Gaming Transactions Launches Online Casino Games at Keno.com.

Gaming Transactions has announced the official launch of its proprietary Gaming Portal, keno.com.

Keno.com is an online games destination where people play popular casino style games to win real money prizes. The site shall also offer other popular games in the near future including bingo, poker, blackjack, slots and video game versions of table games.

Patrick Smyth, CEO of Gaming Transactions said, 'The games have been developed with the foresight to create a user-friendly experience without loading times and a secure transaction system has been developed with multiple layers of security and redundancy. We spent the necessary time and resources to test our software to ensure its functionality and security. Consumer focus groups were used in the development process to guarantee that our players had an opulent experience online, and future marketing efforts will be aimed customer service and attention.'

New celebrity poker TV programme featuring Macaulay Culkin.

E! Entertainment has launched a new programme called E! Hollywood Hold ‘em, due to be launched on 17 March at 10pm ET/PT.

It promises to bring viewers straight to the poker action, along with dishy conversation and an exclusive home tour. Dealing the cards each week will be World Poker Tour Champion, Phil Laak, who brings not only his extensive poker expertise to the table, but his lively banter and insider gambling tips.

Keeping the pizza and beverages coming each week will be a different celebrity host who will also share with viewers exactly where in their homes they work out, entertain friends, sleep, cook and generally escape the limelight. Joining each celebrity host will be two of their best buddies and two other poker-friendly celebs.

Online Casino Unveils Million Dollar Prize.

Oasis Casino, Sportsbook & Racebook has announced it will be sponsoring the “Oasis $1,000,000 Handicapping Challenge” beginning March 21, 2005.

“While a $1,000,000 prize has long been a staple for our casino players who wish to showcase their card playing prowess, our horse racing contest will be the first time that our customers will have a shot at a $1,000,000 payday by showing off their handicapping skills,” said Randolph Shea, Oasis Casino’s Director of Corporate Communication.

The high stakes horse handicapping contest, which will run for ten consecutive weeks, will require contestants to correctly predict winners of pre-determined horse races. En route to a chance at the $1,000,000 prize, would-be horse experts will have the opportunity to win guaranteed prizes totalling $2000, including ten $100 weekly prizes and a $1000 First Prize.

Oasis Casino, which launched its racebook in December of 2003, is adding the “$1,000,000 Handicapping Challenge” to give its horse bettors an opportunity to realize the ultimate payoff of $1,000,000, something that it has offered its casino players for nearly a decade in the form of its Super Caribbean Stud Progressive Jackpot.

Online Gambling Popular with Israelis.

According to Swedish online gambling company OnGame, Israelis are a keen gambling nation. The company thinks potential in Israel is so great that they will be launching a campaign in the country just to teach people how to play poker in order to raise more interest.

'Israelis really like playing casino games, they're quite hooked on it,' said Ira Gladnikoff, vice president of Swedish online gambling company OnGame.

She added that Israelis are particularly prevalent visitors on online gambling sites. 'That's why we will be running a site specially in Hebrew, despite it being such a small country.'

InterPoker doubles your Chances to Win a WSOP Bracelet.

The countdown of poker has begun. This June, more players than ever in the history of the game will descend on the Rio Las Vegas for the biggest game in town, the 2005 World Series of Poker.

InterPoker.com, a leading Online Poker Room, will be guaranteeing 145 seats to this year’s World Series, plus a free entry for Event 45 to every InterPoker Main Event Qualifier.

The InterPoker.com WSOP campaign has well and truly kicked off and, for as little as a $10+$1 buy-in to a satellite tournament, InterPoker.com players can earn themselves the $10,000 entrance fee for the main event.

What’s more, winners will also receive automatic entry to a WSOP ‘Second Chance’ event, held after the main event, which will afford players a second chance to fulfil their dreams of winning a coveted WSOP bracelet. In addition, they will receive $2,000 dollars toward travel expenses.

InterPoker.com Manager Ryan Hartley, told us: 'We’ve got some great players at InterPoker.com and I know they can do us proud at the World Series – that’s why we’re getting behind them and offering them as many chances as we can.'

'And should their luck fail them in Event 42, they can have another attempt at a ‘Second Chance’ event, Event 45. We truly believe that everyone at InterPoker.com has a shot at a bracelet and we back our best players by letting them show the world just how good they are,' continued Hartley.

Gross revenues from mobile gambling set to mushroom.

The report from telecoms analysts Juniper Research reveals that lotteries will be the largest money-spinners, with gross revenues of nearly US$7.9bn worldwide by 2009, followed by sports betting (US$6.9bn) and casino-style gaming (US$4.5bn).

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, 'Governments are generally less censorious about lotteries than other forms of gambling, with the result that mobile lotteries are likely to become established fairly quickly in a greater number of markets. Given the ubiquity of the lottery culture, it will only require a very small percentage of players to buy their tickets via the mobile handset for the resulting global revenues to run into billions of dollars.”

If existing prohibitions on casinos and betting services are lifted, then overall revenues could be substantially higher. 7.6 million North Americans are expected to use mobile sports betting services by 2009, with more than five million using casino-style services.

Dr Holden explained, 'These forecasts are based on the premise that a number of countries – most notably the US and China – will remain strongly opposed to the introduction of most mobile gambling services in the short and medium term. Should this situation change, then quite clearly the figures would be revised upwards to reflect this.”

Winward Gaming Group appoints new VP Marketing.

Winward Gaming Group is pleased to announce that Scott Logan has joined the company as Vice President of Marketing. Logan has extensive experience in online marketing in general and the online gaming space in particular. Logan launched one of the Web's first online gambling portal sites, WhereToBet.com, back in 1997 when online gambling was still in its infancy. Since then, he has been involved in all facets of marketing online gambling sites, both as a casino affiliate and as a casino operator. Logan graduated from Griffith University in Australia with a B.A. in Commerce and a major in Marketing.

Winward Gaming Group is one of the oldest and most respected online gaming operations on the Internet. Based in Costa Rica, the Winward Group has more than 100 employees at its operations center, where they host several of the Web's most popular casinos, bingo and sportsbook sites.

SportSpread.com Cross Irish Channel.

Dublin-based bookmaker SportsSpread.com is due to enter the UK market. According to the Irish Examiner the company, which offers traditional fixed odds as well as spread betting services, has been approved for trading by the UK Financial Services Authority.

'Overall, the directors are satisfied with the performance of the group in the last year and that it will become profitable in the next financial year. In connection with its entry into the UK market, the group has been engaged in a fundraising process to raise up to €3.5m for the issue of new convertible loan stock,' the directors said. 'This has been a long stated aim of this group and the group will launch its product through a wholly-owned subsidiary Worldspreads Limited.'

Spread betting turnover for the year ended 31 March 2004 increased from €50.5 million to €62.2m, while fixed odds, betting turnover increased from €7.7m to €8.1m.

New 3-for-Free Contest Pays $25,000 Jackpot WEEKLY!

sportsbook.com has launched a spanking new FREE contest where every visitor to the site has the chance to win up to $25,000 - weekly! All customers have to do is answer three questions, and three bonus questions a day to earn points to win big cash prizes daily.

There are so many prizes up for grabs and so many different ways to win. The prizes include: $150 daily, up to $5,000 weekly, $1,500 on the weekend and $25,000 on the jackpot.

The prizes are based on a points system. The contestant who has the highest score for the week Monday through Sunday will win $3,500, second place $1,000 and third place $500. The contestant with the highest score for the weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) will win $1,500. The contestant who scores 220 points in any given week will win a huge $25,000.

'Once again we are ecstatic about giving visitors to sportsbook.com the chance to really win some incredible money, all for FREE,' explains Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportingbet PLC, Americas Region. 'Loyalty is a key to this game, so by visiting the site every day customers can accumulate big points and more chances to win our $25,000 jackpot.'

To enter sportsbook.com's 3-for-Free Contest and to view the contest rules, visit www.sportsbook.com/contest/3free.html

Bets revved for Ferrari to win Australian Grand Prix 2005.

Team Ferrari is the red-hot favourite to win Melbourne’s premier Formula One event on March 6, according to pool betting site AnyBets.com. Punters have chosen the perennial winner, Ferrari, led by Michael Schumacher, with a clear majority of 54% of the pool.

Local boy Mark Webber might have a home advantage on the track but at the online bookmakers, his team isn’t so well supported. The Williams team is indeed the second favourite but only 18% of the punters are backing it. McLaren is not too far behind with 14% of money placed in the pool in support of the Finnish and Columbian duo. The new side on the block, Red Bull, is actually just the re-branded Jaguar team, and they haven’t made much difference to the odds.

A spokesperson for AnyBets.com said, “It seems our customers are hoping this year’s Australian Grand Prix will be a repeat performance of the 2004 race, as they have bet heavy on Ferrari and Williams, who were both top three teams last year. Having said that, Renault came in as the second best racing team last year, but only 3% of the pool bet for Renault to achieve this year’s first position. It will be very interesting to see the results on March 6!”

Jordan is currently the rank outsider. For every £1 wagered, bettors will currently receive £117 if Jordan wins so if the team of rookies strike beginners’ luck on the circuit then Jordan backers will be in for healthy winnings!

AnyBets.com is covering the entire 2005 formula-one racing season. Public opinion on the website shows that Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher is the driver to beat. The majority of bettors have laid wagers that he will win six of the 19 championships.

Will Blair pull a fast one?

William Hill have reacted to growing speculation of an election date by cutting their odds on a snap poll in March.

After closing their book on any date in May, Hill’s have also reduced their price on the date being outside that month, amidst growing talk of a quick election next month. The bookmakers have slashed odds from 10/1 to 5/1 for a General Election being called in any month other than May.

Hills make Labour 1/8 favourites to win as the largest single party, but offer 9/2 on the Conservatives and 40/1 on the Liberal Democrats. They are also offering 8/1 that Ken Livingstone will resign as Mayor of London before the General Election takes place.

New online poker service launched.

A new online poker service has been launched from the same stable that brought internet gambling site casino.co.uk to the forefront of web gaming.

Hoping to cash in on the booming poker scene, estimated to be worth in excess of $12 billion, Gaming Corporation have launched findpoker.com, a site aimed at those wanting to find and develop their interests in the game.

The latest news, editorial and the best links will be offered on the site, which will generate revenue from cost-per-click advertising using ad-serving technology.

“The launch of findpoker.com is part of our ongoing strategy of creating and acquiring market leading gaming sites”, said chief executive Justin Drummond.

Poker & Sports Marketing conference announced.

Bodog.com has again invited the online gambling community to attend the Bodog.com conference this July in Las Vegas.

After the successes of last year’s event, heads of the industry will return to provide expert help and advice on various levels. Among those attending this year will be legal expert Dr Joseph Kelly, who will talk in light of annual developments faced by the industry.

'Last year's conference was a spectacular affair,” said Calvin Ayre, founder and chief executive of Bodog.com. 'We are all very excited to bring this event back to Las Vegas, and know that this will be the single event that everyone involved in online gambling, casino and poker rooms should attend.”

Bodog.com have launched a website to cater for information concerning the conference, in preparation for the event, which will take place on 6 and & July. Visit www.bodogconference.com for more information.

Winslet Favoured for People Magazine’s Best Dressed.

Betting is already underway for this year’s Academy Awards. But what’s hot at the bookmaker’s is not who’s best in Hollywood. The title of ‘Best Dressed’ Actress in a Leading Role nominee is where people are putting their money, and the action is at international celebrity poll betting site AnyBets.com.

Hilary Swank, Annette Bening, Imelda Staunton, Catalina Sandino Moreno and Kate Winslet are all in a race for the Best Actress Oscar this year, but betting on People magazine’s Best Dressed List is where the real action is taking place!

To date, the majority of the betting public have picked Kate Winslet as the most likely best dressed by 23%, following close behind is Hilary Swank with 20% of the vote and Annette Bening at 11%.

Examining the actresses’ history in fashion fantastics, faux pas and blunders, the voters on AnyBets.com are right on track. Hilary Swank won People’s Best Dressed at this year’s Golden Globe Awards and Kate Winslet and Annette Bening have made it to big-time fashion icon Mr Blackwell’s Best Dressed List for 2004.

According to London-based luxury accessory sets designer, William Sharp, Hilary is the glamour princess the voters should be backing in the fashion stakes, and not Kate.

“Hilary’s beautiful body, sexy legs, and nice ass look fabulous in a revealing cleavage-showing dress. And with those sexy collar bones, every outfit she wears bestows that Hollywood WOW factor,” added Sharp.

A spokesperson at AnyBets.com said that British hopeful, Imelda Staunton, has hardly rated at all in this betting poll. “Perhaps Imelda’s fashion disaster at the Golden Globes has made her an unlikely winner by in vogue voters. She was voted Worst Dressed by People for her outfit at the Golden Globes. Only 6% have voted that she’ll be best primped at the Oscars.”

“Catalina Sandino Moreno is new to the red carpet fashion domain, and the rookie is only attracting 9% of the public’s money for the 2005 awards.”

The Academy Awards is the ultimate showbiz event, and the betting polls are making fashion pundits out of all who follow Hollywood’s A-list.

AnyBets.com added, “It’s the Night of Nights, when the who’s who of the film industry glam up in their best designer gowns, and what better occasion than to have a flutter on the Best Dressed celebrities. As your favourite actress walks down the red carpet it is much more exciting to see how they’re dressed when there’s money on the line!”

AnyBets.com has 17 pools on all aspects of the Academy Awards; visit www.AnyBets.com

Online Sportsbook continues its boxing sponsorship program.

sportsbook.com is pleased to present the World Middleweight Title (undisputed) fight this weekend as part of HBO World Championship Boxing. Howard Eastman will square off against Bernard Hopkins, defending champion.

“This is the second time we’ve sponsored this event and consider it a great night of boxing and a great program for our boxing fans,” says Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director, sportsbook.com. “sportsbook.com continues to grow its list of top-tier sponsorship programs that now includes boxing, golf, UFC and bull riding, among others.”

In addition to being the title sponsor of the event, sportsbook.com is offering odds on the match, favouring Bernard Hopkins to win with 5-8 odds. The 40-year-old Hopkins, aka “The Executioner,” hasn’t been defeated in over 20 years and has defended his title 25 times.

“This will undoubtedly be the biggest fight of Eastman’s life,” added Czajkowski. “Since 1993, 21 fighters have tried to defeat Hopkins without success. But Eastman is faster, younger…and he’s prepared. But this is championship boxing and anything can happen.”

The fight takes place Saturday, Feb. 19th at 9:45 p.m. ET.

Fight Money

Bernard Hopkins -800

Howard Eastman +500

Additional Sportsbook.com odds on the fight:

Eastman by decision 9-1

Eastman by KO – TKO – DQ 9-1

Hopkins by decision 5-8

Hopkins by KO – TKO – DQ 11-4

Draw 23-1

sportsbook.com is also offering a free, collectible, Sportsbook.com boxing T-shirt for customers who win with any bet on this card.

Online Casino Buys $75,100 Frenchfry .

GoldenPalace.com has been announced the winning bidder for the McDonald’s “Lincoln Fry,” a commercial prop that the fast food giant put out to bid on Yahoo! Auctions with the aim of benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities®.

The Lincoln Fry is made out of polyurethane, and is not edible. It is about four inches long and displays a partial bust of President Abraham Lincoln on one end. It was created for use in McDonald’s “Lincoln Fry” television and Internet advertisements, particularly for the advertisement that appeared on TV during the Super Bowl.

GoldenPalace CEO Richard Rowe said, “When the ads aired, it was obvious that they were a parody of our extremely successful marketing campaign involving the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich that we won on eBay for $28,000. We are flattered that McDonald’s chose to imitate one of our marketing strategies. With the sandwich already in our collection, and our corporate philosophy of helping those in need, buying the Lincoln Fry was a given.”

Rose added that “This is a great day for marketing -- and a great day for Abe Lincoln.”

The $75,100 fry will be going with the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich on an all-America tour to generate money for Ronald McDonald House Charities® and allow people to see these items for themselves. The stated aim of Ronald McDonald House Charities is “to better the lives of children and their families around the world.”

Through their worldwide network of chapters, RMHC have already awarded more than $400 million dollars in grants “to make an immediate and positive impact on as many children as possible.”

Fans wager more on Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win Daytona 500.

There is currently a three way tie for the ‘favorite’, heading into Nascar’s first race of the year this Sunday at Daytona. According to sportsbook.com, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmy Johnson are all at 9/2 odds to win the 47th annual Daytona 500.

“Daytona is the mecca of the American auto racing world. It’s the biggest race of the year for NASCAR, and it’s the biggest race for Sportsbook.com,” says Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director, Sportsbook.com. “We’ve got Gordon, Junior and Johnson all in contention and we expect to see a lot more action on the race before Sunday afternoon.”

Jimmie Johnson, coming off a win this past Saturday night will share the front row with Dale Jarrett, who takes the pole for this Sunday’s race. Full odds for the Daytona 500 include:

Driver Odds Driver Odds

Jimmie Johnson 9-2 Bobby Labonte 35-1
Jeff Gordon 9-2 Jeremy Mayfield 35-1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 9-2 Ricky Rudd 40-1
Michael Waltrip 7-1 Rusty Wallace 60-1
Dale Jarrett 12-1 Sterling Marlin 60-1
Tony Stewart 12-1 Casey Mears 60-1
Kurt Busch 15-1 Brian Vickers 75-1
Ryan Newman 20-1 Scott Riggs 75-1
Kasey Kahne 20-1 Martin Truex Jr 75-1
Matt Kenseth 20-1 Carl Edwards 100-1
Jamie McMurray 20-1 Kyle Busch 100-1
Elliott Sadler 20-1 Scott Wimmer 100-1
Greg Biffle 25-1 Bobby Hamilton Jr 100-1
Mark Martin 25-1 Jeff Green 100-1
Kevin Harvick 25-1 Jason Leffler 100-1
Jeff Burton 25-1 Any Other Driver 30-1
Joe Nemechek 30-1

For more information and a full list of odds for this weekend’s Daytona 500, please visit www.sportsbook.com.

Court Throws Out CasinoCity Case.

CasinoCity.com’s attempt to take the Department of Justice to court for infringement of free speech has, it appears, failed. On Monday the United States District Court for the Middle District upheld the government’s call for the case to be dismissed, effectively ending the gaming portal’s fight for the right to advertise gambling on the internet.
The suit, which was filed last August, claimed that the Department of Justice is violating the principles of the First Amendment by warning broadcasters who advertise for the online gambling industry that they may face prosecution if they continue to do so.

Company CEO, Michael Corfman, said at the time: “The public has the right to see the wealth of information we provide on casinos and sportsbooks, and we have the First Amendment right to advertise online gaming on the web to support its free publication.'

London’s famous online casino carries on with Cryptologic.

CryptoLogic renews and extends its relationship with one of the UK's leading online casinos, The Ritz Club London Online (www.theritzclublondon.com). A multi-year contract is involved in the agreement.

Cryptologic’s President and CEO Lewis Rose said that, “CryptoLogic's strategy is to do business with the best of the best in global gaming - and we're proud to have earned the continuing confidence of a top UK gaming brand to drive our organic growth -- on land or online.” Rose added that the Ritz Club London is a “prestigious company, and we are delighted to reaffirm and build on our relationship to deliver a safe, secure and enjoyable online gaming experience for their players around the world.”

WagerLogic’s software has been used by the Ritz Club London Online since it became Cryptologic’s customer in 2002. State-of-the-art Wagerlogic software played a big part in building the success of London Ritz Online, which showed signs of continuing strongly when the Ritz took on CryptoLogic’s online poker game.

“CryptoLogic continues to be the Ritz Club's developer of choice - and their interactive gaming technology is second to none,” said Malcolm Graham, Ritz’s managing director.

Youbet.com to Tap Chinese Market.

Youbet.com, the largest provider of web-based horseracing content in the US, has announced its plans to launch a horseracing entertainment website, in the mould of its successful US site, for the Chinese mainland. The company is seeking to ‘raise brand awareness by exposing the world's most rapidly growing Internet population to the excitement of U.S. horse racing’.

Youbet will broadcast signals and program information in Chinese from the Meadowlands Race Track and Monmouth Park Racetrack in New Jersey; from Sam Houston Race Park in Texas; and from Delta Downs and Evangeline Downs Race Tracks in Louisiana.

“We're launching the China site to be in a position to capitalize on opportunities that could arise if the Mainland Chinese government acts to legalize aspects of online gaming,' said Charles F. Champion, Youbet's CEO. 'Clearly, if gaming laws are liberalized, it will create a large potential market for horse racing and Youbet.”

“A Chinese language entertainment site focused on horse racing is a logical, cost-efficient marketing vehicle for introducing our brand and the sport to government officials, gaming industry leaders, track owners and consumers,' Champion said. 'We will carefully monitor regulatory events in China to determine if future expansion of the site is warranted.”

The Chinese government’s attitude to iGaming, however, remains hostile. There have been several recent prosecutions of internet gaming operators, and government officials have vowed to clamp down on iGaming in all its forms.

The $1.25 Million 2005 Prima Poker Tour.

Prima Poker has announced its $1.25 million sponsorship of The Hendon Mob, four of Britain's top professional poker players. The sponsorship will send the fabulous foursome jet-setting on the 2005 Prima Poker Tour that includes 15 of the most exciting poker tournaments of the year. The Mob will be kicking off this month's tournaments on February 18th in Los Angeles, CA for the televised, WPT Poker Classic.

Prima Poker first sponsored the Hendon Mob in 2004, setting a new trend in the poker industry as the first ever $1 million sponsorship of a professional poker team. 'The Mob' became media stars, demonstrating their poker skills on Fox Sports Net, tutoring 'Cousin Sal' on Jimmy Kimmel Live and being featured in cameo appearances during the 2004 WSOP on ESPN.

Outside of numerous tournaments in the US, the 2005 tour will take the Hendon Mob to Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Dublin, Monte Carlo and London, where they will match wits against the top professional and online players in the world. The tour includes such premier internationally televised tournaments as the World Series of Poker, the Master Classics of Poker, the Commerce Invitational and numerous WPT and EPT events.

Not So Bad Man Lands $49,409 on Progressive Slot Jackpot.

Online Slot Mecca Slotland.com is proud to announce another lucky winner; “Badlandman” won a progressive jackpot worth $49,409 on February 10th on the Triple Video Poker machine, WildHeart.

Slotland.com’s progressive jackpot concept is different to those at other online casinos. Normally a single game is linked across a number of casinos to offer jackpots, which grow each time someone plays. At Slotland.com however, the progressive jackpot can be won by anyone playing any game in the Slotland.com casino. So if you’re playing blackjack and video poker you have the chance to hit the same jackpot as a slot machine player!

Slotland.com’s progressive jackpot is currently won on average every six weeks and usually stands at over $100,000, making it one of the most frequently won jackpots on the Internet. Only two weeks ago, a jackpot of $114,637 was won by a lucky customer Cornell1986 on the popular 9-wheel 8-payline slot machine, Golden8.

Spokesperson for Slotland.com, Hannah Morante commented, “It is always exciting to witness someone hitting the progressive jackpot, as we know in some part we are making a difference to that person’s life. Whether it is $20,000, $100,000 or even just $100 we know we’ve brought a winning smile to the face of one lucky customer.”

UK Online Bingo Hots Up.

Today sees the launch of UK bingo portal OnlineBingo.co.uk. This online bingo information site aims to clarify the increasingly crowded UK online bingo market by making a distinction between multi-player and single-player bingo sites. It also allows for easy comparisons between sites via its clear reviews and by highlighting the different promotions and giveaways available at different UK bingo sites.

Three million people play bingo in bingo halls in the UK and leading sites like ThinkBingo.com and JackpotJoy.com are hoping to recreate bingo halls on the internet. In the UK, online bingos’ mainly female players are often attracted by the chat/community element of multi-player bingo sites and OnlineBingo.co.uk has also come to the rescue with an indispensable dictionary of bingo chat slang.

Charlotte Lewin of OnlineBingo.co.uk said 'Wannabee UK online bingo players are now bombarded with options of places to play. Onlinebingo.co.uk makes the choices clearer and easier by only listing and reviewing the best UK bingo sites and spelling out the differences between them. We encourage community and contributions from our users because online bingo thrives on personal recommendations.”

All Party Betting & Gaming Committee Endorses Betfair model.

Betfair has praised the findings of a cross party committee of peers, following the committee’s investigation into the effects of betting exchanges on the sporting world. The All Party Betting and Gaming Committee concluded that far from being a detrimental to the integrity of the sport in general, the betting exchange model might well have a beneficial effect. The committee called for the Memorandum of Understanding, pioneered by Betfair, to be adopted throughout the betting industry as a whole. The committee further praised betting exchanges for their ability to track bets and for their readiness to share information with the relevant authorities, should any suspicion of insider betting arise.

Christopher Foster, Executive Director, Jockey Club told the committee: “As to whether [the advent of betting exchanges] has led to more corrupt races rather than more irregular betting patterns, I very much doubt whether there are more fixed races now than there were, say, 20 years ago… The existence of the audit trail [which exchanges alone can provide] acts as a pretty strong deterrent to malpractice [which leads] me to a firm conclusion in my own mind that it is highly unlikely that there are more fixed races now than there were twenty years ago.”

WPT boot camp find its place.

WPT BOOT CAMP is the brainchild of Ron Rubens and Steven Berman, co-founders of River Gaming, LLC. The duo developed the program after years of work in the gaming industry and prior experience producing instructional seminars. River Gaming is a licensee of WPT Enterprises, Inc., which holds an ownership interest in the WPT BOOT CAMP.
“By bringing the WPT BOOT CAMP to multiple markets, we make this knowledge accessible to the growing number of poker enthusiasts across the country,” said Berman. “This just-announced slate of events is a starting place and we expect to be expanding into other cities throughout the year. We encourage players to watch our website to stay current on newly added sites.”

A fantasy camp for poker enthusiasts, WPT BOOT CAMP is designed to give amateurs an intensive emersion in poker strategy over a weekend. Instruction comes from WPT™ commentators Mike Sexton and Vincent Van Patten, as well as poker expert Alex 'The Insider' Outhred, the man behind the camera who analyzes all hands played at WPT Final Tables. This core instructional group is augmented with a slate of poker champions. A portion of the coursework is also based on Sexton’s new book, WPT: Shuffle Up and Deal (HarperCollins) being released in March. WPT BOOT CAMP students will receive a copy of the book upon graduation--while supplies last.

Each informative WPT BOOT CAMP limits enrollment to only 50 students so the learning experience is maximized. The cost is $1,495 per person, and seats can be reserved at www.wptbootcamp.com or by calling 866-WPT-BOOT. Top students who perform well in tournament play at the Boot Camp will be rewarded with entry into a WPT sponsored satellite tournament. The initial cities WPT BOOT CAMP will visit are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Hollywood, New York and Washington.

Students who refer a friend to the program will receive $25 in cash, and the friend will get a $100 discount off the price of the camp.

Betfair a finalist in ‘Best places to work in IT’ Awards.

Betfair has been nominated as a finalist in the ‘Best Places to Work in IT’ Awards 2005.

The Computer Weekly ‘Best Places to Work in IT Awards’ have been set up to encourage and promote employment 'best practice' within UK organisations. The awards recognize those organisations that have placed themselves at the forefront of enlightened working practice.

David Yu, Betfair’s CTO, commented, “Without technology our company wouldn’t exist. We have 120, young and dynamic engineers who have enabled Betfair to grow at the rate it has, and become the largest online betting company in the world. We look forward to the announcement of the winner on Wednesday 2nd March.”

Gaming Transactions Enters Online Casino Industry;

Gaming Transactions has announced its entry into the online gaming entertainment sector with the acquisition of Keno Ltd, the licensee of www.keno.com.

The acquisition, which finalized on September 30th of last year, includes the licensing of gaming transactional software and a number of games. Since then, the Company has built its infrastructure and attracted a management team with depth and experience in e-commerce; specifically, internet gaming and casinos.

The Company has also developed relations with credit card processing companies, and integrated operations with the gaming transaction software. The web servers are now being load tested with the www.keno.com site now in beta testing.

Patrick Smyth said, 'Keno.com is a great natural URL for this industry, and our focus will be to develop a rich Keno Games portal. I am excited to be given the opportunity to work with such a strong and viable venture, one which will pave the way in the morphing fields of the Online Gaming and Entertainment Industry. Building shareholder value through properly structured business development and strict adherence to fundamental control on expenses is paramount to my role, as is the growth of the company through online sales and portal acquisition.'

UK Casino Site Helps Players Make the Right Choices.

To cater for the growing UK trend of online gambling, www.ukcasinosite.co.uk has been formed to help potential players find the right online casinos to play in and to keep them on track when getting started.

UkCasinoSite.co.uk offers a wide range of reviews of casino providers and gaming companies that allow you to play online for pounds sterling or even for free. Getting the low-down on reputable casinos is a major factor in choosing where best to play online and all of the companies reviewed are well-known, have been tried and tested and offer secure payment processing facilities.

With so many UK players being uninitiated to playing online the guide ensures they get off to a flying start and without any hassles. Coupling this with casino beginners guides giving the low-down on what you should expect when playing online, this all combines into an informative guide for people wanting to make the right choices when playing in UK based online casinos.

Two lucky ladies score big at Online Bingo.

At online bingo community BingoBallroom.co.uk, two lucky ladies became a few thousand pounds richer in 2005. They converted just £1 each into £6,000 with wins on the popular coverall jackpots while simply chatting online and watching those online bingo calls!

Mrs Isaac and Mrs Adams, both from the midlands say its very handy for the depleted January bank accounts and are planning home improvements for the spring.

BingoBallroom.co.uk not only run £1,000 online bingo jackpots on the hour every hour on given days, but also give their online bingo players astonishing Mega coverall jackpots when advertised, with the biggest bingo jackpot in the UK to be released next month.

Internet Poker Ad Airs at Super Bowl.

More than 78,000 Super Bowl fans caught the first glimpse of the InterPoker.tv (InterPoker.tv) play-for-fun online poker room advertisement on the giant-screen Viewtronic display boards placed in Alltel Stadium at yesterday’s Super Bowl. For the first time, Internet poker has made it into America’s most prestigious and expensive advertising arena.

“With one in six Americans playing poker, internet poker has gone mainstream. It’s one of the most popular activities online and televised poker is omnipresent across the nation.

Super Bowl advertising is condensed American culture, and our advertisement is proof. Poker is ingrained into the psyche of America,” said Mike de Halpert, Manager of InterPoker.com.

InterPoker.tv is the play-for-fun companion site for leading Internet poker site InterPoker.com (www.InterPoker.com).

Click on the link to see a sample of the InterPoker.tv advertisement from the Super Bowl

http://static.partnerlogic.net/interpoker.tv/video/0105/iptv.wmv

Online Poker site signs deal with interactive cable channel.

In a move to spread more of its poker sunshine across Europe SunPoker.com has just signed a deal to be one of the first poker rooms to be included on the interactive cable channel CNNText.

The text based information station reaches millions of homes throughout Europe, and allows users to browse the latest news headlines at their convenience. Now located on channel 232 within the CNNText broadcast, they can find the latest happenings, including the listing of Texas Hold 'Em tournaments 24 hours a day, and the most recent promotions at SunPoker.com.

'Poker has become extremely popular because of the television coverage...' says Nick Melrose, Poker Room Manager at SunPoker.com, '...and the decision to expand our exposure in Europe was a pretty simple one, and we felt CNN was the right choice to reach our target audience.'

The SunPoker.com software allows you to play poker and chat with other players from around the world for as little as $0.50/$1.00.

'We realize online poker cannot take the place of being in a live poker room face to face with your opponent, but the thought of winning a quarter of a million dollars while wearing your PJs does have its appeal,' added Melrose, 'and we've just made it easier to find SunPoker.com on CNNText television.'

Terrell's Ankle Injury Pushes Corey to #1 Super Bowl Slot.

Terrell Owens’ ankle injury has lost him the position of Super Bowl favourite to score the first touch down according to sportsbook.com, the world’s largest sportsbook and casino. “Props bets for ‘who will score the first TD’ have shifted from Terrell to Corey Dillon and Deion Branch over doubts regarding Terrell’s ankle injury,” said Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportingbet PLC, Americas Region.

‘Who will score the first touchdown of the game’ is again this year’s most popular prop bet and this should continue through the opening kick-off.

“People love getting big odds and betting on their favorite player,” said Peter Childs, sportsbook.com Oddsmaker. “Plus, the outcome of this bet is decided early in the game, so it’s what we call a ‘quick fix prop’”.

Childs attributes the increased public interest in this prop to the Terrel Owens factor: “If Owens was 100% fit, he’d be a big time favorite at about 6-1. As it is, he’s currently 13-1. We’re talking about a receiver who scored 14 touchdowns in 14 games this year, which is a much better percentage than new current favorite Corey Dillon (11-2).”

Player to Score First TD in the Super Bowl - CURRENT ODDS

Corey Dillon (Patriots) 11-2,
Brian Westbrook (Eagles) 8-1,
Field (All Other Players) 8-1,
Deion Branch (Patriots) 12-1,
Freddie Mitchell (Eagles) 15-1,
David Givens (Patriots) 13-1,
David Patten (Patriots) 13-1,
Terrell Owens (Eagles) 13-1,
Daniel Graham (Patriots) 15-1,
Donovan McNabb (Eagles) 15-1,
Dorsey Levens (Eagles) 15-1,
LJ Smith (Eagles) 17-1,
Todd Pinkston (Eagles) 17-1,
Greg Lewis (Eagles) 20-1,
Kevin Faulk (Patriots) 20-1,
Bethel Johnson (Patriots) 25-1,
Troy Brown (Patriots) 25-1,
Christian Fauria (Patriots) 30-1,
Tom Brady (Patriots) 35-1,
NO Touchdown Scored 100-1,
For more information on odds and props for Super Bowl XXXIX visit sportsbook.com

Online Casino announces 13 millionth membership.

888.com has increased its members from 10 million to 13 million in the space of one year. The Online Casino now has 13 million members in 151 countries.

888.com, UK Marketing Manager, Matt Robinson said: “888.com is the only casino and poker room, both on and offline, to have over 13 million members. This is a huge achievement for the online gambling industry, very few internet brands can boast of such an accomplishment.”

This week has also seen the brand scoop the prestigious ‘best online casino’ at the prestigious Inside Edge Awards 2005. The award was voted for by over 50,000 Inside Edge readers, and is the first of its kind for the online gaming industry. 888.com was voted ahead Ladbrokes Casino and Intercasino.

John Anderson, CEO of 888.com states, “To win this award is a great honour. We have recently celebrated our 13 millionth customer making us by far and away the biggest casino in the world. 2005 promises to be an even better year for 888.com and the industry.”

888.com continues to cement its position as a leading authority in gaming entertainment. In July 2004, 888.com became the main sponsor of Middlesbrough football club and was an official sponsor of the 2005 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship that took place in early January 2005. 888.com is also the sponsor of an array of top sporting professionals including Masters snooker champion Paul Hunter, UK Championship winner Matthew Stevens and 12 times world darts champion Phil Taylor.

UK Gambling Rises 566% in two years says Online Casino.

Casino-On-Net has released the results of a new survey which claims that online gambling has risen 566% since 2003, a boom which reflects the continued rise in female gamers. The poll found that, while women represented only four percent of gamblers in the early 1990s, now 20 percent of British women visit an online gambling website more than once yearly.

The survey was published in The Business confirms the findings by recent YouGov polls which concluded that between 30-40% on UK online gamblers were women. YouGov also found that 80% of all European internet gamblers were British.

Ladbrokes Goes Full-Colour Mobile.

Ladbrokes is to introduce a set of full colour casino games for mobile phones in order to tap in to the wireless market, which is expected to mushroom over the next few years. The games have been created by software company Spin3 and were previewed last week at ICE.

'This new channel for our products enables us to effectively take advantage of the enormous opportunities in mobile commerce,' said David Briggs, commercial director at Ladbrokes eGaming.
Customers will be able to use their online accounts to download games onto their handsets and play for money. The suite includes slot machines, blackjack and Ladbrokes Balls.

36 States bet the Patriots to beat the Eagles.

With only four days remaining until the biggest event in professional sports, sportsbook.com football fans have overwhelmingly picked the New England Patriots as their favourite for Super Bowl XXXIX.

But - sportsbook.com betting trends show the following states as strong Philadelphia Eagles supporters:

· Florida
· Nevada
· Delaware
· Hawaii
· Iowa
· New Jersey
· Pennsylvania

In addition, sportsbook.com shows several states are still sitting on the fence, with a 50-50 split decision, including:

· Vermont
· North Carolina
· Idaho

“This really isn’t surprising based on the way the Patriots have been performing, but I would expect several states including New York and Michigan to swing towards the Eagles by game time,” said Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director, Sportsbook.com. “We will continue to track the trends as the big day quickly approaches.”

In addition to betting on the straight winner, sportsbook.com offers over 700 different props and odds for Super Bowl. These props and odds run from the first play of the game, to the end, and everything in between.

State-by-state betting trend at sportsbook.com:

Percentage Breakdown By State

Patriots Eagles

Alabama 58.62% 41.38%
Arizona 58.04% 41.96%
Arkansas 69.23% 30.77%
California 58.87% 41.13%
Colorado 62.16% 37.84%
Connecticut 65.85% 34.15%
Delaware 23.08% 76.92%
Florida 49.01% 50.99%
Georgia 59.43% 40.57%
Hawaii 43.24% 56.76%
Idaho 50.00% 50.00%
Illinois 56.01% 43.99%
Indiana 59.32% 40.68%
Iowa 45.16% 54.84%
Kansas 62.86% 37.14%
Kentucky 51.61% 48.39%
Louisiana 58.82% 41.18%
Massachusetts 89.80% 10.20%
Maine 71.43% 28.57%
Maryland 63.19% 36.81%
Michigan 53.85% 46.15%
Minnesota 62.24% 37.76%
Mississippi 64.29% 35.71%
Missouri 63.38% 36.62%
Montana 80.00% 20.00%
North Carolina 50.00% 50.00%
New Jersey 41.20% 58.80%
New York 52.86% 47.14%
Nebraska 59.09% 40.91%
Nevada 41.67% 58.33%
New Hampshire 91.67% 8.33%
New Mexico 57.14% 42.86%
Ohio 52.26% 47.74%
Oklahoma 59.26% 40.74%
Oregon 55.74% 44.26%
Pennsylvania 12.98% 87.02%
Rhode Island 82.61% 17.39%
South Carolina 59.02% 40.98%
Tennessee 53.33% 46.67%
Texas 65.15% 34.85%
Utah 34.78% 65.22%
Virginia 50.36% 49.64%
Vermont 50.00% 50.00%
Washington 57.76% 42.24%
Wisconsin 58.06% 41.94%
West Virginia 46.15% 53.85%
District Of Columbia 72.22% 27.78%

Trends for Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Puerto Rico were not available at press time

For more information on odds and props for Super Bowl XXXIX please visit www.sportsbook.com

Online Casino Gives Cash Away.

Mickey’s Club Casino, a licensed online gaming casino with a Vegas vibe, is offering players $15 in USD or Euros free, just for downloading and trying their games.

“Every effort was made to give the new online gaming software an authentic Vegas feel,” said Mickey McLennon, Marketing Director of Mickey’s Club Casino. “Sound engineers, graphic design artists and gaming experts were brought in to develop its unique look. The variety of games, enhanced graphics and sounds combined with the multitude of languages offered have made this online gaming software extremely popular with gamers in America and internationally.”

On a gamer’s first deposit, Mickey’s Club Casino offers up to 50% bonus, so if a gamer deposits $400, Mickey’s Club chips in another $200, giving the gamer $600 to play with.

Deposits can be made by credit card, NETeller, FirePay, Citadel, EcoCard, PrePaidATM, MoneyBookers, MoneyGram, or Bank Wire.

Online Casino rents eBay cleavage.

Reportedly, Online casino Golden Palace has successfully rented the legally displayable portion of a Scotswoman's breasts offered as advertising space on eBay.

Although the deal has not yet been officially confirmed, the buy is not that unusual considering the recent purchase portfolio of the company. The company recently paid $28,000 (£15,000) for an image of the Virgin Mary in a toasted cheese sandwich.

Golden Palace's logo will be plastered onto Angel's 42GG bosom and displayed for 15 days, during which 'I can have photos taken of me, with your logo, in front of any of the popular landmarks in Glasgow, or our nation's capital.'

Over 700 ways to bet on the Super Bowl at Sportsbook.com.

Will New England beat the Philadelphia Eagles and win a second straight Super Bowl – their third in four seasons?

Who cares? The real question is can they cover the 7 ½ point spread? Although New England is the hands-down favorite to win, sportsbook.com has hundreds of props bets to make for an exciting Super Bowl Sunday.

Props like “Who’ll score the first touchdown?” are among the most popular wagers on the internet. Right now Corey Dillon (Patriots) is the favorite at 11-2 and Tom Brady (Patriots) is a long shot at 35–1.

“We get a lot of new bettors getting in on the Super Bowl action,” says Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportingbet PLC, Americas Region. “For them, even putting a couple of dollars on the coin toss adds to the excitement of the game.” With hundreds of Super Bowl props, sportsbook.com even has multiple ways to bet the toss: Patriots or Eagles win; or heads or tails (it’s been tails five of the last six Super Bowls).

People that are into soccer or hoops play Sportsbook.com’s cross-sports parlays. “Will the Patriots have more points scored than Italy or Ireland? Hell ya!” laughs Czajkowski.

“My long shot pick for the Super Bowl,” says Czajkowski. “…is Christian Fauria 30-1 to score the first TD”.

In-running wagering will also be available during this year’s Super Bowl, allowing fans to place additional bets during the game.

Online Betting Pool Raises One Office’s Super Bowl Stakes.

Jane can’t believe how the Super Bowl betting pool that she organized for friends has mushroomed! She set up a pool using AnyBets.com for her friends but other office pools are raising the stakes by throwing their wagers into her pot.

Always the one nominated for organizing her office’s social activities, Jane decided to try a high tech approach when she was delegated to coordinate the group’s Super Bowl pool this year.

“Everyone wanted a Super Bowl office pool but no one wanted to organize it, and as usual it fell to me,” said the overworked administrative assistant. “This year, I just got the whole thing set up online and sent everyone to AnyBets.com to place their wagers and check up on the pool value.”

AnyBets.com adds a high tech twist to traditional office pool betting. There are dozens of sports and celebrity betting pools on the site, and anyone with an interesting betting proposition can get a new pool set up by contacting the site’s managers.

“We made it sort of a funny wager I guess,” says Jane. “I don’t know much about American football myself, but apparently one team is pretty much a shoe-in. So betting on who would win wasn’t very interesting to some of the guys in the office. I remembered what a fuss there was last year over Janet Jackson flashing her nipple during the half time show and we started speculating on whether or not the commentators would even be able to mention that fiasco this year. So that’s what we made our betting pool wager: ‘Will Fox Television commentators make even ONE reference to Janet Jackson’s nipple during the Super Bowl broadcast?’”

“We’ve seen some pretty crazy wagering propositions, but Jane’s really got our interest,” says an AnyBets.com spokesperson. “I don’t think she should have been so surprised when so many other visitors wanted a piece of her action!”

To set up your own Super Bowl office pool, email officepools@anybets.com

Sportsbook.com Player Earns Trip to Dale Jarrett Racing.

After a season of weekly cash prizes, sportsbook.com has awarded T. Kocis with the much anticipated Grand Prize in its annual NASCAR Contest. The all-inclusive prize package, supervised by the Dale Jarrett NASCAR Experience, takes T. Kocis on twenty white-knuckle laps behind the wheel of a 165mph Nextel racecar at an actual NASCAR speedway.

'It is totally awesome to be able to drive a NASCAR racecar, thanks to sportsbook.com” yelled the excited winner, a sportsbook.com customer since the spring of 2000. “It is very exciting to enter the weekly contests and then cheer on your selected drivers. It makes you feel part of the action. Thank you sportsbook.com. Keep up the good work!'

Each week of the NASCAR season, sportsbook.com awarded cash prizes for winning entries in its NASCAR Contest. First Prize this year is a trip for two to the Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. It includes two Rookie Adventure Packages (20 laps each) and airfare for two from anywhere within the Continental US to a NASCAR speedway, as well as first class accommodation and spending money.

'This was another very successful year for NASCAR and NASCAR betting. There was substantial growth in the number of Contest Entries and NASCAR Wagers we have received this year,' said Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportingbet PLC, Americas Region. 'Guys like T. Kocis get a chance to prove they know NASCAR, and now he gets to prove his skill on the track.'