Issue N35, 2009
September 16, 2009
EurosportBET Partners with Ongame Network
The Ongame Network, one of Europe’s leading gaming platforms, announced that it has attracted another partner operator, this time in the form of EurosportBET. The latter is a joint venture created between the French TV channel, TF1 and the investment group, Serendipity. EurosportBET will join Ongame Network’s poker platform, offering players top quality poker services alongside their already popular sports betting services. The P5 Poker Engine will be offered to the English market at the end of September.
“We select business partners who share the same values of working within national online gaming laws. Ongame Network is such a company,” said Olivier Ou Ramdane, the Chief Executive Officer of SPS, a venture between Eurosport and Serendipity. “The implementation of the P5 Poker Engine has been smoothly managed and we look forward to our UK online poker service taking off, giving us a foundation for future European projects.”
EurosportBET will be entering the UK market with a license from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
“This new partnership showcases the full potential of the P5 Poker Engine and marks the beginning of a new working relationship between Ongame Network and EurosportBET,” said Martin Lerby, who heads the Ongame Network. “We believe that online poker is an entertainment product and attracting mass-market brands such as Eurosport is part of our strategy.”
Betfair Poker Ad Pulled from United Kingdom
The official media watchdog group in the United Kingdom has ruled that an online ad advertising Betfair Poker needs to be removed, following complaints that it could appeal to young people. The United Kingdom’s strict gambling laws forbid anyone under the age of 25 from marketing gambling services. The ad in question featured Swedish poker legend, Annette Obrestad beside the sentence: “Online experience is measured in games, not years. Join the breed. Annette_15”.
The complainant said that the ad implied that Obrestad is 15 years old, despite the fact that Annette_15 is her online handle name. While Betfair argued that it does not target their marketing at under 18 year olds, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that the ad was in breach of the laws calling for nobody under 25 to be involved in gambling campaigns. Ms Obrestad is 20 years old.
Betfair did not, according to the ASA statement, “believe their ad would encourage children and young people to gamble, partly because of the media selection used to distribute the email and partly because of the technical measures used to prevent children and young people from gambling on their site.”
“They said Ms Obrestad was featured in the ad not because of her age but because of her standing as a poker professional and champion who had had a profound effect on the game,” said the statement. “They said Ms Obrestad, at 20 years of age, was an adult, outside the definition of a child or a young person under the code and the Gambling Act.”
Nevertheless, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld the complaint and ruled that the Betfair Poker ad could not appear in its present form.
Betsafe to Offer Cryptologic Games
Cryptologic software group has signed Betsafe on as its 26th licensee, allowing the latter to offer its sports betting players one of the best games portfolios in the industry. There are over 200 quality casino games on the Crypto platform, a perfect complement to Betsafe’s top sport betting products. “We are delighted to sign this agreement with Cryptologic., who have a proven track record of consistently delivering innovative, industry leading betting games,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Betsafe, Henrik Persson. “Betsafe casino is committed to providing its customers with the best gaming experience available and this collaboration with Cryptologic will help us achieve that goal.”
Brian Hadfield, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cryptologic said that the new agreement underlines Cryptologic's credentials as a trusted partner with branded and innovative proprietary games, as well as having “a technology platform that is second to none”.
“In line with our strategy, this deal also provides us with greater penetration into the Scandinavian market and is a further significant step towards our goal of profitability and long term growth,” he said.
Bwin Goes Ahead with Italian Poker Deal
This week Austrian gaming group bwin finalized the deal with Gioco Digitale, one of Italy’s leading online poker groups. Bwin will pay EUR 115 million for 100% acquisition of the poker site, giving it around 25% of the Italian online poker market.
“We are delighted to be joining the bwin organization and continuing our development as Italy's leading online gaming operation,” said Carlo Gualandri, bwin’s founder and president who will stay on to head bwin’s Italian business. “We are excited about the new opportunities provided by bwin's excellent technology platforms for poker and sports betting, as they will give our customers access to the most complete product portfolio available online.”
Gioco Digitale boasts about 80,000 active players each month.
“We look forward to extending and replicating the success we have had in Italy in the other European countries that are due to follow Italy's liberalization and market regulation,” added Gualandri.