Nambling Notes - Aug. 12, 2005

Israeli Lottery -- Israeli newspaper Globes reports that Israel's National Lottery, Mifal Hapayis, has asked for and received permission from the country's Ministry of Finance to operate its products online. Only games that are currently offered by the lottery will be permitted, so there will be no poker or casino gaming. Mifal Hapayis Chairman and CEO Shimon Katznelson said he hopes to have a site running by the end of the year.

Farewell -- Peter Bertilsson has decided to resign as president of Sweden-based I-gaming software developer Boss Media for family reasons. Bertilsson explained that has family situation has become untenable due to the great deal of travel the position requires combined with the fact that company headquarters is located in a different city than his family. Bertilsson held the company's presidency since October 2001.

BSkyB Expansion -- BSkyB has announced its intentions of taking advantage of England's pending new gambling regulations by launching Sky Vegas Live 2, a new interactive entertainment channel that will provide a range of casino-style games. The channel will not only offer the fixed odds services that are already playable on the original Sky Vegas Live, but will also feature casino-style games like roulette and poker. BSkyB's average annual growth in betting revenues has been higher than 40 percent over the past four years, and the company expects betting to overtake advertising in the next financial year as its second biggest source of revenue, behind only subscription fees for its pay-TV service.

VIP.com -- Leisure & Gaming--the trading name of Curacao-based online gaming firm VIP Management Services following a reverse takeover of an AIM-listed shell company at the end of May--has acquired the domain name VIP.com for a total consideration of US$1.4 million, which will be paid initially by $600,000 in cash and $400,000 in ordinary shares. The remaining consideration of $400,000 will be paid in ordinary shares upon the first anniversary of the transfer of the domain name. The company says the domain will help drive customer recruitment and strengthen its brand of I-gaming entertainment, which includes VIPsports.com, VIPhorses.com, VIPcasinos.com and VIPpoker.com.

Quoteworthy -- "Every week thousands of customers bet on our lotto products and it is easy to see why. By matching just three numbers you would win £460, a lot more than you would get on the U.K. National Lottery. Last weekend, one lucky customer won £44,371 by matching 5 numbers, the same weekend matching 5 numbers on the National Lottery would have only netted him £1,319. And with only 42 numbers to choose from your chances are even better."

- Taken from the text of an e-mail blast sent by Ladbrokes--writing on behalf of its partnership with the Irish Lotto--to 20,000 people. After receiving a complaint that the e-mail is misleading, the BritishAdvertising Standards Authority warned Ladbrokes against issuing similar e-mails. Although Ladbrokes argued that each claim was factually accurate and honest when read on its own, the ASA declared the statements misleading because they focused on winning comparisons but neglected specific odds comparisons. No disciplinary action was taken against Ladbrokes.

Stat Dispute -- Betfair claims that one of the instruments being used by the Australian Racing Board to argue against the licensing of betting exchanges is a report that is flawed and based on incorrect facts. The company claims that the report ignores the Productivity Commission's assessment of price elasticity for wagering and uses market share estimations for Betfair that are grossly inaccurate. Though the ARB argues that betting exchanges will hurt horse racing Australia, Betfair points out that since the year 2000, the U.K. tote has become stronger than ever, race-day attendance figures have risen to their highest point since World War II, prize money is at record highs, and funding to British horse racing has doubled. "Tasmanians and the racing industry should be very wary of this report," Betfair's Mark Davies explained. "It has been commissioned by people running an agenda and is based on incorrect assumptions about the U.K. experience with betting exchanges."