Nambling Notes | June 16, 2008

CryptoLogic Ltd. (London: 771p / - 30.50p / - 3.81%)

CryptoLogic Ltd. has inked a software licensing deal with Betjacks, an Ireland-focused online gambling startup scheduled to launch this fall.

Including Betjacks, CryptoLogic, a software provider in Dublin, serves 16 licensees. In May, Brian H. Hadfield, the company's chief executive, told Interactive Gaming News that it would be adding as many as five licensees before the 2008 fiscal year concludes.

Betjacks will offer casino games, poker and betting.

While casino remains a strong revenue driver for CryptoLogic, strong liquidity in poker remains elusive. In the first quarter of 2008, poker revenue was down 17.9 percent to $4.2 million versus the previous-year quarter.

Currently, the CryptoLogic poker network is significantly outpaced by those of Playtech Ltd. and PartyGaming, rivals on the London Stock Exchange which, like CryptoLogic, do not take United States wagers.

What impact Betjacks will have on poker player liquidity -- and revenue thereby -- remains to be seen.

However, recent licensing agreements with OPoker.com, a Scandinavia-facing online poker operator, and Maharajah Club, an online operator in the United Kingdom, will begin contributing materially from the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Hadfield said last month.

Financial details of the Betjacks deal were not disclosed.

eCOGRA: Announces Change in Directorate

Roger Raatgever, the chief executive of Microgaming Software Systems Ltd., has stepped down from the board of eCOGRA, a non-profit player protection and standards authority he helped found in 2003.

Mr. Raatgever is replaced by Chris Hobbs, head of corporate affairs at Microgaming on the Isle of Man.

eCOGRA has as founding members representatives from Microgaming, 888 Holdings and Bwin Interactive Entertainment.