Morning Brief: Center of Rumor

With your morning coffee or afternoon tea:

With rumor swirling about a potential sports betting tie-up between GigaMedia Ltd. of Taiwan and Centrebet International Ltd. of Australia, here's what we're hearing:

"I’ve seen a couple reports that have speculated that it’s Centrebet," one analyst told IGamingNews in an e-mail Friday. "Mgt. has indicated publicly that entering the sports betting market is a high priority item and they expect to have something in place by the end of this year.

"I think this could be a large opportunity for these guys given the large customer base and strong brand name," the analyst continued. "They also est. that over half of their 200k poker customers bet on sports. On the last earnings call they indicated that they would start out with a technology partner to address continental Europe and then would consider acquisitions to gain a presence in new markets (i.e. UK most likely)."

In other news, Inspired Gaming Group, the sever-based gaming specialist, has done a deal with Holland Casino, the Dutch casino monopoly, to trial its multi-win roulette product across 16 terminals in two land-based casino properties at Venio and Scheveningen.

Be sure to visit the IGN Blog for supplementary multimedia content covering United States legislation, celebrity fantasy leagues, Mark's decidedly warped sense of humor and a look at what we are beginning to feel is the death of the Poker Boom.