Weekly Nambling Notes - July 15-19, 2002

Tidbits from the US -- Six months into the rollout of its advance deposit wagering system, the California Horseracing Board released new figures for the three licensees who offer the service via the Internet and telephone. Through July 6, $66.3 million was bet through ADW, representing 5.7 percent of total California wagering of $1.1 billion since Jan. 25. California residents bet $28.2 million, or 42.66 percent of the ADW handle, through TVG; $21.2 million, or 32 percent of the total, through Magna Entertainment's XpressBet; and $9.4 million, or 14.2 percent of the total, through Youbet.com. Out-of-state betting was 11.13 percent of ADW. ... Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts LLC recently won the right to claim six domain names that were judged to violate Wynn trademarks. In a U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Wynn won a default judgment against the owners of "wynnresorts.com," stevewynnresorts.com," wynngaming.com," wynncasino.com," stevewynn.net" and "wynnproperties.com."

Tidbits from the UK -- Not even two months into its operation, Ladbrokespoker.com announced that Monday it will deal its millionth hand. The site has grown beyond expectations, according to company executives, with players from 68 countries keeping the site busy around the clock. Players can purchase chips in up to 15 currencies without any currency exchange costs. Ladbrokes said it will be rewarding the customer who receives the millionth hand. ... Sportingbet plc, which announced last week that it is acquiring the domain of Sports.com and switching the site over to its own back end, will be sharing the revenues of the new site with Sports.com. According to a media representative from Sportingbet, the company did not pay Sports.com any money up front for the use of its domain name. Sport.com attracts more than 3 million unique users per month; it went into administration in May.

Tidbit from Down Under -- The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its findings on Friday of how Australians spent their money gambling throughout last year. According to the figures, nearly $14 billion was spent on slot machines, lotto, horse racing and other forms of legal gambling last year. On average, each Australian adult gambled $944 in 2000-01, up 21 percent since 1997-98.

Tidbit from Asia -- Rimpac Resources Ltd. is opening a lottery marketing and business development office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The Nevada-based company said the Vietnam office will collect and analyze data about the Asian lottery market and will try to foster relationships with Internet cafes and casinos to promote Rimpac's lotto portal, InternetLOTO.com.

New Stuff -- Shanghai Yastock Investment Consulting Company Ltd. , a wholly owned subsidiary of Genesis Technology Group Inc. , has launched a Web site devoted to Chinese gaming, football and lotteries. The site includes software that helps predict the outcome of Italian and British football games as well as various Chinese lotteries. ... GrandBanksCasino.com said Monday that in response to credit card transaction problems for I-gaming companies, it is changing its software and moving to a new operating jurisdiction. The casino site will now use Playtech software and will be based in Curacao. Clarence Evans, the manager of Grand Banks Casino, said his company wanted to base itself in a jurisdiction that is "associated with European Union member nations." He added, "We wanted to be in a jurisdiction with a world-class telecommunications infrastructure and a globally respected interactive casino licensing policy." Grand Banks isn't alone in its defection. Last year, InterContinental Casinos and Sunny Group ended relationships with their suppliers, Boss Media and Microgaming respectively and switched to Playtech.

Names and Faces -- David Craven was named the newest CEO of World Gaming plc on Friday. The company made the announcement through a press release and is hoping that Craven's previous experience in e-commerce and the gaming industry will help lead the company to new heights. Craven is the founder and former CEO of 24dogs, an Internet and digital TV greyhound-racing business owned by global gaming giant Wembley plc. ... James F. McDade is joining Interactive Systems Worldwide Inc. as its CFO. McDade was more recently employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia and London. ... Gaming Insight plc said Thursday its director, Ian Ryden, has resigned. Ryden served as Gaming Insight's chief executive two years ago. ... Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. is appointing Matthew Slatter as its chief executive. Slatter was previously the CFO of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd.