May 28th, 2009 by admin

The London-listed mobile gambling provider Probability plc has launched the first of its themed video slot games under its four-game licence from Hasbro International obtained earlier this year. The slot is based on the popular Q&A game Trivial Pursuit, CEO Charles Cohen revealed in a statement from the company.

“This game really breaks new ground and gives players something they’ve never had before - a quiz game inside a slot machine that doubles their chances in the bonus round,” Cohen said. “We have worked closely with the Trivial Pursuit board game designers to create this feature and ensure that it gives players a true ‘Triv’ experience whilst remaining a compelling and enjoyable slot game.”

The five-reel multi-line game includes a bonus feature where players are asked a Trivial Pursuit Genius Edition question, which if answered correctly will boost the players’ chances of winning up to GBP 1 550, Probability said.

In January his year Probability announced the acquisition of a Hasbro licence to develop and market mobile cash games based on Trivial Pursuit, Subbuteo, Connect Four and Battleship.

The company appears to be weathering the recession reasonably well, according to its recently posted first quarter 2009 results. Unaudited NGR in the period reached GBP 1 126 543. Revenues for 2008/9 soared 60 percent over the previous full year to GBP 5 056 236. The company registered 49 506 new customers during Q1 2009, taking the total number of new customers registered during the accounting year to 248 667.

The company has a distribution agreement with mFuse Limited and in addition to the Hasbro licencence it has similar agreements with Paramount Digital for its “Grease” themed mobile slot, and a more recent deal with Freemantle Media for brands like “The X-Factor” and “The Price is Right”.

At the end of April 2009, Cohen said: “Since the start of March we have experienced a strong upswing in customer activity, both in terms of utilisation and new customer registrations, spearheaded by the launch of ‘Grease’ slots across all networks and to our total player base of over 400 000 customers. This game was an immediate hit, taking over 2 000 000 individual bets by new and existing players in the first month alone.”

May 22nd, 2009 by admin

Mobile customers in the Middle East and specifically Qatar have been warned by service provider Qtel to be on the alert for a highly-sophisticated phishing fraud which uses a blend of next generation technology to convince them that they’ve won a European lottery, in a bid to steal their bank and credit card numbers.

The fraudster first sends users an SMS message, telling them they’ve won a grand prize in a European lottery, and providing them with an international number – starting with the digits 00 42 366 – to contact.

Callers who dial the number are put through to an automated voice response, in Arabic, which tells them they will be sent a significant sum of prize money under secure transfer.

The automated answering service takes the caller through a number of questions, including questions related to family and bank details, choice of credit card, and credit card number.

“A number of factors indicate this is a particularly sophisticated fraud,” said a Qtel spokesman.

Although Qtel has blocked the original numbers and traced the call origin, the fraudsters have quickly switched the number combination, and continued to send texts to Qatar-based residents.

“In total, over 20 number variations have been detected and blocked thus far,” said Adel Al Mutawa, a director of Qtel. “The sophistication of this new fraud, and the fact that it is being targeted directly at the people of Qatar, reflects the growing challenges posed by international fraudsters using Internet and mobile phone technology,” he pointed out.

The scam calls appear to originate in Liechtenstein – a Western European nation which has a population of less than 36 000 people – and this suggests that call routing is being used.

Qtel has cautioned customers not to fall for such lottery offers, and to never share bank details or financial passwords with persons unknown via text or phone.

May 16th, 2009 by admin

Poker pro Lee Jones, who was at one time poker room manager for the giant PokerStars.com website but has more recently been chief operating officer at the poker coaching site CardRunners, is joining the Cake Poker network.

Jones departed CardRunner earlier this year, commenting on the site’s forum that there were too many managers for the available work, and that as the only exec not tied to the site by equity positions he was the logical person to stand aside.

Jones also has experience with the European Poker Tour initiative operated by PokerStars, and is the author of a popular book titled “Winning Low-Limit Hold’em.”

The poker pro’s job title and responsibilities at Cake Poker, a rapidly growing network, are not yet known.

May 14th, 2009 by admin

Gigamedia Limited has a banner 2008 year with full-year revenues reaching a record $190.4 million which is up by an astounding 25%. Net income hit a new high of $44.4 million for 14% growth while earning per share are impressive at $0.82 (basic) and $ 0.74 (fully diluted).

Nasdaq-listed Gigamedia cheered investors with fourth quarter revenues of $44.6 million, a net income of $9.1 million in a difficult economic environment and earnings per share of $0.17 (basic) and $0.15 (when fully diluted). CEO Arthur Wang reported that these solid results indicate the correctness of their business model. He expects 2009 to be a great year also but admits they have to do some cost cutting measures to protect long-term profitability.

Company president Thomas Hui believes they can still deliver strong growth but worries that online poker and casinos will face new pressures from an increasingly tough global economy. He thinks past investments and a fully implemented cost reduction and increased efficiency plans will help them weather the financial and economic storms besetting the region. He says the on-line gaming and entertainment industries have good fundamentals and will still grow but at a slower pace this year.

GigaMedia Limited, through its subsidiaries, is an online gaming software developer. Its gaming software products comprise Online Gaming Management and Online Gaming Modules that run on Microsoft Windows 2000/ME/XP/VISTA, and features a realistic 3-D environment, selectable background music, and local language interface.. GigaMedia Limited provides online games and services,such as MahJong and various card, chess, and table games. It operates in Taiwan, Macau, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan.

May 11th, 2009 by admin

Gov. Joe Manchin has signed a bill that set rules and tax rates for a possible casino at The Greenbrier.

The legislation signed Friday would regulate gambling at the historic resort the same as the state’s racetrack casinos. It also sets aside a portion of wagers to help The Greenbrier recoup employee benefits costs.

Voters narrowly approved a measure in November allowing casino-style gambling at the hotel.

The Greenbrier filed for bankruptcy in March. Last week, Justice Family Group owner Jim Justice announced that his company had acquired rights to the resort, which is owned by CSX Corp.

Justice told employees that the resort’s long-term growth might be in “tasteful” gaming.

However, Marriott International Inc. says it expects CSX to honor its contract to buy the resort.

May 8th, 2009 by admin

Representative Barney Frank has been saying for months that he was putting together legislation that would overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and set the framework for legalization and regulation of the online gambling industry in the US.

On Wednesday, that legislation arrived in the form of two separate Bills sponsored by Frank. The first Bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009, would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework where Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses to operate in the US.

Another Bill, the Reasonable Prudence in Regulation Act, would stop delay the implementation of regulations in regards to the UIGEA. The implementation of the UIGEA is set to go into effect on December 1, 2009.

The regulation and legalization Bill would ensure that the proper safeguards are in place to prevent underage gambling, money laundering and fraud, and compulsive gambling. It would represent a sweeping change in the current system in which US online gamblers are at the mercy of overseas online gaming sites.

Representative Frank has been opposed to the UIGEA since its inception back in 2006. The law against online gambling was a last minute add-on to a port security Bill that had nothing to do with online gambling.

Frank has argued that people in the US should be allowed the freedom to do what they wish with their money in the comfort of their own homes, especially with the same type of gambling that is legal in casinos.

It will still be an uphill battle for Frank to convince his fellow lawmakers that online gambling regulations will be beneficial to the US, but he has a much better chance now that power in Congress has shifted to Democrats.