Sunday Times names UK Online Gambling moguls in its Rich List
May 19, 2011
Each year the Sunday Times releases its very own “Rich List” and this year it profiles the top one thousand wealthiest people in Britain and Ireland, as compiled by Philip Beresford. The list is based on identifiable wealth (i.e. assets including property, land, shares in public companies and even racehorses and art) but of course excludes bank accounts due to the fact that the paper obviously cannot access these. This means that the figures mentioned are only a slight indication of the true wealth that these moguls have amassed, but even so the figures are hugely impressive.
The list is made up of numerous categories, but we find the digital and online category the most interesting for obvious reasons! In this category Britain’s first digital billionaire Charles Dunstone of Carphone Warehouse and Talk Talk fame tops the list. In the online gambling entrepreneurs section the following online gambling moguls made the cut:
- In joint first place, but only in 90th place nationally are the millionaire father and daughter Peter and Denise Coates who are the owners of Bet365 and have reportedly amassed a fortune in assets reportedly worth over £750 million (this up £250 million from last year).
- Second in line are Russ DeLeon and Ruth Parasol, the founders of Party Gaming. Although their earnings are down £99 million, they still own a shared fortune of £733 million.
- Betfred’s Peter and Fred Done came in in third place with £660 million.
- Vikrant Bhargava, another Party Gaming millionaire comes in fourth with a net worth of £230 million in assets.
- Gibraltar-based Victor Chandler came in 5th with a reported fortune of £160 million.
- Founders of Betfair Andrew Black and Ed Wray are reportedly worth £125 million and £132 million respectively.
- Richard Koch, also of Betfair fame is apparently down £37 million this year at £92 million.
- Phil Cronin from Tombola has had a huge upturn of £27 million in his fortunes, reportedly reaching £82 million this year.
That is some serious wealth having been generated from online gambling over the years, and these are the just the individuals in the industry currently residing in the UK and while the global impacts of the recession and legislation issues are reflected in some reported losses, for the most part we’d say the industry is alive and well in the UK.
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Caesars tie to online casino approved by Nevada regulators
March 31, 2011
Thursday last week saw Nevada gambling regulators vote to allow one of the world’s largest land based casino enterprises to do business with 888, a Gibraltar based online gambling company which is one of the biggest in the industry and is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. The vote led to the approval of the business relationship between the two giants, namely Caesars Entertainment Corp and 888 Holdings PLC, which means that UK based online players can look forward to accessing over 50 casino in several countries, including the famous Vegas based Caesars Palace casino, as they move towards running online gaming sites through 888 for their various properties.
According to reports, this move has been years in the making and the Caesars group has long been positioning itself to launch into online gambling should this ever become legalised in the US, however the process has been a delicate one which has been mindful of assessing each other’s business practices and legalities of online gambling. In a statement, the group’s CEO, Mitch Garber stated that the UK was not the end of the group’s plan or vision and the group hopes to expand into online gambling in other countries going forwards as the various laws allow.
The 888/Caesars approval decision was made on the same day that Nevada lawmakers in Carson City gathered for a hearing on a bill to legalize state-wide internet poker. This bill in question was ironically pushed by a top poker website and fiercely opposed by land based gambling companies, including Caesars which are pushing for federal legislation instead.
According to Commissioner Randolph Townsend, whether the bill to legalise state-wide poker is passed or not, the board and commission will be put under immense pressure to authorize Internet gaming. This sentiment stems from the fact that worldwide online gambling revenue is estimated at figures of $24.2 billion in 2011 and around $26.1 billion in 2012, which the US would continue to miss out on should they continue to ban online gambling. Time will tell whether the bill will force lawmakers to amend past decisions, but in the meantime, UK citizens will have a whole lot more to look forward to in terms of variety.
Bieber hair bid won by an Online Casino
March 23, 2011
In the three short years since Justin Bieber was discovered, “Bieber Fever” has gripped nearly every teenage girl on the planet, thanks both to his talent and famous hairstyle which when “flicked” sends hearts swooning. It is not surprising then that earlier this year when his famous locks underwent a little trim that the cuttings were preserved as memorabilia in a fan’s collection.
After the news of this emerged, Ellen DeGeneres tweeted that she’d love to receive some of Justin’s hair for her 53rd birthday. Bieber heard about the tweet and appeared as a surprise guest on her show and offered her some of his hair to donate to any charity of her choice. Ellen put the hair up for auction on eBay and the bidding war ended with the lock of hair earning a staggering $40,668, which was donated to the Gentle Barn Foundation, an animal rescue organization.
Who was the lucky bidder you may be wondering? Well, it was none other than the infamous Golden Palace Online Casino. The casino who over the years has earned a reputation for outrageous stunts and bizarre bids and acquisitions has been relatively subdued in the last little while, but it seems they are back in truly insane style. It’s all for a good cause though, and the casino released a statement confirming that the hair would be put on tour to raise even more money for charity. So if you and your teenagers can’t see Justin Bieber in real life, perhaps you’ll soon get a glimpse of his famous hair in a town near you!
British Gambling Survey Results 2010
February 23, 2011
The UK Gambling Commission publishes an annual independent report of findings into the investigation of all forms of gambling in the UK, known as The British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010.
The most recent report was released last week and the most interesting results can be summarised as follows:
FORMS OF GAMBLING
- 73 percent or 35.5 million adults (classified as aged 16 and over) residing in Great Britain had participated in some form of gambling over the last year. This figure is higher than those reported in previous years (72% in 1999 and 68% in 2007)
- The National Lottery is the most popular form of gambling in which UK citizens participate. This remains in line with previous year’s results.
- In 2010, after the National Lottery, the most popular forms of gambling were reported to be: other lotteries (25%), scratch cards (24%), betting on horse races (16%), playing slot machines (13%) and private betting (11%).
- Excluding those who play the National Lottery 56% of surveyed adults are reported to indulge in other forms of gambling mentioned above.
- Of the surveyed participants, 14% had gambled online in the past year, purchasing lottery tickets, placing sports bets (football pools ranked highly) or playing casino games like bingo and slots.
- 17 percent of people who had gambled in the past year had done so both online and at land based venues.
- Only 2 percent of gamblers had only gambled online in the past year.
- When it comes to gender and gambling, the survey showed that men were more likely to gamble than women (75 percent for men and 71 percent for women).
- While men ranked higher overall for participating in most gambling activities, women were found to play bingo and scratch cards more often.
- Past year gambling activities were reportedly lowest amongst the youngest and oldest age groups surveyed and highest amongst those in the 44-64 age category.
- Besides football pools and the national lottery, there were 5 main gambling activities which were reportedly participated in at least once a month by half or more of all participants. These include:
- Bingo played at land based venues (54 percent),
- Spread betting (53 percent),
- Online casino games (53 percent)
- Fixed odd betting terminals (52 percent),
- Poker played at a pub/club (50 percent).
ATTITUDES TO GAMBLING & ASSOCIATED BEHAVIOURS
People gamble for a number of reasons from entertainment and relaxation to profit. The report showed the following indications when it came to attitudes towards gambling and associated behaviours:
- The majority of those who had gambled in the past year reported that they gambled for the chance of winning big money (83 percent), for fun and entertainment (78 percent), to make money (59 percent) or for excitement (51 percent).
- In comparison to results in 2007, the 2010 survey indicated that overall attitudes to gambling have become increasingly positive. Although the general view is still somewhat negative, it is less negative than previously reported; indicating that attitudes are changing as gambling becomes more main stream.
PROBLEM GAMBLING
Problem Gambling was also highlighted in the report with figures indicating a 0.2% increase in the number of problem gamblers in the UK over the last 3 years, but with more people gambling, this is inevitable and the commission noted that it was impossible to determine whether the increase is a definite trend or a temporary fluctuation.
When compared with other European countries like Germany, Switzerland and Norway, the findings are similar while findings in the USA, Australia and South Africa are slightly lower.
British Hacker convicted of stealing £7.5 million in Poker Chips
February 7, 2011
British hacker Ashley Mitchell aged 29 is facing jail time after stealing 400 billion poker chips worth £7.5 million from American poker company, Zynga Corporation.
Mitchell apparently posed as an administrator and hacked into the company’s site, transferring the electronic poker chips to fake Facebook accounts before selling them at hugely discounted prices on a website called “seekout”, netting only £50,000 from the scam before getting caught in spite of the total value of the stolen chips being worth over $12million (£7.5million).
The fraudster, who runs Gambino Poker, a successful Facebook app, was apprehended when Zynga realised that large quantities of chips were going missing and called in police to investigate their movements online. Mitchell pleaded guilty to the charges and was remanded into custody and told to expect a jail term by the Exeter Crown Court last week.
Prior to the latest fraud and hacking charges, Mitchell was handed a 40 week suspended sentence for hacking into the network at Torbay Council (where he was employed at the time) and awarding himself £3,498 in housing benefits which he was not entitled to.
According to testimonies given, Mitchell became obsessed with playing online poker and started to rack up gambling debts. He then set up Gambino Poker, from which he managed to earn a six figure salary, covering his debts and earning him good money, but greed proved to be too strong a force and he began his hacking scam.
Mitchell has offered to pay back £184,000 over two years to Zynga, which prosecuting attorney Mr Darby has asked the court to consider, given that Mitchell draws a six figure salary from the application which was set up in April 2010. Sentencing will be handed down next month and will remain in custody until then as the judge believes that it out on bail, Mitchell will continue to hack into and defraud companies as he has done in the past.
Latvian Police Casino Robbery Attempt
January 28, 2011
Tuesday of this week saw an unusual casino robbery in Latvia’s city of Jekabpils. According to reports, Five armed robbers, four of which were active police officers in uniform, stormed the “Fenikss” casino in the eary hours of Tuesday morning in what ended up being a botched heist attempt. In the ensuing car chase and shoot-out a pursuing police officer was killed and numerous people were injured.
After arrests were made it was established that two of the robbers were members of the Tukums Regional Police force and another two were part of the “Alfa” elite police response squad. The Tukums police officers had previously been discharged for accepting bribes but had been reinstated after pressure from the police union.
Latvia’s Interior Minister Murniece called for immediate police department checks across the board stating that many people could lose their jobs. The Minister also expressed his disgust at what he labelled “Serious problems with discipline” within the Alfa elite police force and suspended the Alfa Chief of Police Andris Zaušs, as well as the chief of police in Riga, Ints Kuzis from service. Murniece has since come under pressure from the unions and the Council of the Home Office has been called in to deal with the situation.
Latvian Prime Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, has given assurance that the interior minister’s job is not on the line over the incident and has pledged his support and agreement in her calls for police reform. He reportedly stated that there had been numerous instances where the police union had forced unfit officers to be reinstated regardless of the circumstances and that this practice should come to an end
UK Lottery - New Rules Halt Overseas Sales
December 20, 2010
British National Lottery fans are in for a great disappointment due to the implementation of a new rules policy which prohibits the purchase of lottery tickets by those who are not physically in the Great Britain, whether British expatriates, citizens travelling abroad or simply those from other countries who’d love to win a few pounds.
The Daily Mail recently reported that Camelot (the lottery operator) will be instituting a new rules policy which states that players must be physically present in Britain or the Isle of Man to play the lottery online or make amendments to their online lottery account. According to the operator, this is a standard practice in most countries, where it is illegal to buy an overseas lottery ticket. Should there be evidence that a player purchased a ticket from abroad, any prize money owing on the ticket will be declared null and void.
While Camelot was not willing to comment on the number of players entering the lottery online from abroad, the Daily Mail puts figures at tens of thousands of regular players who play from overseas locations, whether they are British citizens travelling on holiday or business, expatriates, or simply fans from other countries.
Camelot currently employs geo-location software to identify foreign internet service providers, which may indicate that the user is not UK based, and the system then sends a message warning the player about a potential breach of the rules. However, numerous UK based businesses, individuals and mobile phone users make use of foreign internet service providers, so the use of a foreign provider does not conclusively prove that a user is based overseas when purchasing a ticket online.
We have yet to ascertain how Camelot plans to circumvent this issue, but please be aware that if you do make use of a foreign provider, it may be best to purchase your tickets offline and rather leave your online activities to playing at online casinos until these types of issues are resolved.
Blackjack Card Counting App for iPhones & iPods
December 17, 2010
With the launch of the new Apple iPhone 4, land based casinos are once again on high alert for players using the Blackjack Card Counter application on their smart phones or iPods. The application can be installed onto an iPhone or iPod via the iTunes website and once on the phone, it enables the user whether they are a professional or amateur blackjack player, to keep track of their card count. Here’s a little more on the app’s features:
Keeping track of the True Count: The Blackjack Card Counter application enables you to calculate the “True Count” more accurately than any manual method. As the relevant buttons on the app are pressed, the total counted cards are recorded and adjusted to account for cards that are not recorded. This then gives the user a “total cards dealt” number which is subsequently divided by 52 to represent the cards in the total deck dealt, giving the user the true count. The app also for adjustment of the number of decks in the shoe within the information screen section.
Card Counting Methods: The application allows for a number of card counting strategy options to be employed by the player, and for each strategy he/she can press the relevant button that contains the face value of the cards drawn from the deck. Depending on the strategy selected and on the value of the card, the application will either add or subtract 1 or 2 from the Running Count in order to adjust:
* Hi-Lo: Low cards 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 (add 1 to total). High cards 10, J, Q, K and A (subtract 1 from total).
* Hi-Op I: Low cards 3, 4, 5, and 6 (add 1 to total). High cards 10, J, Q and K (subtract 1 from total).
* Hi-Op II: Low cards 2, 3, 6 and 7 (add 1 to total) 4 and 5 (add 2 to total). High cards 10, J, Q and K (subtract 2 from total).
* Omega II: Low cards 2 and 3 (add 1 to total) 4, 5 and 6 (add 2 to total). High cards 10, J, Q and K (subtract 2 from total).
After a shuffle the new deck button will have to be pressed in order to reset the strategy and count back to zero.
So what’s the fuss you may ask? Well, it seems many land based casinos, particularly in Las Vegas, have seen increased wins at the blackjack tables as a result of card counting. It was then discovered that some of the winners were using the Blackjack Card Counting app. One would think that this would be easy to spot but it’s not thanks to the “stealth mode” feature which ensures that the iPhone or iPod touch screen remains off and as long as the user knows where the keys are located, the program can be run without detection.
While card counting is not illegal, it will most certainly lead to expulsion from the casino if you’re caught! Card counting with an electronic device however is illegal and can get you arrested if detected! So be warned and rather keep these types of apps for measuring your own manual card counting abilities.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are Engaged…Let the Betting Begin!
November 18, 2010
Just when you thought you’d heard it all, William Hill, the online betting powerhouse that has offered more than one scandalous betting option over the years has released its Royal Wedding Odds following Prince William’s long awaited engagement to Kate Middleton on Tuesday…and they go a little something like this:
The highest wagering goes to the Wedding Venue and while Westminster Abbey is a marginal favourite at 4/6, there are three other chapels to choose from too. The Wedding Date odds offered are May at 9/2, June at 4/1, July at 5/4, August at 5/4 and September at 12/1.
Ask anyone who the Best Man would be, and their answer would of course be William’s younger brother Harry, and PaddyPower seems to think so too with 1/25 odds (let’s hope he doesn’t reappear in his deviant “Halloween” costume of yester year) with a bet of €25 paying out €1, but a bet of €500 paying out €20. The initial bet will be refunded should Prince Harry be named Best Man, which of course everyone thinks he will be. Any other “best man” options pay out 8/1.
Choosing who will occupy the coveted Maid of Honour position is not as much of an easy task as picking the Best Man, but odds place Pippa Middleton, Kate’s sister as a firm favourite at 1/8. Also on the list are Zara Phillips at 8/1 and any “others” at 12/1.
And while one would be forgiven for thinking “white” would be the obvious Wedding Dress Colour, there are actually 24 betting options (yes, really) with ivory being the favourite at 10/1, perhaps PaddyPower took her skin tone into account for this one? However they other colours like green and brown are listed at 66/1 odds…that would just be scary!
Here’s where it gets even more bizarre, the Colour of the Queen’s hat is another betting option…pink is said to be the favourite but only carries 9/2 odds while all other hues pay out at 5/1 odds or better. Astonishingly white pays the best at 20/1 odds, perhaps because that would just be “taboo”.
There are also a number of other astounding betting options included in the Royal Wedding saga…The Designer for Kate’s wedding dress, the number of BBC Wedding Viewers that will tune in (in excess of 36 million pays 5/1 odds which is fair considering there are over 62 million residents in the United Kingdom), the Next Monarch, as well as Titles Taken (Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is the favourite in case you’re wondering).
While controversial and entertaining, one really has to wonder if the UK is SOOO obsessed with its Royals that the event warrants its own betting options, but obviously William Hill seems to think so, and it will be an interesting one to keep an eye on, if not to place wagers then just to have a good laugh.
Is economic recovery on the cards for Las Vegas?
November 9, 2010
The entertainment industry has been particularly hard hit by the global recession, so it stands to reason that the tourist dependant city of Las Vegas has felt the impact of it quite severely but new reports state that the recession-battered Strip may be on its way to recovery as room rates, convention bookings, visitor number and gambling revenues are on the increase.
While these are a positive signs, analysts maintain that small year on year improvements do not define an economic recovery for larger companies and according to Joe Fath, T.Rowe’s price portfolio manager specialising in gaming, travel and tourism, while things don’t seem to be getting worse, they aren’t getting better either. Fath recently stated that there is difference between a few positive indicators and real recovery and most can expect improvements only at a moderate pace. Wall Street analysts seem to be in agreement despite the rally in casino stocks and bonds, most of which are affected by the growth in Asian Casinos, rather than those in Las Vegas.
While the Vegas Casinos bosses aren’t giving into the despair of the naysayers, they too report “mixed feelings” on the positive recovery of the city’s business in 2011. CEO Steve Wynn who is traditionally more of a sceptic than his other counterparts, said at a recent conference “I believe we’ve seen the bottom in Las Vegas, I don’t know how fast it’s going to get better, but it’s not going to get any worse.” This sentiment was echoed by MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren who mentioned that he is optimistic as downward trends “have started to stabilize“.
While the Wynn has upped its prices on room rates and both they and MGM are experiencing increased convention bookings, consumer spending remains weak and isn’t expected to grow enough in 2011 to boost earnings too extensively for these giants.
Another contributing factor to the Las Vegas concerns for recovery are airline capacities to the city. After years spent discounting flight prices in order to boost business, airlines are now having to pursue a more profitable strategy in order to stay in business, this means cutting down on the numbers of flights offered and charging more for these, which could continue to discourage visits to the city by budget-conscious tourists. Although drive-in traffic to Las Vegas has increased significantly of late, according to strategists, this does not offset the decline in fly-in guests.
Las Vegas hotel and casino groups that do not have other international concerns in Asia to boost their incomes are definitely feeling the pinch and in spite of positive indicators, it is reported that many are in dire need of a sharper recovery than is being anticipated in order to remain viable.
Let’s hope they get what they need, because as anyone who has ever been to Vegas will tell you, it’s definitely a place that you need to visit at least once in your lifetime.
