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Welcome to Bet Sages Gambling News Section, featuring the latest breaking
gambling industry news courtesy of InfoPowa News. This is your one stop source for
all and any of the latest developments concerning leisure based wagering
activities on the internet.
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| 08 JANUARY 2007 : HEADLINES |
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Betting group snaps up two Internet betting groups for total of $66.3 million (GBP 33.7 million) in shares.
Party Gaming ended 2006 with a bang this week, splashing out on the acquisition of both Empire Online group and online casino operator Intercontinental Online Gaming to the tune of GBP 33.7 million (US$ 66.3 million) in shares. Party will fund the acquisitions by issuing 115.2 million new shares, according to a statement from the company.
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A fast start to a promising year....
The news that Party Gaming is to acquire Empire Online and Intercontinental Online Gaming - subject to shareholder approval - has been followed with a statement from online casino and poker software developer Playtech that it has concluded a long term agreement with Party for the continued use of its software to run the newly acquired gaming websites.
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Rationale for greater rewards is to mitigate effects of loss of US business, and retain top people
The UK newspaper the Telegraph reports that online gambling group Party Gaming has scrapped the performance targets on options held by its top directors and awarded more shares and multi-million pound bonuses despite the plunging share price in the last few months following the loss of US business.
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But founding shareholders are carrying the burden for incentives
The incentive share and cash plan announced recently for Party Gaming top brass (see previous InfoPowa report) was under scrutiny this week by the group's major shareholders in case it breaches UK corporate governance codes, reports The Guardian.
The unusually structured GBP 40 million plan to incentivise and retain key staff following a collapse in Party's share price following the American ban on financial transactions for online gambling has no conditional links to the future share price or performance of the company, something that investors usually demand from executive remuneration schemes.
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Skybook offers a seriously desirable prize in new NFL playoff contest for portal members
Top online gambling portal and forum TheRx.com has something to crow about this week with an innovative member's contest in which the popular Internet sportsbook, Skybook.com is giving members a shot at a major prize - a double-rugged, 2007 Hummer H3.
TheRx.com announced the NFL playoff-based contest, which is for registered members only, this week. Although the current prize is the biggest yet, it is not the first time that Skybook has put up attractive incentives. In the past, throughout each week of the 2006 NFL season, Skybook has given away an LCD television to one lucky member of TheRx, adding to the thousands in cash prize giveaways given away year round.
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Orange County lawyer used ill-gotten gains for online gambling
A lawyer accused of embezzling more than $900 000 from the estate of an Orange County woman and using much of it for online gambling had her bail set this week at $1 million, while her arraignment was postponed until next Tuesday.
Jennifer Ann Wenger (53) stands accused of embezzling more than $900 000 from the estate of Goldie Carlova while serving as the court appointed conservator and administrator of her estate between October 12, 2004 and February 28 2005.
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Lawyers for besieged betting group say Antiguan court order prevents payment
The plight of 4 863 unpaid BetonSports gamblers was highlighted this week in an article from the Bloomberg business news service in which lawyers for the besieged betting group said that the outstanding amounts cannot be paid due to an Antiguan court order placed on the assets of the company.
Bloomberg reported that BetonSports PLC, the London-based Internet gambling company barred from doing business in the U.S., owes money to at least 4 863 customers.
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More American legislative inconsistency as NY Racing Board opens up online wagering
Trying to view the latest New York horse racing regulations as a glass half full, rather than one half empty, a new decision to allow horse racing wagers over the Internet is another acceptance of the Internet in the gambling context. But coming from a state famed for a zealously anti-online gambling DA and some spectacular sports betting busts, it all seems a little hypocritical.
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New daily $100 000 Guaranteed competitions should be a big crowd puller
Mansion Poker is to make a major investment in daily online poker tournaments according to an announcement from the company this week, which promises a "$100K A Day" guaranteed poker tournament series starting on January 3.
The new series has been planned to commence as the existing $250 000 Added Value Tournament Series ends on January 2, and comprises a daily $100 000 guaranteed poker tournament that will play each day at 3 a.m. (GMT). Regardless of how many people register to play each day, the prize pool will be guaranteed at the minimum of $100 000.
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Unexplained escalation in purchase price....
Reuters this week reported a surprise price escalation in the bid by Tattersall's and Macquarie Bank subsidiary European Gaming to acquire Brit betting group Talarius (see previous InfoPowa reports)
The Australians revealed Friday that European Gaming had raised a previously agreed offer for British amusement arcade firm Talarius Plc by 3.7 percent to GBP142.3 million ($280 million).
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At last, a mainstream media article that understands the hypocrisy surrounding online gambling bans
The hypocrisy of government institutions that support general forms of gambling, but ban Internet gambling on moral grounds has at last been examined by the inte rnational magazine Newsweek in it's upcoming January 8 issue. And the story has been picked up and distributed widely by other online and offline media.
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Progressive slots player scoops $1 745 475.28 jackpot at Captain Cook's Casino
The Sir Cashalot progressive slots jackpot at Captain Cook's online casino has been won by an as yet unidentified player who saw in the New Year in style with a win worth $1 745 475 and some loose change this week.
The player becomes the tenth millionaire created by the Microgaming progressive network, which has paid out a record $220 million since launch and recently launched the Mega Moolah progressive, where the jackpot is currently sitting at $1.1million.
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A fast and easy way to explore the progressives
From Alladin's Lamp to Super 7's and the full range of progressive jackpots in between, players now have relevant information, in real time, at their fingertips with a new free-of-charge service branded "Progressive Jackpot Tracker" at leading portal Online-Casinos.com (www.online-casinos.com/progressives/)
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New Year tournaments prove that you can't keep a good pastime down
The field may have been smaller than usual due to the old year exiting and the new one arriving, but the online poker action was still brisk and the winnings were spectacular, showing once again that it takes more than political shenanigans to keep a good game down.
Mansion boosted their tournament cash (see earlier InfoPowa reports) as did Party Poker and Poker Stars, with the latter launching a special $1 000 buy-in competition that attracted a few big names using online *handles* and gave the winner a larger than usual pay check.
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Here's one Brit MP who thinks so....
British politician Mike Weir, an MP representing the Scottish National Party in the Angus constituency of Scotland has called for a cap on individual Internet wagers of GBP 1 000 a week, and has suggested that online gamblers be limited to the use of one credit card on a gambling site (see previous InfoPowa reports)
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The biggest event on the Internet backgammon calendar starts on January 21
Organisers of what is arguably the biggest event on the backgammon calendar report that the response from the international player community has been substantial, with only a few seats left in million dollar Backgammon Group tournament.
Scheduled for the luxurious Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, the tournament runs January 21 through 25
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New study reveals that online gambling is no more addictive than other online pursuits
The 2005 study on Internet addiction carried out by Stanford University researchers achieved an astonishing amount of mainstream media coverage throughout 2006 for a relatively small sample survey, indicating a fascination with the link between *Internet* and *addiction*.
Now a December 2006 study by Stanford has been released by CNS Spectrums, the monthly international journal of neuropsychiatry to add new findings to the issue.
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Software licensing deal with online gambling giant a good deal for developer
The Playtech software licensing deal for online gambling properties recently acquired from Empire Online and IOG by Party Gaming continued to dominate online gambling industry news reports today (Wednesday)
The Independent reported that under the agreement, Party Gaming will have access to Playtech's casino, poker and bingo products, and that shares in both companies surged between 6 and 12 percent when the news broke.
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Playtech pushing ahead with Tribeca Tables absorption
In an interview with Playtech CEO Avigur Zmora this week, Reuters reports that integrating the players of former rival Tribeca, which Playtech agreed to buy in November 2006, would probably be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2007.
The $75 million deal brought with it a number of Internet gambling websites operating on Tribeca's poker software platform, including VCPoker, PaddyPower Poker, Blue Square Poker and Scandinavian group, Expekt (see previous InfoPowa reports).
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Poker Room.com remains silent in the face of mounting criticism over a tournament that went wrong
For the past two weeks online poker message boards like Winneronline, 2 + 2 and Poker Room's own message board facility have been clouded by growing condemnation of an online poker tournament that appears to have gone horribly wrong.
The issue centres on a $20 + 2 buy-in Christmas tournament that took place on December 16 and promised a guaranteed prize pool of $19 000. An Australian player using the handle Mvzander subsequently won the tournament and was paid out $3 829.06 and a HD television worth $2 000.
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Poker room belatedly meets its obligations
A festive season poker tournament that went horribly wrong following a software glitch was belatedly resolved this week by the million player Poker Room.com. Cash removed unilaterally from the tournament winner's player account (see previous InfoPowa report) was re-deposited as the poker room admitted its screw-up in a somewhat provocatively worded public announcement on the Poker Room forum.
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This time its BetUS sending out pink slips
Dozens of Costa Rican employees have been laid off by one of the online gambling industry's larger companies, BetUS.com, according to a report from sportsbook portal Gambling911 this week, which suggests that the company is the latest group to significantly downsize its Costa Rica operations. Bodog.com announced similar plans last month.
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Aces Texas Hold 'Em on the move...
Virgin.net reports this week on a new multiplayer poker game for punters on the move with a penchant for cellphone card games.
Developed by Concrete Software, a mobile content publisher, the new offering is branded 'Multiplayer Aces Texas Hold'em' and utilizes GPS technology to locate nearby players and join them at a virtual table.
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Better benefits for Walk of Fame players
The Hollywood Poker.com site is ringing in the new year with a new VIP program branded the $25 000 Walk of Fame Freeroll that has been much anticipated by members. Going into 2007, players who accumulate 25 000 Poker Points automatically achieve Walk of Fame status and gain access to new benefits, such as exclusive entry into $20 000 members' and Celebrity-only events, free tickets to all major freerolls and custom Hollywood Poker gear.
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One of the industry's major events is just around the corner...
One of the must-attend annual business events for online gambling industry professionals is undoubtedly the International Casino Exhibition, which this year opens at Earls Court in London on 23 January and ends of the 25th.
The growing online gambling section, branded ICEi this year is well illustrated by the current list of committed exhibitors on the http://www.icei-exhibition.com website, which includes a wide range of well known and perhaps not-so-familiar companies offering various services and technologies to the industry.
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No wonder the French want to keep revenues like these to themselves
EuroNews carried a report this week that illustrates just some of the substantial revenues generated by the French gambling industry, much of which is monopolised by the state. The report shows that France's 193 land casino operations enjoyed one of their best years, with profits from the 2005 - 2006 season on casino gambling alone of Euro 2.7 billion.
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Nevada land casinos report record $2.1 billion profit for 2006. $1.96 billion in complimentary services to high-rolling gamblers.
Associated Press carried a new report this week that shows Nevada's major hotel-casinos posted their highest net income ever in fiscal 2006 - a combined $2.1 billion.
The report released by the state Gaming Control Board also showed that the 274 Nevada resorts had $5.4 billion in earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA the indicator that analysts watch most closely.
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With American online gamblers determined to keep playing, new opportunities are emerging for enterprising companies
The still evolving business situation in the United States following the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act last October was examined by the Evening Standard this week.
The advent of the UIGEA, which seeks to disrupt financial channels between US players and online gambling sites saw many large public companies exit the key US market, and companies who dispute the claim that online gambling is an illegal activity and have continued to operate in this lucrative sector have been enjoying growing success, which the newspaper describes as a "bonanza".
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European Poker Tour expanding into Poland
Polish poker players will this year join thousands of their European counterparts in following the European Poker Tour action, as the wide ranging contest adds the Eastern European country to its list of venues.
Entering its third successful season, the Tour has added Warsaw to its action-packed list leading up to the Monte Carlo Grand Finale, and Poles will be able to check out the action, and maybe compete in a four day Texas Hold 'Em championship with a +/- Euro 4 000 buy-in.
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A seat in 10 poker tournaments with a collective prize pool of over $100 million; a buy-in to the biggest televised Texas Hold'em cash game and personal training with a top global ace....could this be a dream?
Absolute Poker, fresh from its intriguing tete-a-tete with the Canadian Mounties last year (see previous InfoPowa reports) has revealed the details of its major 2007 promotional push, titled "The Absolute Dream Package."
The rewards achievable are significant: a seat in 10 poker tournaments with a collective prize pool of over $100 million; a buy-in to the biggest televised Texas Hold'em cash game and one-on-one training with Poker Player of the Year, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.
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Ocean Breeze Poker expands offering
A new online casino and sportsbook has been launched by gaming company, Ocean Breeze Poker.com, as part of its new online multiplayer software from the Futurebet company.
Unfortunate but true, several Futurebet licensees have not been hassle-free for players in the past, which will discourage some gamblers from trying out the new facilities.
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HSBC penalises UK gambling card users
Banking giant HSBC has made a new year announcement that may give gamblers pause for thought; from February 1 credit card transactions that involve gambling will attract a higher interest rate.
Gambling transactions on bank credit cards are to be handled at the higher "Cash Advance" rate of interest rather than the normal credit purchase fee. The difference is significant - interest at between 21.9 percent and 27.8 percent instead of between 15.9 percent and 22.9 percent.
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Clue up on the Euroscene
Before you know it, March will be here so make a note of an important date to expand your knowledge of the critically important European gambling scene.
The Betmarkets conference will take place on Monday 26th March and Tuesday 27th at the Le Meredien in Vienna, Austria.
The programme for the first ever BetMarkets is developing fast, and Jean Bergevin, Head of Unit in DG MARKT and responsible for Sports Betting at the European Commission has been confirmed as a keynote speaker. Bergevin's attendance at BetMarkets is vital in helping delegates understand the potential growth and future landscape of sports betting business opportunities across Europe.
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| PREVIOUS NEWS ARTICLES... |
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| 17th June 2006
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| 24th June 2006
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| 1st July 2006
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| 11th July 2006
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| 23rd July 2006
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| 27th July 2006
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| 6th August 2006
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| 12th August 2006
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| 18th August 2006
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| 25th August 2006
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| 1st September 2006
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| 8th September 2006
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| 2nd October 2006
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| 24th November 2006
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| 1st December 2006
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| 8th December 2006
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| 22nd December 2006
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| 29th December 2006
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| 8th January 2007
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| 12th January 2007
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