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Welcome to Bet Sage's
Online Gambling News Section, featuring the latest breaking
gambling industry news courtesy of
InfoPowa
News. This is your
one stop source for all
and any of the latest
developments concerning
all aspects of the
Online Gambling
Industry. InfoPowa News
headed up by senior
partner Brian
Cullingworth are
recognised as one of the
leading and most
respected independent
gambling news services
in the online gambling
industry.
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| 13 MARCH 2009 : HEADLINES |
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Captain Cooks Casino player takes $112 852 jackpot
A Canadian online gambler hit the jackpot and the media headlines this week at Captain Cooks Casino.com, a member of the Casino Rewards group, when he cashed for an impressive $112 852 on the Tunzamunni progressive slot.
Tunzamunni is an appropriate slot for entry level gaming. The rules are simple, with 3 reels, a single payline and limited special symbols to keep the game play fast and the payouts regular. The bet to qualify for winning the jackpot is only $0.25, which makes Tunzamunni ideal for those who prefer to bet small to win big.
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Another feather for the GameAccount cap
The giant Italian online gambling group Cogetech SpA has signed an agreement with UK firm GameAccount for the supply of skill games for its horse racing and sports betting website Mistertoto.it, joining a blue-chip client base that includes William Hill, Sportingbet Europe, Stan James, Victor Chandler International, BlueSquare, Boylesports, Paddy Power and Gala Coral.
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Limited political support for uniform online gambling law across the EU
After extensive debate and over 400 amendments, European Parliamentarians voted to adopt an 'own initiative report' by Danish Socialist MEP Christel Schaldemose on Monday. But the largely negative report (see previous InfoPowa reports) on "The integrity of online gambling" is overshadowed by the support of a wide range of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to an alternative proposal.
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Interviewed by a competitor, CAP principles trade verbal punches in a dispute apparently destined for the courts
The affiliate marketing-oriented dispute over who has control of Casino Affiliate Programs (see previous InfoPowa reports) surfaced again this week when competitor and chief exposer Gambling Portal Webmasters Association published seperate interviews with the two principle characters involved in the troubled companies, CEO Warren Jolly and isolated founder and President Lou Fabiano.
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iGaming Business now in charge, and the brand is The Amsterdam Affiliate Conference
An announcement by iGaming Business this week constitutes an important step in defusing some of the robust competitive activity and alleged predatory marketing practices in the affiliate conference space. The CAP Euro Amsterdam conference has been taken over by iGaming Business and rebranded The Amsterdam Affiliate Conference...and the event is now open to all affiliates.
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Offer to acquire shares held by minority shareholders launched
Mangas Gaming SAS, a French gambling group with interests in online gaming and sports betting, announced two major industry transactions as the week came to a close. The group, which operates Betclic, revealed it has signed an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Bet-at-home.com AG from its founders Franz Omer and Jochen Dickinger, and that it will launch a public offer to acquire the shares held by the minority shareholders.
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Impressive roster of Team Full Tilt pros to coach players
Full Tilt Poker.com is to improve its players' chances of success through coaching by top poker pros following the opening of the site's new Full Tilt Poker Academy this week.
The teachers roster for the virtual classroom reads like a who's who of land and online poker, including as it does Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Phil Gordon, John Juanda, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham and Patrik Antonius.
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Online poker coaching website wants to draw attention to the skill vs. chance issue
Online poker coaching website Bluefire Poker has come up with a high rpofile initiative to draw attention to the skill vs. chance debate in poker - a $1 million challenge to U.S. President Barack Obama and any member of the United States Congress that an amateur player from Capitol Hill cannot defeat any of the Bluefire pros in the long-run, proving that poker is predominated by skill.
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Online poker subscription site members have designs on T-shirt prizes
Spade Club.com, an online poker subscription website, is in the middle of an intensely member-participative drive to develop company T-shirts, which it will sell in an online store currently being planned. So far, over a hundred members-cum-designers have responded to the competition with a wide range of designs, which the company has on public display at http://www.spadeclub.com/promotions/my-design.
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Opening up Internet betting will initially bring in $2 million say Racing Board experts
Illinois is about to become the latest US state to exploit the legislative carve-outs that allow online betting on horse racing, fantasy sports and state lotteries while the federal government is doing everything it can to curtail competing Internet gambling in every other sector.
The Senate in US President Obama's home state is looking at allowing betting on horse races on the internet or over the phone, according to Newsroom Solutions. The drive comes after the Senate Gaming Committee unanimously approved a plan that will allow bets by phone, online or at new kiosks at racetracks or off-track betting sites.
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Chinese parliamentarians told that a new policy could help the country through the recession
Liberalising gambling laws could help China survive the global economic downturn, sports officials told the annual meeting of China's parliament this week, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.
"I suggest we deregulate the lottery," Hebei delegate Yang Jingzhi told the Sports Circle at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "Our present lottery games are monotonous. We should fully introduce the international practices, such as betting on horses, "mark six" and various others. There are lots of types of lottery in Britain and the U.S., can we see any harm? As long as it is well legislated, there is not much harm."
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Royal Vegas player takes home Euro 851 348
Writing in the publication New Jersey.com this week, former New Jersey assistant attorney general Frank Catania argued for the legalisation of online gambling to help Atlantic City to compete in a tougher market. The gambling centre is feeling the chill winds of competition from neighbouring states and the effects of the recession on the pockets of gamblers and their preparedness to travel to play.
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Hot on the heels of the 25th billion hand comes news that 20 million players use online poker site
The numbers are staggering, attracting as much attention as the billions that governments are throwing at sub-prime crisis mortgage banks; Pokerstars talks in the millions and billions when it comes to online poker action.
Millions in tournaments, billions in poker hands dealt online and now the news that the giant Internet poker website recently signed its 20 millionth player. That number equates to something like the populations of Los Angeles, Chicago and New York combined.
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Beta testing program going well
One of the Internet's fastest rising online poker networks, Cake Poker, has been quietly testing its new mobile offering using what is understood to be proprietary technology.
Launched on February 12th 2009, the Beta test program for the Windows based mobile offering has apparently been well received. Any device running Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 or higher is capable of running Cake Poker Mobile. Examples include the Motorola Q and the HTC Touch. For Windows Mobile 5 devices, players may first need to install Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework.
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Internet-based video poker machines in bars and clubs are giving authorities a headache
The always conplicated legal situation surrounding gambling in North Carolina continues to have enforcement officials and operators alike scratching their heads on the subject of Internet-based video machines.
Media reports from the Citizen-Times and other publications reveal that police trying to stamp out the genre are being stymied by judicial rulings, notably one from Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig III, who says the genre does not fall under the NC state ban. Until the issue is resolved, police are barred from shutting down the latest generation of games by an injunction issued by the judge in December 2008.
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Global interactive gross gambling yield soared past US$ 20 billion in 2008
Amply illustrating the resilence and popularity of online gambling despite the tough economic conditions throughout the world, a new report from Global Betting and Gaming Consultants reveals that the US$ 20 billion benchmark for gross gambling yield on the Internet was passed in 2008.
The Isle of Man based consultancy opines in its current Interactive Gambling Report that the industry is strongly positioned going forward after another generally good year.
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Deal with DM plc will provide Internet bingo and casino white label facilities
Quarter 4, 2008 expenditure on political lobbying by the American Gaming Association totalled $368 000 and was again mainly devoted to matters involving online gambling, Associated Press reports.
The Association, a trade body for major US land gambling corporate groups, released details of its quarterly lobbying investment as part of a mandatory disclosure requirement for lobbying companies.
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Sexy calls, exotic drinks and a mod ambience are attracting a younger demographic
The trend toward hip young players gravitating to bingo in Europe is also being experienced in the United States, aided by a cool ambience, amusingly sexy calls, exotic booze and in-your-face advertising on the theme "Not Your Grandma's Bingo," reports the Miami Herald this week. And the 20 to 30-somethings are responding in droves, attending bingo sessions at places with names like "Cosmic Bingo," from the Midwest to Miami.
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Busy February for Italian betting and lottery company
Italian gambling group Lottomatica SpA increased sports bets significantly in February compared with January 2009, experiencing a 17 percent increase in bets that took totals for the month to Euro 58 million, and giving the firm a 15.2 percent market share, Agipro News agency reports.
The company took bets of Euro 49.5 million in January, with a 14.4 percent market share, the specialist gambling sector news agency added.
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Svenska Spel Internet poker � keeping an eye on time and money
Online poker players at the Swedish government's gambling monopoly Svenske Spel have been given another optional tool with which to pace their action with the launch of Spelstatus, which shows users how much they have won or lost on total in poker since starting to play the game at the Svenska Spel website.
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32Red enjoys a better 2008 - and will launch financial spreadbetting in March
The popular UK online gambling casino public company 32Red plc has reported a good set of results in a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2008, with significant growth during the year featuring total gaming revenues of GBP13.0 million, an increase of 27 percent on 2008. The company's flagship operation, the 32Red.com online casino, performed strongly and grew by 30 percent, generating an impressive Gross Win of GBP 11.7 million (2008: GBP 9.0 milion).
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But online gambling is only the tenth most popular activity
The latest survey of the German Internet scene by the independent digital measurement company comScore, Inc., ranks the largest and fastest-growing Internet properties in the country during the past year, and reports that the total German Internet audience in January 2009 grew 11 percent compared to January 2008, reaching a total of some 37.6 million visitors.
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Europe's Internet gambling groups will buck the recession and deliver an average ten percent growth in 2009, says Hawkswood
The chief executive officer of the UK-based Remote Gambling Association, Clive Hawkswood, was in bullish mood during an interview this week with the Reuters news agency, predicting that European gambling groups should return an average growth of ten percent in 2009.
Hawkswood's view was preceded earlier in the week by the projections of the respected Global Betting and Gaming Consultants company, which revealed that online gambling gross gambling yield passed the $20 million benchmark in 2008 and that a resilient industry continues to perform strongly going into 2009 (see previous InfoPowa report).
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Obama's new man makes a good start
US President Barack Obama's nomination for US Trade Representative, former Dallas mayor Ron Kirk, has made an encouraging first impression, telling Senate confirmation hearings considering his appointment that he will push for strict enforcement of global trade rules.
That could be a refreshing change from his predecessor, Susan Schwab, who presided over a regime that went to extraordinary lengths to do just the opposite as far as online gambling was concerned, embroiling her country in serious and long-running World Trade Organisation disputes with a list of countries which includes the European Union and Antigua and Barbuda.
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But, two years on, Gary Kaplan stays in jail
The idea of keeping businessmen charged with online gambling related offences in custody for over two years without trial beggars the imagination, yet that is what has happened to two former executives of the now moribund but once thriving online gambling group BetonSports.com...and in the archetypal land of the free, the United States of America.
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A switch in emphasis is better than relocating to the boonies
Russia's ban on land casinos in its main cities, effective July 1st this year, has presented operators with some tough decisions. Is it worthwhile to relocate to the four special gambling zones - mostly out in the boonies - decreed by the government, or is there an alternative course?
A growing number of operators are seriously considering staying where they are, but switching their focus to poker instead of casino gaming. Their motivation is based on a key development in 2007, when the Federal Sports Agency classified poker as a "sport," following an order signed March 26 by the body's head, Vyacheslav Fetisov.
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Bwin partners with poker company in one of the world's great cities
The romantic and historic city of Venice will be the venue for the first major poker tournament in Italy currently being planned by the World Poker Tour for May 6 - 10, 2009.
The tournament will be held at the Casino di Venezio, with a buy-in of Euro 4 000+Euro 400, with the winner taking not only a substantial cash prize, but receiving a sponsored seat at the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship, worth $25 000.
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Cognisafe's new anti-collusion program can neutralise the threat of bots
Cheaters and bot operators beware - the Israeli software developer Cognisafe claims that its new Pitboss product provides online casinos and poker rooms with a potent new anti-collusion tool effective against online bots, online advisors and software cheats.
The bot protection program within PitBoss has already been successfully deployed for online gaming clients, although the company does not disclose where. In addition to protecting online games from cheaters, the system, which monitors games without affecting the player's experience, can provide operators with useful player data such as playing patterns and skill levels.
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New initiative seeks to change a two centuries old ban to allow social games and fundraisers
For 207 years the US state of South Carolina has maintained a law against any games using cards or dice, but that could be about to change. The antiquity of the law makes it ineffective in a new era where games and attitudes have changed, and Charleston senator and Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell has given notice that he intends to do something about it.
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Volatile markets discourage betting
Spread betting firm IG Group has reported a 35 percent decline in share price, which it claims is the result of the extreme volatility in the markets. IG said clients were becoming "increasingly accustomed" to the wild market swings of the past 18 months, leading to smaller jumps in revenues on more volatile days.
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Controversy continues to dog Ontario and British Columbia provincial lotteries
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation has nabbed at least eight lottery ticket retailers ripping off customers over the last two years, albeit for relatively small amounts, reports The Vancouver Sun this week. In one case, an employee pre-scratched more than 100 scratch-and-win tickets before putting them up for sale, but was caught and fired.
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Casino revenues down 14.6 percent in January, 13th straight month in decline
The economic recession continues to weigh heavily on land gambling companies in Nevada, according to the latest official figures reported by Associated Press this week. Casinos in the gambling state suffered their 13th straight month of declines in January 2009, reporting $908.6 million for a 14.6 percent drop compared with January 2008, according to a state report released Tuesday.
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New promo from Party Poker is a big investment for the company
Gibraltar-based Party Poker.com launches its audacious Million Dollar Hand promotion today (March 11th 2009) which will run through to 22nd March. The promotion offers the chance to win a cool $1 million or more through action at the website's real money tables.
Players will get a playing card for every 15 PartyPoints they earn during this period and will receive a prize when they've built a five-card hand. There's a guaranteed cash prize if the hand features a pair or better....and a Royal Flush will pay $1 million!
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Local politician launches proposal to ban all Internet gambling in the Philippines
The Philippines, long perceived as an enlightened haven for online gambling and home to PAGCOR, the First Cagayuan licencing jurisdiction and a freeport, is the unlikely location for the latest attempt to ban Internet gambling.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported this week that Narciso Santiago of the minority Alliance for Rural Concerns party has proposed that gambling on the Internet be made illegal. Santiago noted in his proposed legislation that there are no existing regulations on Internet gambling.
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Poker disappoints in latest financial numbers
Party Gaming plc may have started out as a primarily online poker destination, but the performance of this sector of its wider group activities was disappointing last year, judged by the 2008 full year financials released this week. Poker net revenues declined by $21 million to $274 million (2007: $295 million).
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Improving the quality of play at 3D online poker site
Phil Galfond's new online poker training venture Bluefire Poker and the UK 3D Internet poker site PKR.com have agreed to collaborate for the benefit of the latter's players.
PKR.com will act as Bluefire Poker's exclusive partner across Europe, with Bluefire pros providing regular and original strategy content for both the PKR.com website and PKR TV. PKR's 2.5 million players will also be able to purchase Bluefire Poker subscriptions using loyalty points in the PKR Shop.
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CasinoModule a hit with major online betting company
Mangas Gaming's major online gambling subsidiary Betclick.com has renewed its CasinoModule license from Net Entertainment for a further three years in an expression of confidence in the online casino turnkey system and its wide inventory of games.
Nicolas Beraud, CEO for BetClick, commented this week: "We are very happy with the services Net Entertainment provides and the performance of the CasinoModule which we have selected as the strategic casino platform across our entire operation."
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Tough economy continued to impact New Jersey's land casinos in February
The US recession and its consequences for consumer discretionary spending has continued to hammer land casino operations in Atlantic City.
February 2009 statistics just released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission portray a depressing picture of falling gaming win numbers across the board, with total win declining by 19.2 percent on a year-over-year basis to $310.3 million, while slot win was down 19.0 percent at $214.3 million, and table game win declined 19.7 percent to $96.0 million.
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"Play nice" will be important
World Series of Poker organisers Harrah's Entertainment released new WSOP rules this week that include a "play nice" provision under the heading "Code of Player Conduct". The rules cover the use of profane language and provocative conduct at the tables, along with restrictions on sponsor logos at televised feature and final tables and an admonition not to engage in any illegal or unethical actions, cheating or collusion, examples of which are provided.
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Vancouver apartment redundant when your doing business in Asia?
An elderly lottery addict called Chang, who lives in the southern Taiwan city of Kaohsiung has fallen prey to fraudulent lottery scams 11 times in two years, reports Earth Times.
The 66-year-old man, believed it was true every time he received notification that he had won a big lottery prize, police said.
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eGaming 2.0's Buzzluck.com set to launch on Friday the 13th!
Experienced online gambling marketer and entrepreneur Alex Czajkowski and his team at eGaming 2.0 are not the superstitious type; they plan to launch their "revolutionary" new 3D online casino Buzzluck.com on Friday, March 13th 2009.
Powered by RealTime Gaming, and dubbed by eGaming 2.0 "the world's first online supercasino," Czajkowski says the new virtual venue is probably the most expensive online casino website built to date.
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Titan's $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool delivers big wins to online players.
The largest online poker site on Playtech's iPoker network, Titan Poker.com, dished out the dosh this week following its giant $2.5 guaranteed tournament. A regular for the past 2 years, "Ragen" took down the main prize of $525 000 after slugging it out for a total of 13 hours and 28 minutes.
Ragen started playing at Titan following some coaching at the online professional training site PokerStrategy.com, a move that gave him a solid grounding in the game and enabled him to beat a field of 1 370 other players in the tournament and triumph in the heads up with second place finisher "gwka", who took home $275 000 for his time and trouble.
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This time the fundraising is for the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong Foundation against cancer
The Jackpot City online casino group continued its charity fundraising this week, offering players the chance to help others and at the same time win a share of a weekly $100 prize pool between the 4th of March and 6th of April 2009.
The Freeroll Slots Tournaments Prize Pool of $100 will be shared between the top 5 players of the day. All proceeds of the weekly tournaments go towards the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong Foundation in support of the fight against cancer.
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888.com's Pacific Poker to award seat at the Cannes Charity Poker Event...and a beach house.
Pacific Poker.com is putting the finishing touches to an ambitious promotion that will see an online poker player win a seat in the next star-studded Cannes Charity Poker Event - a private charity tournament that will run in tandem with the Cannes Film Festival later this year.
Scheduled for May 19th 2009, the high profile event attracts top poker-playing celebs, with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon already signed up for this year. Pacific Poker's winner will be sponsored for travel to Cannes and return and a three day stay in a five-star hotel, along with any buy-in required.
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Boss Media owner gets hip with Aerosmith
GTECH Corporation, which owns online gambling software developer Boss Media and other Internet interests is getting into the lottery sector with a deal that literally rocks. The company announced this week that it has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with the rock band Aerosmith, giving GTECH the exclusive rights to use one of the most powerful brands in the music industry for a lottery business.
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WPT and Chillipoker combine on a North African poker adventure
The first World Poker Tour tournament to be held in Africa will be a five star poker happening in October 2009 at the Casino De Marrakech in Morocco with a reasonable buy-in of Euro 4 500, and an up-and-coming online poker website has partnered with WPT in promoting the event.
The CEO of Chilipoker.com, Alexandre Dreyfus, said this week: "ChiliPoker.com is delighted to be associated with a world-renowned brand like the WPT in the creation of this unique and attractive event."
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A strange application of wagerthru
Powered by new software provider on the block Wizard Gaming, the recently arrived All Star Slots.com online casino presents an attractive face to the online gambler...but its Terms and Conditions have pitfalls for the unwary.
Alert posters at the Casinomeister.com online gambling information portal were the first to pick up the offensive T&Cs, illustrating by example why it is important for players to check these requirements out before putting hard-earned money at risk.
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E-Cash processor publishes Q4 and FY 2008 trading update...and CEO Ron Martin is on the way out
NEOVIA Financial plc (the e-cash processor formerly known as Neteller) has released its trading update for the fourth quarter and year ended 31 December 2008. In addition to the financials, the statement includes a notification that CEO Ron Martin is leaving "for family reasons" after four years at the helm.
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Taxation, fair distribution of revenue and self-regulation
These issues are perenially red-hot topics, and Clarion Gaming intends to address then at its next European Gambling Briefing, scheduled for 22-23 April 2009 in Budapest.
Included on the agenda are the legal challenges to OPAP, Svenska Spel, the Dutch Ministry of Justice v Betfair and other individual legal battles taking place across Europe.
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