Gambling Firms Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, Ladbrokes, Sportingbet Et Al Jockey For Top Ten, by Greg Tingle - 24th June 2011

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com Porsche Sin City



Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com Porsche Sin City

Websites

PartyCasino.com PartyPoker.com

The ultra competitive online gambling and gaming industry shows little sign of slowing down, despite many countries being in a recession.

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment continues to be largely recognised as the world's largest and most successful online gambling firm, with their PartyCasino.com online casino remaining their flagship brand.

In other news, Sportingbet has emerged as an apparent bid target for Ladbrokes...just weeks after the UK betting powerhouse failed it's attempt b2b Wink bingo owner, 888. Insiders often say that 888 attempt to copy much of Bwin.Party's strategic moves, but this has not been the case as of late.

The online firm, which nets about £2 billion a year in wagers, confirmed a highly preliminary approach from Ladbrokes but did not give further details.

Industry speculation has hinted that Ladbrokes could be looking to offer around 70p a share, equivalent to more than £450 million.

The spike in interest comes two months after a move for 888 Holdings worth around £240 million fell through because the two sides couldn't agree on a price.

The betting market is seen as ready for more takeovers, with some analysts stating that that Betfair and Sportingbet could merge, which also suggesting Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment may swallow up more igaming operators, as well as invest into some website portals and media companies.

Channel Islands-based Sportingbet offers wagers on sports and online casino games and poker. It has benefited from the growing popularity of 'in play' gaming...live betting during a sports match.

It recently paid out a £22.8 million settlement with the US Department of Justice, meaning it will now avoid being prosecuted for accepting online bets made by American players between 1998 and 2006.

Analysts said the deal cleared the path for potential mergers or takeovers. Last year, it held unsuccessful talks with Swedish online gaming firm Unibet as well as other parties. Rivals Bwin and PartyGaming, who merged earlier this year, have also been tipped as a possible buyer for the business.

Ladbrokes chief executive Richard Glynn, who has overseen a strategic review of the business since taking the helm last year, is keen to drive forward the company's online growth amid fears it is lagging behind rivals.

The group, which enjoys history back to 1886, has roughly 2,100 outlets in the UK and is also a market leader in Ireland, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

Bwin.Party continues full speed ahead with new slot game Sin City being released, and rumours that Knight Rider, Hulk Hogan's Hulk-A-Mania and Andre The Giant will also soon hit their premier online casino brand, PartyCasino.com Bwin's PartyPoker.com is also offering a chance to win a Porsche playing online poker.

Website portal operators such as Media Man are gearing up for an increase in online gaming traffic as many more games and very controversial news stories are tipped to be just around the corner.

Responsible publishers and igaming firms remind visitors and players to bet responsibly and never bet more than you can afford to use. Many games are offering both "play for free" and "play for money" options to help offer a customer friendly user experience, all aiming to get their share of eyeballs and the entertainment dollar.

Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada are all seen as markets where igaming is likely to further build in popularity.

Profiles

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment PartyPoker.com PartyCasino.com Porsche Sin City

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Racing News Media Profiles Updated

Profiles

Casino Slots Poker Racing Gambling

PartyCasino VS Virgin Casino

PartyCasino.com - Accepts Canadian, Australian and New Zealand players. PartyCasino new players get up to $3000 sign up bonus. Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment is the world's largest and most succesful igaming company.

VirginCasino.com - No US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand players. £100 sign up bonus. Virgin Games is part of Richard Branson's Virgin Enterprises Limited.

Profiles

PartyCasino.com

Virgin Casino

Website Network

Media Man Int

Media Man

Media Man News

Casino News Media

Global Gaming Directory

Racing News Media Website Updated

Website

Racing News Media

American Wiseguys; Australian Wiseguys Uprising?, by Greg Tingle

Wiseguy hey? What is a wiseguy? The United States has them... heard of 'The Mob'? So does Italy. The casino and larger gambling industry is understood to be home to a few "wiseguys", some recently busted lurking in the entertainment - ticketing sector, and now speculation rises as to who may be a wiseguy down under in Australia. Media Man loads up the Cadillac, shovels, knock squad and navigates the odd horses' head with this special 'Wiseguys" report...

American Wiseguys online ticketing scheme...

Legal eagles for a foursome of Americans accused of illegally purchasing more than 1 million concert tickets online, then going on to sell them for a massive $30 million profit, are seeking to have the case thrown out of court.

The four Californian natives are charged with the serious offences of conspiracy and fraud.

They are accused of bypassing safeguards meant to restrict the number of tickets each customer can buy.

The US government alleges their company... wait for it...Wiseguy Tickets, resold the tickets for $30 million in estimated profit.

According to a 43-count indictment unsealed in March of this year, the foursome used a nationwide network of computers to flood websites such as Ticketmaster and Major League Baseball and even developed a computer program that could automatically get past web pages that require purchasers to manually type in sample words before they can proceed. Cleaver cookies hey.

The quad squad focused on highly coveted premium tickets to high-profile events such as concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews and Hannah Montana and sporting events such as the baseball playoffs, the 2009 Sugar Bowl and the 2007 BCS college football championship game, federal authorities have gone on record with.

The case is being prosecuted in New Jersey as many of the live events were held at Giants Stadium, Izod Centre and Prudential Centre; others were spread across the United States at venues in New York City, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Tampa, Florida, according to the indictment.

Kenneth Lowson, Kristofer Kirsch and Faisal Nahdi, all of LA, and Joel Stevenson, of Alameda, California, face charges that include conspiracy, wire fraud and unauthorised computer access.

The wire fraud counts are the most serious and carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years per count upon conviction.

Lowson, Kirsch and Stevenson have been freed on bail since their arrests, while Nahdi is a fugitive and is believed to be abroad... on the run, as they say.

Mark Rush, a lawyer for Lowson, argued in federal court on Monday that the foursome might have violated websites' terms of service - use, but are not liable under existing federal law.

Federal prosecutors sought to play down the unusual nature of the men's alleged crimes.

"We see cases like this in federal court all the time," Assistant US Attorney Erez Lieberman said during a motion hearing before US District Judge Katherine Hayden.

Lieberman said the defendants "lied, lied and lied some more" when they purchased tickets using hundreds of fake internet domain names and created a method of bypassing safeguards meant to limit the number of tickets available to individual buyers.

"Each and every step of the way it was a traditional fraud," Lieberman said.

The judge heard arguments on the defence's motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that federal law does not cover what Rush said were merely violations of the terms of use on internet sites including Ticketmaster.

Rush argued that while the defendants' actions might be deemed unsavoury to say the least, they did not rise to the level of criminal activity but should more appropriately be taken up as a civil matter.

"This isn't Ticketmaster versus Wiseguy, but perhaps it should be. But it shouldn't be the United States of America versus Wiseguy. Congress has not criminalised ticket brokers or ticket scalpers. What if they hired 100,000 people to all get on the site at the same time? Would we be here?" Rush asked.

"Or was it because it was a computer? If we are struggling to figure out if this is a violation of federal criminal law, then the indictment should be dismissed."

Australian Wiseguys Background And Uprising?...

Australian history books show a bit of ticketing "funny business" going back to Harry M. Miller circa 1982, with Computicket but that's ancient history now. If you want to find out more about Harry and Computerticket, you can buy his book 'Confessions of a Not-So-Secret-Agent'.

Speculation is rife about who is, or will be, the new breed of Australian born and breed "Wiseguys".

Casino, gambling and sports betting types have likely heard of the "Australian Gumleaf Mafia", but are they also the "Aussie Wiseguys"?

It's often been joked that "The Mafia" runs American media, Hollywood and Australia's entertainment, gambling, but how much is talked up and what's fact or fiction can be very difficult to ascertain.

Talk around 'Sin City' Sydney of late speculates that Kings Cross nightclub owner - operator John Ibrahim may be described as a "wiseguy". What is interesting is that in July 2009, Ibrahim's bodyguard, Semi "Tongan Sam" Ngata, was arrested following a raid on his home by a special gang violence taskforce that netted bulk quantities of a methamphetamine precursor. Ibrahim is portrayed by Firass Dirani in the 2010 television miniseries Underbelly: The Golden Mile. Media Man talent, part time bodyguard, and new 'Aussie Gumleaf Mafia' recruit, John 'Vulcan' Seru, also featured with Dirani on a number of 'Underbelly' episodes last season. A few months back Durani scored a role opposite Robert Di Niro in 'The Killer Elite'. Readers will recall that it was De Niro who played Sam "Ace" Rothstein (Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal) in the Martin Scorsese film 'Casino'. Ah, small world isn't it.

So, who are Australia's real life 'Wiseguys'? Are they more likely to be Harry M. Miller types? 'Gumleaf Media' types, sports betting fixes seen around the Australian - Indian - Pakistan cricket matches, or more of the types that are invisible to all but those in the underworld? We would suggest the later wiseguys!

Website Network

Media Man International

Media Man

Media Man News