October 2004 Archives

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the tiny Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda have broken off talks to resolve a high stakes dispute over the U.S. ban on Internet gambling, a U.S. trade official said on Thursday.

"Unfortunately we were not able to reach a settlement," despite several meetings over the past four months," said Richard Mills, a spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office.

Online gambling has grown rapidly, with spending of around $7.5 billion this year, according to industry estimates.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2004--Sportingbet Plc (LSE: SBT.L - News), the world's largest publicly traded online betting, gambling and gaming company, announces the acquisition of ParadisePoker.com, a leader in the fast-growing online poker sector, creating the first global online poker, sports betting and casino operator. The deal brings Sportingbet's customer base to more than two million players and provides a popular online poker product to serve the rapidly growing online poker market in the United States and worldwide. ParadisePoker.com is the world's third largest online poker operator with a market share of approximately 10 percent.

Sportingbet acquired ParadisePoker.com for an initial consideration of $297.5 million, creating the world's largest online gaming business. Sportingbet itself today reported turnover of $2,620 million and an operating profit before goodwill and exceptional costs of $39.57 million for the 16 months to July 31, 2004. Sportingbet operates more than 30 brands in 200 countries across the world including its flagship brand, Sportsbook.com.

LONDON – As reported by the UK Times: "Two of the world's biggest internet gambling companies are considering initial public offerings (IPOs) in London, the larger of which could go straight into the blue-chip FTSE 100 index.

"Both companies — iGlobalMedia and Cassava Enterprises — are based in the same building in Gibraltar, but there is no connection between them.

"…IGlobalMedia, which is best known for its PartyPoker website, is controlled by a small number of private shareholders, including Ruth Parasol, its head of international business development. The company is estimated to achieve earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of about $350 million (£190 million).

By Chuck Poulsen -

If you could buy that new TV you've been eyeing for $2,000 at an electronics store, would you consider paying $3,000 for the same set at a new government TV store? That's the kind of simple but sad arithmetic British Columbians are facing if they choose to play the B.C. Lottery Corporation's new online sports games, which started Oct. 8

There are many private websites that offer online sports betting. This is called "offshore" gaming because the locations of the websites are often in the Caribbean, where some governments go easy on gambling taxes for the owners of the sites. Online gambling sites are also located from such widespread places as Southeast Asia to the Isle of Man off the coast of England.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended plans to overhaul gambling laws, saying they need updating to protect children and those who already gamble.

"The vast bulk of this legislation is actually about regulating gambling, not deregulating it," Mr Blair insisted.

He said he understood concerns but said there was "no evidence" changes would lead to gambling addiction and crime.

Tory leader Michael Howard said the government was on "the wrong track" and his party would oppose the Bill.

The Bill's proposals include the relaxation of rules on the construction of casinos and sweeping away player restrictions.

The British government's sensible plan to liberalise gambling is being
vilified from all sides

LOCKING up foreign terror suspects indefinitely without trial causes
barely a stir. Breaking a promise to replace the House of Lords with a
democratically-elected second chamber leads to a few mutterings from
civil libertarians. But let the British government suggest that people
should be able to gamble a little more freely and the wrath of the
nation's press descends on it in equal measure from both right and left.

Britain's gambling laws date from the 1960s. Things have changed a
little since then, which is one reason why the government thought the
existing laws could do with a little updating. Another is that they are
silly. Casinos, for instance, are for members only; and punters must
join up 24 hours before they are allowed to place a bet.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to win a large lump sum in a tax-free lottery?

I bet you've dreamed of doing that more than once.

Maybe you even figured out what you might do
with your windfall if you won.

But then you pinched yourself to see if you were still awake, concluded it was just a pipe-dream, and went back to surfing the internet.

By Philip Johnston -

The biggest shake-up in gaming and betting laws for almost 40 years was set out by the Government yesterday.

An array of restrictions over the sale of alcohol, club membership and entertainment will be swept away and casinos will be able to stay open for 24 hours.

An impact assessment published alongside the Gambling Bill by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport suggests that the annual spending on gambling will rise by as much as £4 billion to £12.5 billion over the next five years.

By Pete Harrison -

LONDON (Reuters) - Giant Las Vegas-style casinos with million-pound prizes could roll out across the country as the government shakes up 40-year-old gambling laws.

International casino operators have earmarked around 5 billion pounds to invest in Britain if the Gambling Bill is approved by parliament.

Britain's biggest gambling and betting firm Stanley Leisure SLY.L and Las-Vegas based Caesar's Entertainment CZR.N have both outlined gambling resorts that have more in common with American super-casinos than Britain's traditional clubs.

By Abigail Wild -

Australia's many anti-gambling campaigners and addict support groups are incredulous. The UK government this week said it hoped a new Gaming Bill – which aims to regulate the gambling industry and "introduce reform in a controlled way" – would be approved by next year.

The reforms would mean abolishing the rule that says gamblers must register 24 hours prior to visiting a casino. It would pave the way for mega-casinos with unlimited jackpot machines to be opened by US casino giants on as many as 96 planned sites in the UK, of which five are in and around Glasgow. This on top of the announcement that the public will soon be able to enter National Lottery games by text, and a fast proliferating online gambling phenomena.

By Karen Seidman -

Internet wagering is a growing phenomenon among adolescents because they love the thrill of risk and are comfortable with interactive games, gambling experts said yesterday.

"There are more kids gaining access to Internet gambling because there are more and more teens with credit cards, especially in the more privileged walks of life," said Rina Gupta, co-director of the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviour at McGill University. "Internet gambling is quite a concern to us."

Seeking a dash of Vegas glitter, British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government will introduce legislation within weeks that would allow giant casinos offering unlimited jackpot machines to set up in towns across Britain.

Major gaming interests, including Caesars Entertainment Inc and MGM Mirage, have eagerly awaited moves to overhaul Britain's outdated gambling laws and hope to get their slice of the next big market.

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs says new gaming rules could see up to $US6 billion ($A8.28 billion) invested in the UK casino market over the next five years.

By Patricia A. McQueen -

The British Columbia Lottery Corp. has become the second lottery operator in North America (after the Atlantic Lottery Corp., also in Canada) to offer some of its games for sale on the Internet.

While ALC began in August with many of its lotto and sports games available via the Web, BCLC’s Internet launch last Friday is limited to its sports games. Future plans do call for additional games to be made available, however.

By Dan Ackman -

NEW YORK - In California, a ballot proposal that would have allowed horse racetracks and card clubs to install slot machines is apparently headed for failure. But across the nation, gambling remains on the march.

Backers of the ballot initiative in California, Proposition 68, say they will no longer run ads for the plan, which has been opposed by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the initiative was an odd one, and the governor's opposition cannot really be said to be anti-gambling.

By Javad Heydary -

A World Trade Organization arbitration panel upheld the complaint by Antigua. The panel found that Internet gambling restrictions imposed by the U.S. did, in fact, violate U.S. commitments under GATS. The panel also rejected Washington's defense that the United States never intended to include gambling services under General Agreement on Trade in Services.

The U.S. government decided recently to negotiate with, rather than litigate against, the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda (both referred to as Antigua) over the issue of online gaming. This decision came about after the U.S. lost an arbitration proceeding under the trade dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March.

By Vijay Dutt -

Everyone loves a bit of "flutter" to add some spice to the daily grind. We all gamble not just betting at races or while playing at a casino, but in our careers and private lives as well. Some of our star families from Mumbai are occasionally seen at known London nightclubs gambling to glory. A famous cricketer's wife is said to become a compulsive gambler whenever she goes to Sharjah with her husband. But here betting has now assumed an epidemic proportion.

A report averred that Britain is in the grip of a gambling frenzy. The amount of money staked is now five-fold more than three years ago. The industry, if we call it so, is generating a staggering £450 billion turnover. The Internet is the prime reason for such a boom. It is so easy to click a mouse for placing a bet.

By Clint Swett -

The Maloof brothers' playboy reputation is now enhanced with a capital "P."

The Maloofs, owners of the Palms casinos and the Sacramento Kings, announced Wednesday that their Las Vegas casino resort will open a Playboy Club atop an adjacent tower now under construction.

It would be the first Playboy club to operate in the United States since Chicago-based Playboy Enterprises closed its last three clubs in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in 1986.

By Matthew Garrahan -

A growing appetite for a flutter combined with deregulation of gambling has sparked a fivefold increase in the past three years in annual betting shop turnover to £39.4bn, according to a new report.

Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, which compiled the report, said the switch to a gross profits tax and the introduction of fixed-odds betting terminals - arcade-style machines that enable punters to bet on virtual casino games - had been the biggest factors in the increase.

By Matthew Cooper -

The abolition of tax on betting coupled with the internet boom has boosted the amount of money gambled in the UK from £7.6 billion to almost £40 billion in just three years, it emerged today.

Research published by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) attributed the massive explosion in the industry to the rise in online gambling and Chancellor Gordon Brown’s decision to ditch tax on individual wagers in October 2001.

By Andy Glazer -

When you combine the explosive growth of an Internet that really can't be effectively policed by the laws of individual nations with the huge numbers of people who like to gamble, you're left with two possible results: 1) the people who like to gamble take some steps to protect themselves, or 2) they will probably get hurt.

The good news is that if you take certain common sense precautions, chances are you will be able to enjoy your online gambling experience.