The Mail Online has revealed that the UK bookmaker Betfred managed to acquire the Government-owned Tote for a mind boggling £32m cheaper than was originally thought to be the case.
The process to acquire the seven-year license to operate the Tote began in Nov 2010 and ended when Fred Done and his team were awarded the contract in June 2011.
The fee was said to be £265m with £90m going towards horse racing and £90m being returned to the taxpayer. Additionally, Betfred would commit to paying the racing industry £11m up to March 2012 and payments of £9m per year for the next six years. The Tote’s 517 Retail outlets were rebranded in Betfred livery and they were soon managing the pool betting at 60 UK racecourses.
The story claims that Betfred actually paid £233m after cutting a deal with the government for paying the fee early, saving £25m in scheduled interest payments, and earning a £7m early-payment rebate.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) told the Mail Online: “The sale of the Tote to Betfred was about getting the best possible deal for racing. The Government has begun discussions with racing on the arrangements for paying their final share of the net proceeds, after Betfred’s early completed payment on the deal.’
Betfred’s main rivals at the time of the tender were Sport Investment Partners, a consortium led by the former Chairman of Liverpool FC Sir Martin Broughton. Speaking from the Cheltenham Festival Broughton said: “I feel aggrieved because I’ve always considered we had the best bid.”
The current license for the Tote ends in 2018 but as Fred Done said at the time of the initial announcement, “there’s no reason why this can’t go on forever.”
March 14, 2014
March 11, 2014
Holland Casino workers to go on strike
Workers at Holland Casino are going on strike this Friday 14th March to demand a better social plan for those being made redundant due to the companies financial crisis. Several hundred casino workers are losing their jobs in the companies efforts to reduce cost but Trade Union leader Huug Brinkers of Unie says that Holland Casino is doing better now financially and they should be treating their personnel to an improved social plan.
Brinkers said “The personnel are sick of it and that’s why we are not going to work on Friday.”
Holland Casino is trying to reduce their operating costs by 36 million Euros and have made the decision to lose several hundred of its workforce in an attempt to stem continued operating losses. The casino operators businesses in both Utrecht and Rotterdam are being targeted by the union and believe that both operations will have to close during the strike.
Brinkers said “The personnel are sick of it and that’s why we are not going to work on Friday.”
Holland Casino is trying to reduce their operating costs by 36 million Euros and have made the decision to lose several hundred of its workforce in an attempt to stem continued operating losses. The casino operators businesses in both Utrecht and Rotterdam are being targeted by the union and believe that both operations will have to close during the strike.
February 18, 2014
California preparing online gambling bill
California could be the only state this year to go for legalizing online gambling, according to industry watchers the largest and most populous state in the US with over 38 million residents is gaining support from the powerful Indian tribes to push for online gambling this year.
Indeed there is huge anticipation that when the new session of the legislature opens on the 22nd February a bill proposing legalizing online gambling will be presented.
It is thought that with now seven tribes for online gambling the most influential of them all the Pechanga tribe will draft a bill to allow for online poker in the state.
Some close to the proposed bill say that it will contain a no interstate compact, keeping all the 38 million potential players to themselves. Also rumoured to include a similar rule on “bad actors” such as Nevada has, removing any applicant that has operated in the US post the UIGEA.
Another inclusion will be one online gambling site for each licensee, not multiple sites. On licensing it is believed that a single license will be $5 million one off payment and tax of 5% of GGR.
Clearly California see the value of their size and do not want to give away their value cheaply, there will be many watching next week to see if a bill will be presented for online gambling.
Indeed there is huge anticipation that when the new session of the legislature opens on the 22nd February a bill proposing legalizing online gambling will be presented.
It is thought that with now seven tribes for online gambling the most influential of them all the Pechanga tribe will draft a bill to allow for online poker in the state.
Some close to the proposed bill say that it will contain a no interstate compact, keeping all the 38 million potential players to themselves. Also rumoured to include a similar rule on “bad actors” such as Nevada has, removing any applicant that has operated in the US post the UIGEA.
Another inclusion will be one online gambling site for each licensee, not multiple sites. On licensing it is believed that a single license will be $5 million one off payment and tax of 5% of GGR.
Clearly California see the value of their size and do not want to give away their value cheaply, there will be many watching next week to see if a bill will be presented for online gambling.
February 10, 2014
New Report says Australians lose the most
A new report by the Economist says that Australians gamble more and lose more than any other country in the World.
According to the report Australians top the list with losses of $1144 per person
“Gambling is just like eucalyptus oil – it’s natural,” said Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce.
The biggest reason for the losses say anti-gambling campaigners are poker machines, which they say Australia has the highest concentration of poker machines in the world.
With the biggest clusters being in disadvantaged areas along the east coast, fuelling domestic violence, crime and mental illness, campaigners claim.
British consultancy firm H2 Gambling Capital said that Australians on average lose about $520 on non-casino based poker machines last year.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon said the figures were an “urgent wake-up call” for politicians.
“Let’s not forget that, with pokies, 40% of losses come from problem gamblers, with five to 10 people affected by each problem gambler,” he said.
Xenophon is renewing his push for maximum $1 bets on poker machines with hourly losses capped at $120, in line with recommendations of the 2010 parliamentary joint select committee on gambling reform.
“State and territory governments in Australia derive an average 10% or more of their taxation revenue from legalised gambling,” he said.
Although Australia had the biggest gambling losses per resident, America had the biggest loss of any nation at $136bn. Australians lost a total $21.5bn, the report said.
According to the report Australians top the list with losses of $1144 per person
“Gambling is just like eucalyptus oil – it’s natural,” said Tim Costello, chairman of the Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce.
The biggest reason for the losses say anti-gambling campaigners are poker machines, which they say Australia has the highest concentration of poker machines in the world.
With the biggest clusters being in disadvantaged areas along the east coast, fuelling domestic violence, crime and mental illness, campaigners claim.
British consultancy firm H2 Gambling Capital said that Australians on average lose about $520 on non-casino based poker machines last year.
The independent senator Nick Xenophon said the figures were an “urgent wake-up call” for politicians.
“Let’s not forget that, with pokies, 40% of losses come from problem gamblers, with five to 10 people affected by each problem gambler,” he said.
Xenophon is renewing his push for maximum $1 bets on poker machines with hourly losses capped at $120, in line with recommendations of the 2010 parliamentary joint select committee on gambling reform.
“State and territory governments in Australia derive an average 10% or more of their taxation revenue from legalised gambling,” he said.
Although Australia had the biggest gambling losses per resident, America had the biggest loss of any nation at $136bn. Australians lost a total $21.5bn, the report said.
Online gambler suing operator that has consequences for whole of EU
A gambler that lost €1,000,000 playing online casino games in Austria is suing the online operator based on the fact that the company operated in conflict to Austrian monopoly laws towards online gambling, hence the player says makes it illegal and wants his losses back.
The case has reached the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) which asked for a revision of the entire national gambling legislation.
The court that heard the initial case has supported the claim by the player but was overruled by Austria’s Supreme Court which decided in favour of the online operator which claimed that the national gambling law established in Austria was a monopoly against European treaties on the free movement of services.
Because of the complexity of the case and rulings so far given the case has now gone to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for further evaluations.
The conclusion and decision of the ECJ will have huge consequences should they favour the idea of gambling monopolies being against European rules.
With countries such as Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania facing legal actions similar to those of Austria, not only this but should the gambler win his fight for compensation it would see thousands of other online gamblers going to court in those countries with similar laws as Austria.
The decision of the ECJ is crucial and a wake-up call for the EU to get a coherent and regulated law across the states to prevent this exploding into massive court cases.
The case has reached the Austrian Supreme Court (OGH) which asked for a revision of the entire national gambling legislation.
The court that heard the initial case has supported the claim by the player but was overruled by Austria’s Supreme Court which decided in favour of the online operator which claimed that the national gambling law established in Austria was a monopoly against European treaties on the free movement of services.
Because of the complexity of the case and rulings so far given the case has now gone to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for further evaluations.
The conclusion and decision of the ECJ will have huge consequences should they favour the idea of gambling monopolies being against European rules.
With countries such as Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania facing legal actions similar to those of Austria, not only this but should the gambler win his fight for compensation it would see thousands of other online gamblers going to court in those countries with similar laws as Austria.
The decision of the ECJ is crucial and a wake-up call for the EU to get a coherent and regulated law across the states to prevent this exploding into massive court cases.
January 30, 2014
Indonesia: National Police block 146 online gambling sites
National Police chief Gen. Sutarman disclosed on Wednesday that the police had detected at least 146 online gambling sites and blocked their account numbers.
The gambling operations, which have steadily increased in Indonesia, were discovered during routine monitoring, Sutarman said.
Sutarman admitted that gambling activities had changed from conventional operations like Togel, to Internet sites using the latest state-of-the-art technology.
"All the gambling accounts were blocked and we are continuing to investigate. Of the total, 96 accounts were fictitious with some using fake addresses, while the remainder are unknown," Sutarman said as quoted by kompas.com.
He made the remarks during a working meeting at the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He explained that the National Police had set up a special team to combat cybercrime. The team first traces sites offering online gambling. If there is a strong indication that an account is offering gambling services, the police immediately block the site.
With regard to the money on the blocked accounts, Sutarman added, it would be confiscated and added to state coffers. The money would be confiscated during the trial process, based on Article 3 [of the Criminal Code] on money laundering.
"We will keep on investigating [...] and any funds proved in court to be linked to money-laundering practices will be confiscated for the state," he said.
Separately, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has blocked 119 accounts held at four banks, whose funds are allegedly linked to fraudulent and online gambling activities. All of the blocked accounts have used new payment methods (NPMs) for money laundering.
PPATK head M. Yusuf said NMPs were increasingly being used as alternative payment methods for cash obtained from gambling.
"This includes money from Internet gambling," Yusuf said at the PPATK in Jakarta on Friday.
He added that the PPATK had discovered 14 NPM cases using cash derived from fraud and online gambling.
Most NPMs are conducted in Jakarta (35.71 percent), followed by East Java (28.7 percent) and West Java (21.43 percent).
The gambling operations, which have steadily increased in Indonesia, were discovered during routine monitoring, Sutarman said.
Sutarman admitted that gambling activities had changed from conventional operations like Togel, to Internet sites using the latest state-of-the-art technology.
"All the gambling accounts were blocked and we are continuing to investigate. Of the total, 96 accounts were fictitious with some using fake addresses, while the remainder are unknown," Sutarman said as quoted by kompas.com.
He made the remarks during a working meeting at the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He explained that the National Police had set up a special team to combat cybercrime. The team first traces sites offering online gambling. If there is a strong indication that an account is offering gambling services, the police immediately block the site.
With regard to the money on the blocked accounts, Sutarman added, it would be confiscated and added to state coffers. The money would be confiscated during the trial process, based on Article 3 [of the Criminal Code] on money laundering.
"We will keep on investigating [...] and any funds proved in court to be linked to money-laundering practices will be confiscated for the state," he said.
Separately, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) has blocked 119 accounts held at four banks, whose funds are allegedly linked to fraudulent and online gambling activities. All of the blocked accounts have used new payment methods (NPMs) for money laundering.
PPATK head M. Yusuf said NMPs were increasingly being used as alternative payment methods for cash obtained from gambling.
"This includes money from Internet gambling," Yusuf said at the PPATK in Jakarta on Friday.
He added that the PPATK had discovered 14 NPM cases using cash derived from fraud and online gambling.
Most NPMs are conducted in Jakarta (35.71 percent), followed by East Java (28.7 percent) and West Java (21.43 percent).
January 29, 2014
Boss of William Hill says Betting shops that cluster are bad
Ralph Topping the Chief Executive at William Hill has said that betting shops that clusters in UK high streets can cause harm and could alienate local communities.
The boss of the UK’s biggest bookmakers says he understands the reasons why people object to new betting shops opening so close together on Britain’s high streets and seen ‘stark examples’ of their impact.
He proposes for local authorities to be given extra powers to stop the issue of betting shops clustering on local high streets.
The announcement from Mr Topping comes as MPs and campaigners continue their fight against bookmakers opening betting shops simply for the use of adding Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) to increase revenues through what has been dubbed by anti-gambling campaigners the “crack cocaine” of gambling.
The boss of the UK’s biggest bookmakers says he understands the reasons why people object to new betting shops opening so close together on Britain’s high streets and seen ‘stark examples’ of their impact.
He proposes for local authorities to be given extra powers to stop the issue of betting shops clustering on local high streets.
The announcement from Mr Topping comes as MPs and campaigners continue their fight against bookmakers opening betting shops simply for the use of adding Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) to increase revenues through what has been dubbed by anti-gambling campaigners the “crack cocaine” of gambling.
January 25, 2014
Bookmaker's darkest day: Failed coup or another gamble?
24 hours after an inspired and successful £2m gamble on four horses with links to legendary punter Barney Curley, bookmakers were on red alert when another horse with similar associations was the plunge of the day in Kempton’s 5.00 last night.
Pipers Piping, trained in his previous races by John Butler, was backed from 20-1 to 6-4 favourite with BetVictor.
Butler was responsible for one of the gambled-on quartet the previous day, Low Key, who returned from a 350-day lay-off to win at 4-7 having been backed in from 7-1.
Pipers Piping bore a similar profile, a eight-time winner who had fallen from grace and was having his first run for almost a year.
But Pipers Piping could finish no better than seventh so the gamble failed – or did it.
The race was won by 16-1 chance Prohibition, like Pipers Piping previously trained by Butler and having its first run for Mandy Rowland.
Prohibition had been favourite for its last race but due to the interest in its stablemate drifted to 16-1.
The betting patterns resembled an ‘SP job’, a tactic not in breach of any rules of racing, where one horse is backed to improve the odds and disguise interest in another.
Of Wednesday’s infamous quartet, Eye Of The Tiger (Lingfield, 1.30) and Secret Summit (Catterick, 1.40) were once trained by Curley, Low Key is trained by Butler, a former Curley assistant, while Des Donovan, responsible for saddling both Eye Of The Tiger and Indus Valley (Kempton, 4.25) is based in Curley’s old yard at Exning outside Newmarket.
The quartet was available at combined odds of 14,783-1 on Tuesday night, but post-gamble the combined SP odds became a mere 16-1.
The sensational gamble was reminiscent of the £4m coup Curley famously engineered in 2010.
A spokesman for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said on Wednesday: “There’s no doubt this is one of the blackest days in the history of bookmaking.
“The horses have been backed in singles, doubles, trebles and four-folds and punters who have heard about the gamble have clambered aboard the bandwagon.”
Each of the horses was placed in races they could justifiably win on their best form but due to their lack of recent form they were priced up as outsiders.
Pipers Piping, trained in his previous races by John Butler, was backed from 20-1 to 6-4 favourite with BetVictor.
Butler was responsible for one of the gambled-on quartet the previous day, Low Key, who returned from a 350-day lay-off to win at 4-7 having been backed in from 7-1.
Pipers Piping bore a similar profile, a eight-time winner who had fallen from grace and was having his first run for almost a year.
But Pipers Piping could finish no better than seventh so the gamble failed – or did it.
The race was won by 16-1 chance Prohibition, like Pipers Piping previously trained by Butler and having its first run for Mandy Rowland.
Prohibition had been favourite for its last race but due to the interest in its stablemate drifted to 16-1.
The betting patterns resembled an ‘SP job’, a tactic not in breach of any rules of racing, where one horse is backed to improve the odds and disguise interest in another.
Of Wednesday’s infamous quartet, Eye Of The Tiger (Lingfield, 1.30) and Secret Summit (Catterick, 1.40) were once trained by Curley, Low Key is trained by Butler, a former Curley assistant, while Des Donovan, responsible for saddling both Eye Of The Tiger and Indus Valley (Kempton, 4.25) is based in Curley’s old yard at Exning outside Newmarket.
The quartet was available at combined odds of 14,783-1 on Tuesday night, but post-gamble the combined SP odds became a mere 16-1.
The sensational gamble was reminiscent of the £4m coup Curley famously engineered in 2010.
A spokesman for Irish bookmaker Paddy Power said on Wednesday: “There’s no doubt this is one of the blackest days in the history of bookmaking.
“The horses have been backed in singles, doubles, trebles and four-folds and punters who have heard about the gamble have clambered aboard the bandwagon.”
Each of the horses was placed in races they could justifiably win on their best form but due to their lack of recent form they were priced up as outsiders.
January 23, 2014
Another Swiss miss for Bwin.Party
Meanwhile, one of the German betting hopefuls is coming under renewed criticism over the border in Switzerland. Last June, the country’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) called out several online gambling sites it claimed were engaging in “misleading” use of national icons such as the country’s coat of arms to imply some sort of state blessing on their operations. Singled out for particular derision was SCasino.com, which is operated by a subsidiary of Gibraltar-licensed operator Bwin.party digital entertainment.
SCasino has since removed the offending iconography, but SECO issued a fresh warning on Monday regarding what it believes to be another Bwin-backed site, onlinecasinoschweiz24.ch – along with Belize-based Virtual Casino Services Inc’s casino-zuerich.com and the unknown operators behind swisscasinoonline.eu. SECO said the sites’ use of the Swiss flag and the geographical terms ‘Schweiz’, ‘Swiss’ and ‘Zuerich’ were intended to “create the impression that the gambling games offered on the websites originate from Switzerland.”
In fact, the sites “have never been approved by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board” because online gambling remains illegal in Switzerland. SECO said the sites in questions are guilty of “violations of both the Federal Act against Unfair Competition and the Federal Act on the Protection of the Swiss Coat of Arms.”
SCasino has since removed the offending iconography, but SECO issued a fresh warning on Monday regarding what it believes to be another Bwin-backed site, onlinecasinoschweiz24.ch – along with Belize-based Virtual Casino Services Inc’s casino-zuerich.com and the unknown operators behind swisscasinoonline.eu. SECO said the sites’ use of the Swiss flag and the geographical terms ‘Schweiz’, ‘Swiss’ and ‘Zuerich’ were intended to “create the impression that the gambling games offered on the websites originate from Switzerland.”
In fact, the sites “have never been approved by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board” because online gambling remains illegal in Switzerland. SECO said the sites in questions are guilty of “violations of both the Federal Act against Unfair Competition and the Federal Act on the Protection of the Swiss Coat of Arms.”
New German sports bet license deadline
Groundhog Day has come early in Germany, where the 41 hopefuls vying for the country’s 20 federal sports betting licenses have received fresh instructions on how to fill out the application forms. Germany began the process of selecting its lucky 20 sports betting licensees shortly after it passed its interstate gambling treaty in mid-2012, but last November the Interior Ministry announced that not one of the applicants had successfully met the qualifications for licensing.
The authorities in Hesse have now issued individual letters to each applicant, pointing out the instances of undotted I’s and uncrossed T’s and requesting further information necessary for the regulators to make their decision. Applicants have been given until March 14 to resubmit their forms. At least one unidentified operator groused to eGaming Review that they hoped this latest go-round would be “more professional” than previous efforts.
Regardless of how much of that fabled Teutonic efficiency is on display this time around, the Ministry will require a few months to process the new applications before making any announcement, which will be followed by a required 15-day standstill period. Operators who fail to make the cut may further gum up the works via legal actions protesting their rejection, making it a virtual lock that no operator will be accepting legal German sports bets until the second half of the year at the earliest.
The authorities in Hesse have now issued individual letters to each applicant, pointing out the instances of undotted I’s and uncrossed T’s and requesting further information necessary for the regulators to make their decision. Applicants have been given until March 14 to resubmit their forms. At least one unidentified operator groused to eGaming Review that they hoped this latest go-round would be “more professional” than previous efforts.
Regardless of how much of that fabled Teutonic efficiency is on display this time around, the Ministry will require a few months to process the new applications before making any announcement, which will be followed by a required 15-day standstill period. Operators who fail to make the cut may further gum up the works via legal actions protesting their rejection, making it a virtual lock that no operator will be accepting legal German sports bets until the second half of the year at the earliest.
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