Sports Betting Odds
BETFRED PICKS BETTING SHOP EXPERT TO HEAD TOTEPOOL
2012-01-13
Siers chosen to replace departing Jason Brautigam
Online and land gambling operator Betfred, which was recently successful in bidding for the Tote (see previous InfoPowa reports), has announced that Phil Siers will soon join the company to replace outgoing exec Jason Brautigam in taking over the management of its Totepool operation.
Siers is currently managing director for the Licensed Betting Office Division of media and satellite services firm Satellite Information Services Limited and is set to join Totepool as managing director on April 1 2012.
“Jason had made known his intention some time ago to step down from his role at the end of the financial year,” said Trevor Beaumont, chief executive officer for Betfred. “He has done an excellent job during his time with Totepool and I know he will continue to do so to ensure a seamless transition.
"Jason’s immense knowledge of how the Tote operates in all of its facets has been invaluable in helping to manage the integration with Betfred post-sale and we wish him all the best for the future.”
Siers and Brautigam have previously worked alongside each other at the Tote, which will help in the management transition over the coming weeks, Beaumont added.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working at the Tote but after seven and a half years the time is now right to pursue new challenges in my career,” Brautigam said this week.
“I leave the business in very good health with an excellent team in place to deliver the new strategy for Totepool under Betfred ownership and wish them every success in the future.”
IRISH LOTTERY MAY BE PRIVATISED2011-09-06Cash-strapped government considers lottery among possible assets for sale
Irish broadcaster RTE reports that the Irish state's lottery is on a list of assets that could be sold by the debt-burdened government.
Last year the company, which employs 100 people, raised Euro 770 million from the sales of lottery tickets and other products, awarding Euro 420 million in prize money after deducting admin costs of Euro 108 million, and donations to charitable and sports causes of Euro 244 million.
Ministers have not yet been presented with firm recommendations on the assets for sale, and the final decision kis expected to be the subject of intense political debate. In the meantime, the assets will be valued as a starting point.
The Finance ministry has so far declined to comment on the report, but RTE asserts that the assets sale was recently discussed at the government's Economic Management Council, which is made up of Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Taoiseach (PM) Enda Kenny.
"Selling lotteries is nothing new - Britain's lottery is run by Camelot, which donates 40 percent of sales to good causes," RTE reports.
Meanwhile, equally embattled Spain is in the process of selling off its lottery company, Loterias, which could raise Euro 7 billion for the heavily indebted government, The Guardian reports.
The Euro 25 billion privatisation of Spain's national lottery – including the famous El Gordo, or The Fat One – begins in London on Tuesday, according to the UK newspaper.
"The early marketing for the offer of about 30 percent of the state-owned Loterías y Apuestas del Estado – which is set to be Spain's largest ever stock market listing by raising up to Euro 9 billion – is to begin with the arrival of chairman Aurelio Martinez, finance director Luis Palacios and chief operating officer Marcelo Ruiz to target City investors," says the Guardian.
"The float is being led by a quartet of bulge bracket banks – UBS, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Cazenove and Goldman Sachs, along with BBVA and Santander of Spain – to be joined by a host of rival City firms including Citi, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Barclays which also have their names on the ticket in smaller roles."
Loterías is understood to be paying fees of about 1 percent, considerably less than the City norm due to a combination of the business being state-owned and bankers, anxious for some of the action, offering deals in a lean environment.
The Spanish national government has pushed the London listing as part of a privatisation programme that includes a planned sell-off of part of the state airports authority in order to ease Spain's financial and economic problems.
There are fears Spain may need an international bailout similar to those given to Greece and Ireland. The government is also believed to be planning to sell off a further 19 percent of its lottery company in the future.
Like similar operations in France and Britain, Loterías runs EuroMillions, which regularly offers hundreds of millions of Euro in prizes, but its most famous payout is the El Gordo, the world-record-breaking prize fund in Spain's 199-year-old Christmas lottery which lst December paid out some Euro 2.3 billion.
"The company could become the world's largest listed gaming company by value, if the offer is successful, and it plans to pay investors a yield of about 6 percent on a monthly basis following admission," The Guardian estimates.
Loterías reported a profit of just under Euro 3 billion in 2009, and controls 77 percent of that market from which it derives 95 percent of its revenues. It also operates sports betting businesses and pool betting operations.
The company is now seeking approval for its offer document later this month, before pricing the shares in October in order to float the business ahead of Spain's November election. Of the shares being sold, 40 percent will be marketed to institutional investors with the remainder being sold to Spanish retail investors.
CHANGE OF DOMAIN FOR INTERTOPS2011-08-03Old and new sites to run in parallel for a short while
One of the most established gambling venues on the internet, Intertops.com, is about to change its domain suffix "in order to further improve our accessibility, reliability and level of service".
In a message to interested parties this week, the management of the online casino, sports book and poker site advised that it is moving its domain from Intertops.com to Intertops.eu.
Intertops.com will be available parallel with the new Intertops.eu for a short time for the convenience of players and affiliates, and existing player accounts have already been moved across to the new site.
APP HOME SELECTS MAHJONG TIME 2011-06-03Facebook app developer goes online
Online Mahjong software provider, Mahjong Time announced the signing of its latest licensee this week, Facebook applications developer App Home.
App Home selected Mahjong Time's social-specialized software to power its newest brand, Mahjong Kings.com. The company says its Mahjong Facebook Kings app has 54 000 active players.
Slava Novozhenya, CEO, Mahjong Time said: "This new partnership with App Home is very exciting. Mahjong Time's robust software platform, with social tools and web 2.0 integration, combined with App Home's strong, far-reaching brand development will be a powerful alliance. Mahjong Time has continued to grow last year, and, with App Home as our latest licensee, we look to build on this growth for the remainder of 2011."
Elad Natanson, Founder of App Home added: "We are very excited to get into online Mahjong gaming. Integration with Mahjong Time's software was quick and seamless, and the initial results have been very encouraging. App Home is committed to providing the best Facebook applications, and by utilizing Mahjong Time's leading software we can continue that commitment in the world of online Mahjong."
MORE TOP EXECS LEAVING 888.COM2011-05-06Now its b2b and b2c managers on the way out
Within weeks of the announcement that 888.com chief executive Gigi Levy has resigned, the online gambling group has been shaken by the news that two more senior managers are on the way out.
A senior director of the group, Brian Mattingley, addressed company staff this week to advise them of the impending departure of Dragonfish chief David Zerah and the low profile but respected Adi Soffer-Te'eni, managing director of the group's b2c operations.
No reason was given for the resignations, other than the anodyne corporate-speak explanation that the duo had decided to "seek other business opportunities."
Dragonfish will be particularly hard-hit by Zerah's departure; reportedly a very competent executive, he only took up his appointment seven months ago, replacing Gabi Campos Woslavsky, who left to join PokerStars as CEO.
Mattingley told staff that Yaniv Schwartz will replace Zerah with the status of senior vice president.
The departures have reportedly triggered a slew of downstream management changes.
Earlier this year Ladbrokes broke off acquisition talks with 888 management after failing to reach an agreed consideration.
MORE COMPANIES RESTRICT U.S. ACTION (Update)2011-04-27Affiliates report that Sportsbook and PlayersOnly are to bar new US players
In what has to be seen as a reaction to the recent Department of Justice actions against major online gambling sites, it appears that Sportsbook.com and PlayersOnly.com are about to restrict US action on their websites.
Marketing affiliates reported this week receiving communications from the company advising:
"Both Sportsbook.com and PlayersOnly.com are going to cease accepting U.S. players and traffic as of May 1st, 2011.
"Existing players with accounts created prior to May 1st, 2011 will still be able to wager, deposit, and withdraw. However no new accounts will be able to be created from U.S. customers.
"Affiliates will continue to be paid revenue share on their past U.S. based referrals as well as new non U.S. referrals."
The new policy is apparently to be applied across all the brands, embracing a wider range of gambling genres than merely poker.
It does not affect wagering from non-US residents.
In related news, US players checking in to their Pokerstars accounts this week were presented with a pop-up notification advising: "We are pleased to announce that the Cash Out option in the PokerStars Cashier is now available," although it was accompanied by a warning that processing and delivery delays may be a problem.
Players who went on to the Cashier point were informed that there was a mandatory cash-out policy in place, requiring US players to clean out their accounts.
These developments indicate that the "temporary use of domain" agreement reached with the DoJ appears to be working for the US players impacted by the recent indictments against major online poker companies.
Meanwhile, other media reports are that Lucky Nugget, eNet and Betraiser have joined the growing list of online gambling companies distancing themselves from the US market.
The position is less clear regarding Absolute Poker and Ultimatebet, which still appear to be accepting US action despite the DoJ's 'Black Friday' assault, although there are reports that new US registrations are being turned away.
Earlier this week the company advised in a public announcement that it has engaged a top legal firm to review the situation, and that its main priority is "...the refund of balances to US players. However, given the far-reaching consequences of the US Attorney’s actions for Absolute Poker and for the entire poker community, Absolute Poker believes that the responsible course of action is to review with its attorneys the relevant court filings before taking any action.”
FRENCH ISPs FIGHT ONLINE GAMBLING BAN METHODOLOGY 2011-03-21Go after hosts rather than internet access providers, say seven French internet service providers
Seven French internet service providers are questioning laws that require them to block Five Dimes.com, an internet gambling site operating from Costa Rica on servers hosted in that country by domestic provider ICE.
La Tribune reports that the service providers took issue in an appeal court in Paris with a Euro 10,000 daily fine imposed on them by online betting regulator ARJEL, appealing for relief from the Tribunal de Grande Instance.
Referring to an anti-semitic website that ISPs agreed previously to block, SFR's lawyer stated that despite the blocks it is still possible for internet users to access the offending website at 12 or 13 different addresses.
Orange's lawyer said it was logical and technically more realistic for the courts to act against hosting service providers rather than internet access providers.
All of the defendants emphasised that they did not seek to oppose ARJEL’s authority, or seek to prevent the law from being enforced.
Auchan Telecom asked for a definitive ruling to be handed down concerning the ISPs' appeal of an August 2010 Tribunal de Grande Instance decision to block another online betting site unlicensed in France, StanJames, which eventually complied with ARJEL’s demands and now prevents internet users in France from using the service.