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PartyGaming is in merger talks with Bwin, largest out of all online bookies, in a deal that could create a £2 billion online gaming monster. The two groups have been holding negotiations since the summer.

The USA was PartyGaming’s biggest market, accounting for nearly 90% of its revenues, but the company suffered a huge setback when America made internet gambling illegal. Online gaming groups including PartyGaming had to close their American operations and lost considerable amounts of revenue.

Rumors about consolidation in the online gaming sector has been the major topic for discussion recently. A tie-up between PartyGaming and Bwin would be logical given the former’s ambition to grow its presence in sports betting, an area where the Austrian online betting site has been leading the way for last several years.

PartyGaming is well known for offering poker and casino games. It seems likely that if the two businesses can agree a tie-up, the deal would be structured as a merger of equals.

One source cautioned that discussions were at an early stage and there was no clear signal that a deal would be agreed. “Everyone in the industry is talking to everybody else,” said the source.

In April of this year, PartyGaming agreed a settlement with America’s Department of Justice to make sure that it would not face prosecution over its activities in the United States. It agreed to pay 5m (£65m) as part of the deal.

Analysts say that gambling groups including 888 Holdings and Sportingbet as well as Sweden’s Unibet, have all been thinking about possible deals.

Latest EGR Awards show crowned online sportsbook Bwin as the Operator of the Year while PartyPoker received Poker Operator of the Year title. EGR Power 50 also acknowledged domination of these two online gaming giants putting Bwin on the top of the rating for the second year in a row and PartyGaming right behind it.

Technorati Tags: online betting site, online bookies, online sportsbook

According to the latest Egaming Review report, Ladbrokes has beaten other two popular bookies Stan James and William Hill to the third place while Betfair has recovered its lead over Bet365 in November’s traffic figures from one of top odds comparison sites Oddschecker.  

The data from Oddschecker, which receives more than 600,000 unique users a month, showed that Ladbrokes has overtaken Stan James and William Hill to become the third most popular online sportsbook with a 10.2% share of total traffic.

Simon Miller, Oddschecker’s Commercial Manager, stated: “The biggest mover of the month was Ladbrokes. The majority of these gains have come in horse racing, where it has added extra market share mainly at the expense of Bet365. Always a good converting brand, Ladbrokes have driven incremental bets with aggressive pricing on mid-week racing meetings.”

Ladbrokes gained some traffic at the expense of Bet365, which lost its share by 0.6% from 13.5% in October to 12.9% in November. Betfair share rose by 0,4% from 14.1% in October to 14.5% in November.

Miller also added: “The gap at the top has widened. After having its supremacy briefly threatened last month, Betfair retained the biggest market share of bets [from Oddschecker]. This was achieved with increased football betting activity, no doubt helped by Betfair’s recent TV campaigns.”

Betfair has implemented some impressive marketing campaigns including sponsorship deals with Manchester United and FC Barcelona football clubs and with the UK’s TalkSport Radio station.

Betfair captured UK Sports Operator of the Year award at recent EGR Awards. Bet365 was specially commended for Operator of the Year award won by Bwin.

Most visited online sportsbooks are listed below. Shown percentage represents share of referred traffic from Oddschecker.

November’s top sportsbooks on Oddschecker (share of referred traffic)
1. Betfair (14.5%)
2. Bet365 (12.9%)
3. Ladbrokes (10.2%)
4. Stan James (9.5%)
5. William Hill (9.3%)
6. Paddy Power (8.2%)
7. Coral (5.3%)
8. SkyBet (4.6%)
9. Sportingbet (4.4%)
10. Betfred (4.3%)

Technorati Tags: bookies, online sportsbook, top sportsbooks

One of best bookies Victor Chandler has announced that it has been approved to receive South African gaming license.

Victor Chandler plans to set up its operations in Cape Town where the next World Cup draw will take place on December 4th.

Michael Carlton, CEO at Victor Chandler, said: "We are naturally excited about this opportunity. The Victor Chandler brand fits perfectly with the South African market. Alongside offering a South African specific website to customers we will also be creating numerous employment opportunities. We are really proud to be involved in a country where sport is so entrenched in its culture. I will be investing locally over the next few months in order to launch our full range sports betting service in time for the World Cup.”

Sports bookie is designing a new World Cup 2010 website that will provide all the latest team and tournament news, updated tables, fixtures and more to get football betting fans into the spirit of the most popular game.

Online sportsbook plans to launch new World Cup site right after the draw on December 4th, 5pm GMT. Victor Chandler says it will offer some of the best world cup odds around and will be supporting English football team all the way throughout the tournament. Current odds for England to win the World Cup are priced at 6/1, right behind Spain 4/1 and Brazil 9/2.

Expanding abroad is not something new for Victor Chandler. The sportsbook was the first sports betting company to move its operations offshore.

Victor Chandler was ranked number 17 in the latest Power 50 report prepared by reputable online gaming magazine eGaming Review. That is 9 places up comparing to the last year’s report. It seems that the company is moving the right direction.

Technorati Tags: best bookies, online sportsbook, sports bookie

Bwin, the biggest online sportsbook, was awarded Operator of The Year 2009 title at the EGR Awards 2009. This is the top trophy in egaming industry.

The judges described Austrian betting giant as “covering all the angles”. Bwin managed to sustain strong competition from rivals including Bet365, PartyGaming and Betfair to take the industry’s top trophy.

Nic Wenn, UK country manager, spoke when he came up to collect the award: ”It's great that Bwin has won this award after ten years. I think Bwin have carried on doing wht Bwin have been doing, leading the way in opening new territories in Europe and leading the technological advance in our industry.”

Judges praised the bookie for its ‘consistency, leadership, scale, the strength of the brand, for promoting responsible gaming, and for showing continued, consisted leadership.’ Bwin also topped EGR Power 50 report second year in a row.

UK sports bookie Bet365 was highly commended in the award for its huge turnover and for being one the major sports betting sites. 

Betclic has recorded one of the fastest growing rates in online gaming industry in recent years. The company and its parent group Mangas Gaming that also owns Expekt and Bet-at-home has become one of the major players in online gaming industry in less than four years.   

Betfair won UK Sports Betting Operator of the Year title. The company was mentioned for its stable growth in 2008-09 and a move in the US market. 

PartyGaming has made some major B2B deals this year and has serious intentions of returning to the highly attractive US market.

William Hill has made a major turnaround this year thanks to the Playtech and Orbis deals signed in the end of 2008. The company will be a strong contender at future awards events.

The awards were presented by comedian Mark Watson in front of an audience of more than 900 executives from the gaming industry.

Technorati Tags: online sportsbook, sports betting sites, sports bookie

Online bookies continue their legal fight to open up markets and allow free competition around the world. In contrast with the US their battle where they fight against a comprehensive ban, in Holland as in other European countries it is against state-owned gambling monopolies that are in conflict with EU principles.

Ladbrokes, one of biggest British sportsbooks online, has been shunned by the Dutch authorities for years. Ladbrokes continues to accept bets from Dutch residents and this case will probably reach the European Court of Justice soon. The battle between the two has been going on for over 7 years now.

Betfair also challenges Holland's legislation. The Dutch government tries to block player transactions through financial institutions, allegedly in breach of EU principles of free passage of goods and services. Betfair will try to change this policy.

In September, the EU Court has taken Portugal’s side that alike Holland supports a state betting monopoly, Santa Casa. Bwin, biggest online sportsbook, tried to enter the local market and was banned from advertising on the Portuguese soccer league website. The court decision stated prohibitions “may be regarded as justified by the objective of combating fraud and crime.”

A study published on the Gaming Intelligence website says over a million Dutch men and women gamble in Holland. It seems that they are doing so illegally.

The study was presented by Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin to the House of Representatives that seems set to to battle betting industry in his country.

Bwin and Ladbrokes are two of leading online sportsbooks in the world. Bwin has been considered the best online gaming operator second year in a row according to the latest EGR Power 50 report. Ladbrokes is holding number six position, dropping 3 spots comparing to the last year’s report.

Technorati Tags: betfair, bookies, bwin, ladbrokes, online sportsbook, sportsbooks online