The news in brief for the week of April 17-23
192.com Business Services has launched 192 SafeBet, a voice-based identity checking solution for the remote gaming industry. By recording and storing gamblers’ unique audio voice-prints, 192 SafeBet provides betting companies with the assurance that they know exactly who they are dealing with.
Channel 425, William Hill’s satellite TV station on the BSkyB platform, has become the UK’s leading betting related TV station thanks to the addition of over 70hrs/wk Australian racing and Brazilian football coverage. The new shows will add to the channel’s existing line up that includes the daily Talksport TV’s ‘The Game’, live UK greyhound racing five nights a week, and a weekly poker magazine show, Poker425.
“To Victor, the victor, with my best wishes.” Bookmaker Fred Done has hand-delivered a cheque for £1m to fellow bookie Victor Chandler to settle a bet arranged last year. Manchester United fanatic Done struck an even-money bet last August that his team would finish higher than Chelsea in the Premiership. Renowned in the industry for his early payouts Done said: “I rarely see the point in holding onto my punters’ cash longer than necessary, and the same applies to Victor, but I didn’t want a great fanfare, so I paid a visit to one of Victor’s shops and paid up!” In a separate news, Betfred, the online arm of Done Bookmakers, is expected to launch an online casino in partnership with Playtech.
Interactive Gaming Holdings has signed an agreement with Orbis Technology, which will provide its OpenBet software platform to drive the new offering for IGH recently acquired Heathorns Bookmakers.
The InterCasino Euro family of online casinos have launched a selection of new games, available in German, French, Italian and Spanish, through CryptoLogic’s version 6 software.
iTouch, a wireless device software developer, has signed a three-year deal with Coral Eurobet to offer a mobile phone gaming service in the UK.
MrBookmaker launched a new range of soft gaming products with Electracade, an interactive gaming content provider, and Finsoft, a gaming solutions company.
Swedish-based PokerNetwork, one of the world’s largest networks for poker room operators, is sponsoring eGaming Review’s Power 50 Summit, where top executives from the 50 largest online gaming corporations in the industry come together for a two day conference.
The South African Premier Soccer League has launched a soccer bet product (PSL Soccer 6 Bet) in partnership with horse racing and tote betting operator, Phumelela.
Tattersall received the approval from the Supreme Court of the Australian state of Victoria to convert the 124-year-old private trust into a company, clearing one of the final obstacles to what will be Australia’s biggest float this year at more than A$2 billion. Goldman Sachs JBWere and Macquarie Bank are working on the prospectus for the public offering of the 14.3 per cent stake in the new company.
Hong Kong racing is set to become a regular fixture on Tabcorp wagering network from the beginning of May, when the Australian dedicated racing channel ThoroughVisioN will start covering Sha Tin and Happy Valley meetings on permanent basis.
ThwartPoker, an online poker provider, launched Poker Blitz, a skill based version of the popular Texas hold’em, in partnership with Game Trust. In Poker Blitz all the elements of chance from the original game have been removed, and the game is touted as the first completely legal online poker game in the US.
Smart Voucher and Proc Cyber Services launched Universal e-Cash (Ukash), a new payment processor for online gambling transactions aimed at players who prefer cash transactions (via any Paypoint outlet) over the use of credit cards.
China continues its fight against online betting. According to official sources, the Chinese Government has shut down 1,361 websites and confiscated 183 servers while investigating 42 criminal cases related to internet gambling.
Prime Minister Tony Blair told BBC television to be in favour of more super casinos as “they do not pose a threat to British society” and rejected concerns over gambling addictions. If re-elected, the Labour Party could exploit a loophole in new gambling legislation and give permission to build four regional casinos, despite its deal with the Conservatives to build just one.
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