Racing Post Tips

A big Racing Post tip is now out of the bag and it has been sold for a massive £170 as the only daily Racing paper is set to change ownership sometime next week in a deal believed to be worth in the vicinity of £170 million.

Trinity Mirror bought this paper in the late 1990 for £1 from Sheikh Mohammed, who started the newspaper in 1986. They have seen off all rivals over the years and last year the Sportsman was the latest rival to hit the dust after less than a year trying to build market share showing how difficult it is to take on a paper that has developed a stranglehold on the racing public both in the UK and Ireland.

The prospective new owners are a group of racing-friendly Irish investors coming under the banner of FL Partners. They have been advised on the venture by former Racing Post editor Alan Byrne.

The expected announcement will surely come as some comfort for those employed by the newspaper as discussion on the publication’s future has been a constant theme for most of the year.

The Sheikh still retains ownership of the name and licences it out for use on the newspaper and its popular website.

Byrne, who has worked as a consultant to Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation since stepping down as editor, is now expected to play a pivotal role again at Racing Post under its new owners.

Betfair Big Bets

A new Betfair big bets record has been set by a Rugby punter with the Australian branch of Betfair who has bet the kitchen sink on New Zealand to win the 2007 Rugby World Cup on Betfair the number one betting exchange and could well be one of the largest in sports betting history.

The bet is reportedly one of 5 million Australian dollars at the betfair price of 1.71 which is an odds on bet so the return would be a profit of 3,550,000 Australian dollars should New Zealand do the business over the next couple of weeks.

The most interesting thing about this bet is that it is only due to betfair that such a large bet could get place as bookmakers would shy away from such a liablility but as this is a person to person exchange and this market is so liquid he managed to get his bet on but he will be paying around 2-3% of his winnings in comission as he is obviously a large punter and will be on the lower rate of comission so thats a whopping 100,000 Australian dollars profit to the betting exchange not bad you might say, plus all the publicity this gets for the betfair organisation.

Betfair refused to discuss the gambler’s identity or nationality, but said it was one of the biggest bets ever placed through the site.

Kiwi gamblers, possibly mindful of their team’s past cup calamities, have been much more restrained.

TAB head bookie Paul Lally said the biggest bet received on the All Blacks so far was $100,000 - at the shorter odds of $1.55

Source: The Dominion Post

Channel 4 Racing Bets

The Channel 4 Racing bets are all on once again after the a firm owned by the Dubai government began exclusive negotiations for a two-year £4m sponsorship deal and this will permit the Channel 4 coverage to continue as it was reported that it would come off the air if a new sporsor was not found to take over from totesport after they have decided to pull out of their support of the programme.

Dubai is the up and coming city for the next decade and they are very proud of their Horse RAcing and Dubai festival and a company called Dubai Holding, which owns and controls companies including Tussauds Group, Travelodge and the “seven-star” sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel, is discussing a deal that covers 80 days a year of Channel 4 terrestrial horse racing coverage.

Dubai Holding is a company that belongs to the government of Dubai. The ruler of the emirate, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, controls almost all of the company.

Companies including Betfair and Satellite Information Services had been tipped as front runners to take over the Channel 4 horseracing sponsorship.

Source: Guardian Unlimited

UK Bookmakers & Turf TV

Turf TV which provides TV pictures to the Retail bookmakers in the UK has not had its introduction all plain sailing having targeted over half the UK courses and having secured the TV rights to these course but the online bookies have not taken this move sitting down and the latest in the saga is that Ladbrokes, William Hill, Coral and Fred Done have issued a High Court challenge against 30 of the 31 courses behind Turf TV, accusing them of infringing competition law by collectively selling their media rights exclusively to the new racing channel.

If that were not enough they are also claiming that Turf TV is abusing its position by raising charges for pictures from £1,600 to £6,500 per shop, increasing their bill by £50m a year and this is what really hurts these bookmakers who have thousands of shops between them spread throughout the UK.

A spokesman for Turf TV said that the case would be defended ‘vigorously’, adding that it would be issuing a counterclaim. “We are bringing competition to what was previously a monopoly market and the shareholders of what was the previous monopolist – Ladbrokes and William Hill – have a vested interest in preserving the monopoly of SIS,” he said.

Tom Kelly, chief executive of the Association of British Bookmakers, told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper that, with the exception of Ascot – which is not named in the claim – the courses gave rival broadcaster SIS, ‘no opportunity to discuss new contracts’.

The betting firms are seeking an injunction preventing any of the defendants from ‘giving effect to the collective exclusive licensing’, and additional, un-quantified damages.

Source:ATE Online

Paddy Power Uk Betting Operation

For many who have studied the recent results of bookmaker Paddy Power there are questions being asked about their UK retail operation as they continue to put a drag on profits which are doing just fine and dandy but the reatil devision in the UK is by the end of June this year, Paddy Power had 59 retail betting shops in the UK. Unfortunately, it is still losing money in the UK with first-half operating losses falling to €500,000 compared to €3m for the first half of last year.

For many it is felt that they should just get out of these shops and focus on the online operation as they are just minnows compared to the big three Ladbrokes, William Hill and Coral in terms of shops in the UK.

Paddy Power boss Patrick Kennedy has presided over a 65 per cent increase in the share price of the quoted bookie. However, with the company now valued at 25 times this year’s likely profits, Kennedy is going to find it difficult to maintain this rate of share price growth.

As its most recent half-year results show, Paddy Power is still dependent on its core Irish betting shops for 55 per cent of its operating profits. Meanwhile Paddy Power is generating about 36 per cent of its operating profits on-line with the remainder coming from its telephone betting operation.

While Kennedy deserves credit for virtually eliminating Paddy Power’s UK losses, you have to wonder if he is banging his head against a brick wall. Compared to the likes of Ladbrokes (2,100 betting shops in the UK), William Hill (2,250 shops) and Coral (1,500 shops), Paddy Power’s retail UK betting operation is strictly in the Mickey Mouse category. If he wants Paddy Power to keep its stellar share rating then Kennedy should flog off the UK betting shops and concentrate on the on-line betting instead.

Source: Irish Independant

888 Casino On the Up

Over the last year the online gaming companies which had a major focus on the US have seen their profits hit badly but like all good businesses such issues are usually a test and those that respond well become much stronger and one such organisation 888, the Gibraltar-based online gambling firm, has posted an excellent set of results for the first six months of the year.

The group which have a very good presence in the UK market saw pre-tax profits almost triple to $19m, on net gaming revenues of $97m, up 24pc.

Following the problems in teh US they let go a quarter of their workforce in October 2006 after the new US legislation as the US accounted for more than half of 888’s revenue.

New measures to impove its revenue and profits stream has seen it refocus its operations by embarking upon a number of measures in teaming up with Rileys Snooker Halls in the UK and Tower Torneos in Latin America, they have also entered into sports betting after obtaining an Italian licence, with plans to extend to other regions in the future.

888 operates in 12 languages, aiming to grow in multiple markets simultaneously. It has launched a new game each month and has recently successfully introduced new 3D poker software.

888 plan to pay first half dividends of 1.8p per share, compared to 4.5p per share for the same period last year, before the legislation hit its American business.

Looking ahead, the company will focus on growth through new game introductions and a new European advertising campaign later this year.

Source: Telegraph

Totesport Cricket Bets

The online bookie totesport may weel regret offering what now looks like a best bet odds when they went 11/4 for the Indians to win their last two matches against England at the Oval and Lords and thus win the series 4-3 and those odds look generous now.

After their thrilling 2 wicket victory on Wednesday India now look a fair bet to take advantage of England’s problems and snatch the NatWest Series one-day series.

The touristsl have a renewed optimism after winning at Headingley last Sunday and England, having established a 3-1 lead in the seven-match series, suddenly look vulnerable. Andrew Flintoff continues to be troubled by ankle problems, while fellow all-rounder Ravi Bopara is definitely out with a broken thumb. Chris Tremlett will also be absent with a foot problem.

On top of that, the dynamic Kevin Pietersen is suffering a rare blip in form - his past four contributions have been 25, 9, 18, 0 and a 50odd but a poor error of judgement in running himself out and Alastair Cook is playing himself out of form.

By contrast, India’s leading batsmen will go to Lords in good heart, with their top order in great form. It is all set up for Sachin Tendulkar, in particular, has been in excellent form - averaging 50 in the first five fixtures of the series. He is 7-2 with Coral to be India’s top runscorer at the Lords and the stage is set for possibly his last match at the famous St Johns Wood ground and a 100 is very possibe having got out in the ninties more times than not this summer.

Largest Casino Opens in Wales

Wales has now a new casino in the form of the £13m Aspers casino in Swansea and it is expected to attract 10,000 people a week and see £4.5m spent on gambling over the course of the next year.

The casino, which will employ 300 and have a gaming area of more than 45,000sq ft, is in the city centre’s Salubrious Place development.

X Factor runner-up Ray Quinn is headlining the opening night on Thursday, which comes less than a week since new gambling laws were introduced in Britain.

Richard Noble, general manager of Aspers, emphasised the difference between modern and traditional casinos.

He said: “The old-style venues typically were smaller establishments, usually quite smoky - the restaurants and the bars were just purely there to offer a service to keep people at gaming tables.

“We’re looking the complete opposite. All our ancillaries within Aspers, our restaurants, our bars, they’re all businesses in themselves.

“Where the old-style casino, they welcomed people who were there to game, we welcome people here to enjoy themselves.”

Swansea Council leader Chris Holley said people should remember that casinos had existed in Swansea, Cardiff and other cities for more than 40 years.

He said: “We have to remember modern casinos like Aspers are not just a place that you go for gambling, there’s facilities for restaurants, it’s an entertainment venue as well.

“I can understand people’s concerns but I would be a lot more concerned if I was in the government about the online gambling that’s taking place.

“That’s virtually unregulated at the moment you know whereas the casinos are very well regulated and run by responsible people so I don’t have a problem with that and they’re not new, they’re just bigger and better.”

Source BBC

InterCasino Gets Malta Licience

InterCasino gets its malta licence and this will now allow them to advertise under the new advertising reulations which have come into force in the UK since the 1st September 2007.

Also InterPoker have been granted online casino gaming and online poker licenses from the government Malta . Pursuant to their licence, the companies have successfully completed the stringent requirements of the Maltese government to operate their online gaming business from Malta .

Recognised as blue-chip brands throughout Europe, InterCasino and InterPoker chose to relocate their servers to Malta due to the country’s progressive policy in online gaming regulation, and because of the operational advantages across Europe that an online gaming license within the EU affords. It has already been recognised by the United Kingdom that InterCasino and InterPoker’s Maltese license places these companies on a white-list of compliant operators allowed to advertise within the UK .

Besides players, the other beneficiaries of InterCasino and InterPoker’s Maltese license are the company’s affiliates and marketing partners, who will be able to continue marketing these brands across the EU. “InterCasino and Interpoker are both top quality brands that have been player favourites for years. They are a first choice brand to market, and their new license means that you’ll see a lot more of them in the future,” according to Michael Caselli, Editor-in-Chief of Europe’s #1 poker magazine, Bluff Europe.

“We are very pleased to confirm that InterCasino & InterPoker now have a full European license in the EU territory of Malta .

Following increased regulation of online gaming across the world, InterPoker and InterCasino have moved our business, servers and official license to Malta . We have done this to ensure that all our customers are able to enjoy playing at InterPoker in the full knowledge that their game play will be with the premier European gaming license jurisdiction,” said InterCasino Group Spokesman Peter Marcus.

Paddy Power Cheltenham Betting Up

The Paddy Power betting group showed excellent half year results for the six months ended 30 June the company reported an operating profit growth of 108pc to €40.8m and was very pleased with its Cheltenham Festival betting in shops due to the new epos system, even though there were some online problems on one of the days of the festival. The company reported revenues of €143.7m, up considerably from the €104.9m reported in the same period last year.

Paddy Power chief executive Patrick Kennedy was reported to be very pleased with operating profits at its online channel which increased by 53pc or €5.1m in the first half of 2007.

Chief Executive Patrick Kennedy was very encouraged with the online results as “Customer numbers in the online channel continued to grow strongly with an 18pc increase at the end of the half year relative to June 2006, despite slower growth in sports book customers without the Football World Cup,” Kennedy explained.

“Online competition remains intense but we are confident that our brand, product range and top class customer service, as well as our continuous drive to increase our marketing efficiency, means we are well positioned for growth.”

Kennedy said that the aim is to continue to invest in people and technology to optimise customer acquisition and retention.

“For example, we added our newly developed affiliate management system to paddypower.com during the period, automating the process for other web site operators to promote our products on their websites.

“This year’s Cheltenham Festival and Grand National were the first for many shops with EPOS and we were pleased with the improvement in customer service from speedier bet placement and collection, including the benefit of EPOS readable ‘mark sense’ dockets for shop coupons and press promotions,” Kennedy explained.

“We are also extracting more benefits by continuously refining and acting upon information from the system for operational management, marketing, risk and security,” he added.

Next Page »