Industry news

[munk]

If anyone was following the Betfair debacle re the Leopardstown Christmas Hurdle, they have just announced they will now NOT be voiding all in running bets on that market:

Leopardstown 2pm, 28th Dec 2011 - Update on Betfair forum

Since the 2.00pm race at Leopardstown on 28 December 2011, we’ve looked in detail at all the circumstances surrounding the technology failure and the anomaly it created. In addition, we provided our Gibraltar regulator, the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner (GGC), with a detailed technical and operational report on the incident and the GGC made a number of recommendations. We have also consulted with customers and taken their feedback on board.

Accordingly, we have reviewed our decision to void all in-running bets matched on the race and, in the interests of fairness, certain categories of voided bets will be compensated by way of ex gratia payments from Betfair. Relevant accounts will be credited by us today, with the full amounts they would have won had the bets in question not been voided. This compensation complies with, and goes beyond, the GGC’s recommendations.

The categories of bets that will be compensated are:

1. In-play winning positions in both the ‘win’ and the ‘to be placed’ markets which were achieved before the technology failure; and

2. In-play winning positions in the ‘to be placed’ market achieved at any time through to the completion of the race.

Bets matched in the ‘win’ market after the technology failure will remain void.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers and the GGC for their feedback in helping us to achieve what we believe to be a fair conclusion to this unprecedented incident. We remain committed to providing our customers with the best betting proposition possible.

The original gist of it was they were voiding all in running bets on that market because someone managed to lay a theoretical £600m worth of bets when they only had <£1k in their account due to a technical glitch.

[Mirage]

Only the bets before the erroneous lay will stand, which is fair really, if not a bit harsh on people who wanted to close out positions they took.

[musicbox]

I am out of the loop so apologies if this has been mentioned before but Expekt changed regulators. On logging in today I was presented with:

Dear Customer

Kindly be informed that expekt.com is no longer licensed by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority of Malta and is now licensed under the Gambling Act 2005 by the Government of Gibraltar and regulated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner. The company with which you now hold your Expekt account is Expekt Gaming (Gibraltar) Limited.

We have amended and updated our General Terms and Conditions in this respect.

In order to access our site we kindly request you to view the changes and accept our new General Terms and Conditions. Kindly note that these changes only apply to our licence set-up and will not have any effect on the funds held in your account or on the account itself.

If you have any questions, kindly contact our Support Department on email:support@expekt.com

Should you not accept our new Terms and Conditions kindly note that we shall have to close your account, however this shall incur no penalty and of course you may withdraw any uncommitted or uncontested funds from your account. Kindly contact our Support Department should you wish to do so.

You may access and accept the amended Terms and Conditions

[jakethepeg]

Another huge multiple win

The goal that cost bookie William Hill £570,000 - Business News - Business - The Independent

[munk]

William Hill's online sportsbetting take is up 50% year on year and generally they are looking quite healthy with online growth increases of 28% and generally sportsbook net revenue (oneline/land) up 36%, and most impressively their mobile performance/uptake has gone up a massive 500% in the last year.

This is quoted from here from 3 days ago:

Business news | Hills results and Lads coming to America

[DoctorGonzo]

Unibet signs agreement to acquire Betchoice and enters the regulated Australian market

Unibet Group plc today announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of Betchoice Corporation Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s leading independent corporate bookmakers online. Betchoice operates a range of sports and racing betting products in the Australian market through its web site www.betchoice.com.

Unibet Group plc Investor Relations

[munk]

Salsabet closing:

http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/boar...tml#post491053

[tartantipster]

Chilibet SportsBook

Chilibet doesn't accept any bets anymore. Please contact support@Chilibet.com.

[munk]

Yet more fallout over in the US - bodog.com has been seized by the US Feds, here's what I've written for the TGT newsletter (this Sunday) - hot of the press so to speak!:

Bodog.com seized by US Feds
28/02/12 - Calvin Ayre - owner of Bodog.com - has been served with a federal indictment consisting of two charges and the domain bodog.com has been seized by the US Department of Homeland Security. The charges brought against Ayre are just two, namely those of:

• Conducting an illegal gambling business between 2006-2012, and
• Money laundering conspiracy over the same period

The charges are more of the same kind of thing that numerous other US facing bookies (Full Tilt et al on the poker side, BetED et al on the sports side) have been hit with since the so-called poker Black Friday (and 'Blue Monday' on the offshore sportsbetting side where 10 offshore sportsbooks were closed in quick succession). The charges revolve around the US DoJ attempting to stick the bookies with charges relating to payment of winning bets via payment processors within the US by using money laundering / illegal wire transactions.

The bodog.com site was seized by the US Feds on 28/02/12, although articles on CalvinAyre.com (here and here) would suggest that this was really quite a pointless thing to do since no activity actually happened on that specific domain for quite some time and as many of you will be aware, the Bodog brand has in recent years become more of a global franchise and opted to stay out of the US in the last year or so.

Addressing the charges against him, Ayre released a statement saying:

“I see this as abuse of the US criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large US corporations. It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents is it also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion.
These documents were filed with Forbes magazine before they were filed anywhere else and were drafted with the consumption of the media as a primary objective. We will all look at this and discuss the future with our advisors, but it will not stop my many business interests globally that are unrelated to anything in the US and it will not stop my many charity projects through my foundation. You can also follow this story here on the number one global online gaming news and entertainment site and the only site I will be doing interviews with for the next while…CalvinAyre.com”
In a press release, BodogBrand released a press statement here in which they essentially say that the seizure of bodog.com has not and will not affect the non-US parts of it's business.

In a press release, BodogBrand released a press statement here in which they essentially say that the seizure of bodog.com has not and will not affect the non-US parts of it's business.

[tartantipster]

https://www.betsmarkets.com/

Have these gone??