iGaming News all over the world 07.04.2010

07.04.2010, Isle of Capri Casinos and Bally Technologies announce Rainbow casino deal / Sportingbet Gets Barclay Capital's Best Rating / Playtech launches real money Italian bingo network / eCOGRA Grants Certification to Boss Media

Isle of Capri Casinos and Bally Technologies announce Rainbow casino deal
Isle of Capri Casinos announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with Bally Technologies, to purchase its Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi, pending regulatory approval.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was approved by the Board of Directors of both companies, Isle of Capri Casinos will pay Bally Technologies us$ 80 million in an all- cash transaction, assuming the transaction closes by approximately June 30, 2010.

"We have enjoyed a successful, 16-year run owning and operating Rainbow Casino and have made a number of improvements to the facility which have enabled it to grow its business, even in a very competitive environment," said Richard Haddrill, Chief Executive Officer of Bally Technologies. "But we felt it was important that we focus on our core business of providing industry-leading games and systems technology, and we feel confident that under the ownership of Isle of Capri, Rainbow and its employees will be in very competent hands."

"We are pleased to return to the Vicksburg market and expand our presence in Mississippi through this transaction, which creates a mutually beneficial situation for Isle of Capri and for Bally Technologies and allows both of our companies to focus on what we do best," said James B. Perry Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis, Mo.- based Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. "Rainbow is a successful property with a solid core business that will fit very well into the Isle portfolio and benefit from the operational expertise of our management team. Additionally, Bally has made important investments at the Rainbow facility and maintained a solid team of employees, who we look forward to welcoming to Isle of Capri." Perry noted that Isle plans to fund the transaction under its existing credit facility.

Rainbow Hotel Casino has approximately 350 employees, 2,322 sqm of gaming space, 831 slot machines, 10 table games, and an accompanying 89-room hotel.

Yogonet.com

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Sportingbet Gets Barclay Capital's 'Best' Rating
Barclays Capital is a leading global British investment bank, with 23,000 employees. The bank has a balance sheet of over £1.2 trillion, with a net income of $10.334 billion. In a recent equity research report for the internet gaming sector, Barclays Capital found that Sportingbet was "best-in-class sports betting system giving it the highest gross win margins in the online gambling industry." Good news for the punter that has the choice as to which casinos or sports book to use when making a bet. In this case Barclays Capital is convinced the best payout percentage with Sportingbet's win margins averaging over 9% over the past four years and, more recently,10% or more. It adds that Bwin's win margins were only about 8% and Party Gaming's as low as 5.5%. The report concluded that in-running now accounts for over 50% of Sportingbet's European sports betting, with an achievable margin of 8-10%. The Sportingbet site runs on the GTECH G2 MarginMaker platform. The Business Development Director of Sportingbet, Simon Gregory, says, "In particular, the automated set up features for in-running betting has enabled Sportingbet to drive this part of our business to over 75% of bets in some sports, meeting consumer demand and producing exceptional returns". SportingBet started using MarginMaker when it was just getting started and now the customised GTECH G2 platform, "allows Sportingbet to exploit the markets to their full potential" Gregory added.

Chief Technology Officer of GTECH G2, Predrag Popovic, commented "Sportingbet are one of our oldest customers and they have worked closely with us and invested in continuously evolving the platform. We are delighted that this commitment has been reflected in independently benchmarked commercial success." Sportingbet has recently renewed its agreements with GTECH G2 for the next three years, including all poker, casino and game products plus a new G2 bingo offering.

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Playtech launches real money Italian bingo network
Having already established a significant presence in the Italian market with the successful iPoker.it network, Playtech has announced the launch of its Italian online bingo network in real money mode, fully compliant with the requirements of Italian regulator AAMS.

The launch of the bingo network in real money mode follows several successful months of operation in free-to-play mode. With existing operators migrating to real money and more joining in the near future, Playtech said that its bingo network is set to become one of the leading networks in the growing Italian market.

The newly-revamped bingo client is designed to replicate the community atmosphere of a land-based bingo hall and allows players to configure their own personal settings, from caller voice and speed to autodaub and animation. The client has been tailored to meet the needs of the Italian market and players can enjoy social chat hosted by Italian chat moderators.

“Following the great success of the iPoker.it network and the bingo network in fun mode, we expect the real money mode to perform just as well, with the network becoming one of the leading bingo networks in Italy,” said Moty Arcuschin, Playtech's Head of Bingo.

“We have invested heavily into the bingo offering, including customizing the product to appeal to the local Italian audience, and are obviously fully compliant with the relevant regulatory bodies. Working with the leading gaming operators in Italy, Playtech continues to prove itself as the most successful pioneer of the emerging markets.”

Yogonet.com / Gaming Intelligence

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eCOGRA Grants Certification to Boss Media
Whenever anyone sees the eCOGRA logo on an online gambling web site one can be sure that casino or poker room is in good standing and can be trusted. There are a few things that every online gambler wants and the number one requirement is honesty. Operators of virtual gambling establishments know the value of the eCOGRA certification in helping to obtain new clients and build a sustainable working business. Boss Media, certainly One of the Internet gambling industry's most respected pioneer software companies, has achieved the eCOGRA seal of approval. Boss Media powers many reputable online casino and poker rooms, and operates the International Poker Network. Bradley Khoury, a Chartered Accountant and Information Systems Auditor, did the audit in Växjö Sweden where the firm, is part of the GTechG2 group along with companion companies Finsoft, Dynamite Idea and St Minver. Bwin, Sportingbet, Svenskaspel and Bet-At-Home are all licensed to use the Boss Media software package.

Khoury said, "The Boss Media staff members were exceptionally cooperative and well organised during the on-site review," adding, "The requirements of our follow up review were excellently structured and quickly resolved in a highly professional manner." eCOGRA's Andrew Beveridge, chief executive officer, said, "This is a highly respected industry company that has been active in the business for over a decade, and the process efficiencies and very high software quality reflect that," he said. "On behalf of eCOGRA's Independent Directors I congratulate Boss Media and its employees on a very professional effort."

Johan Berg, Boss Media's CEO said, "Our achievement in meeting eCOGRA's demanding software certification standards reaffirms that commitment and provides us with a useful and internationally accepted benchmark against which we can measure our performance," The public can also now be sure the web site they are using is compliant with the most comprehensive set of rules in the online gambling industry.

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