News
Poker to go it alone in Holland
Sigrid Ligne: ‘draft law would leave Polish consumers without a fair, secure and competitive online gaming market’
POKER T
he joy over plans to regulate online poker in Holland has been tem- pered somewhat by the dismissal of the other sectors of the online gam- bling industry. Betting, bingo and casino gaming have all been over- looked by the Dutch authorities, despite the fact that the country’s lottery operator already operates a sportsbook.
The Dutch Ministry of Justice has
released the report of the Commission Jansen, an advisory group assembled on 11 September 2009, to reflect on and investigate the scope for reforming gambling laws in the Netherlands, with a view to considering the regulation of online gambling. The final report, pub- lished on 23 August by the Ministry of Justice, calls for a licensing system for poker operators, but excludes sports betting, bingo and casino style games. The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) said it considers the proposal from the Commission Jansen as an inadequate first step in light of changes occurring throughout the rest of Europe. RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood commented: “This is clearly a missed opportunity to follow the same path as other jurisdictions, such as Denmark, which do not seek to discriminate against different forms of gambling and recognise that all are capable of being properly regulated. Given that de Lotto offers sport betting, this appears to appease the lottery
operator by limiting the opening to poker only.”
The RGA believes that there is only one logical and realistic way to address the burgeoning remote gambling market and that is through proper reg- ulation for poker, sports betting and casino games. Hawkswood added: “It would be churlish of us not to welcome the poker opening, if it is granted in a viable way, but it appears as an oppor- tunity missed for other segments. If consumer protection rather than market protectionism is the real policy objective then this recommendation should embrace other areas.” Another country whose attempts to legalise online gambling are not cur- rently passing muster is Poland, which has had its draft legislation regulating online gaming and betting dissected by the European Commission. Ironi- cally, Poland has approved sportsbet- ting and casino games, but outlawed online poker.
Sigrid Ligné, secretary general of
the European Gaming and Betting Association, said: “We support the Polish government’s intention to join the growing number of countries reg- ulating the online gaming and betting market in the EU. However, the current draft foresees a wide range of obstacles and obligations which will make it highly difficult for EU licensed and regulated operators to apply for a licence in Poland.”
“Land-based betting is about cash....”
RALPH TOPPING Underlying retail business
The theory that retail betting customers will all migrate online has been questioned by Hills boss Ralph Topping, who believes that the betting shop experience is still sought after. Andrew McCarron reports.
CORPORATE W
illiam Hill chief executive Ralph Topping has pro- vided an upbeat assessment of
the retail betting market, especially in the long term, by declaring that customers will always want betting shops as they provide an environment that online operations just can’t provide.
Speaking at his company’s interim results, where he announced a 3 per cent increase in profit before tax of £105.7m on turnover of £8.6bn, said that the two different betting channels are diverse enti- ties.
“There is a clear distinc-
tion between offline and online consumer profiles,” Topping posited. “Land- based betting is about cash; it is about social environ- ment and it is community centred, also very, very private. These are attractive qualities that aren’t going to disappear.” Topping has taken to lumping OTC performance together with that of the gaming machines, which masks the decline in over the counter business. But he suggests you won’t get one without the other. He explained: “I manage to be very surprised when people talk about structural decline. It’s usually the same people who talk about Scot-
02 BettingBusinessInteractive • SEPTEMBER 2010
tish football product. They never actually go to a game in Scotland. They never go near a betting shop, but they feel well capable of talking about it. “You really have to look at retail in total nowadays; not OTC and machines in isolation; that is old hat. OTC bets are not placed by a sep- arate group of punters wearing bobble hats. They are all the same, so when we say overall transactions we feel we’re up by more than 20 per cent in the first half of the year. It’s a positive sign that the underlying business is in good nick.”
Despite this, it is the gaming machine which is providing a lifeline to
ANALYSIS
WILLIAM HILL HAS BEEN BURNED WITH OVERSEAS EXPANSION BEFORE, BUT THAT WAS MAINLY ON THE RETAIL SIDE. HOWEVER, RALPH TOPPING IS REMAINING CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE FRENCH ONLINE LICENSING SYSTEM. HE EXPLAINED: “WE INTEND TO APPLY FOR OUR LICENCE, BUT IT’S NOT OUR COMMERCIAL PRIORITY GIVEN YOU FACE, 1) A HIGH TURNOVER TAX, 2) HORRIBLE PARIMUTUEL BETTING ON HORSERACING, AND 3) LACK OF CASINO. “ONE DAY FRANCE MAY BE ATTRACTIVE, BUT THEIR REGULATORY REGIME NEEDS TO CHANGE AND WHEN IT COMES TO CHANGE, WE KNOW THE FRENCH, DON’T WE, THEY’RE AS QUICK AS A DRUGGED TORTOISE CRAWLING OVER TREACLE.”
betting shops at the moment. Group finance director Neil Cooper com- mented: “Positively, at £836 gross win per machine per week, machines continue to demonstrate real strength, continuing a long-term trend of annual growth in this key statistic, indeed, growing by 61 per cent since 2005. It is worth noting that we have maintained a machine density of circa 3.8 machines per shop for three years now, with drivers of growth subsequently, there- fore, being both product improvement and opera- tional management.” One year on from the cre- ation of William Hill Online with the co-operation of
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