Another privatisation battle is looming for the Premier, Nathan Rees. At least 15 MPs, including the former racing and gaming minister Grant McBride, are opposed to the sale of NSW Lotteries.
Several MPs on the right, including Richard Amery, Tony Stewart and Paul Gibson, fear small businesses could suffer if NSW Lotteries products were no longer sold in newsagents.
Mr McBride, who was gaming minister for four years, warned caucus this week the sale of products such as scratchies in casinos or pubs could turn "soft gambling" into a more serious problem.
The Kiama MP, Matt Brown, did not vote against the privatisation in caucus but it is understood he told caucus he was worried that the sale of Lotteries could ruin small business in towns and regions.
Several MPs also gave TAB outlets as an example, which they said disappeared from main streets and into pubs and clubs when the TAB was privatised by the Carr government in 1998.
One senior MP said there was widespread concern in caucus that the Government was selling one of its "biggest cash cows for no good reason".
"If you are that dependent on gaming revenue, which lots of governments are, why would you sell something that makes you so much money?" the MP said.
The Government is hoping to raise between $500 million and $600 million from the sale of NSW Lotteries in a deal that would enable it to retain its annual revenue stream of more than $300 million from gaming duties.
The latest stoush over privatisation follows the battle over the sale of prisons. The Government eventually backed away from its plan to sell Cessnock jail and will instead privatise only Parklea prison. (Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)
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Thursday, June 04, 2009
Monday, June 01, 2009
Virgin Games Delivers The Ultimate Gaming Experience
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - June 1, 2009)
Today Virgin Games, the online gaming service, announces that it has centralised its offerings and has become an operating company in its own right working from one common platform. This development will provide a streamlined customer experience by offering players the opportunity to play across multiple gaming products using a central sign on solution and a single Virgin Games wallet. The operation of Virgin Games gaming service was formerly outsourced to three different operators; Wagerworks for Casino; Boss Media for Poker and St.Minver for Bingo. The operation on the new Virgin Games platform has now been taken in-house and will be managed centrally from their head office in Guernsey.
With the Virgin customer experience being of core importance, players now only need to register once to become a Virgin Games player and browse seamlessly through all of the games at Virgin Poker, Virgin Casino and Virgin Bingo. Additionally, under the new system, Virgin players will be able to play for bonus promotions and Virgin Games loyalty points, V-Points, across all games offered.
The strategic shift to become a fully fledged gaming operator has taken place at Virgin Games over the last 18 months. The company now operates using two gaming licenses held in Alderney and Malta and runs an in-house customer service call centre as well as owning and co-ordinating player databases and payment processing systems. The 24/7 customer experience solution will bring all consumer touch points together in-house including telephone, email and web-chat communication resulting in greater control, improved efficiency and an all round excellent customer experience.
Simon Burridge, CEO Virgin Games, comments: "In developing and taking ownership of the new customer experience program, we have focused on creating the best possible value and service for our customers. Here at Virgin Games, we live and breathe the Virgin brand values and feel taking the customer service department in-house and integrating all three gaming services allows us to continue to deliver the unique Virgin experience that our customers have come to expect."
"Our players have told us that they would like to see a wider range of games at Virgin Games and we intend to give them exactly what they're looking for. There have been some very exciting new games brought into the market recently and we look forward to introducing them into the Virgin Games product offering" said Burridge.
For more information on Virgin Games please visit www.virgingames.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises four distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Cluedo, Dungeons and Dragons Fortress of Fortunes(TM) and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a seeding value of Pounds Sterling 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros Texas Hold em, Five card Stud Poker and more - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
For more information, please contact
Nelson Bostock Communications
Melissa Robinson
020 7792 7436
melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
or
Nelson Bostock Communications
Lucinda Pride
020 7792 7471
lucinda.pride@nelsonbostock.com
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Virgin Games
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Today Virgin Games, the online gaming service, announces that it has centralised its offerings and has become an operating company in its own right working from one common platform. This development will provide a streamlined customer experience by offering players the opportunity to play across multiple gaming products using a central sign on solution and a single Virgin Games wallet. The operation of Virgin Games gaming service was formerly outsourced to three different operators; Wagerworks for Casino; Boss Media for Poker and St.Minver for Bingo. The operation on the new Virgin Games platform has now been taken in-house and will be managed centrally from their head office in Guernsey.
With the Virgin customer experience being of core importance, players now only need to register once to become a Virgin Games player and browse seamlessly through all of the games at Virgin Poker, Virgin Casino and Virgin Bingo. Additionally, under the new system, Virgin players will be able to play for bonus promotions and Virgin Games loyalty points, V-Points, across all games offered.
The strategic shift to become a fully fledged gaming operator has taken place at Virgin Games over the last 18 months. The company now operates using two gaming licenses held in Alderney and Malta and runs an in-house customer service call centre as well as owning and co-ordinating player databases and payment processing systems. The 24/7 customer experience solution will bring all consumer touch points together in-house including telephone, email and web-chat communication resulting in greater control, improved efficiency and an all round excellent customer experience.
Simon Burridge, CEO Virgin Games, comments: "In developing and taking ownership of the new customer experience program, we have focused on creating the best possible value and service for our customers. Here at Virgin Games, we live and breathe the Virgin brand values and feel taking the customer service department in-house and integrating all three gaming services allows us to continue to deliver the unique Virgin experience that our customers have come to expect."
"Our players have told us that they would like to see a wider range of games at Virgin Games and we intend to give them exactly what they're looking for. There have been some very exciting new games brought into the market recently and we look forward to introducing them into the Virgin Games product offering" said Burridge.
For more information on Virgin Games please visit www.virgingames.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises four distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Cluedo, Dungeons and Dragons Fortress of Fortunes(TM) and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a seeding value of Pounds Sterling 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros Texas Hold em, Five card Stud Poker and more - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
For more information, please contact
Nelson Bostock Communications
Melissa Robinson
020 7792 7436
melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
or
Nelson Bostock Communications
Lucinda Pride
020 7792 7471
lucinda.pride@nelsonbostock.com
Profiles
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Sunday, May 31, 2009
NSW newsagents want Lotteries, by Simon Evans - Australian Financial Review - 1st May 2009
A consortium bid involving the Newsagents Association of New South Wales (NSW) and Australian Capital Territory (NANA) has emerged as a potential buyer for the NSW Lotteries business being sold by the State Government. NANA president Stan Cousins said yesterday that lotteries products bring ‘a lot of foot traffic’ and are ‘very important to the bottom-line’ for newsagents. Around 80 percent of NSW Lottery sales are made through newsagents. (Extract from The Australian Financial Review)
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Friday, May 29, 2009
Virgin Bingo Announces Relaunch Of Bingo Game Offering
28th May 2009
Virgin.com Limited has announced that it will be relaunching its bingo offering through its VirginGames.com portal using software from Alderney-licensed online bingo and gambling platform provider Virtue Fusion Limited.
Virtue Fusion is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet bingo solutions and its network operates on an aggregated model so that partners benefit from shared critical mass and larger jackpots.
http://www.virgingames.com/bingo previously utilised software from St Minver but the change will see players able to enjoy one of the largest selections of networked games available through a bingo client. Virtue Fusion pioneered the mini game and offers titles including Marine Mayhem, Clover Rollover and Big Top Tombola, which have proven highly popular with players.
“It was important for Virgin Games to select a partner that could give our players the widest choice of game variants, jackpot sizes and price-points,” said Simon Burridge, Chief Executive Officer for VirginGames.com.
“Virtue Fusion’s network is undoubtedly the market leader in this respect. We are delighted to be joining the Virtue Fusion network and are looking forward to growing our business over the coming years.
”We value Virtue Fusion’s flexible network model because we value the right to offer something different. Virtue Fusion’s network structure allows us to be just what we want while benefiting from the largest prize pools available online today.”
“We are delighted that VirginGames.com has chosen Virtue Fusion’s industry-leading software for its bingo offering,” said Bob McCulloch, Chief Executive Officer for Virtue Fusion.
“VirginGames.com will benefit through our flexible networked approach to bingo by offering small games that are good for communities while leveraging the power of the network by offering the biggest jackpots available.”
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games, a subsidiary of Virgin.com Ltd, launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct entertainment offerings, giving consumers the chance to play their favourite online games the Virgin way:
• Virgin Casino Games, part of the Wagerworks network, provides a taste of Vegas online, with classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as popular feature slots like Elvis, Cleopatra and Vegas, Baby!
• Virgin Free Poker,offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry. The successful Virgin Poker Festivals, which take place in casinos around the UK throughout the year, now allow gamers to experience the fun of Virgin Poker offline too
• Virgin Bingo, part of the St Minver network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as regular promotions and an unrivalled loyalty scheme
For further information please contact:
Melissa Robinson
Nelson Bostock Communications
Tel. 020 7792 7436
Email melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
Media Man Australia Profiles
Virgin Bingo
Virgin Games
Virgin Casino
Virgin Casino News
Virgin Enterprises Limited
Virgin.com Limited has announced that it will be relaunching its bingo offering through its VirginGames.com portal using software from Alderney-licensed online bingo and gambling platform provider Virtue Fusion Limited.
Virtue Fusion is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet bingo solutions and its network operates on an aggregated model so that partners benefit from shared critical mass and larger jackpots.
http://www.virgingames.com/bingo previously utilised software from St Minver but the change will see players able to enjoy one of the largest selections of networked games available through a bingo client. Virtue Fusion pioneered the mini game and offers titles including Marine Mayhem, Clover Rollover and Big Top Tombola, which have proven highly popular with players.
“It was important for Virgin Games to select a partner that could give our players the widest choice of game variants, jackpot sizes and price-points,” said Simon Burridge, Chief Executive Officer for VirginGames.com.
“Virtue Fusion’s network is undoubtedly the market leader in this respect. We are delighted to be joining the Virtue Fusion network and are looking forward to growing our business over the coming years.
”We value Virtue Fusion’s flexible network model because we value the right to offer something different. Virtue Fusion’s network structure allows us to be just what we want while benefiting from the largest prize pools available online today.”
“We are delighted that VirginGames.com has chosen Virtue Fusion’s industry-leading software for its bingo offering,” said Bob McCulloch, Chief Executive Officer for Virtue Fusion.
“VirginGames.com will benefit through our flexible networked approach to bingo by offering small games that are good for communities while leveraging the power of the network by offering the biggest jackpots available.”
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games, a subsidiary of Virgin.com Ltd, launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises three distinct entertainment offerings, giving consumers the chance to play their favourite online games the Virgin way:
• Virgin Casino Games, part of the Wagerworks network, provides a taste of Vegas online, with classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as popular feature slots like Elvis, Cleopatra and Vegas, Baby!
• Virgin Free Poker,offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry. The successful Virgin Poker Festivals, which take place in casinos around the UK throughout the year, now allow gamers to experience the fun of Virgin Poker offline too
• Virgin Bingo, part of the St Minver network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as regular promotions and an unrivalled loyalty scheme
For further information please contact:
Melissa Robinson
Nelson Bostock Communications
Tel. 020 7792 7436
Email melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
Media Man Australia Profiles
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Virgin Games
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Virgin Enterprises Limited
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Global gaming market remains volatile; Game operators, publishers and business models need to better adapt
Global gaming market remains volatile; Game operators, publishers and business models need to better adapt
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