Expert Bet

French Tennis Federation tried to ban online gambling companies from offering bets on the Grand Slam Rolland Garros tournament. “There is urgency to act because sporting ethic is at risk,” Jean-Francois Vilotte, director general of the French tennis federation, told The Associated Press. “It is an issue as important as the fight against doping.” The French federation is suing three companies: Bwin, Betfair, and Ladbrokes to stop them from taking bets on the French Open. It seeks a fine of $75,000 a day for any violations, said Vilotte’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont. “Targeting the only betting operator which is completely transparent and, where needed, shares all its betting information with the ITF and ATP would be just plain bizarre,” Betfair Managing Director Mark Davies wrote in an e-mail. “I would be astonished if any sensible regulator wanted to go down this route or believed it could help protect the integrity of its sport when it so obviously does the opposite.” “We offer a service. To explain what happens, we have to use the name of Roland Garros,” Bwin spokesman Antoine Costanzo said. “We don’t cause the problem. We warn them there is a problem. We help organizers find those who are guilty.” FTF has no power to any state or country. Neither USA has. The only thing that FTF can do is to ban online betting and sports betting in general in the internal France betting agencies, but I don’t thing it could be made because the French state will loose a bog amount of money from taxes. We are living in a world where “Money talks” and competition and “know how” are the best power to lead. If France want to have a piece of cake from multi-billions called “Sports betting” it has to make a competitive www sports betting company not trying to ban it. Innovation and competition can bring you in the top, not banning and negation. Will pass some long long time until France will have such a company. France is far away from other countries such as: England, Australia, Austria and even Lithuania.

January 01, 2008 TURFTV pulled off its biggest coup when, within hours of launching its full service, the new betting shop picture provider signed a five-year contract with Ladbrokes.

The agreement, which comes hot on the heels of a similar deal with Coral, took the number of shops in Britain and Ireland taking TurfTV to more than 6,500.

It also means that, of the major bookmaking chains, only William Hill and Betfred remain out in the cold, and discussions are continuing with both firms.

The deal with Ladbrokes, who have more than 2,300 shops in the UK and Ireland, was welcomed by Alan Morcombe, chief executive of TurfTV.

Earlier, the broadcaster switched on its full service with exclusive coverage of the non-Channel 4-televised races from both Cheltenham and Catterick.

Morcombe said: “I’m delighted Ladbrokes have decided to come on board and welcome them to TurfTV with open arms.

“We were always confident bookmakers would take the service, it was just a question of when, and we are very pleased Ladbrokes have signed a deal.

“The message is clear: what we promise, we deliver. Our promise now to our clients is that TurfTV will do everything it can to raise the standards of picture provision and enhance the betting shop experience, to the benefit of everyone.”

Source: The Financial Times Limited

NEW YORK, December 2007

Scientific Games (Nasdaq:SGMS) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary The Global Draw Ltd. hasbeen awarded a four year contract to supply multi-game server-based gaming terminals to William Hill (LSE: WMH.L) betting shops. This contract establishes Global Draw as the supplier of gaming machines to a minimum of 548 William Hill betting shops, which will house approximately 2,100 terminals. William Hill has over 2,250 betting shops across the UnitedKingdom and Ireland, with an installed base of over 8,300 gaming machines.

This new contract follows the recent change in British gaming law in September 2007, which allows betting shops to have up to a total of four of either Category B2 (formerly FOBTs) or Category B3 (Jackpot Machines)gaming machines. Global Draw upgraded all of its gaming machines to Nevada(TM) dual screen terminals which can offer either Category B2 or B3 content on the same machines. The contract award follows a trial of these new machines in a limited number of William Hill shops. William Hill will be replacing all of the machines in each of the 548 shops following the conclusion of its current supplier’s contract in January with up to four Global Draw Nevadas(TM). The machines should all be fully installed during the first quarter of 2008.

“William Hill is the largest betting shop operator in the UK and one of the best known names in the betting industry and we are proud to become a part of their family,” said Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games. “Global Draw has worked extremely hard to create a new standard for gaming machines following the recent changes in British gaming laws and we are extremely encouraged by this contract award.”

Ian Chuter, Group Director, Gaming of William Hill stated, “We have been very impressed with the performance of Global Draw’s new Nevada(TM)terminals and level of service we have received during our trial period.The Global Draw dual purpose machines, server- based gaming technology and in-house content should ensure greater choice and flexibility for William Hill’s betting shop customers and we are looking forward to rolling out these machines in approximately one-quarter of our estate.”

“We would like to thank William Hill for their display of confidence and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them,” said Steve Frater, Managing Director for The Global Draw Ltd. “We have been extremely pleased with the performance of our new Nevada(TM) terminals and this is a further endorsement of the dual purpose B2/B3 machine strategy pioneered by Global Draw. This order will expand our installed base of Nevadas(TM) to over 11,400 machines and will make us the leading supplier of B2/B3 machines to the UK LBO market.”

US banks are warning the US Treasury that regulations proposed in the wake of last year’s sweeping anti-gambling law will be impossible to comply with unless the Bush administration clarifies its conflicting views on online betting.
The Financial Services Roundtable, which represents dozens of banks and other financial services firms, said it was “very concerned” that adoption of the rules could impose “significant” and costly compliance burdens on banks.
“The statute and the proposed rule expand the role of financial institutions to police laws that are more appropriate for law enforcement agencies,” the Roundtable said in public filings to the Treasury and Federal Reserve.
The criticism raises new questions about whether regulators will be able to enforce a law that, in effect, requires banks and other institutions to know the purpose and legality of payments in an industry - online gambling - in which federal and state rules often conflict.
The proposed rules would require US financial companies with designated payments systems to have policies and procedures that are “reasonably designed” to prevent payments being made to illegal gambling businesses. According to the US Treasury, illegal gambling consists of any bet or wager involving the internet that is illegal in the state in which the bet is made.
The proposed rules were drafted after the passage last year of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a bill that wiped billions of dollars in value from non-US gambling websites.
At the centre of concerns raised by the Roundtable is the fact that it is far from clear whether banks would also have to block payments from US-based gambling sites, including websites that take bets on horses.
The justice department has long held the view that online interstate betting (within the US) on horses is illegal. However, the handful of established horse-betting sites have never been prosecuted. The horse-betting industry maintains that state laws allowing wagers on horses trump federal laws. Legislators left the issue alone last year by including language in the anti-gambling legislation that said it did not apply to wagers on horses.
In comments about the proposed rules, Bank of America said the US should provide a list of entities with whom banks are forbidden to take payments in the absence of an “unambiguous” definition of what is legal.
“Without [a definition], financial institutions will be forced to block legitimate transactions in order to avoid the possibility of permitting an illegal transaction,” it said.
Separately, the US trade representative on Tuesday said press reports had “misrepresented” an agreement with the European Commission this week to resolve a trade dispute over the US ban on online gambling.
A spokeswoman said the agreement, in which the US offered concessions on the postal, courier and other sectors, would not involve “any change” in US law or practice and was simply intended to provide greater legal certainty to some sectors.

The IGCE (International Gaming Conference & Expo ) - is the conference division of The Sports Network, the premiere real-time sports wire service in the United States has released its program for the Lisbon, Portugal conference for April 22-24, 2008 

“After intense research and studies conducted,” stated Amanda Manero, Conference Coordinator for IGCE, “it was determined that the most important area of discussion, awareness and direction was the legal one.  Technology, marketing, payment processing, money laundering, the course to be taken to address the burgeoning audience that is Asia are all of interest but, as one attendee noted, ‘They are to no avail if we are not acutely aware of every legal hurdle that we must overcome in our own country and internationally.’ We addressed that with a literal “super star” faculty of speakers from around the world and applied their expertise and knowledge to topics of critical interest.”
 
Among the many areas to be covered during the two-day conference will be such diverse topics as:  * Are there any real benefits to relocating to Antigua, Malta, Gibraltar, and Isle of Man? 

 * What is the real Internet future of poker, casino games, mah jong, backgammon and anything else categorized as games of skill?  Is there such a thing as a game of skill?

 * Is it time to sell, merge, acquire or just expand?  Are IPOs yesterday news? * How do you get around the concrete hurdles of advertising, marketing, promotion, sponsorship constraints without having to battle the U.S. legal hawks?

 * Payment Processing.  As one source closes down under governmental pressures, what other alternatives have opened up? 

 * Is the subject of money laundering a convenient government play and accusatory topic or is there some sense of reality to it? 

 * Asia awaits but it is really the next frontier.

 * Does the UK still reach for a Kleenex when the U.S. sneezes?

 * What is critical mass for “affiliate sites” to off-shore/Internet sports-books and when will they enter the danger zones of legal problems?

 * Antigua, the mouse that roared but is ignored.  How hollow was the victory they achieved? 

 IGCE has also announced that registration will be accompanied by reservations for specific luncheon seating with designated speakers on a first come, first serve basis and that attendees cannot sit with the same speaker on both days of the conference.  IGCE has indicated that the venue will be the 5-star Corinthia Lisboa Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal.  Further, all inquiries regarding speaking at the conference, attendance and sponsorship must be made between now and January 15th.  the early bird special is 1095 Euros. On January 15th the conference registration fee will go to 1295 Euros.Additional information on the conference is available by e-mailing Amanda Manero at amanda@sportsnetwork.com or by calling 1215/441-5887