iGaming News all over the world 14.08.2010

14.08.2010, Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment Signs Deal with Playdom / Bally fourth quarter net income jumps 54 % / Saskatchewan Canada Considers Online Gambling / PartyGaming confirmed the launch of Danish online poker room in 2011 / Censorship of Gambling Sites Strikes Canada and France

Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment Signs Deal with Playdom
Social networks are the very biggest they have ever been and nothing comes even close to the Facebook phenomenon with it's 400 million or so participants. That huge number of people online is a big enough prize for almost any product to try to cash in on. The gambling giant Harrah's and it's onlide division Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment has signed a deal with social game developer Playdom to release a new World Series of Poker game for Facebook, MySpace, and other networking sites.

The re-branding of Playdom's Poker Palace was launched recently on the Facebook network. Craig Abrahams, WSOP Vice President, commented, "We are very excited to bring the thrill and excitement of the World Series of Poker to the social gaming space with Playdom," adding, "We will immediately start to work on enhancing the game, bringing unique WSOP promotions and sweepstakes into the offering and ensuring that the battle for WSOP virtual championship bracelets can become a Facebook friendly endeavour." The are a variety of games and formats at WSOP on Facebook including single-table play money, virtual cash games, and single-table tournaments featuring full ring and short- handed play.

Sean Phinney, Playdom's Vice President of Business Development, said, "There is only one brand in poker that stands out and that is the World Series of Poker," Phinney continued, "We think big brands will win on social networks and we are excited to start working together to create a unique and fun social gaming experience." Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment WSOP brand also features a very popular mobile game the Glu Mobile World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend. Players on the Facebook site can win WSOP branded virtual goods and win chances to enter contests with prizes that include trips to Las Vegas and seats at WSOP events. Abrahams commented further that Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment and Playdom will be improving the product by adding regular updates and enhancements.

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Bally fourth quarter net income jumps 54
Gaming equipment maker Bally Technologies fourth-quarter net income jumped 54 %, boosted by sale of Mississippi Casino. For April through June, the company said that net income rose to us$ 51 million, or 89 cents per share, from us$ 33.2 million, or 58 cents per share in the same period last year.

However, excluding the gain, Bally's results missed analysts' expectations as did its 2011 profit outlook. Investors sent shares lower after hours.

For April through June, Bally said net income rose to us$ 51 million, or 89 cents per share, from us$ 33.2 million, or 58 cents per share in the same period last year. Excluding a 38-cent gain on the us$ 80 million sale of the Rainbow Casino in June and other one-time items, Bally earned 55 cents per share. That's a penny less than analysts expected, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Revenue slid less than half a percent to us$ 195.2 million from us$ 195.9 million in the year-ago quarter, also shy of the us$ 199.8 million that analysts predicted. Revenue rose in the company's gaming operations and systems divisions. But in the gaming equipment division, revenue fell 19 % to us$ 63.5 million. The company sold fewer gaming devices due to fewer casino openings and expansions in the quarter. Old machines in North America are also being replaced at a "sluggish" rate, the company said.

For the full year, Bally's net income rose 9 % to us$137.5 million, from us$ 126.3 million,. Lower costs helped offset a 14 % drop in revenue to us$ 491.2 million from us$ 568.8 million a year earlier.

Looking ahead, Bally forecast fiscal 2011 earnings of us$ 2.05 to us$ 2.40 per share, with results expected to be strongest in the second half of the year. That's below the average estimate of us$ 2.46 per share forecast by analysts. The company also forecast 2011 systems revenue of us$ 220 million to us$ 235 million, including maintenance revenue of us$ 61 million to us$ 65 million.

In after-hours trading Bally's stock fell us$ 1.72, or 5.5 %, to us$ 29.46. Earlier, shares gained 43 cents to close at us$ 31.18.

Yogonet.com / Yahoo Finance News

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Saskatchewan Canada Considers Online Gambling
In Canada the Federal Government has made rules that say gambling is illegal and must comply with the federal laws regarding these activities. Provincial governments have the same rules and a number of provinces are now in the process of creating online gambling monopolies within their own jurisdictions. Ontario just announced it will offer casino and poker action via the internet to it’s residents. British Columbia's recent attempt just crashed in a bad way having been compromised by a hacker. Quebec and the Atlantic provinces have all been establishing links with online gambling software companies for the systems required. When you also consider the fact that Harrah's Interactive Entertainment is headquartered in Montreal Quebec and the Kahnawake Gaming Commission one of the worlds largest is located also in Quebec in the Mohawk Territory. Canada is going forward on online gambling and the Federal government seems no where to be seen.

Now and it comes as no surprise the Saskatchewan government is thinking about getting it's feet wet with online gambling, following the other provinces. Saskatchewan's Gaming Minister Ken Cheveldayoff says people in Saskatchewan spend an estimated $40 million every year in offshore online casinos now. That is a substantial amount of money and the government wants a piece of that. Cheveldayoff commented "We're open to the idea. We want to learn more about it," The comments are based on the watching the experience of other provinces responding to the pitfalls of establishing an internet gambling enterprise.

Kevin Yates the New Democratic Party critic in the Saskatchewan legislature said that's not good enough and wants to see a study regarding the process. Yates said, "I think we need to understand what we're getting into and what the pitfalls are and make sure that we have in place, if we're going to go down that road, the proper precautions in place."

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PartyGaming confirmed the launch of Danish online poker room in 2011
This week, PartyGaming confirmed that it would enter the Danish online poker market as of January 1, 2011. The operator of PartyPoker and PartyCasino announced that it has finalized a deal with Danish online poker monopoly Danske Spil.

PartyGaming CEO, Jim Ryan, is aiming at a January 1st, 2011 launch date. Ryan remained cautious saying that the January 1st launch of PartyPoker and PartyCasino in Denmark has "no guarantees", but that it will happen eventually. Danske Spil currently holds a market monopoly on all online gambling in Denmark.

PartyGaming initially signed an exclusive deal with Danske Spil in January 2010, but the deal was held up by opposition from the operator of the rival iPoker Network, Playtech. Playtech filed a grievance with the Danish Complaints Board for Public Procurement saying that the correct process for the PartyGaming-Danske Spil deal was not followed.

This hiccup did not last long as PartyGaming announced its intent for the January 2011 launch of PartyGaming's Danish casino and poker offerings. This is a tightly held plan by PartyGaming to continue its ability to cope with the dominance of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker in the online poker market.

PartyGaming's market strategy is complex and filled with very intelligent deal making. PartyGaming sees that the world of online gambling, particularly online poker, is becoming one-sided on a worldwide level. However, at the same time the market giants are being forced to alter their growth plans due to the increasing force of market regulation by international governments.

Yogonet.com / Suite101.com

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Censorship of Gambling Sites Strikes Canada and France
The rules keep changing for online gambling companies and it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with the legal battles that involve patents, copyrights, and government changes. Recently in France the government run regulator for gambling ARJEL has decided to ask the courts to obtain an order for Internet Service Providers to block a blacklist of online gambling websites that do not comply with the French licensing requirements. The web portal igamingfrance.com received the leaked information and published the blacklist of well know and respected online gambling operators that ARJEL wants the courts to block. The criminal sector of the French Superior Court has issued an order to force French Internet Service Providers to censor the websites of 16 international gaming operators.

Many of the blocked web sites were already withdrawing services to customers in France using the latest geo marketing technology to identify where the participant is located. Marketing by these companies for their products has also been halted in France. There has been little or no reaction from the online gambling companies affected by the proposed legal action instigated by ARJEL.

In another part of the world the Canadian government is putting it's foot down regarding online gambling in that jurisdiction. Canadian players visiting Casino Club which is powered by Boss Media software have received communications advising participants that they will no longer be able to play at Casino Club if they live in Canada. An e mail read, "We regret to inform you that due to the new regulations of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Loto-Québec and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, online gaming products in Canada are prohibited. Unfortunately we are required to add Canada to our list of excluded countries. Players from Canada will no longer be permitted to play at Casino Club starting September 24th, 2010. In case you have a positive balance in your account, kindly withdraw it as soon as possible. Information on how to do so can be found on our website."

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