All Bets Are Off For NFL’s London Debut
In a move that further highlights the National Football League’s vehement and influential opposition to gambling, organisers of Sunday evening’s game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants consented to the NFL’s request that all Betfred’s betting facilities inside Wembley Stadium were closed for the event.
Ruling Party Votes To End Swedish Gambling Monopoly
Moderate Party members voted at their congress last weekend in favour of a proposal to liberalise the country’s gambling market but the Swedish Government still advocates taking a more cautious approach towards regulation.
October 31, 2007
October 30, 2007
Clement 'asked to throw a match'
Former top 10 tennis player Arnaud Clement said today that he had been offered money to throw a match.
"It happened to me but I will not tell you where or how," Clement, the 2001 Australian Open runner up, said after his first-round defeat by Mikhail Youzhny at the BNP Paribas Masters Paris.
"I didn't hesitate for a second, I said no.
"It may be different for a guy who's not that high up in the rankings and who has financial problems.
"It's very serious.
"I can't imagine that a top 10 player could accept that, but it's hard to imagine as well that guys go to tournaments to make such offers.
"I haven't heard many players say it happened to them."
Clement, who is now ranked No.53 in the world, believes he is unlikely to be approached again, but he believes that authorities have to hit hard to stamp out corruption.
"They should throw (the perpetrators) off the circuit," he said.
"It's a really preoccupying situation.
"It can happen to eveyone to get fed up with (playing) a match. But I've already seen matches where players have thrown good points away."
The threat of possible match-fixing was being taken very seriously at the Paris tournament, French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Christian Bimes said earlier today.
"We consider this a serious problem," Bimes said.
"It is a dreadful disease which is a threat for tennis worldwide.
"We have to act straight away and be as severe with this as we are with doping."
Bimes said that information on the volume of betting involved in the game was being collected through the professional players association (ATP) and the European lotteries network.
The French national betting operator, Francais des Jeux, will monitor betting activity during the Paris Masters tournament.
FDJ will monitor the betting patterns on four national lottery companies from Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia and Switzerland, and it will inform FFT should irregular betting patterns be discovered.
The move follows irregular betting on a match in which world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko lost to unheralded Martin Vassallo Arguello at Sopot in August, despite Davydenko taking the first set.
Davydenko, who strenuously denies any wrong-doing, came under the spotlight again early last week when he was fined $US2000 for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat to Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at St Petersburg.
Bimes said all matches were being recorded at the Masters, where Davydenko is the defending champion, and information would be provided to police when match and betting analyses indicate suspect performances.
"(Police) are the only ones who can undertake certain types of investigation," he said.
The measures will be evaluated at the end of the Paris Masters before being implemented at the French Open at Roland-Garros next year.
"We aren't naive enough to think that we are going to fix this problem by waving a magic wand," FFT director Jean-Francois Vilotte said.
"But in any case, we want it clearly understood that betting on (Paris Masters) matches on banned sites is from now on a risky activity."
The ATP is also cracking down on possible match-fixing, with president Etienne De Villiers vowing the possibility of a life ban for any person found guilty of involvement in match-fixing.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22671615-23216,00.html
"It happened to me but I will not tell you where or how," Clement, the 2001 Australian Open runner up, said after his first-round defeat by Mikhail Youzhny at the BNP Paribas Masters Paris.
"I didn't hesitate for a second, I said no.
"It may be different for a guy who's not that high up in the rankings and who has financial problems.
"It's very serious.
"I can't imagine that a top 10 player could accept that, but it's hard to imagine as well that guys go to tournaments to make such offers.
"I haven't heard many players say it happened to them."
Clement, who is now ranked No.53 in the world, believes he is unlikely to be approached again, but he believes that authorities have to hit hard to stamp out corruption.
"They should throw (the perpetrators) off the circuit," he said.
"It's a really preoccupying situation.
"It can happen to eveyone to get fed up with (playing) a match. But I've already seen matches where players have thrown good points away."
The threat of possible match-fixing was being taken very seriously at the Paris tournament, French Tennis Federation (FFT) president Christian Bimes said earlier today.
"We consider this a serious problem," Bimes said.
"It is a dreadful disease which is a threat for tennis worldwide.
"We have to act straight away and be as severe with this as we are with doping."
Bimes said that information on the volume of betting involved in the game was being collected through the professional players association (ATP) and the European lotteries network.
The French national betting operator, Francais des Jeux, will monitor betting activity during the Paris Masters tournament.
FDJ will monitor the betting patterns on four national lottery companies from Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia and Switzerland, and it will inform FFT should irregular betting patterns be discovered.
The move follows irregular betting on a match in which world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko lost to unheralded Martin Vassallo Arguello at Sopot in August, despite Davydenko taking the first set.
Davydenko, who strenuously denies any wrong-doing, came under the spotlight again early last week when he was fined $US2000 for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat to Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at St Petersburg.
Bimes said all matches were being recorded at the Masters, where Davydenko is the defending champion, and information would be provided to police when match and betting analyses indicate suspect performances.
"(Police) are the only ones who can undertake certain types of investigation," he said.
The measures will be evaluated at the end of the Paris Masters before being implemented at the French Open at Roland-Garros next year.
"We aren't naive enough to think that we are going to fix this problem by waving a magic wand," FFT director Jean-Francois Vilotte said.
"But in any case, we want it clearly understood that betting on (Paris Masters) matches on banned sites is from now on a risky activity."
The ATP is also cracking down on possible match-fixing, with president Etienne De Villiers vowing the possibility of a life ban for any person found guilty of involvement in match-fixing.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22671615-23216,00.html
32Red sells Bet Direct to Stan James
32Red has sold its Bet Direct sportsbook to Stan James for £5.75m, as revealed by eGaming Review at the end of September.
The news came with the publicaiton of the firm’s results for the first half of the year which showed total revenues increasing of 47.2% to £9.2m. However, casino revenues were almost static and poker revenues fell nearly 4% over the period.
32Red bought Bet Direct in June 2006 from Sportech for £12.5m. The company said it will use proceeds from the sale to increase the profile of its casino, poker and sportsbetting products and expansion into new territories. Bookmakers Stan James and Boylesports were reportedly in the running to buy Bet Direct, but Boylesports chief executive Daniel O’Mahoney counted his company out of the race late last week.
In its statement, 32Red said that further to a strategic review of both brands and a review of the potential business development opportunities for the company, it had accepted the offer of £5.75m for the intellectual property and “certain assets” of the Betdirect business. Chief executive Ed Ware said: “The sale of the Bet Direct brand allows us to channel our marketing and management focus on the core 32Red brand.”
Ware added that mobile gaming services and an integrated bingo offering will be added to the product range in the final quarter of this year.
32Red reported casino revenues of £4.6m for the six month period to the end of June, a 1.7% increase on the same period in 2006, and a drop in poker revenues of 3.8% over the six month period in 2007, compared to revenues of £0.6m in 2006.
The number of active customers grew to 75,911, compared with 44,539 in 2006.
Chief executive Ed Ware said: “Whilst the recent UK legislative changes effective from 1 September 2007 allow greater access to the UK market, we have identified a number of new territories into which we intend to market the 32Red brand.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2226&d=pg_dtl_art_news&h=0&f=0
The news came with the publicaiton of the firm’s results for the first half of the year which showed total revenues increasing of 47.2% to £9.2m. However, casino revenues were almost static and poker revenues fell nearly 4% over the period.
32Red bought Bet Direct in June 2006 from Sportech for £12.5m. The company said it will use proceeds from the sale to increase the profile of its casino, poker and sportsbetting products and expansion into new territories. Bookmakers Stan James and Boylesports were reportedly in the running to buy Bet Direct, but Boylesports chief executive Daniel O’Mahoney counted his company out of the race late last week.
In its statement, 32Red said that further to a strategic review of both brands and a review of the potential business development opportunities for the company, it had accepted the offer of £5.75m for the intellectual property and “certain assets” of the Betdirect business. Chief executive Ed Ware said: “The sale of the Bet Direct brand allows us to channel our marketing and management focus on the core 32Red brand.”
Ware added that mobile gaming services and an integrated bingo offering will be added to the product range in the final quarter of this year.
32Red reported casino revenues of £4.6m for the six month period to the end of June, a 1.7% increase on the same period in 2006, and a drop in poker revenues of 3.8% over the six month period in 2007, compared to revenues of £0.6m in 2006.
The number of active customers grew to 75,911, compared with 44,539 in 2006.
Chief executive Ed Ware said: “Whilst the recent UK legislative changes effective from 1 September 2007 allow greater access to the UK market, we have identified a number of new territories into which we intend to market the 32Red brand.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2226&d=pg_dtl_art_news&h=0&f=0
UIGEA rules ‘burdensome’
The proposed rules for enforcement of the UIGEA have been labelled as “burdensome” and “unprecedented in scope” in a legislative and public policy advisory document released by law firm Alston and Bird.
In a detailed analysis of payments methods and the impact of the draft regulations on each, the paper says: “The proposed regulation may also raise concerns about regulatory burden due to the impact of implementation costs on US-based participants in the payments system that are not applicable to similarly situated foreign firms.”
The UIGEA’s coverage of all forms of cards, including debit cards, stored-value cards and pre-paid cards as well as credit cards without any exemption for gift cards is also highlighted. As is the likelihood that foreign bank accounts provide an effective and non-legislated route for payments to be processed for US gamblers.
Responding to the paper, spokesman for Washington-based lobbying group the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Jeffrey Sandman said that the challenge US financial service firms face is that enforcement of UIGEA will be very difficult. He said: “The proposed rules create an unprecedented and unwieldly regulatory burden on the US financial services sector…companies are being left to interpret ambiguous state and federal gambling laws which do not clearly differentiate between legal and illegal internet gambling activities and transactions.”
Alston and Bird, in the concluding part of the document state that the proposed regulation does not mention the fact that many foreign banks are located in jurisdictions where internet gambling is a legal activity, and thus there is no prohibition of the foreign bank accepting transactions involving internet gambling operations of what might be considered a restricted transaction in the US.
It says: “additionally, the proposed regulation does not address the attempt to impose US law on those foreign banks by including contract language that requires the foreign banks to not accept transactions that are unlawful in the US.”
In a detailed analysis of payments methods and the impact of the draft regulations on each, the paper says: “The proposed regulation may also raise concerns about regulatory burden due to the impact of implementation costs on US-based participants in the payments system that are not applicable to similarly situated foreign firms.”
The UIGEA’s coverage of all forms of cards, including debit cards, stored-value cards and pre-paid cards as well as credit cards without any exemption for gift cards is also highlighted. As is the likelihood that foreign bank accounts provide an effective and non-legislated route for payments to be processed for US gamblers.
Responding to the paper, spokesman for Washington-based lobbying group the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, Jeffrey Sandman said that the challenge US financial service firms face is that enforcement of UIGEA will be very difficult. He said: “The proposed rules create an unprecedented and unwieldly regulatory burden on the US financial services sector…companies are being left to interpret ambiguous state and federal gambling laws which do not clearly differentiate between legal and illegal internet gambling activities and transactions.”
Alston and Bird, in the concluding part of the document state that the proposed regulation does not mention the fact that many foreign banks are located in jurisdictions where internet gambling is a legal activity, and thus there is no prohibition of the foreign bank accepting transactions involving internet gambling operations of what might be considered a restricted transaction in the US.
It says: “additionally, the proposed regulation does not address the attempt to impose US law on those foreign banks by including contract language that requires the foreign banks to not accept transactions that are unlawful in the US.”
October 26, 2007
Garber upbeat as Party goes for full on offering
Mitch Garber, PartyGaming chief executive, praised the operational changes the company had driven since the company’s US exit and the fact that the group had addressed its structural weaknesses, as it revealed rising revenues in its third-quarter key performance indicators yesterday.
“In the space of a year, we have gone from being an English-only operator to providing our products in 12 different languages and three currencies,” Garber said. “Our casino has performed particularly strongly and the product has improved dramatically through our acquisitions of Empire Online and Intercontinental Online.”
One of the landmark dates for Party will be 1 January 2008, when Germany publishes its State Lottery Treaty outlining the regulation of gambling services. Germany is Party’s second biggest market after the UK representing around 19% of revenues. Garber said: “The momentum is clearly going the way EU law says it should be going. It is hard to imagine Germany discriminating against EU-licensed operators and the European Commission has shown it is willing to take action against governments that do. Therefore we are looking at Germany in that European context and it would be very surprising if they took an aggressive position. If that happened you would see us oppose it more aggressively than you have seen us oppose any similar positions from governments, where frankly there has been less of a financial incentive to take the lead in opposition.”
Garber said Party had no current plans for further acquisitions and could not foresee further partnerships such as the one Party has with UK broadcaster ITV. The group did not have “that many weaknesses left” in it, as it has acquired or developed the main product lines it needed to be a fully diversified online gaming operator. “We have a lot of work and growth ahead of us now that we are established as a multi-lingual, multi-currency operator with our own casino and bingo software and our own sportsbook. Growth in the non-poker areas of the business is now a key focus for everyone at PartyGaming.”
A new UK advertising campaign for Party’s sportsbook will be launched in the near future. However, Garber said there were many other markets Party was targeting and the UK was already the most competitive betting market in the world. Party would not be spending “a disproportionate amount of its marketing budget on the UK”, he added.With regards to its dealings with the US Department of Justice, Garber said Party was aware it would probably have to pay a fine but they were talking “months and not years” in terms of coming to an agreement with the US authorities.
The poker liquidity issues Party suffered after the US exit had been addressed throughout the first and second quarters of the year during which time marketing and affiliate-related distribution costs had risen significantly. They had now been brought into line to between 43% and 45% of the company’s revenues and the company was now focusing on attracting back the high rollers it lost after the US internet gaming ban.
Party revealed a 24% annual increase in group revenue to US$116m (£56m), compared with US$93.3m in 2006, and a 5% rise on the previous quarter. Poker revenue fell 3% to US$74.8m, compared with US$76.9m in 2006, but was up 3% on the second quarter. Casino revenues were up 158% to US$36.7m, compared with US$14.2m in 2006. Sports-betting income rose 91% to US$4.2m, compared with US$2.2m last year and 100% up on the previous quarter.
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2219/23/5/3
“In the space of a year, we have gone from being an English-only operator to providing our products in 12 different languages and three currencies,” Garber said. “Our casino has performed particularly strongly and the product has improved dramatically through our acquisitions of Empire Online and Intercontinental Online.”
One of the landmark dates for Party will be 1 January 2008, when Germany publishes its State Lottery Treaty outlining the regulation of gambling services. Germany is Party’s second biggest market after the UK representing around 19% of revenues. Garber said: “The momentum is clearly going the way EU law says it should be going. It is hard to imagine Germany discriminating against EU-licensed operators and the European Commission has shown it is willing to take action against governments that do. Therefore we are looking at Germany in that European context and it would be very surprising if they took an aggressive position. If that happened you would see us oppose it more aggressively than you have seen us oppose any similar positions from governments, where frankly there has been less of a financial incentive to take the lead in opposition.”
Garber said Party had no current plans for further acquisitions and could not foresee further partnerships such as the one Party has with UK broadcaster ITV. The group did not have “that many weaknesses left” in it, as it has acquired or developed the main product lines it needed to be a fully diversified online gaming operator. “We have a lot of work and growth ahead of us now that we are established as a multi-lingual, multi-currency operator with our own casino and bingo software and our own sportsbook. Growth in the non-poker areas of the business is now a key focus for everyone at PartyGaming.”
A new UK advertising campaign for Party’s sportsbook will be launched in the near future. However, Garber said there were many other markets Party was targeting and the UK was already the most competitive betting market in the world. Party would not be spending “a disproportionate amount of its marketing budget on the UK”, he added.With regards to its dealings with the US Department of Justice, Garber said Party was aware it would probably have to pay a fine but they were talking “months and not years” in terms of coming to an agreement with the US authorities.
The poker liquidity issues Party suffered after the US exit had been addressed throughout the first and second quarters of the year during which time marketing and affiliate-related distribution costs had risen significantly. They had now been brought into line to between 43% and 45% of the company’s revenues and the company was now focusing on attracting back the high rollers it lost after the US internet gaming ban.
Party revealed a 24% annual increase in group revenue to US$116m (£56m), compared with US$93.3m in 2006, and a 5% rise on the previous quarter. Poker revenue fell 3% to US$74.8m, compared with US$76.9m in 2006, but was up 3% on the second quarter. Casino revenues were up 158% to US$36.7m, compared with US$14.2m in 2006. Sports-betting income rose 91% to US$4.2m, compared with US$2.2m last year and 100% up on the previous quarter.
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2219/23/5/3
Boylesports: 'We will not be buying Bet Direct'
Boylesports has counted itself out of the running to acquire 32Red’s sports-betting operation Bet Direct, according to the chief executive.
Speaking on the publication of his company results for the year, boss Daniel O’Mahoney said: “We will not be buying Bet Direct”.
The news leaves Stan James as the leading contender to snap up the online bookmaker which has been up for sale for over a month.
O’Mahoney said his company would concentrate on re-investing in his own business. “We are delighted,” he said. “These results put us in an excellent position.”
In the year to the end of June, Boylesports saw turnover increase 25% to E629m while operating profit rose to E15.6m from E12m the year previously. Boylesports operates an online and telephone betting operation along with a retail operation in its native Ireland.
The company said that a “string of favourable results” had a positive impact on profit, in particular at the Cheltenham and Aintree horse-racing festivals.
O’Mahoney hailed the company sponsorships at English premier League club Sunderland and at Cheltenham as having helped boost the company profile in its target market of the UK.
“We get good exposure from them both,” he said. The UK now accounts for over 50% of Boylesports’ UK client base.
“The UK is obviously very competitive, and you need a quality product,” he added. “But even a small percentage of the UK market can still be significant.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2218
Speaking on the publication of his company results for the year, boss Daniel O’Mahoney said: “We will not be buying Bet Direct”.
The news leaves Stan James as the leading contender to snap up the online bookmaker which has been up for sale for over a month.
O’Mahoney said his company would concentrate on re-investing in his own business. “We are delighted,” he said. “These results put us in an excellent position.”
In the year to the end of June, Boylesports saw turnover increase 25% to E629m while operating profit rose to E15.6m from E12m the year previously. Boylesports operates an online and telephone betting operation along with a retail operation in its native Ireland.
The company said that a “string of favourable results” had a positive impact on profit, in particular at the Cheltenham and Aintree horse-racing festivals.
O’Mahoney hailed the company sponsorships at English premier League club Sunderland and at Cheltenham as having helped boost the company profile in its target market of the UK.
“We get good exposure from them both,” he said. The UK now accounts for over 50% of Boylesports’ UK client base.
“The UK is obviously very competitive, and you need a quality product,” he added. “But even a small percentage of the UK market can still be significant.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2218
October 25, 2007
Poker stars push Congress to ease Internet gambling strictures
About 100 members from the nonprofit Poker Players Alliance -- including poker stars Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso -- were in Washington this week to raise the stakes and push legislative proposals that would ease federal restrictions on Internet poker.
At issue is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that bars the transfer of funds between financial institutions and Internet gambling sites, with the exception of "fantasy" sports, Internet lotteries and horse racing. Poker players want in on the action under an exception for their sport.
Two bills in the House seek to provide that.
One, proposed by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would essentially revamp last year's measure. The other, called the Skill Game Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., would establish poker, bridge, mah-jong, chess and backgammon as games of skill. It would grant those games the same exemption that existing law gives online horse racing, fantasy sports and Internet lotteries.
"I think poker is a sport. It's people having a good time. It's a skill game," said 24-year-old Rousso, who stunned the poker world last year by placing seventh at the World Poker Tour Championship in Las Vegas.
"I studied game theory at Duke University (as an undergrad) and specialized in it. There is a uniquely mathematical optimal move to every single decision that you make in a game of poker. It's much more akin to chess. The only thing it has in common with the other more traditional forms of gambling is the fact that it is housed in a casino," she said.
Rousso ended 2006 as the top earning female in the U.S. circuit and has banked $1.6 million in her two years of professional play. A full-time law student at the University of Miami, Rousso said Internet gambling opportunities are important, especially for women, which is why she was in Washington Wednesday lobbying for change.
"Being a woman, playing on the Internet was a great way for me to become comfortable playing the game before having to sit down with a bunch of older guys in the intimidating atmosphere of a real casino. I play about 10 hours a week online and as a professional player, it allows me to constantly hone my game and improve," she said.
Expanding gambling while curbing problems
At the heart of Frank's bill is regulation that would allow U.S. companies to accept bets and wagers online from reputable agencies, while combating concerns about underage players and gambling addiction. This would entail using advanced technology capable of age verification, geo-location and identification of problem gamblers.
Supporters of the law in 2006 said it would help lower levels of gambling addiction. Many represented constituents opposed to gambling itself.
The Family Research Council, which backed the effort to restrict Internet gambling, cited research that said "accessibility of gambling leads to increased gambling addiction and the resulting social ills associated with gambling activities."
The key argument among the poker players supporting Frank's legislation is that the 2006 law infringes on civil liberties by authorizing government to rule on what Americans should or should not do in the privacy of their homes, said John Pappas, executive director for the poker alliance.
"Poker players are being inconvenienced," said poker pro Lederer at a public policy forum on the future of Internet poker Wednesday. "We have to respect the privacy of Americans at home."
Also driving the lobbying effort is the lack of consumer safety in the 2006 internet gambling law, said Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason magazine and a participant on the poker policy panel. Americans are forced to shift to black and gray markets, where there are issues of accountability in the event of fraudulent activities, he said.
Trade and protectionism
The Internet gambling law led to a World Trade Organization ruling in favor of the Caribbean nation of Antigua, which charged the U.S. with violating its treaty obligations by not granting full market access to online gambling companies based in the island nation. Antigua filed a claim for $3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the U.S.
"Basically, the bottom line is protectionism," said Gary Shaw, founder of St. Minver Ltd., a pan-European, multicurrency gaming operator based in Gibraltar, a British outpost on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula.
"They can't stop players from playing," he explained. "The (new) legislation will emerge and will grant a few licenses to big incumbent organizations." It will be the big casino groups with political clout that will be the ones getting the licenses, he added.
His company offers integrated gaming solutions for European companies and relies on technology for reliable banking and fraud-protection services, he said. He argued that technology is available that effectively safeguards poker-playing consumers.
Reason senior editor Balko echoed Shaw's comments about the role of government. "We will see the government picking winners and losers when it starts handing out these contracts," said Balko. "I would rather see an open market. It's not ideal, but it's still better than what we have now."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/poker-stars-push-congress-ease/story.aspx?guid=%7BC4955FAA-7315-4493-9854-EA91C4FD33EA%7D
At issue is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that bars the transfer of funds between financial institutions and Internet gambling sites, with the exception of "fantasy" sports, Internet lotteries and horse racing. Poker players want in on the action under an exception for their sport.
Two bills in the House seek to provide that.
One, proposed by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would essentially revamp last year's measure. The other, called the Skill Game Protection Act, sponsored by Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., would establish poker, bridge, mah-jong, chess and backgammon as games of skill. It would grant those games the same exemption that existing law gives online horse racing, fantasy sports and Internet lotteries.
"I think poker is a sport. It's people having a good time. It's a skill game," said 24-year-old Rousso, who stunned the poker world last year by placing seventh at the World Poker Tour Championship in Las Vegas.
"I studied game theory at Duke University (as an undergrad) and specialized in it. There is a uniquely mathematical optimal move to every single decision that you make in a game of poker. It's much more akin to chess. The only thing it has in common with the other more traditional forms of gambling is the fact that it is housed in a casino," she said.
Rousso ended 2006 as the top earning female in the U.S. circuit and has banked $1.6 million in her two years of professional play. A full-time law student at the University of Miami, Rousso said Internet gambling opportunities are important, especially for women, which is why she was in Washington Wednesday lobbying for change.
"Being a woman, playing on the Internet was a great way for me to become comfortable playing the game before having to sit down with a bunch of older guys in the intimidating atmosphere of a real casino. I play about 10 hours a week online and as a professional player, it allows me to constantly hone my game and improve," she said.
Expanding gambling while curbing problems
At the heart of Frank's bill is regulation that would allow U.S. companies to accept bets and wagers online from reputable agencies, while combating concerns about underage players and gambling addiction. This would entail using advanced technology capable of age verification, geo-location and identification of problem gamblers.
Supporters of the law in 2006 said it would help lower levels of gambling addiction. Many represented constituents opposed to gambling itself.
The Family Research Council, which backed the effort to restrict Internet gambling, cited research that said "accessibility of gambling leads to increased gambling addiction and the resulting social ills associated with gambling activities."
The key argument among the poker players supporting Frank's legislation is that the 2006 law infringes on civil liberties by authorizing government to rule on what Americans should or should not do in the privacy of their homes, said John Pappas, executive director for the poker alliance.
"Poker players are being inconvenienced," said poker pro Lederer at a public policy forum on the future of Internet poker Wednesday. "We have to respect the privacy of Americans at home."
Also driving the lobbying effort is the lack of consumer safety in the 2006 internet gambling law, said Radley Balko, senior editor of Reason magazine and a participant on the poker policy panel. Americans are forced to shift to black and gray markets, where there are issues of accountability in the event of fraudulent activities, he said.
Trade and protectionism
The Internet gambling law led to a World Trade Organization ruling in favor of the Caribbean nation of Antigua, which charged the U.S. with violating its treaty obligations by not granting full market access to online gambling companies based in the island nation. Antigua filed a claim for $3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the U.S.
"Basically, the bottom line is protectionism," said Gary Shaw, founder of St. Minver Ltd., a pan-European, multicurrency gaming operator based in Gibraltar, a British outpost on the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula.
"They can't stop players from playing," he explained. "The (new) legislation will emerge and will grant a few licenses to big incumbent organizations." It will be the big casino groups with political clout that will be the ones getting the licenses, he added.
His company offers integrated gaming solutions for European companies and relies on technology for reliable banking and fraud-protection services, he said. He argued that technology is available that effectively safeguards poker-playing consumers.
Reason senior editor Balko echoed Shaw's comments about the role of government. "We will see the government picking winners and losers when it starts handing out these contracts," said Balko. "I would rather see an open market. It's not ideal, but it's still better than what we have now."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/poker-stars-push-congress-ease/story.aspx?guid=%7BC4955FAA-7315-4493-9854-EA91C4FD33EA%7D
Party’s revenues continue to rise
PartyGaming’s third quarter key performance indicators have highlighted a 24% annual increase in group revenue to US$116m (£56m), compared with US$93.3m in 2006, and a 5% rise on the previous quarter.
Poker revenue fell 3% to US$74.8m, compared with US$76.9m in 2006, but was up 3% on the second quarter. Much of the group’s revenue was generated by a strong performance from its casino, up 158% to US$36.7m, compared with US$14.2m in 2006. Sports-betting income rose 91% to US$4.2m, compared with US$2.2m last year and in the previous quarter.
Party said its quarterly poker results reflected “a full period benefit to the operational changes introduced during the second quarter of 2007 that helped to deliver a 10% increase in yield per active player day versus the previous quarter to US$13.2”.
The company said much of the performance had been driven primarily by strong growth in its casino and was achieved despite a 14% drop in yield per active player day from US$20.3 in 2006 to US$17.4 in 2007, following the loss of many of Party’s high-spending customers after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and Party’s related exit from the US.
Third quarter new player sign-ups were down 14% on 2006 to 129,7000, reflecting the quieter summer months, however Party said this followed a particularly strong first half to the year, with the number of new player sign-ups up 44% on the equivalent nine month period last year.
The company said fourth quarter trading had increased 9% on the previous quarter to US$1.6m and active players per day averaged 65,000, generating average daily revenues of US$938,000 and casino daily revenues of US$569,000.
Analysts from Deutsche Bank said the strength of current trading and the continued development pipeline “give us increased confidence that our 2008 estimate forecasts should be achievable”.
http://partygaming.com/images/docs/072510_Q3_2007_KPIs__Trading_Update.pdf
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2215
Poker revenue fell 3% to US$74.8m, compared with US$76.9m in 2006, but was up 3% on the second quarter. Much of the group’s revenue was generated by a strong performance from its casino, up 158% to US$36.7m, compared with US$14.2m in 2006. Sports-betting income rose 91% to US$4.2m, compared with US$2.2m last year and in the previous quarter.
Party said its quarterly poker results reflected “a full period benefit to the operational changes introduced during the second quarter of 2007 that helped to deliver a 10% increase in yield per active player day versus the previous quarter to US$13.2”.
The company said much of the performance had been driven primarily by strong growth in its casino and was achieved despite a 14% drop in yield per active player day from US$20.3 in 2006 to US$17.4 in 2007, following the loss of many of Party’s high-spending customers after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and Party’s related exit from the US.
Third quarter new player sign-ups were down 14% on 2006 to 129,7000, reflecting the quieter summer months, however Party said this followed a particularly strong first half to the year, with the number of new player sign-ups up 44% on the equivalent nine month period last year.
The company said fourth quarter trading had increased 9% on the previous quarter to US$1.6m and active players per day averaged 65,000, generating average daily revenues of US$938,000 and casino daily revenues of US$569,000.
Analysts from Deutsche Bank said the strength of current trading and the continued development pipeline “give us increased confidence that our 2008 estimate forecasts should be achievable”.
http://partygaming.com/images/docs/072510_Q3_2007_KPIs__Trading_Update.pdf
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2215
October 24, 2007
Online’s Parent Posts Good Results
Swedish betting and gaming operator Redbet Holdings has announced that its recent acquisitions have begun to produce fruit as has recorded a 416 per cent increase in turnover to $2.8 million.
The Stockholm-based parent company of the Redbet.com sports betting exchange said that turnover for the nine-month period up to the end of September showed a similarly buoyant performance, rising 316 percent to $5.95 million with the company’s net profits standing at $309,000.
The firm’s management said that the recent $2.27 million acquisition of Pullman Gaming alongside the purchase of Latvia’s Teletoto for $2.13 million had started producing results. Redbet acquired Mike Bennet's Pullman along with its Gold Club Casino and Total Poker assets in April and has also recently launched its NextPoker product on three different online networks, Ongame, B2B and IPN.
http://igamingbusiness.com/article-detail.php?articleID=15067
The Stockholm-based parent company of the Redbet.com sports betting exchange said that turnover for the nine-month period up to the end of September showed a similarly buoyant performance, rising 316 percent to $5.95 million with the company’s net profits standing at $309,000.
The firm’s management said that the recent $2.27 million acquisition of Pullman Gaming alongside the purchase of Latvia’s Teletoto for $2.13 million had started producing results. Redbet acquired Mike Bennet's Pullman along with its Gold Club Casino and Total Poker assets in April and has also recently launched its NextPoker product on three different online networks, Ongame, B2B and IPN.
http://igamingbusiness.com/article-detail.php?articleID=15067
October 23, 2007
Call for more EU ‘urgency’ following Nylander arrest
The European Commission should act with “more urgency” over the violation proceedings brought by the EU’s Competition Commission against the French, following the detention of Petter Nylander under an arrest warrant issued by the French authorities, says a Swedish MEP.
Christofer Fjellner, a representative from the Swedish Conservatives at the European Parliament, said he hoped to meet with competition commissioner Charlie McCreevy later this week.
He said of the French moves: “The French were given two months to respond (to the Commission’s findings against them). Now it seems the French are going to use the two months to violate fundamental human rights. It makes the matter even more urgent.”
Nylander was detained last night by Dutch customs officials when boarding a plane to London (see earlier Unibet story). Unibet have said this morning that they hope Nylander will be released today. Mark Davies, managing director at Betfair, said there was “no question” that the EU would be aware of events. “They will be asking why has this happened?”
Fjellner noted the French authorities had detained Nylander using a European arrest warrant, “meant for use with organised crime and terrorism”. He accused the French of using the warrant as a “political tool in an effort to prolong the (French gaming) monopoly.” He added: “This is intimidation.”
One industry insider said the arrest of Nylander should act as a “wake-up call for (Charlie) McCreevy”. They added: “It’s about time the French realised this is the 21st Century and not the 19th. It’s ludicrous.”
Clouding the issue is a judgment secured in a Dutch court a fortnight ago on the part of Dutch monopoly operator De Lotto against Unibet. Unibet was reported at the time as saying it had no knowledge of the ruling.
In an interview with eGaming Review in July this year, Nylander said the fight against the monopoly operators across Europe – including the French – was like “having hand grenades under out pillow”. “We are in a war... We all know how it will end. In 10 years maybe it will break down... Efforts to stop us have not worked.
Nylander also commented on the last time the French authorities made a move against online gaming operators when they arrested Bwin’s Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger. Said Nylander in July: “I was surprised by the brutality... The French psyche is very proud. You need to take it easy there.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2210
Christofer Fjellner, a representative from the Swedish Conservatives at the European Parliament, said he hoped to meet with competition commissioner Charlie McCreevy later this week.
He said of the French moves: “The French were given two months to respond (to the Commission’s findings against them). Now it seems the French are going to use the two months to violate fundamental human rights. It makes the matter even more urgent.”
Nylander was detained last night by Dutch customs officials when boarding a plane to London (see earlier Unibet story). Unibet have said this morning that they hope Nylander will be released today. Mark Davies, managing director at Betfair, said there was “no question” that the EU would be aware of events. “They will be asking why has this happened?”
Fjellner noted the French authorities had detained Nylander using a European arrest warrant, “meant for use with organised crime and terrorism”. He accused the French of using the warrant as a “political tool in an effort to prolong the (French gaming) monopoly.” He added: “This is intimidation.”
One industry insider said the arrest of Nylander should act as a “wake-up call for (Charlie) McCreevy”. They added: “It’s about time the French realised this is the 21st Century and not the 19th. It’s ludicrous.”
Clouding the issue is a judgment secured in a Dutch court a fortnight ago on the part of Dutch monopoly operator De Lotto against Unibet. Unibet was reported at the time as saying it had no knowledge of the ruling.
In an interview with eGaming Review in July this year, Nylander said the fight against the monopoly operators across Europe – including the French – was like “having hand grenades under out pillow”. “We are in a war... We all know how it will end. In 10 years maybe it will break down... Efforts to stop us have not worked.
Nylander also commented on the last time the French authorities made a move against online gaming operators when they arrested Bwin’s Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger. Said Nylander in July: “I was surprised by the brutality... The French psyche is very proud. You need to take it easy there.”
http://www.egrmagazine.com/item/2210
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