Nambling Notes - March 12, 2008

According to the Argentine media, Bwin's Argentinean subsidiary, Bwin Argentina S.A., may soon be ordered to close its online sports betting operation by the Court of First Instance in Buenos Aires. View the full story.

Graham Calvert, the self-professed pathological gambler who sued William Hill to recover £2 million in betting losses, has been defeated in High Court. Justice Briggs ruled that it is Calvert's compulsive behavior, not William Hill, that led to his financial ruin, and that the bookmaker owes no duty of care to problem gamblers. View the full story.

888 has gone live with its Blue Square-powered online sportsbook at 888sport.com, targeting the British, German, Spanish, Swedish, Danish and Austrian markets with localized and English-language services.

32Red this morning revealed a £12.86 million full-yearly loss, reflecting the poor performance of its Betdirect business, which it offloaded to Stan James last October. 32Red Chief Executive Ed Ware said however that the company has returned to being cash generative, and that current trading was "encouraging."

PokerStars has announced the launch of its Latin American Poker Tour, an event the group called a first-in-kind for the region. The tour begins in early May in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, before moving on to Costa Rica and Uruguay.

Brand Republic reports that in a recent survey carried out by U.K. research firm YouGov, participants found online gambling to be the least trustworthy among e-commerce sectors, with regard to its ability -- or perceived lack thereof -- to secure and protect sensitive customer data.

PacificNet has fallen out of favor with Nasdaq once again. As a result of the resignation of one of its directors, PacNet was notified by Nasdaq that it was no longer in compliance with the independent director requirement of the index's marketplace rules.

Weird but true: New York Post reports a Swedish man, Mikael Genberg, 44, put in a bid to build a red house on the moon five years ago and the Swedish Space Corporation recently came through with the OK. Several sponsors have already signed up including a car rental company. The creator said: "The house will be very light, but it will be sturdy enough to remain standing for thousands of years once it's up there."

On the London Stock Exchange today, 32Red was up 1p (3.2 percent) to 32.50, 888 was up 8.25p (5.9 percent) to 148.00 and William Hill was up 12.25p (3.6 percent) to 356.25.