Profits Soar for PhilWeb in 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Leading Philippine gaming company, PhilWeb Corporation, recently announced that its unaudited net income for last year jumped 89% over 2008 results.

That translates to about PHP552 million (about $12.11 million) and the local Filipino technology enabling partner of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) said that bulk of the profits last year came from its core gaming operations.

Total revenue for 2009 was PHP 820 million (about $18 million), 82% higher than 2008 marks.

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Co-Founder of 888.com Passes Away

EUROPORT, GIBRALTAR - 888.com is mourning the passing of its co-founder, Aharon Shaked, who died at the age of 58 after battling an undisclosed illness.

A dentist by trade, Aharon started 888.com with his brother, Avi, and two others -- brothers Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak -- in 1997 as Virtual Holdings Limited with Casino-on-Net as its main online product. The company was then based in Antigua.

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Estonia OK with Online Gambling

TALLINN, ESTONIA - Where one door of opportunity closes, another one is sure to open.

And that is the treat the online gaming operators are getting with recent reports that the Baltic nation of Estonia is key to open its online gaming to offshore operators by 2011.

The Estonian government has adopted a liberalized stand by allowing its 1.34 million citizens to gamble online. This, sources believe, is a prelude to a regulated online gambling environment by next year.

This 2010, only those gaming operators inside Estonia are allowed to take in online wagers from Estonians.

The relaxation on online gamblings follows on the heels of a successful poker festival and the need of the government to generate funds to jumpstart a sagging economy. Estonia was one of the hardest hits economies in the recent global economic crisis among European Union members.

Estonia follows other EU members such as Belgium, Sweden, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands who have adopted a pro-regulation stance on online gambling.

Posted 11 Jan 2010

Former BetOnSports CEO Receives Jail Time

MISSOURI, USA - Former BetOnSports CEO and British national David Carruthers has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges in relation to his former firm receiving bets from American players over the phone and internet.

Carruthers, who was arrested by FBI agents in 2006 at Dallas Airport while en route to his company's headquarters in Costa Rica, has spent the last three years under house arrest in Missouri.

According to charges levied at the British gaming executive, BetOnSports took in about $3.5 billion in wagers from primarily US players through internet and phone wagers which amounted to Carruthers being slapped with the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charge, as well as other charges collectively the evasion of Federal wagering excise taxes.

Before his arrest, Carruthers led BetOnSports to an AIM listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2004. He is also an online gambling regulation advocate.

He reached a plea deal in April last year but withdrew it in September before his sentencing. He then entered a guilty plea after a new agreement with the court was reached in October.

According to US Attorney Steven Holtshouser:

"The prosecution and conviction of Carruthers is significant to the Government's efforts at enforcement of U.S. laws against offshore internet and telephone sports wagering businesses, because Carruthers was both a foreign national and a top executive of BetOnSports. Previously, executives, owners and investors believed that they were immune from the reach of US law enforcement. Both the conviction of, and sentence handed down against Mr Carruthers should send a message to any foreign business conducting illegal activities in the United States, that geography does not render it untouchable."

Last November, BetOnSport founder Gary Kaplan was sentenced to 51 months in prison for similar charges.

Posted 11 Jan 2010. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Gaming Firm to Invest in DFNN Gaming Unit

MANILA, Philippines - Publicly-listed solutions provider and systems integrator, DFNN, Inc. recently announced that its Singapore-based gaming unit, Pacific Gaming Investments Pte Ltd., is entering into an agreement with Straitwey Pte Ltd., to generate funds needed to increase Straitwey's stake in another gaming company.

The agreement will see Straitwey, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japan Gaming Development Organization, infuse some $7 million in Pacific Gaming which in turn will be used to fund Straitwey's increased stake in Inter-Active Entertainment Solutions Technologies, Inc., a firm operating under an online gaming license from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

Straitwey is expected to conduct due diligence on Pacific Gaming and once the agreement is consummated, the former is expected to invest $7 million on primary and secondary shares of the latter.

DFNN further added that Pacific Gaming will be using part of the investment as working capital as well as other investments in the gaming industry.

Posted 11 Jan 2010

Palms Shows "Poker Face" Ad

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - Don't be surprised when you get to hear the hit song "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga more often these coming days.

The hit single by the Grammy-winning singer will be featured in Palms' upcoming advertising campaign.

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Chinese Authorities Crack Down on Football Betting Group

HUNAN, CHINA - Chinese police have traced three criminal groups connected with football betting via the internet in the province of Hunan.

Twenty-two suspects have been arrested by authorities after about six months of investigation into the growing incidences of match-fixing involving football clubs, players and even referees.

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Groups, Sectors Welcome UIGEA Enforcement Delay

WASHINGTON D.C. - The Obama Administration's decision to delay the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) to June 2010 has been welcomed by proponents of regulated online gambling in the U.S.

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