Nambling Notes - May 12, 2000

Tidbits from Here and There -- Legislators in Maine recently passed a law that enables harness race bettors to place wagers over the telephone and the Internet. Governor Angus King, however, vetoed the bill, and lawmakers sustained the veto.

Ireland's department of justice is preparing to present a review of the Irish Gaming & Lotteries Acts to Justice Minister John O'Donoghue, and some speculate that big changes could be in store. IGN will keep an eye out for Internet-related developments.

The Nevada State Gaming Control Board's December 1999 complaint against American Wagering, Inc. (AWI) has yet to be resolved. The complaint alleges that AWI's Australia-based MegaSports sportsbook accepted wagers from Board investigators located in Nevada. AWI was originally given 20 days to respond to the complaint, but the deadline has been pushed back several times. The latest deadline--May 8--has come and gone, and AWI now has until June 9.

Out-Law.com reports that the Australian Internet Industry Association (IIA) has formed a special online taskforce to lobby against the federal government's recent push toward implementing serious restrictions on Internet gaming. The publication quotes IIA Executive Director Peter Coroneos as saying, "This is an important issue for the entire industry because any move to ban internet gambling just creates further momentum for policies which not only are unworkable but will damage the industry generally. While we do not necessarily condone or disapprove of gambling per se, we believe it is incumbent on industry to offer solutions which have a real chance of success. We have met with the Prime Minister's office and have offered to sit down and design a solution that can work. That offer still stands."

Tidbits from the Big Show -- As expected, speakers at the River City Group's second annual Global Interactive Gaming Summit in Montreal this week served attendees a few morsels of brain food to chew for the trip home. The award for generating the most oohs and ahs goes, hands-down, to David Safavian of Janus-Merritt Strategies, who showed the audience how NeoTrace, domain locating software used by the FBI, works by tracing Casino Australia (an online casino located at www.casinoaustralia.com) to servers located in New Hampshire.

Receiving honorable mention are David Rice of the Northern Territory Office of Gaming Regulation, who piqued the interest of summit-goers by suggesting that the territory's Lasseters casino, operator of Australia's only government-licensed online casino, could soon introduce services that present "new challenges" for gaming regulators, and Station Casinos' Tony Fontaine, who ended his presentation by hinting that his company could play a significant role in the Net betting industry by this time next year.

And from the general observation department... I spoke with representatives from several Australian states and territories during the summit, and none of them seem to acknowledge the existence of a moratorium on the issuing of new licenses.

Makin' Deals -- eLOT, Inc., developer of an e-commerce system designed to facilitate lottery ticket sales over the Internet, has taken another step toward positioning itself favorably for the day that such sales become legal in the U.S. The company's eLottery, Inc. subsidiary announced that it has been named the Internet communications interface provider for a "Very Important Players" club for the Maryland Lottery. The company will receive transaction-based fees for the service. eLottery's IMARCS (Internet Marketing, Analysis, Research and Communications System) database marketing solution will be the foundation for the VIP club that will enable the Maryland Lottery to attract, register and communicate with lottery players through Internet technology.

BetandChat.com--The Internet Casino Network has announced the signing of a contract with ITI Innovative International of the Netherlands as a BetandChat.com partner. ITI owns and operates several land-based casinos throughout Europe. The company's new BetandChat-powered gaming site will be located at www.royaltiz.com.

New Stuff -- Transnet Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Xirtrix Gaming Technologies Inc., debuted Monday an online multi-player bingo site called "RingoBingo.com." The new site offers a realistic bingo hall experience with chat and sound, 25 cent bingo cards and $1,000 jackpot games every hour. Two hundred fifty-thousand dollars in prize money will be given away every month.

Offshore Gaming Management, LLC., a minority-owned provider of Internet gaming management services, has introduced a strategy for investor/partners to own and finance 10 virtual casino/sportsbooks based in St. Johns, Antigua and St. Kitts, W.I. The company is taking what some have termed a "Guerilla Financing" approach by providing its "Partnership Offer, Business Plan, Partnership Agreement and Subscription Documents" online, in what the company calls a "first-of-its-kind" website. Michael Brittingham, the company's president and managing partner, says the company intends "to be be fully subscribed ASAP and raise up to $1 million of limited liability partnership units offered in 200 units of $5,000 per unit; to quickly carve out a leading market share utilizing state-of-the-art software and electronic transaction service and security; and to secure and confirm a leadership position in the industry with aggressive marketing, strategic partner alliances and a powerful brand-name identity."