The possibility of Ladbrokes being subject to a full takeover bid from Joe Lewis, the Bahamas-based billionaire, was dismissed as unlikely by industry sources speaking today to eGaming Review.
This morning it was revealed in The Times that Lewis is behind a notice to the London Stock Exchange last night from Citigroup that it had built up a near 7% stake in Ladbrokes on behalf of a client.
“I can’t imagine there would be a bid,” said one industry source. One unnamed analyst added that he doubted Lewis would “could afford or would have the inclination” to attempt a full takeover. “It’s a bit of an anti-climax really,” he added.
However, the possibility of a bid coming form another direction could not be dismissed, suggested the industry source. According to The Times report, Lewis is thought to be close to other Ladbrokes investors, including John Magnier and JP McManus. It added that private-equity firms could also be waiting in the wings, such as Apax Partners which is thought to have put a bid in to buy Ladbrokes when it was de-merged from Hilton Group in 2006.
However, commentators have questioned in recent weeks the chances of anyone managing to raise the money to buy Ladbrokes, given the present gloom surrounding the debt markets. At present share price levels, Ladbrokes would cost a shade under £2bn, plus around a further £1bn in debt.
Recent investment activity by Lewis includes shelling out US$860m in September last year for a 7% stake in brokerage firm Bear Stearns and raising his stake to 10% three months later, making him Bear’s largest shareholder. Bear’s shares then fell 7% in January on the news that chief executive James Cayne would be leaving his post in the near future and the value of Lewis’s stake in the company has fallen from US$1.2bn to US$840m in the process. Lewis is said to have made a paper loss of more than US$100m on Bear so far, with the figure likely to be closer to US$200m once the cost of raising his stake in the company is take into account.
One of the many high profile investments Lewis made goes back to 2000 when his English National Investment Company (ENIC) acquired a 27% stake in north London football club Tottenham Hotspur for £22m before taking full control of the club in September last year. At the time of its initial investment in Tottenham, ENIC also acquired online bookmaker Ukbetting for £500,000 and was in talks to buy out sports spread-betting operator Sporting Index and Gibraltar-based bookie Victor Chandler International, but neither of those deals materialised.
February 19, 2008
February 07, 2008
Betfair asks for money back after online poker glitch
Betfair is asking for its own poker customers to return tens of thousands of pounds after a software glitch was exploited by colluding players on its site.
The collusion was noted by the company and “within a couple of hours” the situation was rectified, according to a source close to the company.
Up to 20 players had funds deferred after the company noted the irregularities. It was reported that players had received payouts of up to £100,000, which Betfair wishes to be returned.
The Daily Telegraph reported late last week that Betfair had written to a number of account holders demanding the funds be returned or it would bring legal action. According to the source, the press reports were accurate. “There was a software glitch exploited by colluding players. Sit and go single table tournaments were suspended for a few hours, and funds which were improperly gained were frozen,” the source said.
The glitch resulted in players being given second prize payouts at sit and go tournaments over a number of sessions.
Betfair moved from a Cryptologic poker software platform to its own in 2004.
The company has also been in the news after officials from the French Tennis Association said that they wanted to ban Betfair, along with other operators from taking bets on this year’s French Open. This follows an ongoing investigation into match fixing after Betfair noted suspicious betting patterns in a game involving Nikolai Davydenko in Poland and suspended betting, also alerting the game’s authorities the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
The French governing body has filed two injunctions, one in France, and another other in Belgium which call for Ladbrokes and Bwin to be banned from accepting bets on the tournament as well as Betfair.
The collusion was noted by the company and “within a couple of hours” the situation was rectified, according to a source close to the company.
Up to 20 players had funds deferred after the company noted the irregularities. It was reported that players had received payouts of up to £100,000, which Betfair wishes to be returned.
The Daily Telegraph reported late last week that Betfair had written to a number of account holders demanding the funds be returned or it would bring legal action. According to the source, the press reports were accurate. “There was a software glitch exploited by colluding players. Sit and go single table tournaments were suspended for a few hours, and funds which were improperly gained were frozen,” the source said.
The glitch resulted in players being given second prize payouts at sit and go tournaments over a number of sessions.
Betfair moved from a Cryptologic poker software platform to its own in 2004.
The company has also been in the news after officials from the French Tennis Association said that they wanted to ban Betfair, along with other operators from taking bets on this year’s French Open. This follows an ongoing investigation into match fixing after Betfair noted suspicious betting patterns in a game involving Nikolai Davydenko in Poland and suspended betting, also alerting the game’s authorities the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
The French governing body has filed two injunctions, one in France, and another other in Belgium which call for Ladbrokes and Bwin to be banned from accepting bets on the tournament as well as Betfair.
February 04, 2008
French Open organizers taking online betting companies to court over gambling
French Open organizers have filed a lawsuit in a bid to ban online gambling companies from offering bets on the Grand Slam tournament.
The complaint filed Friday in courts in Liege in eastern Belgium and in Paris claims that Internet betting companies stain the reputation of the clay-court championship at Roland Garros.
"There is urgency to act because sporting ethic is at risk," Jean-Francois Vilotte, director general of the French tennis federation, told The Associated Press. "It is an issue as important as the fight against doping."
The issue of integrity in tennis came to the fore in August, when an online betting site - Betfair - voided all wagers on a match in Poland between fifth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns. Davydenko withdrew from the match in the third set, citing a foot injury.
The French federation is suing three companies - Betfair, Bwin and Ladbrokes - with a court injunction to stop them from taking bets on the French Open. It seeks a fine of C$75,000 a day for any violations, said Vilotte's lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont.
Dupont said the federation's case is built on two tenets: that the betting companies are tainting the reputation of the French Open and unfairly using the tournament as a way of making money.
If a match-fixing scandal hit the French Open, it would undermine the value of the tournament, which had a 2007 revenue $175 million and attracted 450,000 fans to Roland Garros and a potential 3 billion viewers worldwide, Dupont said.
"Targeting the only betting operator which is completely transparent and, where needed, shares all its betting information with the ITF and ATP would be just plain bizarre," Betfair managing director Mark Davies wrote in an e-mail. "I would be astonished if any sensible regulator wanted to go down this route or believed it could help protect the integrity of its sport when it so obviously does the opposite."
Vienna-based Bwin said it was confident it would be able to stave off the legal challenge.
"We offer a service. To explain what happens, we have to use the name of Roland Garros," Bwin spokesman Antoine Costanzo said. "We don't cause the problem. We warn them there is a problem. We help organizers find those who are guilty."
With soccer and horse racing, tennis is among the most popular sports to bet on.
When Vilotte monitored the ATP Masters Series tournament in Paris, which the French federation also organizes, he said bets over the weeklong event totalled between $750 million and $1.5 billion.
"You can imagine that for Roland Garros, the totals would be much higher," he said.
The federation says the betting companies manage to avoid being stuck with the fallout when there is suspicion of match fixing.
"They purely scrap the bets on the event in question and by doing that generate a scandal that the organization and players have to deal with. It can give them a lifelong ugly reputation," Dupont said.
The ATP opened an investigation into the Davydenko match, interviewing him and his wife and reviewing telephone records. No findings have been announced.
Since the match, several players have come forward to say they have been approached with offers to fix matches.
Late last year, three Italian pros - Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali and Alessio Di Mauro - were suspended for betting on tennis matches involving other players.
According to Betfair and Bwin, attacking the official betting companies would only make the situation worse.
"Targeting EU-licensed companies, which are highly regulated, to leave punters (bettors) betting only with unlicensed operators across the web, would completely miss the point," Davies said.
Bwin agreed.
"We are a legal company quoted on the Vienna exchange," Costanzo said. "The problem is not companies like us, but the black market, which exist in all countries without strict regulation."
The complaint filed Friday in courts in Liege in eastern Belgium and in Paris claims that Internet betting companies stain the reputation of the clay-court championship at Roland Garros.
"There is urgency to act because sporting ethic is at risk," Jean-Francois Vilotte, director general of the French tennis federation, told The Associated Press. "It is an issue as important as the fight against doping."
The issue of integrity in tennis came to the fore in August, when an online betting site - Betfair - voided all wagers on a match in Poland between fifth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko and 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello because of irregular betting patterns. Davydenko withdrew from the match in the third set, citing a foot injury.
The French federation is suing three companies - Betfair, Bwin and Ladbrokes - with a court injunction to stop them from taking bets on the French Open. It seeks a fine of C$75,000 a day for any violations, said Vilotte's lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont.
Dupont said the federation's case is built on two tenets: that the betting companies are tainting the reputation of the French Open and unfairly using the tournament as a way of making money.
If a match-fixing scandal hit the French Open, it would undermine the value of the tournament, which had a 2007 revenue $175 million and attracted 450,000 fans to Roland Garros and a potential 3 billion viewers worldwide, Dupont said.
"Targeting the only betting operator which is completely transparent and, where needed, shares all its betting information with the ITF and ATP would be just plain bizarre," Betfair managing director Mark Davies wrote in an e-mail. "I would be astonished if any sensible regulator wanted to go down this route or believed it could help protect the integrity of its sport when it so obviously does the opposite."
Vienna-based Bwin said it was confident it would be able to stave off the legal challenge.
"We offer a service. To explain what happens, we have to use the name of Roland Garros," Bwin spokesman Antoine Costanzo said. "We don't cause the problem. We warn them there is a problem. We help organizers find those who are guilty."
With soccer and horse racing, tennis is among the most popular sports to bet on.
When Vilotte monitored the ATP Masters Series tournament in Paris, which the French federation also organizes, he said bets over the weeklong event totalled between $750 million and $1.5 billion.
"You can imagine that for Roland Garros, the totals would be much higher," he said.
The federation says the betting companies manage to avoid being stuck with the fallout when there is suspicion of match fixing.
"They purely scrap the bets on the event in question and by doing that generate a scandal that the organization and players have to deal with. It can give them a lifelong ugly reputation," Dupont said.
The ATP opened an investigation into the Davydenko match, interviewing him and his wife and reviewing telephone records. No findings have been announced.
Since the match, several players have come forward to say they have been approached with offers to fix matches.
Late last year, three Italian pros - Potito Starace, Daniele Bracciali and Alessio Di Mauro - were suspended for betting on tennis matches involving other players.
According to Betfair and Bwin, attacking the official betting companies would only make the situation worse.
"Targeting EU-licensed companies, which are highly regulated, to leave punters (bettors) betting only with unlicensed operators across the web, would completely miss the point," Davies said.
Bwin agreed.
"We are a legal company quoted on the Vienna exchange," Costanzo said. "The problem is not companies like us, but the black market, which exist in all countries without strict regulation."
Party signs-up to Envisional for affiliate monitoring
PartyGaming has adopted and refined a new method for affiliate monitoring, after introducing experimental systems using artificial intelligence.
The system, created by Envisional, aims to toe the line between managing risk from affiliates, preventing security lapses, and encouraging entrepreneurialism, according to Ian Shircore, marketing director at Envisional.
Shircore: “Maintaining security with affiliates is not just an anti-fraud measure, there is a wider issue. That is: no country will think to regulate online gaming while companies cannot keep track of their affiliates.”
The issue of violations committed through affiliates is one which was highlighted at last week’s Combating Cybercrime conference. Examples of money laundering through affiliates were given by speakers including representatives from PartyGaming and Unibet, as well as the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. One attendee said that the industry had been “dragging its feet” in terms of affiliates, and that greater security was needed if the sector was to show its maturity.
However, it was also noted that the importance of affiliates for operators should not be underestimated, and that minor “offences” from what were termed “over-enthusiastic” affiliates, are dealt with most effectively by operators.
Shircore said: “If you think of how affiliate networks work, they are the very essence of entrepreneurial spirit. Nobody wants to crush that, and it will save time for the companies to just have to recognise what’s going on, and say, please don’t step over the line.
“In terms of affiliate monitoring, people desperately need to know what’s going on. The enforcement is pretty simple. The relationship between the operator and the affiliate is not necessarily damaged.”
Shircore added that the collaboration with Party had resulted in a product that was unusual for its use of artificial intelligence.
He said: “We are pushing the limits of artificial intelligence, and we have now a system with greater flexibility for the operator. The artificial intelligence follows links like a human, and uses human-like logic. It also searches images. We produced prototype systems which we worked on for PartyGaming. It’s been remodelled and refined slightly ‘in reality’ but it is basically the same concept.
“What they get is a pyramid of results – and the pyramid will show violations which at the top of the pyramid, are very serious, while at the bottom, are ones which they may choose to ignore.”
The system, created by Envisional, aims to toe the line between managing risk from affiliates, preventing security lapses, and encouraging entrepreneurialism, according to Ian Shircore, marketing director at Envisional.
Shircore: “Maintaining security with affiliates is not just an anti-fraud measure, there is a wider issue. That is: no country will think to regulate online gaming while companies cannot keep track of their affiliates.”
The issue of violations committed through affiliates is one which was highlighted at last week’s Combating Cybercrime conference. Examples of money laundering through affiliates were given by speakers including representatives from PartyGaming and Unibet, as well as the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. One attendee said that the industry had been “dragging its feet” in terms of affiliates, and that greater security was needed if the sector was to show its maturity.
However, it was also noted that the importance of affiliates for operators should not be underestimated, and that minor “offences” from what were termed “over-enthusiastic” affiliates, are dealt with most effectively by operators.
Shircore said: “If you think of how affiliate networks work, they are the very essence of entrepreneurial spirit. Nobody wants to crush that, and it will save time for the companies to just have to recognise what’s going on, and say, please don’t step over the line.
“In terms of affiliate monitoring, people desperately need to know what’s going on. The enforcement is pretty simple. The relationship between the operator and the affiliate is not necessarily damaged.”
Shircore added that the collaboration with Party had resulted in a product that was unusual for its use of artificial intelligence.
He said: “We are pushing the limits of artificial intelligence, and we have now a system with greater flexibility for the operator. The artificial intelligence follows links like a human, and uses human-like logic. It also searches images. We produced prototype systems which we worked on for PartyGaming. It’s been remodelled and refined slightly ‘in reality’ but it is basically the same concept.
“What they get is a pyramid of results – and the pyramid will show violations which at the top of the pyramid, are very serious, while at the bottom, are ones which they may choose to ignore.”
January 31, 2008
J'accuse! French affiliates unhappy at Unibet
It’s not what you say but how you say it. The old saying should be drummed into Unibet’s French marketing team after it found itself in the firing line from French affiliates for telling them their commission rates would be cut by 50% due to the company expecting spikes in traffic following its appearance on a French current affairs TV show. The measure only lasted four days but left Unibet’s affiliates clearly upset, as Jake Pollard found out.
European egaming giant Unibet has been strongly criticised by French online gaming blogs over the past few days following a letter it sent to affiliates explaining it would be cutting their commission rates by 50%. The decision to drop the rates was taken because Unibet was due to appear on a current affairs programme called Droit de Savoir, broadcast on the popular channel TF1 on Tuesday 22 January.
In the email it sent to its affiliates, Unibet said it expected large numbers of new accounts to be opened and a strong boost in traffic following the programme. As a result, it would increase the capacity of its servers for the next four days and reduce its “payouts on sports betting deposits over the same period by 50%”.
The company added that it had devoted a considerable amount of time answering questions and requests from TF1 journalists. It said: “It therefore seems natural that you should continue to benefit from these requests but by subtracting the artificial volume Unibet brings (you) via this report.”
The company issued a statement: “Unibet has one of the most flexible affiliate programs and offers paying per deposit which has shown to be one of the most successful ways to deliver extra results to the affiliates. The “price list” is evaluated on a weekly basis and can vary depending on the sport and gambling actuality to keep affiliates happy all year long. Unibet will soon be offering a loyalty program for its affiliates.”
Unibet said the move was in no way a sanction but the fair price affiliates should pay when an initiative it had undertaken would triple business volumes, but the correspondence caused much anger and consternation among its French affiliates. The fact that the email was sent around 7pm French time on the evening the show would be broadcast, leaving the affected parties minimal time to react, was also seen as underhand and premeditated. One blog commented that Unibet did not recognise the painstaking search engine optimisation work undertaken by affiliates, who also represented the most cost effective method of bringing in regular traffic to operators, while others said the programme had been critical of online betting.
One industry source said Unibet had been guilty of “clumsiness” rather than anything sinister, but did not doubt that the affiliates would have found such a unilateral decision upsetting.
European egaming giant Unibet has been strongly criticised by French online gaming blogs over the past few days following a letter it sent to affiliates explaining it would be cutting their commission rates by 50%. The decision to drop the rates was taken because Unibet was due to appear on a current affairs programme called Droit de Savoir, broadcast on the popular channel TF1 on Tuesday 22 January.
In the email it sent to its affiliates, Unibet said it expected large numbers of new accounts to be opened and a strong boost in traffic following the programme. As a result, it would increase the capacity of its servers for the next four days and reduce its “payouts on sports betting deposits over the same period by 50%”.
The company added that it had devoted a considerable amount of time answering questions and requests from TF1 journalists. It said: “It therefore seems natural that you should continue to benefit from these requests but by subtracting the artificial volume Unibet brings (you) via this report.”
The company issued a statement: “Unibet has one of the most flexible affiliate programs and offers paying per deposit which has shown to be one of the most successful ways to deliver extra results to the affiliates. The “price list” is evaluated on a weekly basis and can vary depending on the sport and gambling actuality to keep affiliates happy all year long. Unibet will soon be offering a loyalty program for its affiliates.”
Unibet said the move was in no way a sanction but the fair price affiliates should pay when an initiative it had undertaken would triple business volumes, but the correspondence caused much anger and consternation among its French affiliates. The fact that the email was sent around 7pm French time on the evening the show would be broadcast, leaving the affected parties minimal time to react, was also seen as underhand and premeditated. One blog commented that Unibet did not recognise the painstaking search engine optimisation work undertaken by affiliates, who also represented the most cost effective method of bringing in regular traffic to operators, while others said the programme had been critical of online betting.
One industry source said Unibet had been guilty of “clumsiness” rather than anything sinister, but did not doubt that the affiliates would have found such a unilateral decision upsetting.
Party the ‘prettiest girl’ as Garber talks post-DoJ mergers
PartyGaming chief executive Mitch Garber is “extremely confident” that discussions with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over a financial settlement with regard the company’s previous activities in the US will be concluded before the year is out.
According to Garber, such a resolution could herald a stampede of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity within the sector. “As an industry, once the DoJ situation is cleared, I believe there will be a very busy M&A market,” he said.
He added that as “the leader in online gaming, the most compliant and the most conservative” PartyGaming would be a consolidation target. “I think we are the prettiest girl at the dance,” he concluded.
Garber was speaking at the publication of the gaming giant’s fourth quarter key performance indicators which showed group revenue over the quarter rising 52% to US$120m (£60m) compared with last year. However, poker revenue declined 3% quarter on quarter. The company said this was the result of a restructuring of the groups’ loyalty programme.
In the four weeks since period close, Party said it had seen an improvement in the loyalty scheme situation with the amount of bonuses and PartyPoints deducted from revenue falling from 19% in the fourth quarter to between 14% and 15%.
Poker revenue year on year was up 23% to US$72.6m while casino revenue shot up 156% over the same period in 2006 to US$42.3m. The company said that cross-selling “remained the main source of growth” in this product area. The sports-betting operation, PartyBets, saw revenue rose 50% over the 2006 figure to US$5.1m. PartyBets has been promoted heavily in the UK within the past three months, with a series of adverts appearing on UK TV screens.
There were signs within the statement that PartyGaming was suffering alongside others from a marketing crush in Europe. “Along with a number of competitors, PartyPoker has lost a small amount of market share to those sites that continue to take bets from players located in the US and other countries from which we will not accept players for regulatory reasons,” the statement added.
According to Garber, such a resolution could herald a stampede of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity within the sector. “As an industry, once the DoJ situation is cleared, I believe there will be a very busy M&A market,” he said.
He added that as “the leader in online gaming, the most compliant and the most conservative” PartyGaming would be a consolidation target. “I think we are the prettiest girl at the dance,” he concluded.
Garber was speaking at the publication of the gaming giant’s fourth quarter key performance indicators which showed group revenue over the quarter rising 52% to US$120m (£60m) compared with last year. However, poker revenue declined 3% quarter on quarter. The company said this was the result of a restructuring of the groups’ loyalty programme.
In the four weeks since period close, Party said it had seen an improvement in the loyalty scheme situation with the amount of bonuses and PartyPoints deducted from revenue falling from 19% in the fourth quarter to between 14% and 15%.
Poker revenue year on year was up 23% to US$72.6m while casino revenue shot up 156% over the same period in 2006 to US$42.3m. The company said that cross-selling “remained the main source of growth” in this product area. The sports-betting operation, PartyBets, saw revenue rose 50% over the 2006 figure to US$5.1m. PartyBets has been promoted heavily in the UK within the past three months, with a series of adverts appearing on UK TV screens.
There were signs within the statement that PartyGaming was suffering alongside others from a marketing crush in Europe. “Along with a number of competitors, PartyPoker has lost a small amount of market share to those sites that continue to take bets from players located in the US and other countries from which we will not accept players for regulatory reasons,” the statement added.
January 18, 2008
No silence to honour Munich crash
There will be no minute's silence during England's game with Switzerland on the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash, the FA says.
England play Switzerland on 6 February, the date in which 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, died.
"The FA has liaised closely with Manchester United over appropriate arrangements," said an FA spokesman.
"Images of the players will be shown on the screens before the game and England players will wear black armbands."
He also strongly denied newspaper reports any other types of tribute had been scrapped because of worries about whether fans would respect them.
The game at Wembley against Switzerland will be new coach Fabio Capello's first game in charge of the England team.
Manchester United will mark the anniversary during their match with Manchester City on 10 February where there will be a minute's silence.
United will wear a special replica of their 1958 kit on the day, devoid of the players' names or shirt numbers on the back, while City's kit will incorporate a black ribbon with their sponsor's branding removed.
England play Switzerland on 6 February, the date in which 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, died.
"The FA has liaised closely with Manchester United over appropriate arrangements," said an FA spokesman.
"Images of the players will be shown on the screens before the game and England players will wear black armbands."
He also strongly denied newspaper reports any other types of tribute had been scrapped because of worries about whether fans would respect them.
The game at Wembley against Switzerland will be new coach Fabio Capello's first game in charge of the England team.
Manchester United will mark the anniversary during their match with Manchester City on 10 February where there will be a minute's silence.
United will wear a special replica of their 1958 kit on the day, devoid of the players' names or shirt numbers on the back, while City's kit will incorporate a black ribbon with their sponsor's branding removed.
Bwin first to advertise in Argentina?
Bwin is rumoured to have become the first online gambling operator to advertise nationally in Argentina in recent years, after a deal with one of the country’s leading publishers.
The daily newspaper Clarin, which has 44% of the market share in Buenos Aires, has carried Bwin adverts on its website. Bwin operates with a license from the Provincia de Misiones in Argentina and is allegedly the first company to advertise since Yahoo! and others were instructed to remove gambling adverts some years ago.
Bwin was the second operator to obtain a legal license in Argentina, following Victor Chandler in November 2006.
Tim Phillips, from Buenos Aires-based Tamarind Media, told eGaming Review that the legal structure, whereby licenses are provincial rather than national, leaves advertising in a potentially grey area. “Bwin has a license to operate from a provincial gaming board, but not from the national gaming authorities, so technically, under Argentine law they are not allowed to advertise in any provinces other than the one they have the license from, and certainly not nationally,” he said. “However, if Bwin has started to advertise with the largest media owner in Argentina, then for sure others will follow. For Bwin to have taken the risk, it must have felt able to do so. This could signal a change.”
Manfred Bodner, co-chief executive at Bwin said that he would not comment on the news “for competitive reasons.”
The legality of advertising regulation has surfaced in the past. In 2005, Bwin announced it had completed a shirt sponsorship deal with Buenos Aires-based football team Boca Juniors. This was cancelled after Argentina’s National Lottery claimed that the US$13.5m deal was illegal as Bwin was unlicensed at the time.
Recent violent disturbances on two ‘floating casinos’ outside Buenos Aires have put into sharp focus the issue of gambling law in a region which has been called the “sleeping giant,” but still presents sizable challenges for operators looking to new territories.
Though riverboat casinos, owned by Barcelona-based Cirsa, and Casino Club, an Argentine company, are reported to have re-opened after a dispute with casino workers over union representation, there is still no schedule for new legislation in the country.
Ramón Moyano, partner at Buenos Aires-based legal firm Estudio Beccar Varela, told eGaming Review that regulations, while possible in the coming year, are not inevitable.
He said: “The issue is stuck at the moment because of political fighting. As far as the casino riots it is a labour-driven conflict.” He added that there have been many predictions that with a new administration, new regulations will follow.
888’s head of Latin American region, Andres Bzurovski, said that its partnership with Tower Torneos was “going strongly”. But he added that there are still difficulties in the region. He said: “The Tower Torneos partnership has proven to be an excellent relationship and we can say that it the largest local community of poker players in the region, creating the trends and culture Latin American Poker. In 2008 we will increase our cooperation and support towards Tower Torneos with the objective of having the two most important brands in the region, each one on its segment.”
He added: “LATAM it a difficult region, where a company needs a great amount of flexibility. It seems that gambling will be part of the political agenda, but you have to remember that there are local interests which are close to the government that do not want to openly discuss anything related to gambling.”
The daily newspaper Clarin, which has 44% of the market share in Buenos Aires, has carried Bwin adverts on its website. Bwin operates with a license from the Provincia de Misiones in Argentina and is allegedly the first company to advertise since Yahoo! and others were instructed to remove gambling adverts some years ago.
Bwin was the second operator to obtain a legal license in Argentina, following Victor Chandler in November 2006.
Tim Phillips, from Buenos Aires-based Tamarind Media, told eGaming Review that the legal structure, whereby licenses are provincial rather than national, leaves advertising in a potentially grey area. “Bwin has a license to operate from a provincial gaming board, but not from the national gaming authorities, so technically, under Argentine law they are not allowed to advertise in any provinces other than the one they have the license from, and certainly not nationally,” he said. “However, if Bwin has started to advertise with the largest media owner in Argentina, then for sure others will follow. For Bwin to have taken the risk, it must have felt able to do so. This could signal a change.”
Manfred Bodner, co-chief executive at Bwin said that he would not comment on the news “for competitive reasons.”
The legality of advertising regulation has surfaced in the past. In 2005, Bwin announced it had completed a shirt sponsorship deal with Buenos Aires-based football team Boca Juniors. This was cancelled after Argentina’s National Lottery claimed that the US$13.5m deal was illegal as Bwin was unlicensed at the time.
Recent violent disturbances on two ‘floating casinos’ outside Buenos Aires have put into sharp focus the issue of gambling law in a region which has been called the “sleeping giant,” but still presents sizable challenges for operators looking to new territories.
Though riverboat casinos, owned by Barcelona-based Cirsa, and Casino Club, an Argentine company, are reported to have re-opened after a dispute with casino workers over union representation, there is still no schedule for new legislation in the country.
Ramón Moyano, partner at Buenos Aires-based legal firm Estudio Beccar Varela, told eGaming Review that regulations, while possible in the coming year, are not inevitable.
He said: “The issue is stuck at the moment because of political fighting. As far as the casino riots it is a labour-driven conflict.” He added that there have been many predictions that with a new administration, new regulations will follow.
888’s head of Latin American region, Andres Bzurovski, said that its partnership with Tower Torneos was “going strongly”. But he added that there are still difficulties in the region. He said: “The Tower Torneos partnership has proven to be an excellent relationship and we can say that it the largest local community of poker players in the region, creating the trends and culture Latin American Poker. In 2008 we will increase our cooperation and support towards Tower Torneos with the objective of having the two most important brands in the region, each one on its segment.”
He added: “LATAM it a difficult region, where a company needs a great amount of flexibility. It seems that gambling will be part of the political agenda, but you have to remember that there are local interests which are close to the government that do not want to openly discuss anything related to gambling.”
William Hill says sportsbook technology not up to in-running; signs up to Turf TV
A failure on the part of William Hill’s in-house sports-betting platform to be able to handle in-running betting largely lies behind the announcement of a switch to a third-party provider, according to finance director Simon Lane.
Orbis is believed to be the new supplier to the UK high-street bookmakers online operation, following the announcement last week that the Leeds-based bookie was scrapping its in-house NextGen sportsbook technology.
“Technically, the system at present can handle some in-running, but it doesn’t deliver the slickness of some of our competitors,” Lane told eGaming Review. “We had originally stolen a march on our competitors, but the market has moved on. You need agility in your technology. Then to a lesser extent there were the demands on the international side.”
The admittance from William Hill points to how important in-running betting has become to the major bookmakers.
Lane said that as 2007 progressed there was growing concern within the company that it was falling behind its competitors in its provision of its in-running offering. “We have made a bold decision. It has been hard, washing your dirty linen in public. It's been embarrassing. But we needed certainty. We had to put our hands up.”
In a trading statement last week, the company admitted that alongside “competitive issues”, it was the impact of technology issues that led to performance at its online operation to continue to be “disappointing”. After a review conducted last November, it was decided to terminate the company’s NextGen technology platform.
The company said the decision would result in an exceptional non-cash impairment charge in relation to the existing technology programme of £22m and restructuring costs of around £4m.
As exclusively revealed by eGaming Review last week, an agreement with Orbis is thought by industry insiders to be a “done deal”. Orbis already supplies the online sportsbook technology to Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and the UK’s Tote.
William Hill saw its share price hit by the news from its trading statement last week. Despite saying that its retail division had performed strongly, traders took a dim view of the company’s short-term prospects. The share price has now fallen over 40% since its autumn high of 672p to its level at the end of last week of 390p.
The market concentrated on the downgraded earnings guidance. William Hill said full-year earnings before interest, tax and exceptional items to be around £285m. This is around 2% less than previous estimates.
However, the share price recovered some ground on Monday following the announcement that William Hill had signed up to TurfTV. The bookmaker will now receive coverage for its 2,275 shops from the 31 UK racecourses which had been unavailable in William Hill shops since 1 January.
William Hill is the latest high-street firm to sign up to the joint venture between the racecourse and Alphameric following similar deals with Coral and Ladbrokes at the turn of the year. It is not known how much the deal is worth.
Alan Morcombe, chief executive at Alphameric, said the deal with William Hill “signifies a milestone in the development of our business”.
Orbis is believed to be the new supplier to the UK high-street bookmakers online operation, following the announcement last week that the Leeds-based bookie was scrapping its in-house NextGen sportsbook technology.
“Technically, the system at present can handle some in-running, but it doesn’t deliver the slickness of some of our competitors,” Lane told eGaming Review. “We had originally stolen a march on our competitors, but the market has moved on. You need agility in your technology. Then to a lesser extent there were the demands on the international side.”
The admittance from William Hill points to how important in-running betting has become to the major bookmakers.
Lane said that as 2007 progressed there was growing concern within the company that it was falling behind its competitors in its provision of its in-running offering. “We have made a bold decision. It has been hard, washing your dirty linen in public. It's been embarrassing. But we needed certainty. We had to put our hands up.”
In a trading statement last week, the company admitted that alongside “competitive issues”, it was the impact of technology issues that led to performance at its online operation to continue to be “disappointing”. After a review conducted last November, it was decided to terminate the company’s NextGen technology platform.
The company said the decision would result in an exceptional non-cash impairment charge in relation to the existing technology programme of £22m and restructuring costs of around £4m.
As exclusively revealed by eGaming Review last week, an agreement with Orbis is thought by industry insiders to be a “done deal”. Orbis already supplies the online sportsbook technology to Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and the UK’s Tote.
William Hill saw its share price hit by the news from its trading statement last week. Despite saying that its retail division had performed strongly, traders took a dim view of the company’s short-term prospects. The share price has now fallen over 40% since its autumn high of 672p to its level at the end of last week of 390p.
The market concentrated on the downgraded earnings guidance. William Hill said full-year earnings before interest, tax and exceptional items to be around £285m. This is around 2% less than previous estimates.
However, the share price recovered some ground on Monday following the announcement that William Hill had signed up to TurfTV. The bookmaker will now receive coverage for its 2,275 shops from the 31 UK racecourses which had been unavailable in William Hill shops since 1 January.
William Hill is the latest high-street firm to sign up to the joint venture between the racecourse and Alphameric following similar deals with Coral and Ladbrokes at the turn of the year. It is not known how much the deal is worth.
Alan Morcombe, chief executive at Alphameric, said the deal with William Hill “signifies a milestone in the development of our business”.
January 10, 2008
Orbis in the frame to provide William Hill with new online sportsbook platform
Orbis is rumoured to be the name in the frame to provide William Hill with its new online sportsbook platform after the UK high-street bookmaking and gaming giant announced it was scrapping its own in-house programme.
According to high-level sources within the bookmaking industry, the agreement with Orbis is “a done deal”. Orbis was unavailable for comment.
A spokesperson for William Hill said it could not comment on the speculation.
William Hill sparked speculation with the announcement this morning in a trading update to the London Stock Exchange where it admitted that performance at its online operation had been “disappointing”.
It added that this reflected legacy technology issues “as well as the competitive market environment”.
Overall, the company said that in the 53 weeks to 1 January its retail operation had performed “strongly” and that the telephone business had “delivered a stable performance”. The firm expected full-year earnings before interest, tax and exceptional items to be around £285m. This represents a fall of around 2% from consensus estimates of around £292m. The share price fell over 6% on the morning of the announcement, down 28.5p to 404.75p.
William Hill already outsources its poker, casino and bingo technology provision form companies such as CryptoLogic and Virtue Fusion.
Back in November, William Hill instigated an independent review of its online sportsbook technology which concluded it should terminate its own NextGen technology programme and implement a third-party solution. The company said the decision would result in an exceptional non-cash impairment charge in relation to the existing technology programme of £22m and restructuring costs of around £4m.
According to high-level sources within the bookmaking industry, the agreement with Orbis is “a done deal”. Orbis was unavailable for comment.
A spokesperson for William Hill said it could not comment on the speculation.
William Hill sparked speculation with the announcement this morning in a trading update to the London Stock Exchange where it admitted that performance at its online operation had been “disappointing”.
It added that this reflected legacy technology issues “as well as the competitive market environment”.
Overall, the company said that in the 53 weeks to 1 January its retail operation had performed “strongly” and that the telephone business had “delivered a stable performance”. The firm expected full-year earnings before interest, tax and exceptional items to be around £285m. This represents a fall of around 2% from consensus estimates of around £292m. The share price fell over 6% on the morning of the announcement, down 28.5p to 404.75p.
William Hill already outsources its poker, casino and bingo technology provision form companies such as CryptoLogic and Virtue Fusion.
Back in November, William Hill instigated an independent review of its online sportsbook technology which concluded it should terminate its own NextGen technology programme and implement a third-party solution. The company said the decision would result in an exceptional non-cash impairment charge in relation to the existing technology programme of £22m and restructuring costs of around £4m.
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