CryptoLogic to seek more European licensees

Online bingo games operators and UK online bingo halls who use software developed by former Canadian company CryptoLogic Inc may be interested in the recently revealed plans by the company to revamp its business model with even more emphasis on the European market and away from the legal issues plaguing the US market.

The continuing fallout from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has plagued CryptoLogic enough for it to concentrate on acquiring new licensees in Europe. The company moved from Canada to set up its headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, so as to be closer to the European market.

In comments reported by EGR, CryptoLogic’s Vice President of Product Management and Business Development Justin Thouin explained that the move has been prompted by a need to increase share values. “Cryptologic sees its share price as undervalued, and consequently it views an expansion strategy as vital in going forward," he told EGR. "Essentially, Cryptologic is undergoing a very big change.”

A number of online bingo software providers and operators have had to withdraw from the US market due to UIGEA. The US law prohibits US bingo online players from engaging in financial transactions with non-US gaming operators.

"If we want to grow, we need to change the business model," Thouin added. "We are going to go after new licensees in a way we have not done for years. We are going to look at acquisions; we already made some acquisitions in the past year with Parbet.”

Written by Bingo Lady

Parlay bidders down to two as number of buyers fluctuates

The bidding action surrounding Canadian online bingo software developer Parlay Entertainment is starting to resemble a saga with the number of bidders yo-yoing on a daily basis it seems.

Media reports have tracked offers first from Chartwell Technology which eventually collapsed with the emergence of UIGEA, and then a more recent offer from PEIC Acquisitions for C$12.3 million. That offer came under pressure from rival bidders when it failed to complete the deal by its deadline. At one time, and including PEIC, there were three bidders in the action, but now that figure is down to two.

Rumours have it that the other bidder along with PEIC is UK gaming giant Ladbrokes. However, Ladbrokes, which also runs its own online bingo games operation, is remaining tight lipped about the speculation. It may be that Parlay’s US connections are causing pause for thought at Ladbrokes given the legal hassles stalking the free online bingo market in the wake of UIGEA.

Written by Bingo Lady

Net Entertainment reports strong 2007

n keeping with the recent emergence of Swedish online gaming companies asserting their presence in the online bingo world, online gambling software developer Net Entertainment has revealed a successful 2007 with an especially good fourth quarter.

CEO Johan Ohman said: "Net Entertainment's Q4 development was good, and net sales increased 12.5 % compared to Q3. The 32.4 % total net sales increase for 2007 should be compared with an average 23 % increase for European online gaming, according to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants estimates.

"Successful product development and continued strong market growth are major reasons for our success. Incoming orders continue to pour in, and we signed five new CasinoModule license agreements during Q4, for a total of 18 in 2007."

Net Entertainment is also planning the start of their entry into the Ukrainian market during 2008.

Ohman concluded his assessment of the last year saying: "The online gaming market is predicted to continue to grow positively, which benefits us through the organic growth of our current licensees. I believe that we are also better equipped than ever to win new strategic deals and thereby further reduce our dependency on existing customers."

Net Entertainment offers online bingo games and supplies software support to a number of online bingo halls. The company also has a strong involvement in Sweden’s land-based bingo industry provoking speculation amongst online bingo industry watchers that they may seek a stronger presence in the online bingo market.

Written by Bingo Lady

Entraction goes NYX for its online bingo operations

Swedish online gaming company Entraction has signed Scandinavian software provider NYX Interactive to provide its online bingo products for its launch of its new Spring offerings.

Entraction says its move into online bingo games complements its existing operations by bringing in a new target market attracted to games of luck. Free online bingo has gained in popularity in the Scandinavian market, particularly with female online bingo players. A number of established Scandinavian gaming companies have identified bingo online as a growth industry worth investing in.

Peter Astrom, Entraction’s CEO, claims online bingo completes the company's product range along with poker, sports betting and casino action.

Staffan Lindgren, CEO at NYX Interactive says the deal with Entraction is important to the global ambitions of his company. NYX Interactive online bingo product incorporates a user friendly chat function designed to enhance the experience of those that play online bingo.

Written by Bingo Lady

Foxy Bingo not to renew Katie Price contract

ATE Online is reporting that Bingo Street favourite Foxy Bingo will not to be renewing its association with UK glamour model Katie Price. Foxy Bingo has said its decision is due to a change in its marketing strategy.

Despite calling Ms Price the "perfect professional" during their association with her, Foxy Bingo is moving away from celebrity endorsements.

"The idea was to bring a bit of extra life to the online bingo space and shake it up with a fresh exciting personality," Simon Collins, commercial director at Foxy's parent company Cashcade said. "Katie was brilliant in that role, garnering plenty of press coverage."

He continued: “She proved a fantastic building block for Foxy, helping shift perceptions of the brand and the image of bingo into the mainstream, creating a more youthful image."

The Foxy character will now be the main focus of the site’s promotional material. Foxy Bingo has been a perennial favourite amongst UK online bingo players and ranks as one of the top online bingo halls at Bingo Street.

Written by Bingo Lady

Patrick Duffy is playful in a bingo sort of way

Just a little notice to my regular online bingo industry readers – my computer needs a little maintenance which means I will not be posting any updates for two or three days.

In the meantime I’ll leave you with this little tidbit of info I picked up from the US. If there are any bingo online players out there who remember a certain Patrick Duffy of 80’s TV Dallas fame, you might be interested to know that he’s just picked up the job as Bingo America’s host. Bingo America is a GSN TV quiz show with a bingo game element to it created by National Bingo Night founder Andrew Glassman.

“Bingo is such a family pastime,” says Glassman, adding that: “Patrick embodies everything we whished for – not only is he TV’s marquee good-guy leading man, he is also playful and has a great sense of humour.”

My comment: So ‘Bingo is such a family pastime’ in the US is it? Then why does the US need UIGEA to protect it from UK online bingo halls and free online bingo operators? This smacks of hypocrisy – no matter how playful ol’ Patrick is.

See you in a two or three days…

Written by Bingo Lady

Costa Rica joins fight for US compensation

The US’ recent withdrawal from its obligations under the World Trade Organization over online gambling issues has triggered another compensation claim, this time from the Central American nation of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica now joins Antigua in the pursuit of compensation following the US’ unilateral WTO withdrawal from its gambling commitments.

Costa Rica is host to a number of online gambling operators, including some online bingo games companies and free online bingo halls. Online gambling is a significant contributor to the small nation’s economy.

It’s speculated that the new claim could derail an agreement reached between the European Union (EU) and the US on the same issue due to the arbitration filing making it possible for the EU to reconsider the existing settlement. The EU’s deal attracted a lot of criticism from European online gaming and online bingo companies who will see the Costa Rican move as an opportunity to re-focus attention on the perceived lack of compensation offered by the US over its anti-online gaming policies.

"The decision by Antigua and Costa Rica to take the United States to arbitration will test the limits of the WTO process and squarely challenge the U.S. resolve to withdraw its GATS commitments," said Nao Matsukata, formerly Director of Policy Planning for US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and now a Senior Advisor for Alston and Bird LLP.

"If the U.S. finds the decision of the WTO arbitrator unacceptable, under procedures outlined in the General Agreement on Trade and Services, it could unilaterally withdraw, creating an unprecedented crisis of confidence in the global trading system.

"The best solution remains for the US Congress to pass legislation that would create a legal and regulated framework for online gaming in the United States and for the United States to remain in the GATs schedule to provide all providers legal protection under the WTO."

Written by Bingo Lady

Rank trying to raise cash?

Observers of the UK online bingo industry will have probably noticed that online bingo games operator The Rank Group has been under quite a bit of pressure lately with takeover talk, plunging profits and an underperforming land-based bingo network taking its toll on the company.

The most recent talk is of a bid by US financial giant Goldman Sachs possibly buying Rank’s pension scheme valued at £700 million. How this is developing is unclear at this time, but if the sale goes through it will mark the biggest of its kind.

However, things are not going so well for a former bidder for Rank’s operations. I refer to the US gaming and entertainment giant Hurrah’s Entertainment. To give you an idea of how bad things are out there in the macro world of high finance, the leveraged loan market is in “disarray” thanks to the failure of efforts to syndicate $14bn of the debt used to finance the $30bn buy-out of Harrah’s Entertainment – this is bad!

It seems the banks backing Hurrah’s potential have run into a bit of trouble selling on the leveraged buy-out debt to third parties. This is largely due to the current credit crunch playing havoc with the finance markets which has led to a virtual freeze in the debt market. Further, it means the banks are sitting on a sizeable loss.

Given these troubles, it makes sense that Rank may be looking to generate cash through the sale of its pension scheme, especially since Hurrah’s is facing so much trouble, though what the long-term effects are of such a sale is open to question. Is this a viable gamble by one of the UK’s top gaming companies to dig itself out of its current problems? Maybe there is an online bingo player out there with more insight than me into these matters. If so, let’s hear from you…

Written by Bingo Lady

$42 billion or UIGEA? - What would you choose?

PricewaterhouseCoopers, heavy hitters in the world of high finance and accounting, have released a report that concludes the US could raise as much as $42.8 billion in tax revenues over the next ten years if they simply legalize online gambling.

Of course, that would mean the end of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the US, but then who cares about making a paltry $42 billion when you can have UIGEA?

How much online bingo, and particularly UK online bingo halls would contribute to this number is not stated in the PricewaterhouseCoppers report, but it’s fair to say that the fastest growing niche in online gaming would contribute its fair share.

However, despite reports like the PricewaterhouseCoopers document, it’s unlikely free online bingo games operators will see a relaxing of US anti-online gaming laws anytime soon. It’s a shame, but US policy seems to be here to stay for some time yet.

Written by Bingo Lady

PartyGaming well in the black - are the good times back?

PartyBingo is one of the Internet’s more popular online bingo games destinations and the company that operates this online bingo hall, PartyGaming, has just announced better-than-expected profits for the last quarter of 2007.

While this is something to be celebrated by the online bingo industry as a whole, especially in the wake of the horrendous financial losses incurred by UIGEA throughout 2007, there is also another side to the PartyGaming story that lends hope to a brighter future for the online gaming industry.

PartyGaming are currently talking to US authorities along with other major online operators like Sporingbet and 888.com in the hopes of avoiding action against them for accepting wagers from US customers prior UIGEA. Apparently the talks are going well and this is prompting speculation that a re-entry into the US market could be on the cards.

I know – we’ve heard this all before and re-entry to the US market has become somewhat of a holy grail for free online bingo operators here in the UK. But should this be the real deal this time, analysts are saying such a relaxing in US regulations would trigger a spat of consolidations within the online gaming industry.

Should this prove to be the case – and that is a mighty big ‘IF’ – then my own assessment at the beginning of this year that we would see a jump in mergers and takeover activity during 2008 may prove a bit understated. Expect to see the sector go into mergers and acquisition hyperdrive!

Written by Bingo Lady