Nambling Notes | July 3, 2008

MOVING UP Probability, a London-based mobile gaming operator, has appointed Richard Sowerby as a non-executive director while Glenn Elliot, the company's chief operating officer, has moved up to the board as an executive director.

Meanwhile, John L. Scaife, Probability's co-founder, is stepping down as non-executive chairman to pursue other interests, the company said in a prepared statement.

Probability is due to release its full-year results this month.

MOVING ON Johnny Hon has resigned as chairman and director of Betex Group, a London-based lottery management company with established gaming interests in China and the Far East.

Mr. Hon, founder of Betex, is leaving to focus on his-full time position as chief executive at Global Entertainment Group plc, a gaming and entertainment investment firm in London, according to a prepared statement by Betex..

He has been named "honorary president" and remains a major shareholder in Betex, the company said.

Betex faced a trying 2007, during which two of its senior staff were detained in Beijing and company shares were suspended on the London Stock Exchange.

In May 2007, Peter Greenhill, the company's chief executive, and Stuart Baker, its finance director, resigned over travel concerns in China.

FLIP-FLOPPING "The issue of college betting is not going anywhere. The sports betting thing . . . that was over years ago. I've faced reality. It's just like with immigration reform. Americans want a secure border . . . The economy is what's hurting the gaming industry in Las Vegas today. It isn't sports betting or Internet gaming."

From Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on the subject of Internet gambling with Erin Neff, a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Click here to read the interview in its entirety.

INDEPNEDENCE DAY A reminder to our readers that the Interactive Gaming News staff will be on holiday Friday, July 4, in honor of Independence Day. We hope you enjoy the weekend.