Harrah’s Moving Online
The world’s largest land-based gaming company, Harrah’s Entertainment Incorporated, has established a new online subsidiary under the leadership of Mitch Garber, the former Chief Executive Officer for leading virtual gaming operator PartyGaming.
The Las Vegas-based giant revealed that Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment Incorporated would ‘manage the global growth of the World Series Of Poker’ while also exploring a ‘European interactive strategy’.
‘As the world’s largest gaming company, Harrah’s is taking a proactive approach toward international and interactive expansion,’ said Gary Loveman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Harrah’s Entertainment.
‘It is important we position ourselves to explore new markets as well as new technologies with our best-in-class brands.’
Loveman revealed that the new subsidiary would explore the use of interactive gaming technologies to expand the reach of its brands globally, beginning in Europe, in addition to growing the World Series Of Poker. Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment will utilise the Total Rewards customer loyalty programme to strengthen and grow the firm’s customer base.
Garber will serve as Chief Executive Officer for the new subsidiary while Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner for the World Series Of Poker, has been appointed as its President. A lawyer, Garber also served as Executive Vice-President for Optimal Group, FireOne’s Nasdaq-listed majority shareholder, before moving to PartyGaming and has experience with the industry going back to the 1990s when he developed the first gaming law practice in Canada for the Montreal-based firm Lazarus Charbonneau.
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South Carolina Could Sanction Poker
The American state of South Carolina, historically one of the most hostile towards the game of poker, has taken two steps towards legalising recreational games while explicitly defining illegal competitions.
The South Carolina State Judiciary Committee recently ratified Senate Bills 535 and 628 by a vote of twelve to eight and the measures now look set for a full vote before the full Senate sometime next year.
Bill 535 also outlines the process by which a non-profit organisation may obtain a gaming license, although it asserts that 90 percent of any monies raised in an event must go directly to charity.
In February, five home poker players in the southern state were found guilty under a law from 1802 that, when read literally, makes it illegal to take part in any diversion played with cards or dice including board games such as Monopoly. However, Mount Pleasant Municipal Judge Larry Duffy ruled at the time that poker was a game of skill and not one of luck or chance, which prompted some legislators to take a second look at the antiquated legislation.
The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) poker advocacy group lobbied hard through its nearly 10,000 members in the state for a change to the law and commended the Committee for passing the two pieces of legislation.
“The thousands of poker players in the state are now one step closer to being allowed to enjoy a game of poker online or with their friends around the kitchen table without the fear of being accused of a crime under outdated state laws,” said John Ridgeway, South Carolina State Director for the PPA.
“With the continued rising popularity of poker across the country and the state of South Carolina, it is vital that any laws related to gaming not only reflect he realities of the 21st Century but establish a clear definition of what constitutes legal gaming and what constitutes illegal gaming,” said John Pappas, Executive Director for the PPA.
“These two bills achieve those goals and we urge the South Carolina Senate to quickly bring these pieces of legislation to the floor for a vote before the end of the session.”
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Sporting Index Debuts New Domain
Leading sports spreadbetting firm Sporting Index has announced the full launch of its new website at SportingIndex.com after almost a year of beta testing and extensive feedback from customers.
In a first for any betting organisation, London-based Sporting Index made the site available and then asked clients to help it drive the development process.
“We wanted to deliver the best sports spreadbetting experience for our clients,” said Mark Maydon, Commercial Director for Sporting Index.
“So, we started by asking what they wanted out of the new site, built a prototype and then gave it to the clients to get their further feedback and suggestions.
“Today’s website, from the design to the functionality, is, therefore, very much their creation. We’ve been really encouraged by the sheer amount of feedback we’ve received.”
Sporting Index revealed that the look and feel of SportingIndex.com has been updated to emphasise simplicity. The bet placement process and open bets area have both been changed with all of the action now taking place on the right side of the screen. All bets now appear in a tab allowing these to be confirmed without losing sight of live prices.
In-play betting and live prices were important areas highlighted by feedback Sporting Index received from its clients. These sections were improved on the new-look SportingIndex.com to allow for increased speed so that individuals could strike a better bet before prices changed.
“If you follow, say, a cricket match on SportingIndex.com, you’ll find our scoreboard and associated prices update quicker than anything else on the web including the big cricket portals such as CricInfo.com,” said Maydon.
The new site also features an in-play menu in a box in the middle-right of the site containing shortcuts to live events. Sporting Index stated that this is a nod to the fact that it takes over 50 percent of its bets from in-running action.
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Jaxx Improves Bottom Line
Altenholz-based online gambling and betting provider Jaxx AG has announced its financial results for the three months ending in March – showing a four percent year-on-year rise in consolidated revenues to €29.3 million from €28.2 million.
The gaming specialist saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA) hit €2.079 million, an improvement of €1,000 over the first quarter of 2008, while earnings before interest and tax came in at €565 from a loss of €377 for the first three months last year.
The company also moved into the black with consolidated earnings reaching €90,000 from last year’s deficit of €520,000 while reporting cash and equivalents of €12.851 million, which was slightly down on the €12.861 it held at the end of 2008.
Jaxx stated that revenues from sportsbetting rose over 28 percent to €21.359 million from €15.189 million for the first quarter of 2008 while those from bets placed on horseracing dropped 40 percent to €4.202 million from €7.106 million. In addition, lottery revenues decreased 37 percent year-on-year to €3.768 million from €5.981 million.
“Following a good start to the 2009 financial year with healthy results for the quarter, the performance is expected to fall back initially in the second quarter due to seasonal factors,” read a statement from Jaxx.
“The end of the football season in Europe traditionally brings a downturn in bookmaking margins because customers increasingly place bets on the favourites to win. From the end of May, the start of the summer break will, moreover, limit the range of bets on offer. The possibility cannot, therefore, be excluded that the second quarter of 2009 could produce a negative result.”
Jaxx recently wrote down €15 million in investments in its German operations and closed its Jaxx Gmbh Hamburg subsidiary as a result of new legislation that came into effect in January prohibiting online lottery agency operations in its home nation.
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Virgin Deal For Virtue Fusion
Virgin.com Limited has announced that it will be relaunching its bingo offering through its VirginGames.com portal using software from Alderney-licensed online bingo and gambling platform provider Virtue Fusion Limited.
Virtue Fusion is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet bingo solutions and its network operates on an aggregated model so that partners benefit from shared critical mass and larger jackpots.
VirginGames.com/bingo previously utilised software from St Minver but the change will see players able to enjoy one of the largest selections of networked games available through a bingo client. Virtue Fusion pioneered the mini game and offers titles including Marine Mayhem, Clover Rollover and Big Top Tombola, which have proven highly popular with players.
“It was important for VirginGames.com to select a partner that could give our players the widest choice of game variants, jackpot sizes and price-points,” said Simon Burridge, Chief Executive Officer for VirginGames.com.
“Virtue Fusion’s network is undoubtedly the market leader in this respect. We are delighted to be joining the Virtue Fusion network and are looking forward to growing our business over the coming years.
”We value Virtue Fusion’s flexible network model because we value the right to offer something different. Virtue Fusion’s network structure allows us to be just what we want while benefiting from the largest prize pools available online today.”
“We are delighted that VirginGames.com has chosen Virtue Fusion’s industry-leading software for its bingo offering,” said Bob McCulloch, Chief Executive Officer for Virtue Fusion.
“VirginGames.com will benefit through our flexible networked approach to bingo by offering small games that are good for communities while leveraging the power of the network by offering the biggest jackpots available.”
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