Sale of bookmaker Totesport set new deadline
August 29, 2007 by admin
The UK government has set September 28th as a deadline for investors in the horse racing industry to put forward its bid for state-owned bookmaker Totesport. The government is brokering a sale with the racing consortium, which includes Tote management, the Race Course Association and the Racehorse Owners Association.
The Labour government pledged to sell the Tote to the racing industry in 2001, but an attempted sale in 2005 was blocked by the European Commission, which said the price was so low that it constituted state aid. Following the Commission ruling, the government had the Tote valued by PricewaterhouseCoopers at a reported price of about 400 million pounds and invited offers.
Totesport was set up in 1928 and comprises 540 high street betting shops, 59 betting shops on race courses and Britain’s tote pool betting system. Some racing industry players have questioned whether the Tote would be able to meet its mandate of investing in racing if its new owner were burdened by heavy interest payments after funding the deal with debt.
An initial bid of around 320 million pounds from the racing industry consortium was rejected. Europe’s biggest gambling firm, Gala Coral, has offered to pay 405 million pounds ($796 million), but the government has pledged to sell the Tote to the industry.
Online betting sites look for UK move
August 28, 2007 by admin
Online gaming sites looking to comply with the U.K.’s new advertising guidelines are taking two different routes – moving their bases of operation to UK friendly areas or trying to get their jurisdiction approved.
More than 1,000 online betting firms will not be allowed to advertise in the U.K. after the 2005 Gambling Act takes effect on Sept. 1, according to a statement released earlier this month by the U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The new regulations state that in order to advertise in the U.K., online gaming sites must reside in an approved jurisdiction, must direct problem gamblers to the U.K.’s gamble aware Web site, must not target children and must not advertise on TV or radio before 9 p.m.
Currently, only sites located within the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Gibraltar, Isle of Man and Alderney are acceptable.
Ladbrokes Next Man United Manager Betting
August 28, 2007 by admin
Ladbrokes have today begun offering betting odds on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer becoming United manager. The latest prices include 12/1 Solskjaer to become Man Utd manager and 33/1 Solskjaer to become next permanent Man Utd manager. It’s an interesting football bet considering Strachan at Celtic, Keane at Sunderland, Bruce at Birmingham and Hughes at Blackburn as well as lower league bosses like Robson at Sheffield United all have been ex Manchester United players in recent years.
Solskjaer has been coaching at Old Trafford in recent years as his knees have continued to let him down, and anyone with the strength of mind to keep coming back from surgery to sit on the substitutes bench without complaint has much of the mental fortitude to make a manager. But can Solskjaer become a future United’s boss? Ladbrokes spokesman, Nick Weinberg, today said: “Solskjaer’s a United legend. If he decides to turn his hand to management he would make a popular Red Devils boss at some point in the future.”
United employ very few managers and whoever takes over next will probably have timed their successes very well - but United are highly unlikely to name a rookie as manager; so the 33/1 to be the next manager looks pointless. For a sentimental fiver for a bet that you might want to frame there might be something in the 12/1 that he may one day be manager; but nothing more.
Betfair Void Illegal Bets
August 28, 2007 by admin
Betfair have been forced to take the decision to void £3.6m of illegal bets placed on a tennis match in Poland due to suspicious betting patterns. Betfair said it had acted “in the interests of maintaining integrity and fairness in all our markets” after the price on the world No4, Nikolay Davydenko, drifted out after he had won the first set against the Argentinian Martin Vassallo Arguello, ranked 87th, in the Polish Open in Sopot. Davydenko lost the second set before withdrawing with an injury in the third.
A massive £3.6m of bets had been placed on the match, which is more than 10 times the amount of money normally wagered on a tennis game of this kind. After the Guardian’s newspaper disclosure yesterday that Betfair had suspended settlement of bets, the company convened an emergency meeting before announcing that “following consultation with the men’s professional tour, the ATP, Betfair has decided to void all bets”.
Betfair announced: “Even though incidents of cheating are rare, they are still deeply concerning and damage the integrity of sport. That’s why we have taken this issue so seriously. When the Gambling Act comes into force on September 1, it will mark the start of a new zero-tolerance approach to betting cheats. It will introduce a new two-year jail sentence and give the Gambling Commission powers over betting fines for the first time, including the ability to suspend and void bets and a new requirement on online bookmakers to share information with sport.”
Ladbokes to sponsor more Irish Horse Racing
August 24, 2007 by admin
The bookmaker Ladbrokes Ireland have confirmed they are looking to sponsor more Irish Horse Racing and have been revealed as the new sponsor of the Munster National at Limerick Racecourse on Sunday 14 October. The three-year agreement increases the value of this Grade A three-mile Handicap Chase to €120,000 in prize money, contributing in total prize money on the day of almost €300,000.
Adele Thompson Marketing Manager of Ladbrokes Ireland said, ‘We are delighted to announce our sponsorship of this €120,000 Munster National at Limerick. It is fantastic to be associated with such a respected and established race and we are proud to add another national to our Irish Horse Racing portfolio’.
Limerick’s oldest and most valuable race is a key fixture in the early part of the National Hunt season, and was won in 2006 by the locally trained and owned Pearly Jack, who is being aimed at the race again this year.
William Hill moves betting operation to Gibraltar
August 20, 2007 by admin
William Hill, one of the biggest bookmakers in the UK has announced that it will transfer its online gambling operations from the Dutch Antilles in the Caribbean to Gibraltar and Malta. The UK betting shop giant also operates online sportsbooks, casino and skill games along with poker. The company said that its decision was spurred by new UK legislation expected to come into effect on September 1.
Under these new regulations, only gambling companies based within the European Economic Area (EEA) or on a Government white list, which includes Malta, will be able to advertise in the UK. To allow William Hill to continue to advertise in the UK they have had to make this move. It stated that the move would help it conduct business as usual as the white list includes all forms of gambling advertising including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, taxis, buses, the underground and some websites.
Customers will see new terms and conditions from today that will ‘govern all remote activities with William Hill’ and coincide with its move. The company is also advising customers that they will need to sign up again to its new terms and conditions before they can continue betting and gaming.
Gibraltar is an EEA territory as it is a British Overseas Territory and already hosts Ladbroke’s online gambling operation as well as those of 888.com and PartyGaming.
Premierbet has shares suspended
August 17, 2007 by admin
The sportsbook group Interactive Gaming Holdings (IGH) has suspended trading on its shares on the London AIM, citing financial problems. This is not good news for the their main sportsbook Premierbet!
In a statement explaining the decision, founder and executive chairman Thomas J. Taule, said it has become evident to the company that the GBP 400 000 of interim funding to be provided by General Capital Venture Finance Limited (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports) that was announced on 15 August 2007 will not be received as originally expected. No reason was given for this.
The interim funding was needed by IGH to meet its near term working capital requirements and without it the company’s financial position has become uncertain, Taule said. He added that every effort is being made to resolve the problems facing the company, which remains in discussions with GCVF and another potential funder.
IGH operates the Premier Bet and Heathorns bookmaking companies, and previously raised capital from GCVF on two occasions in as many months in order to stay viable.
It’s been three months of turmoil for the group since its decision to relocate to the Malta jurisdiction, and the resignation of CEO John Heaton at the end of May, leaving control of the company in the hands of a board of directors composed of Taule, executive vice president Mitchell I. Petchenik and non executive director Robert Spriddell.
The company listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM market in March 2004 and acquired Heathorns, claimed to be the world’s oldest established bookmakers in March 2005, and subsequently relaunched its on-course betting presence in July 2005 at Newbury Racecourse. In August 2005, IGH acquired Premierbet, a fixed odds bookmaker based in London.
Source: online-casinos
Virtual Racing Grows in Betting Shops
August 13, 2007 by admin
Amazingly, almost one in five bets on horse racing in Britain’s 8,700 betting shops are on horses that do not exist, virtual racing is now major business. Recently the bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes, surprised investors by revealing their takings had remained strong even though 75 race meetings have been cancelled this year due to bad weather.
Ladbrokes’ chief executive, Chris Bell, and William Hill’s boss, David Harding, agree that a reduction in the number of betting opportunities has greatly reduced their dependence on traditional horse and greyhound racing.
An increasing number of punters are turning to football and other sports, but the fastest growth area has been in fixed-odds virtual games, from touch-screen roulette slot machines to computer-generated horse races. Mr Harding said roulette machines, called fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs), which first appeared in shops six years ago, now account for a third of the take.
Virtual racing has also proved a hit. Once ridiculed as a concept that would never catch on, its growth has taken everyone by surprise. Two years ago bookmakers were taking £700m on the computer-generated races, beamed on to bookies’ TV screens like any other sporting event. Since then that figure is believed to have soared higher still.
Inspired supplies about 90% of the UK market for virtual racing. A year ago it bought out Red Vision, a company better known for CGI special effects, and is developing a next generation of virtual horseracing software. A prototype seen by the Guardian is so realistic that punters will strain to distinguish the computer-generated graphics from live racecourse images.
Mr Crowley claims FOBTs gaming machines and virtual racing are generating about 40% of profits for at least one major betting shop chain client, which he declined to name.
Source: Guardian
Betfred face advertising ban in the UK
August 9, 2007 by admin
About 1,000 gambling websites based overseas are to be banned from advertising in the UK. Popular sites such as Littlewoodscasino, Betfred Casino and Interpoker.com are among those subject to the ban, which comes into force in September 2007. Broadcasters and publishers breaching the rules could face fines or prison.
The aim for this change in the law is to stop unregulated gambling sites trying to attract UK punters. Sites in the UK, Europe and other “white list” areas can advertise on TV, radio and in print media, subject to UK advertising rules.
To make it on to this list, companies must show they are subject to a suitably stringent regulatory regime. This includes measures on stopping children gambling, protecting vulnerable people, ensuring games are fair and keeping out organised crime
The new rules take effect on 1 September , when the Gambling Act comes fully into force.
The legislation also brings a relaxation of the current rules surrounding adverts for all types of gambling companies, including casinos and betting shops.
Gambling sites operating from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man, Alderney and other white-listed countries will still be allowed to advertise in the UK.
Littlewoodscasino.com, Interpoker.com, Betfred Casino and Poker are among the sites subject to the new advertising ban because they are all currently based in Caribbean islands.
The Gambling Commission has compiled figures that suggest the number of people going online to place a bet in the UK is increasing. Surveys carried out in the year to June 2007 indicated that 8.6% of adults had taken part in at least one form of “remote gambling” during the previous month, up from the 7.4% seen in 2006 polls.
William Hill Odds Comparison
August 3, 2007 by admin
When making an odds comparison, William Hill the biggest bookmaker in England, announced it had taken less from losing cleints in recent weeks compared with what it was pulling in over the same period a year ago. William Hills over 2000 betting shops in the UK, said the one per cent drop since the end of June was in line with its expectations due to tough comparatives with the previous year, which included the final rounds of the Football World Cup.
Stripping out that effect, gross win was up by 4.2 per cent despite the cancellation of almost a fifth of the scheduled horseracing fixtures after meetings were postponed due to bad weather and flooding.
A strong performance from its betting shops offset a weaker performance at its internet operation, Hill said. The bookmakers delivered the update as it disclosed a marginal rise in pre-tax profits to £134.2 million in the 26 weeks to June 26.
Chairman Charles Scott said: “We are pleased that the group has seen profit growth in the period, notwithstanding the absence of a major football tournament.”
