Nambling Notes - Jan. 18, 2001

New Stuff -- Sungold Entertainment Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Horsepower Broadcasting Network, announced the launch of its equal-chance virtual horse racing game, Horsepower2. Sungold said it has already established long-term agreements with DoubleClick and Sina.com to promote the game in Asia. The game--HP2 for short--consists of a virtual horse race run every 90 seconds with a real-time, online pari-mutuel pool. The minimum bet is $2, and jackpots can reach more than $1 million.

Finnish software provider European Game & Entertainment Technology Ltd. Ab this week released its WinOneT Scratch Card Module. The new Internet-based game consists of two traditional scratch games and a double-or-nothing game. EGET launched the new lottery product in December with Alands Penningautomatforening (PAF) . Patrik Hellman, PAF's online marketing manager, said the scratch card game is likely to enforce PAF's position as the prime Web spot for online gaming in Scandinavia. "The initial sales figures have been very encouraging and confirm that there is a great demand for this type of interactive product," he said.

A Virtgame Corp. licensee went live this week with the San Diego-based company's casino and sports book technology. Hipodromo de agua Caliente S.A. , known as Caliente, launched Virtgame's PrimeLineSportBook and E-Gaming Server Platform on Monday. Caliente has more than 130 sports betting operations throughout Latin America and Europe. Virtgame said it expects to see a substantial increase in revenue due to monthly account fees from the Caliente site. The company also said this week that it is releasing a new version of its race and sports book. The package is a complete race and sports book management system for both land-based casinos and online wagering sites. The latest version features Microsoft SQL as its backend database, although other commercial databases can be substituted.

Magna Entertainment Corp. decreed this week that its Call-A-Bet service shall henceforth be known as XpressBet. In addition to the name change, the national account-wagering platform now features a new online component. The company has an account wagering application pending before the California Horse Racing Board.

Names and Faces Changing Places -- Lawrence R. Lucas has been appointed to Youbet.com 's board of directors. Lucas is president of Conor Communications Co. , which provides emergency services to wireless communications providers. Canbet 's former chairman, Richard Farmer, has been replaced by David de Campo. Farmer resigned in late December. Micki Oster will be leaving her position as managing director of Sunny Group, which operates several online casinos out of Trinidad in the West Indies.

A Tidbit from Down Under -- Australia's Publishing and Broadcasting, apparently pleased with Crowngames.com 's performance during its first two weeks of operation, said this week it is ready to move the online casino into its next stage of development. Andrew MacDonald, CEO of PBL's Vanuatu gaming operations, said the next step involves an expanded range of table games and slots.

A Tidbit from the UK -- Bookmaker William Hill is refusing to take bets on the Brit Awards. The company said that in the past, a "select few" people have known the winners before they are announced. The Brit Awards are on Feb. 20.

Makin' Deals -- iCrystal Inc. on Monday said it has cinched a deal with a new master partner, Cyber 2000, which plans to be a fully functional online casino by the name of Casino Freedom by the first quarter of 2002. Cyber 2000 is a Web site provider that has a network of more than 7,000 Webmaster affiliates to help it promote its sites. Cricket information Web site CricInfo.com will now offer online gambling as part of a deal with bet365. As part of the agreement, CricInfo.com will have its own dedicated betting and gaming page. Rimpac Resources Ltd. is acquiring Internet LOTO Inc. , which is developing an online lottery portal. Upon closing the deal, Rimpac will have a total of 20 million shares issued and outstanding. Thomas Johnson, president and CEO of Internet LOTO will become the sole officer and director of Rimpac. SunOnline and lastminute.com have inked a deal to provide online casino gambling to more than 2 million U.K.-registered users of the lastminute.com site. Sun's Casino Atlantis will provide betting to the site, which is one of the most visited travel sites in Europe. Denver-based mike's hard lemonade is teaming with bettorsworld.com to offer 8-1 odds that on Groundhog Day, otherwise known as Feb. 2, the groundhog will emerge from his hole and fail to see his shadow. Jeff Tripician, vice president of marketing at mike's, had this to say about the promotion: "mike thinks Groundhog Day is a hard day for weather guys since they are trying to match science against a really smart groundhog." Thanks for sharing, mike.

Bragging Rights -- Intertops.com said on Thursday that this week it expects to receive its 20 millionth online wager. The Internet betting site has been in operation since January 1996 and has more than 500,000 registered users in 180 countries. The company said that during its five-year existence it has averaged one bet every 10 seconds. Several companies have made the short list for Macau gaming licenses. Those companies include: MGM Mirage, Sun Entertainment Holding Co. Ltd. , Wynn Resort (Macau) Ltd. , MP Entertainment Co. , Lucky 9 Casino Corp. , Genting's Macau Star Ltd. , Grand Macau Gaming Ltd. , Asian American Entertainment Corp. and Sociadade de Jogos de Macau SA. Winners will be announced in three weeks. Liechtenstein Prime Minister Otmar Hasler received praise this week from Austria's chancellor, Wolfgang Schussel, on Liechtenstein's efforts to counter money laundering and terrorist funding. Schussel told Hasler it was impressive how fast his country reacted to international pressure and the Financial Action Task Force.

Study Hall -- South Africa's National Gambling Board has commissioned a study on the economic impact of gambling. The survey, which will be conducted by Unisa's Bureau for Market Research, is expected to be complete within six to eight weeks. Thailand is also commissioning a study on gambling. The Thai government said this week it is looking into the matter in order to examine the pros and cons of legalizing gambling. The country's leaders estimate that more than 130 million baht leave the country annually as a result of gambling.