Issue N46, 2012

November 14, 2012

Bwin.Party Chief Arrested in Belgium

In a shocking event this week, the co-Chief Executive Officer of Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Norbert Teufelberger, was arrested Belgium after giving a keynote speech at online gambling conference Responsible Gambling Day. Teufelberger was detained for two hours and questioned over Bwin’s activities in Belgium, with authorities claiming that the group’s operations go against new laws in the country. Belgium has compiled a blacklist of gambling companies who do not hold online gambling licenses, issued only to those groups who have an offline gambling license as well, and Bwin.Party appears on that list. Peter Naessens of the Belgian Gaming Commission said: “We have repeatedly asked them to apply for a license and they have refused to comply.”

Bwin.Party reacted angrily to the arrest of their CEO and said that Belgium’s laws are in direct violation of accepted European Union laws. "We have been at the forefront of regulatory change in Europe for several years and we have licenses in Gibraltar, Alderney, Denmark, France, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein), Italy and Spain,” said joint CEO, Jim Ryan. “We continue to strive for a regulatory framework in European Member States that is compliant with EU law.” According to Bwin.Party, the group loses an average of €700,000 a month from being blacklisted by Belgium’s authorities.

Full Tilt Poker Makes Exceptional Comeback

The number of members at the newly re-launched Full Tilt Poker reached 400,000, according to Poker Scout, pushing the site to its traditional number two position on Poker Scout’s rankings of online poker rooms. Essentially, this means that Full Tilt Poker only lost around 10% of its original customers which is an exceptional achievement for a site which has gone through so much in the past 16 months. It was also found that the majority of the returning players didn’t leave a rival site to come back to Full Tilt Poker, but simply returned to online poker action after taking a break from the game themselves.

Full Tilt Poker’s numbers are now triple the number of players at Party Poker or the iPoker Network. Its return to second place pushed fifteen of its rivals down one notch on the Poker Scouts table. Poker Stars, the company which purchased Full Tilt Poker in a three way deal with the Department of Justice in the US, retained its top position. It was also revealed by Poker Scouts that online poker traffic increased 3% overall at sites, which have been affected by new regulations in many countries, as well as an ongoing global recession.

New Slots Released by Sheriff Gaming

Sheriff Gaming, the Eindhoven based casino software provider, released two exceptional new 3D slot games to the industry, namely Billion Dollar Movie and InCash. Both games follow the group’s tradition of top graphics and audio features, as well as the chance to win big prizes.

The five reel, 3 row and 20 pay line Billion Dollar Movie 3D slot is a game which takes place on a movie set and players will be able to rub shoulders with the film’s crew, the director and, of course, the stars of the film. The animations of this game are second to none, while its many different bonus features means that Billion Dollar Movie promises to be a smash hit at Sheriff Gaming casinos. “We are convinced that the Billion Dollar Movie will bring players the glitz and glamour of Hollywood in an amazing game play with spectacular features,” said Eric Roskamp of Sheriff Gaming.

The second game is InCash, a progressive slot game which a jackpot linked to Sheriff Gaming’s Mega Money pool. The five reel, 20 pay line game takes players on an ancient Incan adventure in search of hidden treasure, giving players a real chance to get their hands on riches of their own. “We are very excited to announce the launch of the InCash 3D Slot. In such a competitive industry, it is important to be innovative so all our games feature unique concepts and designs,” said the Sheriff Gaming executive.

Extension for William Hill in Sportingbet Purchase

William Hill, the UK gambling giant which hopes to finally purchase Sportingbet sports betting group, was granted an extension until December 4th to finalize the bid. The extension was approved after both sides made a request from the Takeover Panel in UK when they realized that they would not be able to make the November 13th deadline.

The two sides are thrashing out the finer points of a potential deal that will see William Hill and GVC Holdings pay £530 million for Sportingbet’s interests around the world. William Hill will acquire the group’s interests in regulated markets, while GVC Holdings will operate the rest. William Hill is particularly interested in Sportingbet’s Australian market, where the group has a very strong foothold.