Issue N15, 2009

April 16, 2009

English Cricket Board Partners with Betfair

Betfair gaming company has decided to increase its sponsorship of the cricket industry by choosing to become the official betting partner of the English and Wales Cricket Board (aka ECB). Betfair recently was the recent sponsor of Australia’s home test cricket series against South Africa, and the company has now decided to expand its activities ahead of the popular summer cricket season in England.

“The ECB is delighted Betfair has chosen to extend its already successful relationship with English cricket,” said Nick Moore, English and Wales Cricket Board Head of Sales. “We believe the exciting range of assets it will receive in becoming an official partner of the ECB will provide a platform to enable it to further develop its association and presence within cricket.”

Betfair will take full advantage of its official partner status in order to increase the exposure of its product brand to the maximum. The company will operate promotional activity at eight Test match grounds, as well as at the much awaited nPower Ashes tournament against Australia this summer.

“This summer’s cricket sponsorship launches an integrated campaign to underpin Betfair’s standing as sports fans’ betting company of choice,” said the Director of Sports, Specials and Casinos at Betfair, Lee Cowles. “The npower Ashes Series will be the biggest sporting event of the summer, and provides the perfect platform to take our growing brand to a wider consumer market.”

GameAccount Ventures out of European Market

The skill games provider, GameAccount, will be venturing out of the European gaming market, where it has been working hard to gain a major foothold, in order to expand its product range in the South American and Asian markets. The company recently signed its first white label deal with Players Gaming & Leisure which will see its superb specialist skill games repackaged under the GrandCasinoWorld.com and DominoWorld.com brands, to be pushed in these new international markets.

“We are very pleased to be joining forces with a company of GameAccount’s skill-gaming expertise and knowledge and look forward to venturing together into the promising markets of Asia and South America,” said Henry Leong, the President of Players Gaming & Leisure. “We have high hopes for future growth, particularly in these new territories.”

GameAccount recently signed a spate of lucrative deals with leading European brands, including Gala Coral’s Eurobet and the Italian Snai, as part of concerted efforts to enter the Italian skill games market.

Speaking about the new deal with Players Gaming & Leisure, the Marketing Director of GameAccount, Per Petersen said: “We expect this relationship to be fruitful for both parties, and for our first foray back into white-label skill-games provision for over two years, Players Gaming & Leisure are the ideal partners. After recent deals which have seen an increase in our European presence, we are looking forward to pushing our popular skill-games further a field.”

Famous Online Poker Site Ends Operations

One of the first poker rooms to be created in 1999, PokerRoom.com announced this week that it was ending its operations for good and closing its doors to the public. The sad announcement ends one the most successful online poker sites to date, as PokerRoom enjoyed massive popularity at its peak. As one of the first poker rooms to introduce three dimensional graphics and poker games beyond the traditional type, PokerRoom was especially sought after by US players in its prime. Unfortunately, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 put an end to PokerRoom’s US operations and the site started seeking other markets in which to operate.

However, intense competition, an ever tightening market and a tough global climate has finally put an end to PokerRoom’s activities. On its official blog this week, the site announced: “Well folks, after almost ten years of fun and games, it is with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye that I have to announce that this is it; as of 11:00 CET today, Tuesday the 14th of April 2009, PokerRoom.com will no longer be open for online poker.”

Players have been given the opportunity of cashing out their funds or taking advantage of some excellent welcome bonuses by shifting their funds to bwin.com.

Mfuse Links with Probability Innovative New Venture

Probability games provider will be one of the first groups to work off Mfuse’s NOVO Open API system that has taken years to develop but is set to revolutionize the mobile gaming market. Mfuse and Probability signed a deal recently which will allow Probability to have thirty of its games work off the new platform, essentially exposing them to thousands of new players. The Mfuse system is linked to top sites such as William Hill and Paddy Power.

“The sports betting market is growing very rapidly and shows no sign of stopping,” said the Chief Executive of Mfuse, Marcus Wareham. “As a result, we know the appetite is there for mobile gaming products. Opening up our platform allows us to rapidly deploy already successful mobile content to a huge client base.”

“The partnership with Probability provides us with a strong base from which to start due to their large portfolio of original and branded content,” concluded Wareham.