Daily Nambling Notes - July 31, 2002

Makin' Deals -- Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, ISW Acquisition Co. , has entered into agreements to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Global Interactive Gaming Ltd. ("GIG"). GIG is Interactive Systems worldwide licensee for wagering and contests utilizing its play-by-play SportXctionT Wagering System.

New Stuff -- Speirtech, the Dublin-based mobile gaming company, has declared that its recent demonstration with Logica of interactive casino games on mobile handsets was the first time this has been achieved in the MMS arena. The mobile gaming demonstration was performed using Logica's mobile application interface and Speirtech's mobile gaming platform.

Bowing Out -- Retired NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman joins the ranks of Reggie Jackson, Rodney Dangerfield and Evel Knievel as the latest celebrity to see his or her online gambling operation fail. The Dennis Rodman online casino that launched late last year has pulled the plug. No explanation was given by Rodman or the casino for the site's demise.

Names and Faces Changing Places -- Scientific Games Corp. announced the addition of Eric M. Turner, Antonio Belloni and Rosario Bifulco to its board of directors. Turner is currently a senior vice president of State Street Corp. , Belloni is the deputy chairman of Lottomatica and managing director of De Agostini, and Bifulco is CEO and managing director of Lottomatica. Lottomatica is Scientific Games' largest shareholder and one of the largest lottery operators in the world. ... James R. Hurley is retiring from the position of chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission.

Mark Your Calendar -- Next week is Responsible Gaming Education week. The event, developed by the American Gaming Association, will promote responsible gambling partly by offering an interactive quiz at http://www.americangaming.org so that people can test their knowledge of safe gaming practices. According to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission 's 1999 report, between 0.6 and 1.5 percent of adults in the United States have a gambling problem.

Say What? -- "It would be extraordinary if people did not realize that, on a regular basis, they lose."

-- Sir Alan Budd, chairman of the United Kingdom's Gambling Review Body, in testimony before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons on July 2. Budd had been asked by committee member Alan Keen whether the government should educate people on gambling odds.