Daily Nambling Notes - July 25, 2002

Makin' Deals -- UltimateBet and E-Gaming Ltd. are teaming up to launch UB-2.com, a new poker site. E-Gaming will market the site, which will use UltimateBet's poker software. According to the companies, funds that ordinarily would have been used for advertising the site will be funneled into a player rewards program. "Paying the players for word-of-mouth advertising is a revolutionary concept that we believe is going to generate a lot of interest," said Warren Karp, COO of E-Gaming. ... Easyodds.com, which helps people compare bets, is looking to create partnerships with online bookmakers. "Essentially, we provide a perfect, targeted audience for betting organizations to market and advertise to which is far more cost-effective and results driven than traditional areas," said Tony Plaskow, an Easyodds.com co-founder.

Macau Tidbit -- Tax revenue from casinos in Macau rose 19.1 percent in the first half of this year, Reuters is reporting. The Macau Monetary Authority received US$431 million in taxes from casinos in the last six months as foreign casino companies set about establishing operations there.

Legal Stuff -- On Tuesday, a lawyer in Iola, Wis., was sentenced to one month in federal prison for helping run an offshore sports betting operation. Bruce Meagher, 51, was also given five months of home detention and one year of supervised released and a fine of $20,000. Meagher pleaded guilty on April 23 on a gambling charge in connection with the case against Gold Medal Sports.

Tidbit from Down Under -- Australian site Adultshop.com is reportedly considering branching out into the online gambling business. The company has grossed AU$42.3 million from adult entertainment sales in the three months to June 30. Malcolm Day, chief executive of Adultshop, said the group is considering other online business opportunities. "Things like online dating and your online gambling and sports betting are some of the potential areas we will be focusing on," he said.

What Others are Saying -- "This is the same type of hypocritical moralizing put forth by anti-gambling zealots in Congress. If [New York Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer and other politicians really want to protect the public from pernicious forms of gambling, they could start at home and denounce state lotteries, the most extortionate gambling game in existence. (New York's lottery had revenues of more than $4 billion last year.) With their condemnation of gambling, they are not only trying to score some political points but also to protect the state's game from competition."

--Andrew Beyer, in a column in the Washington Post, July 25. Beyer's column addressed Citibank's refusal to process I-gaming transactions.