LazerWager.com says Yes to US

On Friday, online casino LazerWager.com announced that five former I-gaming executives, including one from BetonSports, had been brought on board by its U.K.-based ownership group to help manage the start-up.

When contacted, LazerWager spokeswoman Nina Pendleton told IGN that Fred St. John, the group's marketing manager, was recruited from BetonSports.

According to Pendleton, LazerWager is licensed in Costa Rica under its corporate name, Trailhead SA. Currently, the company, which launched the site in late July, is "weighing [its] options regarding additional licensing jurisdictions," she said.

The LazerWager board, according to Friday's press release, is "expecting promising developments related to the recent [World Trade Organization] rulings against the [United States] . . . [and has positioned itself] as a prime player in the space once the dust has settled."

In other words, Pendleton said, the company offers U.S. residents real-money casino and sports betting services.

Pendleton added that the company is privately held, and its owners would "prefer to be anonymous due to the current U.S. legal climate."

The LazerWager.com domain is registered in Los Angeles, Calif., through GoDaddy.com, Inc.

The company looks to be placing heavy emphasis on its LiveDealer Casino application, which, it said, "allows players to play various casino games with actual live dealers over the Internet."

On the more speculative end, LazerWager could--via its U.S. domain registration and LiveDealer software--become a target of i2Corp subsidiary Home Gambling Network (HGN), which holds an ambiguous patent covering live, real-money Internet casino games in the United States.

However, LazerWager said it didn't expect any problems in this regard.

"GoDaddy is just a company we used to buy the service from," said Pendleton. "But the company that bought the service is based outside U.S. borders, so there would be no problems with patents."

In 2002, HGN initiated a well-publicized patent infringement suit against Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho and his online casino portal, DrHo.com.

In 2005, HGN brought another round of patent infringement suits against Sportingbet, Ladbrokes, Hilton Group, Net Entertainment, World Gaming, V.O. Group and Betinternet.com.

The HGN Web site currently lists DrHo888.com and Playtech as licensees.

Pendleton did not reveal the company's position on the proposed tax hikes in Costa Rica targeting betting operators.

LazerWager.com does not accept phone wagers, according to its Web site.