Gambling News | November 2007
This week's gambling news:
Playtech Releases New Games
Stan James Buys Betdirect from 32 Red
Sweden Announces End to Online Gambling Monopoly
888 Announces Good Quarterly Growth
Let's look in more detail at the major gambling news releases this week.
Playtech Releases New Games
Leading software company, Playtech has announced the release of two exciting new slot games this week. In true Playtech tradition, Bonus Bears and What’s Cooking offer excellent graphics and added features and are sure to appeal to everybody across the board. Bonus Bears is a 25 line video slots game with two exciting bonus rounds and real action enhancements. What’s Cooking is a culinary-themed 30 line video slots game, with free spins, multipliers and other action-packed entertainment features. Playtech now offers nearly 120 casino games to its players through a growing number of quality licensees, including BetFred Casino.
Stan James Buys Betdirect from 32 Red
32 Red PLC and Stan James, two of the industry’s most trusted gambling companies have exchanged contracts over a deal concerning the sale of the 32 Red subsidiary, betdirect, to Stan James. The transaction, which is due to be completed by mid December, will see the transition of all betdirect customer bases and brand names to the Stan James team, with all parties working closely together to ensure a smooth transfer. The deal set the Gibraltar-based company back nearly 6-million UK Pounds. 32 Red has announced that it will continue to offer its sportsbetting and gaming services, and will also be expanding to other markets after the sale.
Sweden Announces End to Online Gambling Monopoly
Sweden has announced that its state-run gambling company, Svenske Spel, will soon become privatized, following a decision by the country’s ruling Moderate Party. Svenske Spel, which turned an incredible $700-million profit last year, could be worth as much as $10-billion as a privately listed company. The move to de-monopolize Sweden’s online gambling industry came after pressure from the European Commission for several countries, including Italy, to follow a policy of free trade and allow other companies to compete within its borders. Sweden will earmark a portion of its annual budget for problem gambling research.
888 Announces Good Quarterly Growth
888, the leading online gambling company, has announced a pleasing third quarterly report. The company showed that its profits have risen by 37% over last year. Translated into figures, this means that 888 made $52.5-million in the last quarter. The growth has been credited to a number of successful expansions that the company has made into different spheres of the industry, including an Italian sportsbetting site and the development of its bingo and blackjack lines. 888's CEO has expressed optimism over the results of the total 2007 report.
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