iGaming News all over the world 09.01.2010

09.01.2010, Study Ranks Online Gambling Brand Strength / Iceland and Online Gambling / PhilWeb Showing Strong Profits for 2009 / Brazilian Poker Tournaments Going Strong

Study Ranks Online Gambling Brand Strength
Josh Apiafi heads up an independent consultancy called Apiafi Associates that concentrates mainly on the gaming and horseracing industry. It also consults to other businesses on commercial, marketing and branding, issues. Mr. Apiafi was CEO of the Professional Jockeys Association and Director of Horseracing plus, Head of Marketing for Betfair for five years.

Apiafi Associates client base includes REL (Racing Enterprises Ltd), The Professional Jockeys Association, The PPF (Professional Players Association), Joules Clothing, Integrity In Sport Ltd, Rewards4Golf, Weathercock Racing Ltd and Sportsmasters International.

His company was recently commissioned by a business person wanting to invest in the online gambling industry to test the brand loyalty and strength of ten of the largest most popular industry leaders. Among them were, 888, bet365, Betfair, Bodog, bwin, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Party Poker, Pokerstars and William Hill.

Throughout the month of December 2009 the number of Google Alerts* generated daily by each of the firms was noted and compiled as part of the results of the research for the group. The information provided showed the highly competitive nature of the business and how successful online gambling companies spend large and use all forms of media to get their market share. Mr. Apiafi commented on the project, "With much talk of digital and social media as well as the investment gambling companies put into PR generally we were keen to see how well the industry was getting its message out there with impressive results." He qualified his research results with this statement, "The method's simplicity is its trump card. Equally, the results were very consistent on a daily basis - this wasn't a case of one brand having a lot to shout about during this particular period or having one or two very strong days that skewed the data." Bodog was top dog with the most activity on Google Alerts in December. Although big online brands are continually active, this test begs the question of whether more activity online equals a stronger brand presence.

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Iceland and Online Gambling
Iceland was near financial collapse recently with problems in the solvency of their banks during the economic crisis that has gripped the world. It is expected to take along time for the isolated country of vast beauty and volcanoes to recover from the massive debit that has stricken the country. There have been many examples of smaller European and other jurisdictions looking at legislation to liberalize their gambling laws in order to attract revenues to help with their nation debts. Through regulation and taxation some countries have built an entire industry with online gambling making it a major source of jobs and taxes for some. The USA which is also going through a slow period of economic growth even after the huge financial bailout the US government has offered to various industries, is considering changes in it's federal policies regarding online gambling. Separate states in the US are revamping laws to allow for more revenues from online lotteries and other forms of online gambling such as horse racing and sports betting.

Iceland would do well to consider the loosening of it's gambling laws. It has very stringent rules with regards to gambling in the nation so there is a lot of room for change. Icelander do enjoy gaming on just about everything. It is reported that a much as seventy percent of the citizens gamble. Their choices are limited to lotteries and a few scattered slot machines. An estimated thirteen percent of the people in the land of ice gamble at least once a week. These stats are good news for companies looking to locate somewhere close to Europe with the possibility of a profitable business almost for certain. Law makers in Iceland know that internet gambling is popular in their land and they also know that the offshore companies that host the games are not giving the government their fair share. Should these politicians open their eyes to the revenue potential of regulated online gambling they may also see it is way out of debit.

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PhilWeb Showing Strong Profits for 2009
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in Manila local online gambling firm PhilWeb Corp. expects to post a huge profit from all it's endeavours. The company is directed by the former Trade Minister, Roberto Ongpin, who looks at this as a positive sign of real domestic recovery from the recent slowdown in the economy. The majority of its profit in 2009 came from the firm’s core gaming operations, which grew by an astounding 126 percent. Ongpin said its net income last year amounted to an 89-percent increase from year-ago. PhilWeb is the biggest operator in the local Internet gaming sector. As a technology enabler of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor), PhilWeb operates Pagcor’s e-Games café network and Internet Sports Betting Stations (ISBS).

ISM Corp.was a good investment for PhilWeb as it has been paying equity dividends since it's purchase. The PhilWeb president Dennis Valdes said, “Our unrealized gain of P2.4 billion from our investment in ISM is a real albeit hidden jewel in our balance sheet,” he added, “PhilWeb’s and ISM’s recent acquisition of Acentic GmbH, which provides in- room guest entertainment services to the hospitality industry, will provide us a platform for international expansion. PhilWeb’s role in this expansion will be to look at introducing gaming into the Acentic network of over 200,000 rooms, and partner with ISM in growing Acentic’s reach into Asia.”

Income growth was made possible by PhilWeb's well rounded gaming operations. With it's 171 Pagcor e-Games cafés 50 of which were opened last year with other offerings like Basketball Jackpot, Premyo Sa Resibo and the newly launched Bid Wars mobile game all contributed to the outstanding gains.

The firm had an overall 82 percent rise in revenues in 2009. “We had an excellent 2009 but are even more excited about our prospects in 2010,” said Mr. Valdes.

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Brazilian Poker Tournaments Going Strong
Brazil is a very young and progressive place with a desire to be on the leading edge of everything. Gambling in Brazil has mass potential but has been illegal and effectively outlawed since the sixties.

All casino type games are illegal throughout the country without exception. Most forms of gambling were banned due to their connection with organized crime which was rampant during that era. But Brazil has changed and is much more controlled and legally compliant than in those bygone days. Much like in Las Vegas the idea of gambling has become more mainstream and accepted as a form of entertainment. However the ban on gambling in Brazil does not specifically name poker. Because Brazil doesn't have casinos, commercial poker was unavailable for many years.

Recently though, poker “associations” have started up by working carefully around the country’s gambling laws. Poker in Brazil comes in the form of massive tournaments, like the Brazilian Series of Poker, now running for several years. These tournaments give skilled players a chance to enjoy the game and make serious money while doing so. The Latin American Poker Tour kicked off for the first time in Rio de Janeiro in 2008 drawing a big group of talented local players. In September of 2009, Brazil went on to win the Americas Cup of Poker in Argentina. Brazil is emerging as a poker capital with more professional players coming to competitions and winning prizes.

There are no gambling websites originating in Brazil, as the government does not have regulations to offer online gambling services in the country. Brazilian players can still gamble on the internet for the time being. Proposals have been made to limit the use of online gambling web sites similar to the US ban by restricting banks from processing money associated with the activity. Many sites accept Brazilian players, and a few even offer Portuguese language versions making for play in Brazil easy and convenient.

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