it at GBP 790 million.

The company, formed in 1997 by Israeli entrepreneur Noam Lanir, said talks about the cash and share offer were at an “extremely early stage” but it had been forced to make the announcement because of a sharp rise in the share price. The initial announcement did not disclose where the approach had originated, but later in the week Sportingbet confirmed that it was the suitor, and there was unconfirmed speculation that arch rival and poker market leader Party Gaming might also be interested. The Sportingbet interest is rooted in its Paradise Poker.com property.

A company spokesman said: "Empire Online notes the recent movement in its share price and announces that it has received an approach from a party interested in merging its business with that of Empire Online via the acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company."

The shares, which first traded at 175p had risen to 228p by the middle of August with the whole sector fuelled by market enthusiasm for internet gambling stocks.The Empire Online stock jumped another 12 percent by the close of trading on Thursday.

In early trading today (Friday) they rose again to 270p.

Empire also announced that it has appointed Andrew Burns as chief financial officer in place of Yossi Pereg, CFO since 1999 who is stepping down for personal reasons. Pereg will resign from his position as CFO and COO and from the board of directors with immediate effect but remain as a consultant to the company and will conduct a thorough handover process.

Costa Rican based gambling group will launch new Internet poker concept September - October

The CEO and founder of Bodog.com, Calvin Ayre has confirmed reports that his online poker operations are to be the subject of a revolutionary technology change.

Bodog is one of the largest multi-channel online gambling sites in the world according to Hitwise.com, and the firm is making a serious bid to become a major presence in the booming on-line poker space.

The group has invested heavily in aggressive multi-media advertising and high profile events, and has rapidly built up a large gambling base.

Ayre has confirmed that this September or October Bodog.com will be releasing a new generation of the firm's proprietary poker system, and promises that the change will be the most significant switch in how poker is played on the 'Net in the last half decade.

Ayre says that the "Bodog Interface" will create a paradigm shift that will likely cause ripples through the industry.

"The new system is now in feature freeze and will be released once QA testing is completed" he revealed this week without giving further details of the technology.

Bodog entered the online poker field with its own version of the popular MicroPower software after buying the source code along with permission to improve the product to its own standards and proprietary levels. MicroPower has recently been taken over by turnkey provider Chartwell Technology, which also has big ambitions in the online poker sector.

Online cash processor says Asian activity will drive its earnings for foreeable future.

The Isle of Man-based online financial processor Neteller has announced doubled profits for the third consecutive half year.

The company predicts that Asia's growing appetite for online gaming will drive earnings at for several years, and that the craze for online gambling, which made up 80 percent of the company's transfers in the first half, was still going strong in Western markets, and Asia had huge potential to continue that growth, Chief Executive Gord Herman reported.

"Asia hasn't even started in this industry yet. It's potentially a massive industry that right now probably has, at least, a 2 to 3 year growth cycle," Herman told Reuters news service in an interview.

Neteller's pretax profit jumped 126 percent to $40.6 million (GBP 22.1 million) in the six months to end-June, while it increased revenue by 122 percent to $73.5 million. Herman said he saw this level of growth continuing into the second half and beyond.

"For the last half of the year that's certainly sustainable. For 2006, ... I would guess with what's happening, and our ability to penetrate the Asian market, that that's highly probable," he said.

Although the percentage of Chinese people hooked up to broadband internet was tiny, the actual number -- around 80 million -- was the same as in the United States, Herman said. This figure was expected to grow to 280 million by the end of next year.

At present gambling is restricted in China to certain economic zones such as Macao, but Herman said the issue was to what extent the Chinese government could control a new generation who are online and like gaming.

On the heels of the report, Neteller shares climbed 2 percent to 883-1/2 p, valuing the business at GBP 1.07 billion. It sold shares at 200 pence when it floated last April.

Herman estimates that the company has a 15 percent slice of its market, but said this percentage had the potential to grow as banks in the United States and Britain became more reluctant to process online gaming payments.

Neteller's membership doubled to 1.75 million year on year, with 3,000 new members joining daily.

More tournaments to raise money for the American Red Cross

Absolute Poker has followed the lead of Bodog and PokerStars in launching tournaments designed to raise relief funds for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The company is sponsoring an online donation 'tournament' to raise money for the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief efforts. Absolute Poker will match all collected funds, donating 100 percent of money raised to help victims.

Absolute Poker is offering a range of charity tournaments, with tables starting at $1, and going all the way up to $100. For all money gathered in the charity tournaments, Absolute Poker will match the buy-in with a donation of the same amount.

These are not real-money tournaments, as money collected will not be awarded in prizes, but rather, will be donated to help the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Alternatively, players who want to donate money, but who prefer to skip out on the tournament, can donate money directly through the Absolute Poker cashier.

Cashalot progressive jackpot nearly on a million dollars

The Microgaming big win progressive King Cashalot jackpot is currently pushing a million dollars, according to spokesmen from several of the 70 online casinos offering this game.

MGS progressives have on several occasions paid out well over a million dollars each to lucky players who hit the bigtime, with payouts made in one cash tranche, usually presented in a luxurious holiday venue.

Casino operators report that the current jackpot is the highest yet seen on the game.

Marketing arm of Gamesys intends to "...leave the competition standing."

Mice and Dice Limited, the marketing subsidiary of Gamesys has a new md following the appointment of Michael Braga to the position this week.

Formerly known as Gamesys Marketing Support Ltd., M&D fulfils marketing services for and on behalf of Profitable Play (PPNV), operator of top UK gaming site Jackpotjoy.com. These services include identifying potential partnerships and media arrangements, supporting customer acquisition and retention and serving the customer base through support facilities.

Braga was in bragging mood, it appears, saying "Just as Gamesys has always been at the forefront of gaming technology, and Profitable Play at the cutting edge of consumer gaming, Mice and Dice aim to be the last word in marketing in our industry. With the UK's number one online gaming site, and especially the top online bingo game to promote and develop, we're going to be making sure our marketing activity continues to leave the competition standing."

$7 million in bingo prizes every month

Bingo high-rollers who want to spend more to get more can sign up for a new high roller program just announced by Helix Gaming International, which owns the popular BingoMania.com site.

The Super High Roller Room at BingoMania.com will deliver an "....exciting opportunity for online bingo players who prefer to play for large game prizes and generous bingo progressive jackpots."

Costing $5 a card, the Super High Roller Room gives players the opportunity to play progressive jackpots that start at $5,000 and build until won. To celebrate the launch of this new room, the current progressive jackpot has started at $10,000, says gm Stuart Gordon.

Bingo Mania awards an average of $60,000 in progressive jackpots and over $7,000,000 in bingo game prizes each month.

Asian sportsbook to offer game on soccer website

Mahjong game specialists, Mahjong Mania have landed a deal with Betex, the Asian sportsbook operator to launch the popular game on its soccer betting website.

Gamblers will pay a set fee per game to play. "The agreement with Mahjong Mania provides our clients with access to a popular, challenging and engrossing game which we believe will become a significant addition to the gaming industry,” Johnny Hon, chairman of Betex said.

Launch date of September 16 for six month tour

In what is billed as the richest tournament in European poker history, PokerStars.com is again sponsoring the six month European Poker Tour, commencing September 16 and expects the prize pool to exceed last year's Euro 4.5 million.

PokerStars is the world’s second largest poker site, and is hoping its headline sponsorship of the tour will allow it to break into the growing European poker market. The first EPT was broadcast on UK terrestrial TV channel Five and satellite sports broadcaster Eurosport.

Boss Media and Mfuse partner to provide technology

Betdirect, the UK sportsbook owned by Sportech, is the latest gambling operation to aim for the mobile casino gambling market following its introduction of mobile sportsbook facilities earlier this year.

Providing the know how and technology for the new games is a team effort from Boss Media and British mobile technology specialists Mfuse.

Betdirect operates the interactive TV betting for the UK’s largest TV channel ITV alongside its online sportsbook, casino and poker operations, and is owned by publicly listed firm Sportech, which also operates the Littlewoods casino and poker sites.

Boss Media has experience in the mobile gamblikng field, having equipped the William Hill group with a suite of games.

Charles Palmer, co-founder of Mfuse said current Mfuse customers like Paddy Power, Blue Sq and Sporting Index are considering implementing the companys mobile system.

New player-participation site has big plans

A company that promises to reward players with shares in its success, Pokershare.com launched recently (see previous InfoPowa reports) and has now announced very ambitious marketing plans.

The company signed up to the Excapsa Poker Network / UltimateBet, and revealed plans for an up to US$10 million TV and print campaign to take it into the Top Ten global poker sites.

Chief executive Lucan Toh said Pokershare would be spending big on above-the-line advertising to give the site a strong start. “We wouldn’t be in the market if we didn’t think we could be a top ten site by the end of 2006,” he said.

“We are spending US$5-10 million to give us a foothold in the market, and if we didn’t think we could be a top ten site we would pack up our bags and go home. We are going to do a lot of online advertising, but we are also putting together a television and print campaign and I think we will get through our money reasonably quickly,” Toh said.

The firm plans to launch a dot net site in the middle of September, which will be backed by a TV campaign in the US.

Toh added there were plans for the profit sharing concept to eventually be extended to casino and skill gaming sites. There were no indications as to where Pokershare funding originates or how strong it is.

After months of arguing, a defeat in the Dutch Supreme Court

There was bad news for Brit betting group Ladbrokes this week, which suffered another defeat in its legal fight with the Dutch state monopoly De Lotto that dominates betting in that country.

Ladbrokes has fought for the right to offer its Internet services to Dutch gamblers in terms of the European Union's open trade agreements. After having its arguments rejected by a lower court, the determined betting group took the case to the Dutch Supreme Court, which has now confirmed the earlier ruling banning the firm from taking bets in The Netherlands.

The decision in the main proceedings follows a summary ruling in February, which forced Ladbrokes to block customers with a Dutch IP address.

De Lotto claimed Ladbrokes was acting illegally by accepting bets from Dutch citizens, and the ruling sets a precedent that could now lead to similar action being taken against other egaming operators.

All is not lost yet, however. Ladbrokes has started preparing an appeal which it hopes to have heard before the year is out.

John Reilly, Ladbrokes Managing Director of eGaming says, “Our aim has always been to appeal this case until it is heard in the European Court of Justice, as we have always accepted that in the context of Dutch Law we will lose. We believe that betting is subject to Article 49 of the Treaty of Rome as other goods and services are.”

UK betting group suffers GBP 1 million loss

Weak sportsbook margins cancelled out record performances in online casino and poker operations in the current six monthly reporting period, says British gambling group Blue Square, the online subsidiary of the Rank Group. The result was a GBP 1 million loss despite strong growth from the online casino and poker operations.

“Sportsbook margins continued to be weak throughout the first half contributing to an operating loss of GBP 1 million,” a Blue Square spokesman said. "Gross win numbers showed zero growth at GBP 10.8 million compared to the same period last year, despite growth of 43 percent.

The Blue Square sportsbook now has 156,000 active customers, and saw significantly higher bet volumes with revenues up to GBP 250.9 million. Like Paddy Power, revenues from non-sportsbook activities exceeded those from the sportsbook for the first time.

Alex Kahaner won the 2005 WPT Legends of Poker this week, earning $1,125,000.

A record 839 players put up $5,000 each to compete for the Legend of Poker title, fought out at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. The number of players surpassed last year's log by 172 and forced tournament organisers into splitting the field into two *day ones, * resulting in what was in effect a four day poker tournament in a three day timeframe.

The final table was:

Todd Phillips 1,900,000 in chips
Alex Kahaner 1,855,000
Kenna James 1,540,000
Jake Minter 1,525,000
Tim Phan 1,080,000
Kevin O'Donnell 500,000

Possible winnings ranged from $208 500 at sixth place through to the top prize of $1 125 000.

Impressive bonuses and a luwury limo draw in new poker room launch

Readers with a taste for the good life will probably enjoy the ambience created around the new Purple Lounge.com poker room, which operates on the huge, 40 card room Prima Poker global poker network.

The card room is celebrating the launch of the site by giving away that quintessential British luxury limo - the Bentley to one of the first 10,000 players to register. And it's offering a rewarding 100 percent match on the first deposits up to $1000 too.

Purple Lounge is distinguishing itself from competitors with some upmarket features like Tara the virtual "poker-chick-with-attitude" and aims to take poker beyond the velvet rope, offering a fresh gaming experience for players who aspire to play in a "...sleek, sophisticated environment filled with trendy extras."

The site includes celebrity gossip, scandal and a luxurious theme with an exclusive ‘Side Bar’ of unique player benefits, including Tara’s stylish travelogue, cool tunes and updates on player rewards.

The operators have catered for all levels of skill. Novices can receive tuition as well as action and for the more experienced high rollers there's big stakes play on a variety of games including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, and Seven and Five-Card Stud.

Other features include Insurance for high-ranking hands on bad beat jackpots; bonus hands and cash prizes for players with the best hand every 24 hours.

NT Media takeover will lead to full online casino turnkey packages

The British interactive gambling software company, Orbis has acquired game design firm NT Media and the capability to develop and further enhance new games concepts as well as a fully fledged casino software package that will be offered as a fully integrated module of the Orbis OpenBet(TM) product family.

The takeover involved the acquisition of all of NT Media's share capital, for a consideration that may vary between GBP 1.6 million and GBP 4 million in cash. The consideration is dependent upon future performance and the achievement of certain milestones.

All employees of NT Media will join Orbis and will provide ongoing services to the existing customers of NT Media.

NT Media is an innovative games invention and design company, which has provided the user interface for the popular Ladbrokes Balls numbers game, as well as SkyBet Internet and interactive TV games. NT Media has a suite of 50+ games including multiple games running across industry leading platforms.

Orbis Managing Director, David Loveday commented: "The acquisition of NT Media now gives Orbis the opportunity to offer a full end to end service from game concept and design through to the complex backend software."

NT Media founder, Nik Robinson who will join Orbis as Creative Director and is widely regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of the fixed odds games market. He has been responsible for the development of the industry wide "Balls" game and has recently constructed what are claimed to be the most advanced and sophisticated implementations of Roulette and BlackJack in the industry.

New Dutch language site for online casino

Sun Vegas Casino.com is going Dutch from this month with a new Dutch language site catering to the growing online gambling market in that country.

“We’ve had an astounding increase in Dutch players and therefore it was a logical step for Sun Vegas to launch NL.SunVegas.com,” said Austin Green, Casino Manager, at Sun Vegas Internet Casino.

Part of the Vegas Partner Lounge group, NL.SunVegas.com will be one of the few casinos catering to Dutch players and offers the same wide assortment of bonuses and services.

NL.SunVegas.com has a 24-hour service for anyone with any questions regarding the new site: “We have a dedicated support staff that will handle any query. All you need to do is e-mail us or give us a call on our new Dutch toll free number,” says Green.

Termination notice issued to affiliates

48 percent rise in net gaming revenues for first half 2005

Analysts were poring over Cassava Enterprises first half 2005 results this week as the intense interest in the forthcoming IPO of the company continued.

CEO John Anderson is believed to be awarded a maximum of 1 percent of stock following the IPO, several financial and business papers reported.

Net gaming revenue for the six months ended June 2005 were US$123.7 million, a rise of 48 percent on the same period last year.The growth was in part due to a surge in revenues from the Pacific Poker website, which rose 226 percent to US$43.8 million. Poker currently comprises around 35 percent of total revenues for 888.com.

There was also proof of the company’s strong international focus with 45 percent of revenues derived from outside the US. The group said 19 percent of its income came from members in the UK, 19 percent from members resident elsewhere in the European Union and 7 percent from the rest of the world.

Rival firm PartyGaming, the owner of the PartyPoker site, takes around 90 percent of its revenues from the US market.

Founder of Mansion Sports was wrongly accused in public statement

The Age newspaper in Australia reports that Michael Tomeny, the former head of online bookmaking business Canbet, is suing the company for defamation over an announcement it issued just prior to him launching his own gambling website, Mansion Sports in the Gibraltar jurisdiction last September.

Tomeny was Canbet's executive director from February 2000 until April 2003. He is suing Canbet and International All Sports over the contents of an update of the merger between the two groups emailed to customers in August 2004.

In documents lodged with the Supreme Court of Victoria, Tomeny claims the document suggests he was responsible for poor performance and business practices at Canbet, that he failed as a manager and that he performed so poorly Canbet removed him.

But Tomeny says he left because he believed Canbet should be based in Britain in the face of increasing legislative hostility to online gambling in Australia. He also claims the company was in good shape when he departed.

International All Sports chief executive Robert Edge said the company intended to defend the allegations.

Affiliates had no problem with changes going forward, but retroactive decision stirred up a hornet's nest

Another of the companies that sought to impose retroactive changes on their affiliates' contracts backed away from the controversial issue this week, easing a confrontational situation that seemed to be headed for the courts (see earlier InfoPowa reports)

In a communique to its affiliates, Fortune Affiliates which manages programs for the major Fortune Lounge group of online casinos said that it had reviewed the impact of the recent rule changes over the past two months, and has decided to revert to the commission formula as existed prior to the July 1 change.

"We have been motivated to do this in the interests of maintaining our good relations with the Affiliate community," said the communication. "At the end of the day, relationship benefits are the most important to us."

The switch back will be effective September 1st, 2005.

Fortune Affiliates continued: "Throughout these recent conversations, it is clear that some affiliates are still concerned about the impact that winners can have on their earnings (ie. within one of our brands). We are therefore developing a new model that will be offered as an option to all existing Affiliates along the following principles:

• Participating Affiliates will be paid 0.6% of their players’ total wagering
• NO COSTS will be deducted e.g. comps or progressive contributions
• NO DOWNSIDE. If your player plays, then you must earn. There will be no such phenomenon as negative earnings

"Note that due to this model still being in the development stages, the above information is a sneak preview only and not absolutely finalized."

The company concluded with an assurance that any changes introduced in the future, would not be applied to existing players without the buy-in of affiliates.

WorldMatch powers new operation, licensed in Malta

The latest online casino arrival is owned by the Italian portal of the lastminute.com group, which has extended its range of lifestyle products and deals with a new online gaming section called Casino Last Minute.com.

This gaming site comes from the studios of turnkey provider WorldMatch, a company that offers the first online gaming system with a regular licence issued by an EU member state: Malta.

Following the success of its English parent company, the Italian portal of the lastminute.com group has signed an agreement with WorldMatch to set up an online gaming section where subscribers have the opportunity to experience an exciting world of entertainment that enables them to take part in promotions to win trips and holidays.

“E-gaming is becoming increasingly popular and Internet is now one of the major sources of leisure fun and entertainment”, says Alexis Bonte, Managing Director of lastminute.com Italy.

Another innovative concept from Dynamite Ideas

The William Hill website has launched Dynamite Idea's latest game titled Quick Bet Triple Hi-Lo.

Triple Hi-Lo is available on licence exclusively from Dynamite Idea and incorporates quick and easy to understand gameplay with an intuitive interface. The game features 3 reels numbered 1-13, giving the player the choice of which reel to play higher or lower on. Its accumulating stake play encourages increased bet placement, which combined with the high in-game win rate leads to numerous repeat plays.

Gross win up 5.5 percent in recent weeks, and online operations doing well

UK gambling group William Hill was enjoying better news this week after weaker returns earlier this year caused profits to fall six per cent. The group, which competes with Ladbrokes for the number 1 bookie position in Britain, said profits before exceptional items fell to GBP 123.9 million in the six months to June 28, from the previous year's GBP132.5 million. However, the group said there were signs of improvement in recent weeks, with gross win up 5.5 percent in the nine weeks to August 30, compared with a 0.3 per cent rise in the first half.

The biggest money-spinner of the last two years - fixed-odds betting terminals - enjoyed a net weekly profit per machine in the latest half rising just GBP 4 year-on-year to GBP 400.

The interactive business grew operating profits from GBP 24.4 million to GBP 31.7 million, helped by the explosive growth of poker, where income rose by 151 percent. Profits from telephone betting virtually halved to GBP 7.8 million, while those from the shops were 9 percent down at GBP 89 million.

The recent purchase of the Stanley high street shops is producing useful revenues, despite Hill having to sell 78 shops to satisfy the regulators.

Analysts are currently forecasting about GBP 200 million in profits for the full year, with the group still highly cash generative, highlighted by a promised GBP 200 to GBP 300 million share buyback.

New poker room has some attractive offers for the Mac frats

Mac online poker players can finally play online poker by using the no download software at MacPokerPlayer.com. And the new poker room will give new players up to $100 as well as entry into its free roll Bellagio qualifier and Shark Cage Tournament.

Mac online players have struggled in the past few years to join the burgeoning online poker arena. Many Mac online poker players have had to purchase expensive virtual PC software, which has delayed many potential players from jumping on board.

MacPokerPlayer.com realised the potential from this untapped market, which represents 4.4 percent of PC users. The non-download software designed specifically for Mac users will target the estimated $486 million marketplace, say the operators of the new site.

Games supplier will give a wider games choice

Orbis, an NDS group company and provider of the OpenBet interactive gambling platform have announced technology teamwork with Ash Gaming, a provider of interactive and betting games.

Ash Gaming, formerly known as Ash Leucker, was established in 2000. The firm specialises in developing innovative, highly profitable games that can be delivered on a variety of digital platforms. With customers such as William Hill, Gala Group and Gamesys the company has firmly established itself both creatively and technically.

The partnership will enable operators to access a greater choice of games content and design, combined with rapid deployment and simple integration allowing operators to react to a quickly changing market.

And Jennifer only started playing a year ago...

Movie actress Jennifer Tilly jumped up from the table after winning the World Poker Tour Ladies Night III tournament at the Bicycle Casino in California this week, saying that her win proved that her victory in the World Series Ladies tournament in July was "no fluke."

The latest win was a stunning achievement for a player who only began playing poker a year ago. The actress is the first woman to hold both of these prestigious titles in women's poker and the victory earned her a seat in the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship next April at Bellagio, and a specially-created pink poker set with the WPT logo and Breast Cancer ribbon.

The WPT and the Bicycle Casino will donate $10,000 to Breast Cancer Research in honor of Tilly and the other competitors at the Final Table.

"Jennifer Tilly embodies the new breed of player on the WPT," says Steve Lipscomb, Founder and CEO of WPT Enterprises, Inc. "Regardless of gender, age, education, or economic background you can become a champion if you work hard to learn the game. We have always said on the WPT, "Anyone can play, anyone can win." When an actress who has only been playing for 12 months can best some of the best players in the game, you witness the democracy of poker."

Tilly began her pilgrimage to poker eminence by first playing in the WPT Hollywood Home Game series. She then played in the WPT Invitational event which annually pits celebrities versus professionals. There she met Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, a top player who would go on to win that event. They began dating several months later, and she took up the game under his tutelage.

The other competitors at he final table this week included defending Ladies Night Champion Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier -- a fiercely competitive French Canadian lawyer-turned- poker pro; Marsha Waggoner, the Grand Dame of Poker with 30 years of experience; Cecelia Reyes Mortensen, up-and-coming pro and wife to WPT champion Juan Carlos Mortensen, and Aidiliy (Lilly) Elviro, an aggressive new player, and one of the WPT Season III's top woman competitors who is coached by her soon-to-be-husband, WPT champion Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.

WPT Ladies Night III will air Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Travel Channel.

Euro 14 million acquisition of Leip Group the start of a retail growth strategy

Betting exchange firm BetBull charged into the European business press this week with its acquisition of German retail bookmaker the Leip Group for around Euro14 million (US$17.5 million), announcing plans to diversify into high-street bookmaking.

“This acquisition is only the start of our continental European retail growth strategy,” Simon Bold, COO of Betbull, said.

The purchase of Leip's estate of 80 shops for Euro 10 million in cash and 700,000 shares is part of a plan to become the “leading Continental European retail betting player" a company spokesman said.

The Leip Group posted a pre-tax profit of Euro 1 million on a turnover of Euro 51.7 million for the year ending December 2004.

Günter Schmid, chief executive of Gibraltar-licensed Betbull, said his firm aims to grow the business organically, but will also seek further acquisitions to grow the scale of the retail operation. The move into retail betting comes on the back of another quarter of low revenues, with just GBP 21,000 generated from the firm's betting exchange operations.

Betbull has launched a German language version of its site, designed to create a fixed-odds betting product for the German horseracing industry.

Bold, who started his betting career in the land-based side of the business, said the move into retail betting was a big step forward for the firm. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Betbull to be part of the retail business in Germany during World Cup year," he said.

CellectivityLimited gets the contract

In the midst of the pessimistic press on the decline of online poker this week following comments by the Party Gaming CEO, the company nevertheless continued with its positive business plan by announcing the launch of mobile gaming at subsidiary Starluck Casino.com

Starluck Casino Mobile allows gamblers to play from their mobile phones, and is just one aspect of PG's announced intentions to smarten up its online casino operations. Mobile technology developer Cellectivity Limited has been inspanned to bring the project to fruition and wireless technology and a Java application will allow gamblers to play European roulette and slot machines, either to gamble or merely for fun.

“PartyGaming is delighted to have taken this first step towards exploiting this exciting new channel for its gaming products,” says Vikrant Bhargava, Marketing Director of PartyGaming and a major shareholder in the business.

“Offering our games through mobile networks provides our customers with the freedom to play their favourite casino games whenever and wherever they want.”

US hackers acted as hitmen for a wealthy businessman

The Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) threat is still very much alive and well in the USA it seems, with news this week that a hacker from Ohio faces prison time after admitting he carried out one of a series of crippling denial-of-service attacks ordered by a wealthy businessman against his competitors.

In a deal with prosecutors, Richard "Krashed" Roby, 20, pleaded guilty in federal court in Toledo to intentionally damaging a protected computer, after launching a 2003 attack on an online satellite TV retailer that caused at least $120,000 in losses.

"There were a lot of big-time people making a lot of money who picked up on him and persuaded him to do this, without a lot in it for him," said Roby's defence attorney. "He's one of these people who are brilliant in one area but absolutely lacking in common sense in others."

Jay Echouafni, the 38-year-old satellite TV entrepreneur who allegedly ordered and funded the cyberhits, remains a fugitive from a Los Angeles federal indictment.

In a related deal, 31-year-old Paul Ashley admitted to recruiting three other computer intruders to carry out Echouafni's orders. He has not yet entered a guilty plea. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Ashley faces 70 to 87 months in prison for his role in the attacks, but the terms of his plea agreement make him eligible for a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony against other defendants.

"If Ashley were to cooperate with the government and, for example, testify against Echouafni, he could get a departure from his sentence," said Los Angeles assistant U.S. attorney James Aquilina, who's prosecuting the case.

Roby faces 18 months to two years in prison under sentencing guidelines.

Until it was shuttered by an FBI raid last year, Ashley ran a company called Foonet from a basement server room in his suburban Ohio home. The enterprise enjoyed a double-edged reputation for providing hosting that could stand up to distributed denial of service, or DDOS, attacks, even as it gave safe harbour to members of the computer underground drawn to the bulletproof service.

"Every script kiddy on IRC had a shell there," says Andrew Kirch, a security administrator for the Abusive Hosts Blocking List. "Spamming, hacking, phishing, DDOS networks -- you want to run scans for a large amount of IP space for prevalent Windows vulnerabilities? Set up there."

In his plea agreement, Ashley admitted he knowingly allowed clients and employees to control networks of compromised Windows machines, or "bots," from Foonet.

That came in handy in October 2003, when Echouafni, a Foonet client, offered Ashley $1,000 to snuff out two websites.

Echouafni, who was CEO of Massachusetts-based Orbit Communication at the time, allegedly claimed that competitors RapidSatellite.com and WeaKnees.com had stolen his content and attacked his online business, which sold satellite TV gear over the web.

Ashley took the money and, according to his plea agreement, recruited three associates to do the dirty work: Jonathan Hall, Lee Walker and Joshua Schichtel, known online as "Rain," "sorCe" and "Emp" respectively.

More business opportunity with Java

Widening its operating platform this week, B2B Poker.com has introduced a new web-based Java capability that opens its offerings up to Mac and Linux as well as Windows PC users.

In a visual media such as the Internet, simplicity and accessibility are two very important factors, opines B2B management. By providing two versions of the poker client, B2B Poker is able to offer both worlds for Mac and PC.

”The most important goal for B2B Poker is to give to our partners and the players in the network, a platform that fulfils their demand for speed, simplicity and accessibility. Our new Java client is a good example of how we achieve that goal”, says Stefan Mahlstein, CEO B2B Poker AB.

Betcare self exclusion facility scheduled for TAB

Zdnet Australia reported a commendable responsible gaming initiative this from Tabcorp this week, which is to launch a self-exclusion service within days that allows gambling addicts to ban themselves from accessing their Internet or phone betting accounts.

The service, called BetCare, is designed to catch the new generation of gamblers that are addicted to Tabcorp's Internet, telephone and self-service betting terminals. It will allow addicts to ban themselves from using their gambling accounts and provide free access to a counsellor from the Wesley Gambling Counselling Service.

Australia has strict laws against online casinos for local players and even bans advertisements for gambling services. However, Tabcorp has been allowed to provide Internet and telephone-based services for sporting events.

Tabcorp's chief executive of wagering, Michael Piggott, said the company only encourages people to bet what they can afford to lose.

Australian betting group adds a new product

The fourth largest betting company listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange, Betcorp Limited launched its new white label partner program this week.

Branded White Label Gaming.com the initiative strengthens Betcorp's presence in the marketplace by adding to an already impressive portfolio of managed gaming properties, which includes online sportsbooks, casinos, poker and skill games.

BetCorp Limited's White Label Program offers companies the opportunity to operate their own e-gaming site using the BetCorp model. Partners will be responsible for managing their own brand development, marketing and player acquisition while outsourcing all other aspects of operations to a trusted partner.

"The company's commitment to growth is continuously being demonstrated through our strategic acquisitions, expanding product offerings and aggressive marketing initiatives," said Colin Walker, CEO of BetCorp Limited. "Our low start-up cost and competitive commission rate is structured to encourage participation in the program, which will ultimately result in a profitable relationship for BetCorp and its partners."

BetCorp's e-gaming solution provides its partners with a wide range of products and services, which include horse racing, a flash and downloadable casinos, multi-player poker, Play-by-Play wagering (live game betting), games of skill, including multi-player Backgammon and Gin Rummy, e-commerce processing, including merchant accounts and player payments/withdrawals and 24x7 customer support.

Poker players from 50 countries enter this year's championship

Poker Stars's 2005 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) enters its fourth consecutive year this week, with entries from poker players across the globe.

The first event of the 2005 WCOOP kicked off with a $500 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament. An all-time record 3,062 players entered the event, making the event the largest major online poker tournament ever. In fact, the staggering number of entries makes the WCOOP one of only two major poker events which has attracted more than 3,000 players. The main event of the 2005 World Series of Poker is the other.

Nolan Dalla, Director of Communications for PokerStars.com said, "I am thrilled with the response to this year's WCOOP. Poker continues to boom and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. This is especially true for online poker. WCOOP gives all players a unique opportunity to compete for a world championship title from any computer in the world. With so many players and so many different tournaments -- this is the Olympic Games of poker."

Until now, the previous record turnout for a major online poker tournament was 1,642 participants, which was set by the same PokerStars event last year. By nearly doubling in size, the total prize pool amounted to a whopping $1,531,000. First prize paid $306,200. In all, 324 players received prize money -- second in number only to the 2005 World Series of Poker.

The 2005 WCOOP will continue to run through September 18. The guaranteed $8 million dollar prize pool offers the single-largest guaranteed prize in online poker history, making the tournament one of the richest sporting events in the world.

Poker fans everywhere can watch the excitement of each final table from their personal computers simply by logging in. PokerStars.com also offers live radio coverage of all final tables at: PokerTalkShow.com . Guest commentators will include former World Series of Poker champions Greg Raymer (2004), Chris Moneymaker (2003), and Tom McEvoy (1983). Other popular guests will join the broadcast during the two week run of the WCOOP.

The WCOOP concludes with the main event on September 18, a No-Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament with a $2,500 entry fee and a guaranteed minimum $2.5 million dollar prize pool.

CAC is the big one for affiliates...

Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. has announced that the Gaming Marketing Conference and Casino Affiliate Convention will be held on September 11-12, 2005 in Las Vegas at the Stardust Resort and Casino.

The sixth Casino Affiliate Convention will cover online casino, poker and sports book marketing and advertising. The event will also have the largest collection of casino, poker and gaming affiliates ever assembled.

Keynote speaker is Tim Rosenberg (CEO of Gambling.com). Also speaking is David Wang (Executive Director, Internet Group at the World Poker Tour) who will discuss poker on television.

Two other notable speakers are the Hon. James M. Kasper (House of Representatives from the State of North Dakota) and Rick Fleischman (Director of Product Marketing & PHP Evangelist from Zend Technologies, Inc). Rep Kasper will discuss poker legislation in the State of North Dakota. Mr. Fleischman will discuss PHP programming.

Other speakers at this event will be executives from companies such as:

- Accoona
- Casino Coins
- Did-it.com
- Email Analyst
- Gambling.com
- Games & Casino
- Hit Wise
- Integrity Casino Guide
- Lucky Pacific
- Mahjong Mania
- PokerMonger.com
- Revshare
- Sevven Consulting
- World Poker Tour
- Zend Technologies, Inc.
- Zunch communications Inc.
- 9AM.com

Each will speak objectively about increasing internet traffic and conversion rates for both online casinos, poker rooms and online sports books.

The event is already sold out of all exhibit space, and bokings indicate that this year CAC will have the largest attendance in its history and is now one of the largest online gaming conferences.

For more information, please visit the website www.CasinoAffiliateConvention.com

Getting with it on the Skill Games frontier

Dave McDowell, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of GameAccount, a prominent skillgames provider and P2P network supplier, will be providing expert opinion to Las Vegas casino executives and luminaries in the interactive gaming market at the first ever skill games conference held in Las Vegas, September 8-9, 2005.

Topics Mr. McDowell will present in his address to the I-Gaming InDepth: Skill Games Conference includes:

Backgammon Case Study: Thursday, September 8th, 11:45am

Conversion Strategies: Friday, September 9th, 10:00 am

The online games market is massive, with current predications that it will reach $3.2 billion by 2006. GameAccount and McDowell have been at the centre of the online games industry for five years and he predicts Skill Games to be the next significant growth area in the burgeoning but increasingly saturated online gaming sector. Skill games provide an integrated network where players can pit their skills against fellow gamers around the world in fast-action games in multi-player format.

Sue Schneider, President and CEO of River City Group says, “Skill Gaming is one of the hottest iGaming topics at the moment so we’ve put together a 2-day conference dedicated to this speciality area. We’ve brought in leading experts to answer and discuss the issues that impact this special niche of the gaming industry.”

I-Gaming InDepth Skill Games conference and will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA September 8 - 9, 2005. The two-day conference will study the specialty area of skill gaming and where they fit in the worlds of iGaming and terrestrial gaming.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

Tournaments planned to raise money for relief agencies

The major US-facing gambling group Bodog.com has announced it will be hosting five daily online benefit poker tournaments for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with all proceeds going to the Red Cross.

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the many victims caught in the devastating path of the hurricane,” says Calvin Ayre, Founder and CEO of Bodog.com. “So many people have been adversely affected by this natural disaster, and our benefit poker tournament is the least we can do to help ease the pain of those who were most affected.”

Hurricane Katrina has left the U.S. Gulf Coast in ruins, with more than a million people sweltering without power, and thousands of people displaced. Eighty percent of New Orleans is reportedly under water, and the death toll continues to climb. According to preliminary assessments, the damage is estimated to be more than $25 billion.

Bodog is applying its experience in hosting benefit poker tournaments to launch the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Tournaments, running daily Sept. 8-12. Bodog will match and donate all of the players’ fees from the five poker tournaments to the Red Cross hurricane relief fund.

The tournaments are the latest charity efforts by the online entertainment powerhouse.

In July, Bodog teamed with the Fisher House foundation to host “Bodog Salutes the Troops: A Tribute to American Heroes”, a two-day charity concert and poker tournament that benefited the men and women of the U.S. military. Earlier in the year, Bodog was the major sponsor of the LA Lakers Youth Foundation’s Second Annual Casíno Night. A handful of film celebrities, poker professionals and Lakers basketball stars were on hand to compete in the charity poker tournament.

More information on the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Poker Tournaments and the opportunity to sign up will be available at http://www.bodog.com/poker/

PokerStars.com tournaments to aid Red Cross

The sheer devastation of this week's Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf states of America has resulted in massive deprivation and suffering among the people of the region, and one of the Internet's largest poker operations, PokerStars.com has launched a fund-raising initiative to try and help the Red Cross deal with the situation.

The site will be running two buy-in tournaments on Monday, Sept. 12th at 9:30 PM Eastern Time ($5+0 NLH) and on Wednesday, Sept. 14th at 9:30 PM Eastern Time ($20+0 NLH)

$.01 of each buyin and rebuy is going to the prize pool, and PokerStars is very charitably 100 percent matching all buyins and sending the money to the American Red Cross.

There'll be cool prizes for the final table finishers and readers can get the detail and follow progress here: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2005/08/pokerstars-to-host-hurricane-katrina.html) or in the special section of the PokerStars tournament lobby.

End of this (September) month a strong possibility

The intense speculation that Cassava Enterprises is to float on the London stock exchange has finally been confirmed by the company this week, with a launch date around end September 2005.

Reuters reports that Cassava Enterprises said it intends to seek a full listing on the London Stock Exchange for its online casino 888.com. The Gibraltar-based company confirmed it had appointed London-based HSBC as sole bookrunner, global co-ordinator and sponsor for the float.

The float could value the Internet casino operator at more than GBP 700 million, say informed sources. Cassava runs several online casinos, including 888.com, Pacific Poker and Reef Club Casino.

The flotation is expected to generate big windfalls for the two Israeli families that control more than 90 percent of the company.

Avi and Aharon Shaked own about 70 percent, while the Ben-Yitzhak family owns about 23 percent. The company has 20 million registered member accounts in more than 150 countries.

John Anderson, the company's chief executive, said on a conference call that the barriers to entry in the growing online gaming industry were getting higher, and that 888 Holdings would work to increase its brand recognition.

"You can't pack a laptop and start a business in one or two years," Anderson said. "The number of players is shrinking, but they are getting bigger," he said.

"Today's announcement marks an important step in our goal to become the market leader in the global online gaming entertainment industry and will enable us to increase further our brand profile, recognition and credibility. If you look at our management team it's been around since the start of this industry. It's very strong, very knowledgeable and it's the longest-standing management team of all," he said.

Just over half of the firm's revenues come from the United States where the legality of online gambling is in question. 888 has over 20 million registered member accounts in over 150 countries playing its games in 11 languages.

The company's current first-half operating profit rose by 30 percent to $25.4 million, compared with $19.7 million for the same period in 2004.

The global Internet gambling market generated $7 billion to $10 billion in revenue in 2004, according to various estimates. About 2,500 Web sites offer poker, bingo, sports betting and online-casino games. The online gambling market could be worth some $24 billion by 2009, according to investment firm Christiansen Capital Associates.

Cassava said the float would provide money for acquisitions, hiring staff and enable a partial exit for shareholders.

London has become the de facto listing centre for Internet gambling companies, partly because Britain welcomes online gaming.

Rapid industry expansion, helped by better broadband access and the convenience of playing at home, has fuelled revenue growth at the companies hosting the Web sites.

This could be a legal handful....

For some months now a war between certain affiliate marketing organisations and the affiliates they use has been waged behind the scenes, but it is about to become a centre-stage confrontation with legal consequences.

The disagreement revolves around the unilateral decision of certain casino affiliate programs to change their contractual arrangements with their affilate marketers, at the expense of those marketers. No-one has a problem with their right to do so going forward, but it is the retroactive nature of the changes that affiliates are opposing as unfair and prejudicial.

A prominent affiliate, Ted Loh of the Got2Bet portal has been fighting a determined battle to get the casinos to recognise the past contributions by affiliates by doing away with the retroactive aspects of the new rules, and this week this respected portal brought the issue beneath the public spotlight with the following statement:

QUOTE:

I reluctantly announce that I can no longer guarantee or provide assistance to any players playing at the Belle Rock and Fortune Lounge casino groups because of their stubborn refusal to modify recently-implemented conditions which unilaterally, unfairly, and in my opinion illegally, affect the income that I earn from players playing at their casinos.

I am taking this action on behalf of the good of the affiliate community at large in order to protect the viability of the online gambling industry in general, as the affiliates are the ones who point you towards safe, honest casinos, assist you when you have an issue with these casinos, and in general work towards the continuing growth of the industry.

Got2Bet will continue to provide you with high-quality casinos which provide great entertainment value, and treat all players, affiliates, and marketers in a fair manner in order to ensure the continued enjoyment and benefit to everyone from honestly-run casinos.

Because I can no longer provide any assistance for these casinos until such time as they recognize the value that affiliates provide to them and ensure them fair value for their efforts, I would like to ask all players to join me in taking their play elsewhere; all affiliates to cease promoting these casinos which will not offer you a fair deal; all marketers to stop accepting media buys from less-than-reputable operations; all industry observers to lend a hand in maintaining the integrity of the industry in general; and all other casino operations to continue to maintain an honest, level playing field for all parties.

The casinos in the Belle Rock Group are: River Belle, The Gaming Club, Lucky Nugget, Jackpot City, Aces High, Showdown, and Home Casinos. The poker operations are: The Gaming Club, River Belle, and Lucky Nugget Poker Rooms.

The casinos in the Fortune Lounge Group are: 7Sultans, Desert Dollar, Platinum Play, Royal Vegas, Fortune Room, Havana Club, Vegas Palms, Vegas Towers, and Vegas Villa Casinos. Additionally, one other operation, Thunderluck, is also marketed and managed by the same group. The poker operations are: 7Sultans and Royal Vegas Poker Rooms.

The reason these operations are not linked is simple - I do not wish to send traffic to any of these operations, good or bad. There are plenty of other reliable operations that will take good care of you.

This is a very sad day as I separate from friends who I have worked with for years - but in the interest of fairness I feel that it is only right to treat business as business, and friendships as friendships. I am not sure why they have allowed these respective situations to get as far as they have, but it is time to correct the wrongs that have been perpetrated against the people they claim are their partners.

Affiliates - or, for that matter, any players or other observers who wish to contribute towards the legal costs please send me an email at webmaster at got2bet.com or else contact me in one of my regular forums where you typically see me every day. I will have an appropriate account set up for this purpose - funds will not be acknowledged publicly as many of you will wish to remain anonymous - and any remaining funds can either be properly apportioned and returned at your request, or else they will be donated to charity, perhaps one of the tsunami relief organizations listed below.

As litigation is now pending assignment, I will no longer make any further comments about any of these operations until such time as litigation has been completed and decided, or these programs should come to a settlement and make amendments to their programs which are acceptable to all sides.

UNQUOTE

The ball is now squarely in the casinos' court. There will either be a sensible rapprochement that suits all parties....or this could turn into a very contested litigative action.

An ingenious new promo from BTD marketers

The marketing team at Be The Dealer, a P2P white label operation owned by CV on Net have come up with an ingenious competition to not only rev up search engine coverage but give webmasters a little competitive fun in the process.

The group says that the rising stars of online marketing are no longer just professionals with post-graduate degrees, but programmers and webmasters with the knowledge and know-how to optimise a site’s ranking on key-word search engines.

It’s with this in mind that BeTheDealer.com has launched its second Search Engine Optimisation contest for the web’s best and brightest *Engine Crackers.*

The $7,000 MSN Search Engine contest format is simple. Webmasters are asked to optimise their sites for the phrase “Online Casino BTDino”, a search that currently yields no results. On February 26th, 2006, the webmasters who successfully crack the top 50 listings for this phrase will share in the $7,000 prize.

The concept clearly works for BTD. Earlier this year, BeTheDealer Casino sponsored the Google Fortuno Winnero Optimisation Contest, in which hundreds of webmasters took part, generating over 132,000 (and counting) results for the phrase “Fortuno Winnero”.

“SEO is one of the most powerful ways to promote products online, “said Shmuel Ephron, CEO of BeTheDealer. “Our hope is to create an exciting and innovative opportunity for those with the ingenuity to operate these powerful tools.”

Leon Brodsky, CTO of BeTheDealer Casino and competition manager concurs. “With Fortuno Winnero, BeTheDealer discovered the internet’s greatest Googler’s. With BTDino, we’ll uncover the world’s best MSNer’s.”

Internet gambling has a new US champion

Developments at the Internet betting group BetUS.com have led to industry support in the USA from a powerful new voice - ex-state governor Jesse Ventura.

The former governor will appear in radio and print ads debuting this week for the site BetUS.com.

In one, Ventura says: "As governor, Jesse Ventura told it like it is, and now I'm telling you that BetUs.com is the only place to bet."

Federal authorities have declared that Internet gambling is illegal in the United States, and Congress has refused to let U.S. casinos offer gambling online and as a consequence BetUS.com is licensed in Canada and Costa Rica.

"I don't know why I'm being attracted to gambling, considering I don't do it myself very often," Ventura told The Associated Press. He added with a chuckle: "Bob Dole had the pills, Viagra. I prefer to endorse gaming. To each his own. ... It's entertainment."

Mike Foreman, BetUs.com's chief marketing officer, said the company chose the former professional wrestler turned politician partly because of his popularity among 25 to 54 year olds, the site's target demographic.

"It's a very powerful statement that a former governor is willing to endorse our company," Foreman said. "For us and an industry that has been often questioned in the press it gives us a certain level of credibility."

Neither Foreman nor Ventura would disclose the financial terms of the one-year deal.

Technology company already has a $40 million market cap

The name Zone4Play.com is well known in the industry's news columns, regularly reporting new technology supply deals with major players in the online gambling business.

Traded on the Wall Street Bulletin Board with a market capitalisation of $40 million, the Israeli firm is now reported to be planning an issue on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London.

Company co-founder, president, and CEO Shimon Citron owns 13.6 percent of the stock, and Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball coach Pinhas (Pini) Gershon owns 11.3 percent. Founded in 2001, the company provides technology and software for interactive gambling and games on wireless networks, television, and Internet sites.

Internet revenues overtake land income

Internet gambling as a viable complementary business for sports betting houses received a ringing endorsement this week with the news that Irish and UK bookmaker Paddy Power had generated most of its current profits away from its high street betting shops for the first time.

The group said its non-retail businesses accounted for 63 percent of operating profits of Euro 17.8 million in the six months to June 30, compared with one-third of the Euro 18.2 million earned last year. The online portion increased by 62.5 percent to a healthy Euro 175.2 million in revenues.

Paddy Power launched online poker operations during the period, enjoying strong growth over summer. The group has 74,000 customers on its online gambling database, with two-thirds in the UK, and operates an online casino as well as telephone betting.

Paddy Power’s Director of Finance, Ross Ivers declared, “We are now reaping the rewards of our strategy of investing upfront in our start-up businesses with our online channel now generating record earnings and set for continued expansion.”

Company spokesmen said that the growth in non-retail businesses helped to shield Paddy Power from the impact of a poor run of results in the big horse races in the first six months of this year when many of the favourites romped home.

Loss into profit in half year to date

Australian Internet gaming group Betcorp is the latest target of rumours speculating that the board may be considering a listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The group delivered a half-year net profit of $2.4 million recently compared to loss of a $2.7 million ($US 2 million) in the prior corresponding period.

Betcorp said the result was comfortably ahead of internal forecasts and reflected a re-positioning strategy undertaken over the past year, but has so far not commented on the reports of a London listing.

Poker champs gearing up for $15 million pro-shootout at The Palms

Johnny Chan, Chris Moneymaker, Ted Forrest, Kathy Leibert, Layne Flack, Barry Greenstein, Men The Master Nguyen, Freddy Deeb, Thor Hansen, Joe Awada, Antonio Esfandiari, Rene Angeli and more of the top names in Poker will be gathering soon for one of the premier events in world poker.

The Labor Day Pro-Shootout at the Palms in Las Vegas takes place over the Labour Day weekend, Sunday, September 4, 2005 at 1:00 p.m. when ten world-class players will come together to compete for one entry into the tournament that boasts the richest first prize in the game.... the $15 million Quest of Champions.

A sponsored seat into the main event is up for grabs, with the main event slated to begin New Year's week at the Palms Casino Resort.

Angelo Halkias, Pokerquest C.O.O., said, "The field of entrants for the Quest is comprised of Titans from the combined worlds of Poker, Hollywood, and Business."

This tournament has the attention of Hollywood stars such as James Woods, Michael Vartan, and Mimi Rogers and world-renowned poker champions. Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Amir Vahedi, Phil Hellmuth, and T.J. Cloutier amongst many others have contracted to play as the remaining open seats are quickly being filled by celebrity players from around the world.

The Quest will feature only 100 players, at ten shoot-out tables. The winner from each table advances to the final table. The ultimate winner will take home $15 million dollars, the highest first-place professional poker payout in the history of the sport.

Self-diagnose your state of mind...and maybe win a little too!

Feeling depressed? Researchers at The University of Manchester in England are testing our genetic disposition to depression with a unique Internet test.

The website www.newmood.co.uk is the place to go to see how vulnerable you are to depression by identifying the emotions on people's faces and taking a gambling test.

The research team aims to recruit more than 1000 UK volunteers for further tests as part of the five-year, EU-funded project titled rather catchily "NewMood - New Molecules in Mood Disorders." They have already discovered how anti-depressants such as Prozac can affect how the brain reacts to fearful faces and which parts of the brain react to fear.

Professor Bill Deakin explains: "Anxiety is a contagious emotion. When you see other people who are anxious, as a primate you feel anxious as well. Our brains are wired to see anxiety - it makes sure we are safe. This is a fascinating test and, during further testing, we will be able to see which parts of the brain light up, or work harder, when you see a fearful face. Depressed people are more likely to see sadness or fear in a neutral face.

"The gambling test, where volunteers choose from pairs of spinners to 'win' money, will show us which parts of the brain light up when you are working for a reward. Depressed people are less affected by reward and more likely to give up easily as the test goes on."

Volunteers for this research study will be asked to fill in a confidential questionnaire and provide a mouth swab for genetic analysis. The team will then compare the DNA with the questionnaire group data.

"Depression is a common trait like height or body build and, just like those, we suspect there are lots of genes involved. By measuring the important possible factors that can lead to a tendency to depression across a large number of individual people, we hope to find which ones act together to cause depression. Ultimately, this will help us to develop new ways of preventing and treating this illness."

Depression is a common illness affecting 10-20% of the population at some time in their life and is twice as common in women as in men. Treatment can be very effective, but may not help everyone. The causes of depression are a mixture of genetic tendency, personality factors, difficult circumstances and life experiences, and the big challenge is trying to understand how these work together to lead to depression.

The University of Manchester is leading 13 institutions in ten countries in the NewMood project. Four institutions are testing humans and each need 1000 volunteers. Those who take part in this study could win GBP 100 in a prize draw.

Experience galore for Card Player magazine

New Zealand site will assist all gamblers to assess their personal risk level

A New Zealand-owned website designed to help gamblers assess their own level of risk was launched this week.

The Gambling Helpline initiative provides a range of online self-assessment tools, including a string of multi-choice questions about gambling habits.

The questionnaire helps gamblers to identify personal vulnerabilities and presents graphs showing how extreme an individual's gambling problem is.

The website also has a questionnaire relating to an individual's level of alcohol consumption and provides an 0800 contact phone number for those it concludes could benefit from assistance.

The site could be valuable to friends or family of those who may have a gambling problem, with assessment tools helping to test well known indicators.

AIM listing likely to raise funds for expansion

Earlier InfoPowa reports that the Australian public company Betcorp was considering a London IPO have been confirmed this week by the company, which has appointed KBC Peel Hunt as adviser.

Betcorp, formerly called Consolidated Gaming Corporation, said that it had decided to investigate a dual listing because London had “...become the leading market for online gaming companies, which have attracted substantial institutional investment”.

The firm has a market capitalisation of less than GBP 20 million and may use an AIM listing to raise funds for expansion. It is expected to float at the end of this year or early next. Analysts believe it could eventually drop its Australian listing altogether.

Betcorp websites offer sports betting, casino and poker, and include BetWWTS.com, BetCasino.com, Cybersportsbook.com and BetBet.com. The companies recently added skill games to their portfolios in a deal with supplier GameAccount.

The group is licensed in Antigua and is currently undergoing a business turnaround led by two British executives: Colin Walker, chief executive and a former director of Ladbrokes, and David Hudd, non-executive chairman who founded Vardon, a quoted UK leisure group.

Satellites to commence early September

Wagerlogic-powered online poker operation Pokerplex.com has announced that it is to sponsor a seat at the upcoming Swedish land poker event, Malmo Open Poker Tournament which is scheduled for September 16-18.

Satellite tournaments to the Malmo Qualifier will span five week days commencing September 5 with the last tournament taking place on the 9th. Subsequently, successful players will take part in the Malmo Qualifier on September 11 to secure their seat at the Open Poker Tournament in Malmo.

Full details are on the Poker Plex site.

Veteran online casino site takes Best Progressives and Best Jackpots awards

Belle Rock Gaming's lead online casino, River Belle.com has won two top industry awards – ‘Best Jackpots’ and ‘Best Progressive Slots Site’ in the 2005 Best of Online Slots Awards, as voted for by the readers of Strictly Slots Magazine.

River Belle was also the runner up in the ‘Best Video Poker Site’, and gained third place in both the ‘Best Slots Tournaments’ and ‘Most Unique Slot’ site categories.

Another Belle Rock Gaming brand, Jackpot City, cruised to second place in ‘Best Jackpots’.

Strictly Slots is a popular US monthly gaming title, and the announcement of the winners of the 2005 Awards will be published in the October issue

Green Tie Poker.com launched in July this year and is already attracting positive comments from the player community. Created by players, for players GreenTie is unapologetically male oriented and boasts that it gives men what they want : "....the green, the girls, the glory!" The theme has the look and feel of a men's magazine, augmented by unusual features like Fantasy Tournaments (with prizes like "Beer for a Year" and "Sporting Event Tickets), Virtual Poker Games (a video game, with a virtual Green Tie Girl, built into the site) and a VIP Consierge Service.

GreenTiePoker.com has joined the Excapsa Poker Network, which includes serious sites such as UltimateBet.com and UltimatePoker.com. With a combined customer base of over a million players, the Excapsa network allows players to interact with an international membership.

Once a rogue, always a ....?

Playtech-powered online casinos Indio Casino.com and African Palace Casino.com belong to the First Grand Gaming company licensed in the Netherlands Antilles. Prior to changing to the Playtech platform these operations used Futurebet software...and were the subject of numerous player complaints. Unfortunately, the questionable behaviour of the management would seem to have remained unchanged, judging by player reports recently of non-payment and non-existent communications. As one of the main player advocate portals in the business said whilst consigning the operations to its Rogue List this week, "Too many complaints - not enough responses."

The full details can be found here: http://www.casinomeister.com/rogue/africanpalace-indiocasino.html

Joyland crisis continues...

The management at Joyland.com, a Playtech online casino in the Club Dice (Crown Solutions) group continued to bungle the raging dispute over its actions in disqualifiying winnings from legitimate players recently. (see earlier InfoPowa reports)

Long story short, the casino launched a badly thought-out VIP comp point offer which players took up over a period of more than a week. Realising their error, Joyland staff then adjusted the calculation but it remained an attractive proposition and players continued to accept the offer.

Once the magnitude of the screw-up in financial terms (believed to be in the region of $160 000) became obvious, the casino accused (and abused) players for taking advantage of their error and disqualified winnings and comp points earned, seeking to dig itself out by returning deposits only. The crisis deepened when communications channels proved inefficient and allegations of transaction log tampering were made.

The resulting row and complaints by outraged players has spread to prominent message boards and triggered threats of complaints to the licensing jurisdiction, and the intervention of player advocates.

As we went to press, the Joyland posture was showing some signs of softening, a welcome turnabout from the initially obdurate approach and the apparent attitude that players are responsible for what was clearly a casino error.

Lost in translation?

The much criticised online gambling group Gambling Federation was back under the spotlight this week following some allegedly dicky bonus disqualification claims that revolved around whether or not Video Poker was an excluded game for wagerthru' in the T&Cs at Video Poker Classic.com.

A Danish player complained that the Danish T&C, which we reproduce below and which he used as his basis for playing, did not include the game of video poker, thus:

Quote:
Indsatser placeret på roulette, baccarat, craps og sic bo tæller ikke med i wagerkravet. For hver $1 satset på blackjack og pai gow tæller $0.50 med i wagerkravet. Unquote

Unfortunately for the player, the English version did include it, and GFED hammered him those grounds:

Quote:
Bets placed on Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Video Poker, Craps and Sic bo do not count towards the wager requirement. $1 wagered on Pai Gow counts as $0.50 towards the wager requirement

The ommission was possibly an error in translation, but it could have been an expensive one, given the perhaps harsh reputation that Danish players have for being sharp advantage players.

GFED offers a range of language versions on their casinos, and non-English speaking players would be well advised to carefully check that there are not similar discrepancies in their language, as it would appear the casino applies the English T&Cs regardless.

Pokerzone looks for spectators for its new chat show

British gambling medium Pokerzone, the poker and casino life style channel on SKY Channel 226 is looking for a studio audience for a new gambling chat show titled Heads Up with presenter Richard Herring.

The channel is putting together an audience of poker enthusiasts for the new chat show which will be filmed at The Whiteleys Centre in Bayswater, London from mid September and will be aired from Sunday 6th November 2005.

Fusing comedy and poker chat, Richard will be interviewing three celebrity guests per show. Guests will range from poker legends to celebrities such as James Hewitt, John McCririck, Andy Black, Michael Greco, Fiona Foster and Phil Taylor.

All the interviews will have a comedy edge as the guests recount their own experiences and Richard joins in with his own distinctive humour. But the conversation will not be exclusively limited to poker talk as guests are invited to also discuss their lives away from the green baize.

Since the channels launch in May, pokerzone has experienced rapid growth, with weekly figures reaching well over 250,000 viewers.

British readers interested in being part of the audience can register online at www.pokerzone.tv.

If the authorities allow it, this could be a significant market

Poker News published an interesting study of the Chinese potential for poker this week, saying that it is the next logical step for the poker industry. Despite cultural differences, the game is set to take the country by storm as long as it doesn't offend the government.

Apparently a high tech holding company named Dragon Ventures is one of first groups to enter the untapped Chinese poker market with a prospectus that says it acts as an incubator of high-tech companies in the country, offering support in critical functions such as general business consulting, the formation of joint ventures, access to capital, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, and revenue growth rates.

The company has announced a letter of intent to acquire the exclusive marketing rights for Cardroom.net, giving it advertising rights throughout China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan and a big pay-out if the game takes off in China. It will receive a 40 percent commission on all revenues net of expenses, chargebacks and other miscellaneous transaction fees on all referrals generated by the company.

According to Dragon Venture's CEO Lawrence Wang, there is a lot of attention surrounding the new market and profit possibilities. "We are extremely excited about marketing rights for CardRoom.net. As the popularity of poker explodes in the U.S. and Europe, we believe that the popularity of poker will be gaining traction in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the very near future," Wang said in a recent press release.

"We are formulating our marketing strategy with marketing professionals in the gaming industry in China. The economic profits for us could be tremendous for years to come, considering the rapid growth of the online gaming industry in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan."

Forthcoming attractions from major players in the business

Tournaments continue to capture the imagination and support of poker players, and some of the major firms in the business have announced their forthcoming attractions this week.

World Poker Tour announced it will be hosting the second annual Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship from October 18-21 at this year's Festa al Lago IV being held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

It's a $10,000 buy-in event that pulled in 312 players in its inaugural year in 2004, which was won by Carlos Mortensen who took the million dollar prize. This year's event is expected to be fiercely contested with a field of some 500 players.

Elsewhere, Harrah's has announced November 6 as the start date of the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, a $2 million freeroll event, with final table action on November 8. The venue will be Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas

This year's Tournament of Champions will differ from last year's "winner take all" invitational event, which was won by Annie Duke. Players earned points from the start of the WSOP Circuit events from the start of 2005 at Atlantic City. Each stop of the Circuit handed out points to its finishers, and points were awarded as well during the entirety of the World Series.

Only the top 100 players who collected points will be back, attempting to divide up the two million this year among the nine players who make the final table ($1 million will go to the winner).

Online subsidiary of Irish bookie to host satellites

PokerEvents, founders of the inaugural Irish Poker Tour, has joined forces with Boylepoker.com to create the first-ever large-payout tournament Ireland, branded Irish Poker Championship.

The contest consists of a series of nationwide events, and to qualify for the series, players will compete in weekly satellites that feed into regional super satellites. Top players from the super satellites will qualify for the national final, appropriately named All Ireland Poker Finals, which will take place in Dublin in January 2006.

The final event has a Euro 1,000 buy-in with an Ireland tournament record Euro 500,000 prize pool. "This will be one of the biggest poker tournaments ever staged in Europe," a spokesman for the event said, claiming that the big payout and size of the three-day final event would attract top players like Marcel Luske, the Hendon Mob, Gus Hansen, and other European poker aces.

The tournament has a capacity of 500 players and will probably be broadcast live on television.

Supporting events will include Euro 500 and Euro 250 buy-ins that will have payouts of Euro 100,000 and Euro 75,000 respectively. In addition to playing in the live events, players can qualify online at Boylepoker.com, a new online poker site from Boylesports that is a member of the Prima Poker Network.

Pro player teaching in FullTilt's latest venture

FullTilt Poker.net has launched a new venture designed to improve player understanding and enjoyment of the Texas Hold 'Em game.

The new half hour TV show promises to entertain and demystify the winning strategies of Texas Hold'Em and premiers on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 8:30 pm local, with new episodes airing every Sunday at 4:30 pm and repeats on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm.

Titles "FullTiltPoker.Net Presents: Learn From The Pros," the show is to be hosted by Best Damn Sports Show Period's Chris Rose and poker pro Howard Lederer.

The 30-minute, 26-week series explains the nuances of the most popular game on television, and as the series progresses, the pros offer more sophisticated lessons and offer up some of the tricks of the trade for winning big pots.

Throughout the series, members of Team Full Tilt, the respected poker champions behind FullTiltPoker.Net join Rose and Lederer to offer tips and strategy lessons.

"The time is right for an entertaining show about poker that is also truly educational," said Lederer, who has won two WSOP bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles as well as many other tournaments."

The pros take part in roundtable discussions on various poker topics, providing them a rare opportunity to share some of the "inside" stories that have made them legends in the game. The show also offers an interactive component as it provides viewers the chance to email their questions about how to play a hand, or what they should have done in a particular situation and the pros will answer in detail.

Ancient game continues to grow in modern popularity

The ancient Persian game of backgammon has been achieving considerable online popularity recently, and this week received a further boost with the announcement that UKBetting has signed up to be the main sponsor of the upcoming Backgammon Million tournament.

The company plans an online campaign and will help produce TV coverage of the event, which is believed to be the richest backgammon tournament in history. The event is also likely to be broadcast on Sportal, the sports content portal owned by ukbetting, which has relaunched as a live sports TV channel.

Increased focus on the Japanese online gambling market from Carmen Media

Carmen Media Group, the Gibraltar-based casino giant, has clearly locked on to the exciting possibilities of the Japanese online gaming sector in announcing an increased focus on Japan and the launch of Japanese telephone support.

Carmen launched a Japanese language site last year, but has recently upgraded its activities in the region.

Carmen Media’s corporate website has also recently been translated into Japanese, and InfoPowa is informed that the Gibraltar-based Internet gambling group recently sent members of staff to Japan to research marketing opportunities in the region.

Tim Johnson, chief executive of Carmen, is on record as saying that Asia is a key focus area for the company.

“While our key market continues to be the US, we have seen increased emphasis on new market development,” Johnson said. “The Gaming Club Japan is the first fully translated and tailored Microgaming online casino, with more than 120 fully adapted games specifically targeted at the Japanese market.”

The company currently offers email support to its Japanese customers, and plans to launch telephone help lines later this year.

The Odds Squad will have wide appeal

The dominant brand in the Sportingbet gambling group, Sportsbook, has announced the launch of a new U.S. TV show to support its new play-for-free website, designed to circumvent American online gambling reestrictions on advertising.

The show, titled The Odds Squad will be broadcast on US TV network CNBC on Saturday mornings, and will comprise four betting experts who will analyse the week’s upcoming sports match-ups.

The show is produced in association with sportsbook.tv and the website will feature heavily during the show.

Its launch will be backed by a print advertising campaign for the show in the US.

The show is expected to be the first in a series of promotions for the new sportsbook.tv play-for-free site.

Sportsbook.tv is the company’s play-for-free website, which includes sports information, betting tips and advice on casino gaming.

Barely a week after denying it, Expekt changes poker networks

Barely a week after denying that it intended to do so, the Scandinavian sportsbook Expekt has officially signed a deal to join the Tain poker network, departing Prima Poker.

Expekt is positioned to become the largest member of the Tain network, which currently includes Scandinavian sportsbooks pointbet and Scandic Bookmakers.

Erik Ahlberg, chief executive of Tain, said it was a “very exciting” development for his company. “Expekt.com is the market leader in Scandinavia and one of the biggest players in Europe,” he said.

Tain has provided sportsbook software for Expekt since it was launched in 1999 and casino software from when it was launched in 2003.

“We feel that it is only natural to get maximum synergies by moving all our key products to the same provider,” Per-Ivan Selinder, CEO of Expekt.com, said.

Expekt.com will switch to Tain Poker on the 23rd of October, 2005.

Thinking of listing?

With the heavy IPO activity grabbing everyone's attention recently it's not surprising that River City Group should put together an informative conference on the subject, and in collaboration with the New York Society of Security Analysts that's exactly what they have done.

I-Gaming Public Offerings will take place September 27, 2005 from 8:00 am - 5:45 pm at The Harvard Club in New York City.

Readers interested in i-gaming stocks can learn how and why investors have made the leap into investing in I-Gaming, and use the opportunity to network with industry execs at the post-conference reception.

Presenting companies include:

Betonsports Plc. (LSE: BSS.L)
FUN Technologies Plc. (LSE: FUN.L)
Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment, Inc. (TSX Venture: LVH; OTCBB: LVFHF)
Sportingbet Plc. (LSE: SBT.L)
Trident Gaming Plc. (Private)

To register online visit: www.nyssa.org

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa