Archive for August, 2011

One of the UK’s biggest sports betting firms, SportingBet has suspended trading on the London Stock Exchange. The move comes after a few months of speculation, in which SportingBet appears to be transferring to a new ownership group out of Turkey. While the US DOJ shuts down sportsbooks online, the European Union is allowing sportsbooks to trade on their local stock exchanges. Here is what the SportingBet fishing games ownership change means.

SportingBet has been around the online gambling industry for quite some time. For North American bettors unfamiliar with SportingBet, the best comparison is call it the Bodog of UK online gambling. That is to say, through an excellent marketing and customer service campaign, SportingBet has stayed amongst the heavyweights in the British online betting industry.

The suspension of stock trading for SportingBet has left both customers and betting writers alike in a state of confusion. Essentially, prior to the stock exchange issue, SportingBet was believed to have been discussing a merger with rival site Gaming VC. In this latter deal, Gaming VC would give SportingBet the rights to their Greek online gaming branches. However, the news of the halt in activity on the LSX has bettors concerned with the state of the company.

If SportingBet suddenly does collapse, the company that stands to benefit the most is archrival Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes has been slowly building up its British Empire over the last few years, and has enough money to buy out SportingBet in a similar manner that Bet365 did with Bowman’s a few years ago. Meaning to say, if they use the same approach as Bet365 did with Bowman’s, this would simply allow Ladbrokes to use the SportingBet brand name, while employing their own staff.

Over the last couple of months, the sports betting world has been turned upside down, as several big name sportsbooks have closed their operations in the North American market. However, while plenty of shops are closing, there are also several, that are afloat and flourishing. One such online casino site that is having success is Merge Gaming, which is a company that combines poker and sportsbooks together. Here is the latest news for Merge Gaming.

Despite being associated with the Jazette family of sportsbooks, Sportsbook.com has been able to stay afloat and grow into one of the top sportsbooks in the United States. While their colleagues struggle, with US policy indictments, Sportsbook and Merge Poker, have formed a collaboration to take over the US market. Earlier this summer, Sportsbook opened its doors to American customers, which allowed the company to go from a middle of the pack, money grabbing shop, to atop the leader board of sportsbook rankings.

Merge poker on the other hand, has risen from the basement of the poker industry all the way to the top. Essentially, Merge’s big competition, Full Tilt, and Poker Stars, each were struck hard with sanctions from the Department of Justice. As a result, the two biggest winners of the 2004 – 2005 NHL lockout, have seen not only their advertising campaigns pulled from the television, but also a huge withdrawal of players.

What’s more, Merge Gaming has rebounded, after a short layoff due to the aforementioned Department of Justice sanctions. Recall, Merge along with Full Tilt and Poker Stars, were all hit with sanctions from the government, preventing the use of playing poker for money online. In April, Merge claimed it would be closing down for a limited time, but now in August, the site is back and full of US customers.

After making marketing synonymous with sports betting for the last 20 years, Bodog sportsbook, will be leaving the US market in December of 2011. Known by many casual gamblers as one of the best sportsbooks on the planet, the Bodog has been entrenched in a legal battle with the US government for the past few years, after falling victim to the Anti-Internet Gambling act. Meaning to say, Bodog is set to be replaced by the MMGG Company. Here is what Bodog’s departure means for NFL betting lines enthusiasts.

Over the last few years, Bodog has had an agreement in the US with Morris Mohawk Gaming. This agreement, has allowed Bodog to stay afloat, since falling victim to the US’s crackdown on online sports betting. However, the numbers apparently aren’t up to par with what Morris Mohawk gaming was promised. As a result, end of the year, as we mentioned earlier, MMG is going in a different direction.

For US bettors, you can still wager with MMGG a new website by MMG or you can switch to the BetCris family of sportsbooks, such as Bookmaker or DSI.  Bodog on the other hand, will be still available in Canada, as well as Europe and parts of Asia. What’s more, Bodog CEO Calvin Ayre just revealed that Bodog had agreed upon a contract with the United Kingdom for Bodog’s online betting services. Meaning to say, despite losing the US market for now, Bodog is still very much alive and well.

Ayre has become a bit of a legend in the online gambling industry, as he helped resurrect Bodog in the beginning of the decade, after the original owners nearly went bankrupt. Since taking over Bodog, Ayre has maintained the shops reputation of being amazing at marketing and customer service.