Gaming Industry News (GIN) 8 April 2010

08.04.2010, About betting, Regulation, Economy and more

Link for more details and subscribtion

Odds more predictable than opinion polls, claims Bartlett BETTING 'Political predictions should favour odds over opinion polls' is the argument being posited by Warwick Bartlett of Global Betting & Consultants. With bookmakers' prices on the UK general election outcome currently contrasting with mainstream polls, he states: "People are more careful with their money than their opinions. Opinions are easy to give when there is nothing riding on the result, which explains why there is such contradiction between different polls. But when opinions are backed up with cash, punters and bookmakers tend to be more considered in their opinions. The betting firms generally have a good record of calling it right on these occasions."

Former BSkyB director joins Chartwell APPOINTMENT Online games provider Chartwell Technology has announced the appointment of Andrew Pegler as sales director responsible for its wholly owned subsidiary Chartwell Games (International) Ltd. Mr Pegler, who joins from Jadestone Group AB, previously served as senior commercial director at Sky Interactive (BSkyB). Commenting on his new role, he said: "There is a real buzz within the company and the operators who previewed the new casino platform at the ICE show in January have provided ringing endorsements of Chartwell's strategy."

Online gamblers would face prison under Massachusetts proposals REGULATION Gamblers in Massachusetts may be offered the chance to attend two licensed standalone casinos and play slots at licensed race tracks but face a $25,000 fine, a two year prison sentence - or both, if they participate knowingly in online gaming. The draconian measures are contained in a 172-page proposal to regulate gaming put forward by speaker Robert DeLeo.

Gambling firms to target Australia predicts Betfair boss LIBERALISATION The report from Australia's Productivity Commission recommending a liberalisation of online gaming laws has placed the country on the strategic map of the world's leading gaming powerhouses, according to Andrew Twaits, Betfair's Australian chief executive. Mr Twaits, who wants to introduce online poker, casino games and financial betting to Australian punters, said that he expected companies such as William Hill, Ladbrokes and Corals to look to enter the domestic market in 2010/11 either via acquisitions or start- ups.

Interested buyers tune in to Poker Channel PURCHASE Potential big name buyers including Party Gaming, 888 and Ladbrokes could be in line to purchase the TV-based Poker Channel and online poker operation Poker Heaven from the Gaming Media Group, according to reports from the Telegraph newspaper. The Poker Channel is expected to generate earnings approaching £350,000 on sales of £1.5m with the Europe- facing Poker Heaven projecting earnings of £1.5m on revenues of £11.3m this year. Gaming Media Group has hired Cavendish Corporate Finance as advisors.

Aristocrat's Viridian Widescreen unveiled at NIGA CASINO SLOTS Slot manufacturer Aristocrat Technologies has launched a number of new innovations to its Viridian cabinet at the NIGA show, currently taking place at the San Diego Convention Center, among them the introduction of a widescreen model. Sporting a 22-inch hi-res LCD screen, the Viridian WS runs on Gen 7 technology and comes housed in a sleek, slim line chop top cabinet.

Sportingbet wins 'best in class' accolade SPORTS BETTING A recent equity research report analysing successes and opportunities in the igaming sector has cited Sportingbet's sports betting systems as 'best-in-class' with the highest gross win margins in the online gambling industry. Running on the GTech G2 MarginMaker platform, win margins have averaged over 9pc over the past four years, more recently rising to 10pc and above. The report, conducted by Barclays Capital, concluded that in-running now accounts for over 50pc of Sportingbet's European sports betting and that the 8-10pc margin achieved on this is far superior to that of its competitors.

Kentucky lawsuit to reclaim gambling losses could set precedent LITIGATION Pocket Kings Ltd, which operates gambling sites including Full Tilt Poker, is facing a potentially crippling law suit to recover three times the amount lost by players gambling online. The law suit, which is being taken forward by the state of Kentucky, would place the online industry in a perilous position should the practice of being able to recover gambling losses with interest be upheld.

Like-for-like sales up at Marstons PERFORMANCE Pub operator Marstons has reported like-for-like sales across its managed pubs up 1.4pc for the first half and a slowing of profit decline in its tenanted sector. It confirmed that trading was in line with full-year expectations.

More Pennsylvania casinos receive go ahead for table games TABLE GAMING Mount Airy, Sands in Bethlehem and the Hollywood Casino, Harrisburg have become the latest venues to receive approval from the Gaming Control Board of Pennsylvania to install table games and operate them from this summer. A total of five casinos have now been approved as the state prepares to eclipse New Jersey as the leading gaming destination in the north east of the US. A license to site table games costs casinos $16.5m with the state receiving 14pc of table game revenue.

Inspired gains four-year parks deal BUSINESS WINS Inspired Gaming Group has announced a new four year contract to supply over 1,700 gaming and family amusement machines to Parkdean's 24 holiday parks situated around the UK. The deal also incorporates a total management service, including onsite management, engineering and many more key services and follows a successful three year partnership between the two companies.

Recession hits tribal casinos ECONOMY The recession has had a major impact on tribal casinos with the National Indian Gaming Association claiming that the 442 Indian gambling halls took $26.2bn in 2009, a year-on- year decrease of $500m. The figures represent the first annual decrease in revenues for the sector.

Bingo is good for you claims academic RESEARCH Playing bingo improves mental speed, enhances memory recall and stimulates the ability to pick-up information from the environment according to research conducted at the University of Southampton's Centre for Visual Cognition. The split sample research showed marked cognitive results for those classified as 'regular bingo players'.

Pub group attacks government's paltry aid package ON TRADE Pub chain Enterprise Inns has criticised the government's £4.3m support package for the British pub sector over the next three years as 'paling into insignificance'. Having invested £20m in licensees in the last year alone, the group says the industry now faces an extra 160m beer duty burden following the recent Budget statement.

Über iGaming News:

Casinos.ch ist die Gaming & Entertainment-Plattform der Schweiz und mit über 20 Informationsportalen und rund 100 Internetnamen (Domains) das grosse News- und Pressenetzwerk der Casino- und Glücksspielszene in Europa.

Aktuelle News, Interviews, Fotos und spannende Stories - direkt und live aus den Schweizer Casinos, der Spielbankenszene Deutschlands, über das monegassische Casino von Monte Carlo, weitere Casinos aus ganz Europa und der ganzen Welt finden Sie auf www.casinos.ch. Und last but not least natürlich auch aus der Sin City 'Las Vegas'.

Die Informationen sind unterteilt in die Bereiche Casino-Informationen, aktuelle News, Events, Jackpot und Tournament-Informationen, Fotogalerien, Live-Berichte und Interviews.

--- Ende Artikel / Pressemitteilung Gaming Industry News (GIN) 8 April 2010 ---


Weitere Informationen und Links:

Weitere Nachrichten der Gaming-Branche