NEWS
EU states can ban gaming operators
This market is not free, says court
When is a free market not a free market? When it involves gambling, according to the European Court of Justice. In a ruling sure to disappoint many online gaming firms, the court has
held that EU member states are entitled to create monopolies and keep out operators from other member countries, as long as they do it consistently and for the right reasons: “public security or public health” as well as “consumer protection and the prevention of both fraud and incitement to squander money on gambling” and “the general need to preserve public order”. Those, according to the court, are factors which the original architects
of the EU accepted as trumping their general free-market principles. The court’s decision came after the Dutch government, embroiled in a
legal row with online operator Betfair, asked it to consider whether it was legal under EU rules for the Netherlands to prevent Betfair from serving Dutch customers. It also asked for clarification on the rules concerning monopolies. Betfair, unsurprisingly, was not impressed by the ruling. Said Director of
European Public Affairs Tim Phillips: “While the confirmation that licences must be allocated fairly is a new and welcome development, these rulings do not address the realities of online betting. Until we get a clear lead from the [European] Commission, gambling consumers will continue to be told that their preferred leisure activity is the only one in Europe which doesn’t benefit from an open market.”
Keeping the customer
From Facebook to facelifts, casino firms consider new ways to stay interesting
Online casino companies looking to gain an edge through technology are being told to turn to tactics as diverse as social networking, design differentiation and “conversion management”. 888 Holdings, for example, believes there are big opportunities in social
gaming. It has just paid $12m for the Mytopia development studio previously owned by Real Dice; the studio will build games for mobile handsets and social networking platforms such as Facebook, for which it has already created Bingo Island 2. These games will then be offered to partners of Dragonfish, the B2B arm of 888. Gigi Levy, CEO of 888 Holdings, said: “Improvements in mobile
technology now mean more people are comfortable using applications on the move.” Another firm, Meta Game Universal, argues that simply making your
online casino look different from the competition is an oft-overlooked key to success. “The casino market is plagued with similar-looking games, often to the
point where players can forget which Website they are on,” says the firm, whose Cargo tool is claimed to offer a way for non-techies to create professional-looking casino games. Poker operator PKR, meanwhile, hopes the solution is conversion
management: improving the user experience so that customers stay and play rather than virtually wander away. It has charged conversion specialist Maxymiser with the task.
4 JULY 2010 INBRIEF
HOT SLOTS GTech G2’s online casino software has a new slot machine built on a revamped engine. Supporting advanced odds tables and built-in bonus games, the engine makes its debut in Mystic Island, a game based on the TV series Lost. “The new slot engine means that we can experiment more and add new features to our games,” said Dominic Mansour, Head of Gaming Products. “We can go outside the box and are not so bound to the reel patterns and traditional way we built slot games before.”
PARTS LIST Component supplier Suzo Happ’s latest gaming catalogue is now available online, after launching at IGE in London in January.
FOR SALE Australian betting technology firm BETOptions is looking for a buyer. Nearly a decade old, the privately-owned firm says it’s profitable and currently has five customers using its software. It employs 24 people in Victoria and two in Las Vegas, where it’s applied for a licence; it is already an approved supplier in the UK, South Africa, Australia, the Phillipines, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar.
LUCKY STRIKE Jackpot Capital Group has bought the Websites operating under the Lucky Club Casino, Lucky Club Slots and Grande Vegas Casino brands.
GREAT WORK Britain’s Great Foundation, which supports research into and treatment for problem gambling, says it reached its £5m ($7.6m) fund-raising target for the just-ended financial year thanks to donations from the industry. Chairman Andrew Tottenham said: “This is a particularly impressive outcome – the targets were suggested nearly three years ago when the economic climate was very much more buoyant. Our fund-raising total for 2009-10 increased by more than 42 percent on the previous year.”
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