Sports Wager
August 1st General news ... Sports Wager was created to assist the sports bettor in properly handicapping .
Sports Wager was created to assist the sports bettor in properly handicapping .
In order to profit in from a complex game like baseball, the bettor must be as informed as possible on the ever changing statistics and trends.
Latest General News
Kentucky Derby Betting
Basketball Betting Odds
Baseball Betting
World Cup Betting
888SPORT GOES MOBILE
2010-07-29
Mkodo chosen as mobile technology partner
888sport customers can now place bets using their mobile phone on a slew of upcoming sporting events thanks to a new partnership with Mkodo, a mobile technology company that has b2b relationships with a number of mobile gambling operators.
Total industry annual wagers via mobile phones are currently set to be worth more than $27.5 billion by 2013, according to independent studies by Juniper Research, and 888sport has added mobile sports book to a technological portfolio that includes a weekly sports show podcast and live racing streamed via iCard.
888sport's mobile sports book includes an optimised version for iPhone and iPod, but can be used on any mobile phone device. It includes a 'personal' service, which prioritises menus based on a player's previous betting activity. This prioritisation also extends to making sure the latest and ongoing events are available as in-play markets - a substantial growth area in mobile betting.
888sport's mobile sports book can be accessed at http://mobile.888sport.com on a mobile device, or UK punters can text 'sport' to 83311 for an immediate link.
LADBROKES GOING AFTER AUSSIE BUSINESS
2010-07-29
UK land and online gambling group is bidding for Victorian sportsbetting action
The UK land and online gambling group Ladbrokes has made a bid for Aussie sports betting business, going up against Tabcorp and Tatts in seeking a Victoria state sports betting licence effective from 2012.
Victoria's minister for gaming, Tony Robinson announced Thursday that Ladbrokes, Tabcorp and Tatts had been short listed for the 12 year licence from a number applicants. Tabcorp, previously the TAB, has had a monopoly on off-course betting in Victoria for 50 years.
The licence covers exclusive off course retail rights to parimutuel and fixed odds betting on the three racing codes and sporting events, the right to establish the only betting exchange in Victoria and operate simulated racing games.
Ladbrokes managing director international development Kevin Hopgood, said this week: "Australia has many attractions for us. From a sporting perspective there is a lot of similarities to the UK - horse racing, greyhounds, cricket, rugby, tennis. The sports and the culture are very, very similar and the betting interest very similar."
"I think we would bring in better technology, which would bring in better presentation with more products, particularly in the sports betting side," Hopgood added.
Racing Victoria chief executive Rob Hines welcomed the strong field of final applicants.
"The post-2012 wagering joint venture will be vitally important to securing a growing and viable racing industry so we are keen to see the licence awarding process completed as soon as possible and give the industry certainty about its future partner,'' he said.
H1 REVENUES ON THE RISE AT RANK PLC, BUT PROFITS DECLINE
2010-07-29
Marketing investment cuts into operating profits
Despite a 10 percent rise in half-year 2010 revenues to GBP27.4 million, UK land and gambling group Rank plc reported a 23 percent decline in operating profit to GBP2.3 million this week.
Management attributed the decline to marketing investment and product development, together with Italian and Spanish market start-up costs of GBP300 000.
Strong performers in the half year to end June were Mecca Bingo and the relaunched Gcasino brand, which continued to show encouraging growth.
Mecca Bingo recorded revenues up 20.7 percent to GBP19.8 million, thanks to bigger marketing investment that included a deal with Britain's Got Talent, a GBP700 000 television advertising campaign and improved cross-selling to customers from Mecca Bingo clubs.
Casino revenue rose 25 percent to GBP3 million, albeit from a low base, mainly as a result of cross-selling the online offering to customers of Rank’s land-based G Casino and Grosvenor Casinos.
Blue Square sportsbook revenues declined 18 percent to GBP3.6 million despite the football World Cup during the latter half of June, reflecting a diversion of marketing spend to MeccaBingo and GCasino.com.
Poker operations again produced a lacklustre performance, with revenues down 41 percent to GBP1 million, again a consequence of marketing being diverted, although sector-wide declines in the genre were also a factor.
VIETNAM ATTACKS INTERNET FREEDOMS
2010-07-29
Bans on internet games and restraints on internet access a cause for concern
Vietnam has joined those countries taking a repressive line on the Internet, with the Ministry of Information and Communications halting the licensing of online games in general and those involving gambling in particular. The ban includes restrictions on advertising and a halt between 11pm and 6am of Internet access for commercial outlets offering public internet services.
Minister Le Doan Hop said the decision will remain in force until the end of 2010, by which time the ministry expected the government to approve draft regulations on online games.
The crackdown on online games follows a public outcry about their negative influences on the youth, the Vietnam News reports. Local reports have blamed an increase in juvenile crime and school truancy on the influence of and addiction to online games.
A recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and Training showed 70 and 76 per cent of primary school children playing online games on weekdays in Ha Noi and HCM City, respectively.
Minister Hop also mentioned long-term solutions, noting that government should work on laws to ensure information security and supervise information provided on the internet. He added that his ministry would co-operate with the Public Security Ministry to manage internet usage with electronic IDs in both internet and mobile usage.
"The electronic IDs will not only be helpful for dealing with online games issues but also for mobile phone subscriber management," Hai said.
Meanwhile, deputy chairman of HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Tai has urged the Department of Information and Communications to work harder in cracking down on online games with violent, gambling and pornographic content.
MERGER WILL CREATE THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BIGGEST ONLINE GAMBLING COMPANY
2010-07-29
Bwin and Party Gaming announce merger after months of speculation and rumour
Vying with the passage out of Committee in the USA of Barney Frank's bill to legalise online gambling, a merger agreement between online gambling giants Bwin Interactive and Party Gaming plc grabbed the headlines Thursday.
Announcements from the two companies highlighted:
* Creation of the world’s largest listed online gaming business
* Market leading positions in all key verticals of online poker, sports betting, casino and games (in particular bingo)
* Pro forma 2009 net gaming revenue of Euro 682 million and EBITDA of Euro 196 million, before synergies
* Estimated annualised synergies of approximately Euro 55 million
* Proposed Merger is expected to be significantly earnings enhancing for both companies pre-amortisation
* Enlarged Group to be owned approximately 48.36 percent and 51.64 percent by Party Gaming and Bwin shareholders respectively and will be listed on the London Stock Exchange and incorporated in Gibraltar.
* Party Gaming's Jim Ryan and Bwin's Norbert Teufelberger to be co-chief executive officers of the enlarged group
* Irrevocable undertakings in support of the proposed merger have been received from shareholders currently holding 28.5 percent and 14.4 per cent of Party Gaming and Bwin’s existing issued share capital respectively.
Commenting on the proposed merger, Party Gaming plc CEO Jim Ryan said: “This is a transformational opportunity for both our companies to create the world’s largest listed online gaming business. With market-leading positions in poker, sports betting, casino and games (in particular bingo), the enlarged group will have a winning formula to exploit the growing online gaming market, supported by a strong balance sheet, significant cash flow generation and a highly experienced management team.”
Norbert Teufelberger, co-chief executive officer of Bwin said: “This merger of equals makes great strategic, operational and financial sense. We will be in pole position to capitalise on the wealth of opportunities that will flow from the continued evolution and expansion of the global online gaming industry.”
Under the proposed merger, the assets and liabilities of Bwin will be transferred to Party Gaming, thereby forming a Societas Europaea (European joint stock company) incorporated in Gibraltar. Current shareholders of Bwin will receive approximately 51.6 percent of the shares and current shareholders of Party Gaming 48.4 percent of the shares in the combined entity.
Upon completion of the merger, Bwin shares will be de-listed from the Vienna Stock Exchange and the shares in the combined entity will be listed exclusively on the London Stock Exchange.
The merger is subject to conditions which include the approval of the transaction by separate extraordinary meetings of the Bwin and Party Gaming shareholders; the receipt of certain antitrust and regulatory clearances; and satisfaction of employee consultation requirements as applicable to the formation of a Societas Europaea.
The supervisory board of Bwin and board of directors of Party Gaming have agreed a balanced management structure for the enlarged group, drawing upon the management strength of both groups. In addition to the co-chief executor status of Ryan and Teufelberger, Martin Weigold will be group finance director and Joachim Baca will be chief operating officer.
It is intended to appoint a new independent, non-executive chairman who will join the board of the enlarged group upon completion of the merger. Excluding the chairman, there will be equal executive and non-executive representation from current members of the Party Gaming Board, the Bwin Board and senior management.
Manfred Bodner (co-CEO Bwin) will move from the Bwin Board to be a non-executive director on the board of the enlarged group and will be involved in brand-integration management and strategic sales issues.
Analysts assessing the merger news commented that Bwin is currently the largest publicly listed internet gambling company with a market cap of around Euro 1.4 billion, while Party Gaming is second with a market cap of GBP1.1 billion.
BARNEY'S BILL APPROVED BY HOUSE COMMITTEE
2010-07-29
There's still a long road ahead, but the first hurdle has been cleared
Wednesday's delayed vote on Barney Frank's HR2267 bill seeking to legalise online gambling in the United States proved to be worth the wait, with members of the House Financial Services Committee voting it forward by 41 to 22 in a bipartisan approach. The vote was taken after a number of amendments were accepted.
“My primary goal is Americans ought to be free to do what they wish without this kind of intrusion,” said Frank, referring to the UIGEA which was implemented on June 1 2010 to disrupt financial transactions with online gambling companies. “The intrusive regulation is a problem for the financial institutions," he added.
A separate measure authored by Rep. Jim McDermott that depends on the full House approval of Frank’s plan would impose taxes on online poker and other Internet gambling, bringing the federal government as much as $42 billion over 10 years, according to an independent congressional analysis.
McDermott’s proposal would require Internet gambling operators to pay a 2 percent tax to the federal government on betting deposits and a 6 percent tax to states. The federal treasury also would collect taxes on gaming-company profits, and bettors would pay taxes on winnings.
Opponents of HR2267 included - as usual - Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the top Republican on the Financial Services Committee, who claimed that legalising online gambling would harm society and that Congress has more pressing issues to tackle.
In a rather exaggerated statement that takes little cognisance of extensive measures against underage and problem gambling, Bachus alleged: “With this bill, in one broad stroke, we will allow every child in America to gamble on their home computer or in their dorm room.”
Before passing the bill, the committee insisted on amendments that prohibit operators that have violated U.S. laws from getting licenses (suggested by Rep. Bachus); a statistical record proposal; and one to ensure that online betting on sports such as football isn’t allowed.
The panel also approved amendments to help prevent minors from gambling online and prohibit marketing that targets youth.
Using credit cards to bet will not be allowed, although debit cards are acceptable.
Another addition was a provision that those behind on child support payments will be blocked from regulated online gambling sites by the operators.
At one point the sensitive issue of tribal gambling interests was raised, with Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan suggesting an amendment to exempt state and tribal lotteries from having to be licensed by the Federal government. This was passed on the grounds that these entities are already licensed by individual states.
One California Democrat, Brad Sherman, said: “I have opposed this bill for years, but I am slowly changing. The best reason for this bill is the prospect for revenue.”
HR2267 had already attracted some 69 bi-partisan co-sponsors prior to Wednesday's vote.
John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, a pressure group with over a million US members, said that the bipartisan nature of Wednesday's vote adds momentum to the legislation. The focus now shifts to the legislation to tax the betting, which is before the House Ways and Means Committee, he said.
Pappas noted that in addition to Frank's wider proposal in the House of Representatives, a bill focusing on internet poker had been launched by Senator Robert Menendez in the Senate, and this could be useful should the Senate find Frank's bill too broad to accept.
Bloombergs business news service reports that the U.S. Internet gambling market is expected to climb to $5.7 billion in 2010 from $5.4 billion last year, according to U.K.-based H2 Gambling Capital. If the U.S. legalises online gambling, the market could grow to $24 billion in five years, according to H2. That excludes most sports betting, which wouldn’t be allowed under Frank's proposals to the House.
The global market now is about $30 billion, H2 estimates.
The passage out of committee of HR 2267 has already excited wide mainstream media coverage, especially the amendment that seeks to prohibit the issue of US licenses to offshore companies that continued to operate in the United States after the passage of the UIGEA in 2006.
Industry observers and analysts point specifically to very large online poker entities like Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars as possible victims of this clause. Many large groups exited the US market in the wake of UIGEA, and others have negotiated their positions with the US Justice Department.
HR2267 places heavy emphasis on operator measures to prevent underage, problem or criminally influenced gambling, along with assurances that the autonomy of individual states will be respected and internet betting in states that prohibit it will be blocked.
The chairman of the PPA, former Senator Alphonse D'Amato said in a statement after the Frank Bill was approved: “The fact is, online poker is not going away. Congress has a choice – it can license and regulate it to provide government oversight and consumer protections, or our lawmakers can stick their heads in the sand, ignore it, and leave consumers to play on non-U.S. regulated websites in all 50 states.
“I’m glad the Financial Services Committee today overwhelmingly chose to act and protect Americans as well as preserve the fundamental freedoms of adults and the Internet. This is a great day not only for poker players, but for proponents of Internet freedom and individual liberty.
“We thank Chairman Frank for his leadership on this bill, and look forward to working with him to bring this bill through the legislative process.”
Key provisions of HR 2267 include:
* Thorough vetting of potential licensees and the creation of an OFAC-style list of illegal operators;
* Mandatory implementation of technologies to protect against underage gambling using the commercial and government databases used for online banking to verify age and identity
* Requirements for operators to set daily, weekly or monthly limits on deposits and losses to monitor and detect individuals with excessive gaming habits;
* High standards to thwart fraud, abuse and cheating to ensure fair games for customers;
* Regulation to prevent money laundering; and,
* Processes to prevent tax avoidance.
