PartyGaming Friday reported a less-than-expected 6.5% fall in first-half earnings, hurt by the stronger dollar against the pound and fierce poker competition online, and said second-half trading so far has been in line with management's expectations.
Chief Executive Jim Ryan advised trading in the three weeks ended 18th August, which represents the peak holiday season in most of the group's core markets, has been "strong," inline with management's business expectations.
Mr Ryan said the company's three-year strategy is on track and that it remains "confident about the group's prospects and look forward to the rest of the year with confidence."
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from continuing operations - the key figure watched by U.K. gaming analysts - fell 6.5% to $60.7 million in the first half to June 30, ahead of market expectations of $58.7 million. This compares with $64.9 million over the same period last year.
First-half net revenue dropped 21% to $201.3 million, inline with expectations, from $254.8 million a year earlier.
PartyGaming, the world's biggest listed-online gaming group by market capitalization, has been on the acquisition trail since its long-awaited settlement with U.S. authorities over its defunct gaming operations there in April.
Its first purchase was London-based bingo and casino operator Cashcade Ltd. for GBP95.9 million last month, and earlier this week it agreed to buy the bulk of WPT Enterprises Inc.'s operating assets for $12.3 million as well as 5% of the revenue generated by the assets.
Gibraltar-based PartyGaming didn't declare an interim dividend, in line with expectations, preferring to stock-pile money for "attractive consolidation opportunities." The U.K.-listed company hasn't paid a dividend since the U.S. government banned the online gaming industry in October 2006.
PartyGaming shares closed at 266 pence, valuing the company at GBP1.08 billion on the London Stock Exchange. The stock has risen 37% since January, fueled by its legal settlement with U.S. authorities and expansion plans.
PartyGaming's flagship brands are PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, and is looking to ramp up its recent purchased brands, World Poker Tour and Foxy Bingo.
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
British online gambling sector valued at close to a billion sterling
The UK Gambling Commission has released some stats estimating that their remote (online) gambling market is worth approximately GBP 896 million (2008).
The Commission compiled information from gambling industry trade bodies, the Department for Culture, Media And Sport, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, in arriving at the figure, in addition to information from its own regulatory returns submitted by operators.
The United Kingdom gambling industry as a whole achieved a turnover of over GBP 84 billion with gross gambling yield at approx GBP 9.9 billion, 25 percent of which was generated by the National Lottery.
The number of remote gambling licenses issued in 2008 rose from 300 to 328, with the majority of these consisting of betting exchanges alongside football pool and general betting.
"The majority of gambling sites accessible to British citizens are regulated overseas," the Commission pointed out.
"In many cases an operator is licensed by the Commission for remote betting but (for fiscal and other operational reasons) its remote casino and poker operations are licensed overseas. The main European overseas jurisdictions regulating remote gambling are Alderney, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Malta."
The report shows that an estimated 7,800 people are employed in the UK remote betting, bingo and casino industry, working with approx 6.2 million active customer accounts and 4.9 million new player registrations over the year. 16 million customer accounts held GBP 257 million.
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The Commission compiled information from gambling industry trade bodies, the Department for Culture, Media And Sport, and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, in arriving at the figure, in addition to information from its own regulatory returns submitted by operators.
The United Kingdom gambling industry as a whole achieved a turnover of over GBP 84 billion with gross gambling yield at approx GBP 9.9 billion, 25 percent of which was generated by the National Lottery.
The number of remote gambling licenses issued in 2008 rose from 300 to 328, with the majority of these consisting of betting exchanges alongside football pool and general betting.
"The majority of gambling sites accessible to British citizens are regulated overseas," the Commission pointed out.
"In many cases an operator is licensed by the Commission for remote betting but (for fiscal and other operational reasons) its remote casino and poker operations are licensed overseas. The main European overseas jurisdictions regulating remote gambling are Alderney, Gibraltar, the Isle of Man and Malta."
The report shows that an estimated 7,800 people are employed in the UK remote betting, bingo and casino industry, working with approx 6.2 million active customer accounts and 4.9 million new player registrations over the year. 16 million customer accounts held GBP 257 million.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
Virgin Games Virgin Bingo To Hit UK TV - 21st September 2009
Virgin Bingo, an exciting and important part of Richard Branson's Virgin Games, is to air its first national TV advertising campaign across the UK this October.
The television driven campaign will run for three consecutive weeks on all main terrestrial and freeview channels including ITV and Channel 4. Industry insiders advise that the advertisement is a clever and colourful graphic animation led by our singing and dancing host, Ricardo, a bearded ‘Jalapeño’ crooner dressed in traditional Mexican attire - sombrero included!
The TV ad’s main message is Three Hours of Free Bingo Everyday which will definitely attract a mass market interest.
The Virgin Bingo website will be spiced up Mexican-style to integrate the look and feel of the TV campaign.
Richard Branson's gaming arm, Virgin Games, not only offers Virgin Bingo, but also Virgin Poker and Virgin Casino, offering world class classic casino games and slots.
Some of the most popular titles found at Virgin Games are Cleopatra, Cleopatra II, Thor's Thunder, Rainbow Riches Win Big Shindig, Da Vinci Diamonds, Elvis, Monopoly and Cluedo.
Virgin Games also offer MegaJackpots and their exclusive V*Points rewards system
Be watching out for the Virgin Bingo campaigns on TV or event YouTube, this October. It sounds like its going to be a hit. Adios Amigos.
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The television driven campaign will run for three consecutive weeks on all main terrestrial and freeview channels including ITV and Channel 4. Industry insiders advise that the advertisement is a clever and colourful graphic animation led by our singing and dancing host, Ricardo, a bearded ‘Jalapeño’ crooner dressed in traditional Mexican attire - sombrero included!
The TV ad’s main message is Three Hours of Free Bingo Everyday which will definitely attract a mass market interest.
The Virgin Bingo website will be spiced up Mexican-style to integrate the look and feel of the TV campaign.
Richard Branson's gaming arm, Virgin Games, not only offers Virgin Bingo, but also Virgin Poker and Virgin Casino, offering world class classic casino games and slots.
Some of the most popular titles found at Virgin Games are Cleopatra, Cleopatra II, Thor's Thunder, Rainbow Riches Win Big Shindig, Da Vinci Diamonds, Elvis, Monopoly and Cluedo.
Virgin Games also offer MegaJackpots and their exclusive V*Points rewards system
Be watching out for the Virgin Bingo campaigns on TV or event YouTube, this October. It sounds like its going to be a hit. Adios Amigos.
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Education Lottery Introducing New Game with a Lot of Flair
-Two Additional Instant Games Also Headed to Stores-
RALEIGH- Wooooooo! That’s the name and hopefully what many players will be exclaiming after winning prizes on this new instant scratch-off game. Wooooooo!along with Blue Tripler Crossword and Lucky Gold will all be in stores starting Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Wooooooo! is a $5 scratch-off ticket featuring world-renowned retired wrestler Ric Flair. The game has eight top prizes of $100,000 and over 500,000 prizes between $10 and $200. Players have 16 chances to win on each ticket, which represent Flair’s 16 championship belts.
The NCEL is pleased to be teaming up with Flair in its effort to maximize revenue for the education programs it supports. We believe the Wooooooo! game has the potential to attract new players.
Blue Line Tripler Crossword is a $3 ticket that features over $6.6 million in total prizes in the game. Those prizes include six top prizes of $30,000 and 60 second tier prizes of $1,000 plus much more!
Lucky Gold is a $2 ticket with eight top prizes of $25,000. It also features over $7 million in total cash prizes in the game. Players who scratch and reveal a “moneybag” symbol win double the prize shown.
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RALEIGH- Wooooooo! That’s the name and hopefully what many players will be exclaiming after winning prizes on this new instant scratch-off game. Wooooooo!along with Blue Tripler Crossword and Lucky Gold will all be in stores starting Tuesday, Sept. 22.
Wooooooo! is a $5 scratch-off ticket featuring world-renowned retired wrestler Ric Flair. The game has eight top prizes of $100,000 and over 500,000 prizes between $10 and $200. Players have 16 chances to win on each ticket, which represent Flair’s 16 championship belts.
The NCEL is pleased to be teaming up with Flair in its effort to maximize revenue for the education programs it supports. We believe the Wooooooo! game has the potential to attract new players.
Blue Line Tripler Crossword is a $3 ticket that features over $6.6 million in total prizes in the game. Those prizes include six top prizes of $30,000 and 60 second tier prizes of $1,000 plus much more!
Lucky Gold is a $2 ticket with eight top prizes of $25,000. It also features over $7 million in total cash prizes in the game. Players who scratch and reveal a “moneybag” symbol win double the prize shown.
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
TV illusionist Derren Brown tells how he picked correct numbers - 13th September 2009
TV illusionist "predicts" lotto numbers
Viewers amazed, experts says it's rubbish
Lotto owner bans him from buying tickets
Illusionist Derren Brown stunned the world after apparently predicting the winning lottery numbers on live television, but he claimed it all came down to mathematics.
An audience of 2.7 million viewers tuned into Britain's Channel 4 on Wednesday to see if Brown could pull off the trick.
After watching the National Lottery draw live on BBC One, Brown revealed he had correctly written down the numbers of the six winning balls.
Chatrooms and websites were instantly abuzz with how the famous illusionist had managed the feat, with guesses ranging from TV special effects to bribery and weighted balls.
In a follow-up show last night, watched by 3 million people, Brown said he used "a powerful, beautiful secret that can only be achieved when we all put our heads together".
He went on to say that he had gathered a panel of 24 people who wrote down their predictions after studying the last year's worth of numbers.
The guesses for each ball were then added up and divided by 24 to get the average guess.
Brown said it took a while to perfect the "deep maths" technique.
According to him, the predictions were correct because of the "wisdom of the crowd" theory which suggests that a large group of people making average guesses will come up with the correct figure as an average of all their attempts.
But judging by the reactions on Internet discussion boards, many remained unconvinced by the explanation.
One viewer wrote on Derren Brown's Channel 4 website: "It must have been a camera trick."
Another sceptic, writing on Yahoo, said: "Split screen without doubt."
Many also subscribed to the theory that there could have been a time delay in the live broadcast of the BBC draw, giving Brown a chance to get hold of the numbers beforehand.
And Roger Heath-Brown, professor of pure mathematics at Oxford University, told The Guardian newspaper: "Mathematically it is complete rubbish. It is a bluff on his part, he is doing it in some other way."
The chance of winning the jackpot by matching all six numbers is one in 14 million. Credit: Wires
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Viewers amazed, experts says it's rubbish
Lotto owner bans him from buying tickets
Illusionist Derren Brown stunned the world after apparently predicting the winning lottery numbers on live television, but he claimed it all came down to mathematics.
An audience of 2.7 million viewers tuned into Britain's Channel 4 on Wednesday to see if Brown could pull off the trick.
After watching the National Lottery draw live on BBC One, Brown revealed he had correctly written down the numbers of the six winning balls.
Chatrooms and websites were instantly abuzz with how the famous illusionist had managed the feat, with guesses ranging from TV special effects to bribery and weighted balls.
In a follow-up show last night, watched by 3 million people, Brown said he used "a powerful, beautiful secret that can only be achieved when we all put our heads together".
He went on to say that he had gathered a panel of 24 people who wrote down their predictions after studying the last year's worth of numbers.
The guesses for each ball were then added up and divided by 24 to get the average guess.
Brown said it took a while to perfect the "deep maths" technique.
According to him, the predictions were correct because of the "wisdom of the crowd" theory which suggests that a large group of people making average guesses will come up with the correct figure as an average of all their attempts.
But judging by the reactions on Internet discussion boards, many remained unconvinced by the explanation.
One viewer wrote on Derren Brown's Channel 4 website: "It must have been a camera trick."
Another sceptic, writing on Yahoo, said: "Split screen without doubt."
Many also subscribed to the theory that there could have been a time delay in the live broadcast of the BBC draw, giving Brown a chance to get hold of the numbers beforehand.
And Roger Heath-Brown, professor of pure mathematics at Oxford University, told The Guardian newspaper: "Mathematically it is complete rubbish. It is a bluff on his part, he is doing it in some other way."
The chance of winning the jackpot by matching all six numbers is one in 14 million. Credit: Wires
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Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Stucky the lottery scammer comes unStucky - 2nd September 2009
From his base in Canada, lottery scam mastermind David Stucky bedazzled victims from as far away as Australia and New Zealand with two get-rich-quick schemes.
While in Toronto, Stucky pocketed a cash windfall - about $C1 million ($1 million) - his victims received an average return of just 75 cents or a piece of cheap costume jewellery.
Canadian law enforcement agency The Competition Bureau - with the help of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and authorities in New Zealand, the US and Britain - successfully prosecuted Stucky.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to offences under Canada's Competition Act and last week was sentenced to a record fine of $C2 million, placed on probation for 18 months and is prohibited from engaging in any form of mass-marketing for 10 years.
Stucky has also agreed to donate $C100,000 to the Salvation Army.
"Mr Stucky targeted consumers in more than 200 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and basically defrauded them," Competition Bureau senior communications adviser Greg Scott said.
Stucky trawled the world for victims by mailing out approximately 3.1 million copies of a lottery promotion.
The lottery ticket reselling scheme, involving bundles of Canadian Super7 lottery tickets, "gave consumers the misleading impression that they could win tens of millions of dollars", the Competition Bureau alleged.
The reality was that participants, for their investment, won just 75 cents on average over the 1½-year life of the scheme.
The other Stucky scheme, a sweepstakes offer, gave participants the false impression they would receive a cash prize of about $C5000 or "another valuable prize", but there was no big cheque or expensive prize waiting. Victims were sent an inexpensive piece of jewellery.
Canadian authorities received nearly 1000 complaints about Stucky's promotions.
The lottery promotion was marketed to residents of Australia, New Zealand and the US, while the sweepstakes promotion was sent to consumers in more than 200 countries.
Credit: Google News, AAP, Wires
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While in Toronto, Stucky pocketed a cash windfall - about $C1 million ($1 million) - his victims received an average return of just 75 cents or a piece of cheap costume jewellery.
Canadian law enforcement agency The Competition Bureau - with the help of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and authorities in New Zealand, the US and Britain - successfully prosecuted Stucky.
The 57-year-old pleaded guilty to offences under Canada's Competition Act and last week was sentenced to a record fine of $C2 million, placed on probation for 18 months and is prohibited from engaging in any form of mass-marketing for 10 years.
Stucky has also agreed to donate $C100,000 to the Salvation Army.
"Mr Stucky targeted consumers in more than 200 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and basically defrauded them," Competition Bureau senior communications adviser Greg Scott said.
Stucky trawled the world for victims by mailing out approximately 3.1 million copies of a lottery promotion.
The lottery ticket reselling scheme, involving bundles of Canadian Super7 lottery tickets, "gave consumers the misleading impression that they could win tens of millions of dollars", the Competition Bureau alleged.
The reality was that participants, for their investment, won just 75 cents on average over the 1½-year life of the scheme.
The other Stucky scheme, a sweepstakes offer, gave participants the false impression they would receive a cash prize of about $C5000 or "another valuable prize", but there was no big cheque or expensive prize waiting. Victims were sent an inexpensive piece of jewellery.
Canadian authorities received nearly 1000 complaints about Stucky's promotions.
The lottery promotion was marketed to residents of Australia, New Zealand and the US, while the sweepstakes promotion was sent to consumers in more than 200 countries.
Credit: Google News, AAP, Wires
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