24th
February London Source:
Reuters/This is London
The
newly launched bet.co.uk site from Hilton
Group's - Ladbroke betting and gaming subsidiary netted 80,000 hits
on the evening England and Argentina played out a goalless draw at Wembley.
As part of the Internet "strategy" Hilton announced it was investing £100
million in various projects. Profits for the year weighed in at £305
million, up almost 10% on 1998. The company has 217 hotels trading under
the Hilton International name. Hotel revenue was £264 million and
betting and gaming £139 million.
Hilton
scores with e-betting venture
22nd
February London Source:
Reuters
Rumours abound in the British press concerning the possibility that Britain's
Hilton Group will sell its Ladbrokes betting and gaming subsidiary.
Hilton is due to release results on the 24th and no doubt an official statement
will then be made. Analysts believe that the separated company that has
recently launched bet.co.uk
and has 26 British casinos could be worth £1 billion.
Hilton
mulling Ladbroke demerger - paper
20th
February Birmingham, England Source:
Poker
in the UK
As
a new club sets up in the Poker playing heartlands of Britain.
The
call is NO FEE - NO GB!.
The new club in question is the Elite in Moseley, a suberb of Birmigham.
Players are not charged a fee at the tables nor is there a house take from
the pot. Players who are all members may also elect to deal as tipping
is permitted. The club is open 24 hours per day and has seating for 300
players. Money being made via an hourly food and drinks charge. Because
of this rule the club is not operating "Bankers" games and does not come
under the regulations of the British Gaming Board.
UK'S
first 24 hour Poker club - "Elite"
17th
February London Source:
London Evening Standard
The
magic "I" word has once again done the job to revive a flagging share price.
Ladbrokes, the betting shop and casino arm of the British Hilton
Group have announced that the company intends to become a global leader
in online betting. The company has launched bet.co.uk
and will follow it up with Gibraltar based Ladbrokes.com.
The ability to offer live on screen prices on televised sports and via
a customers mobile phone using WAP technology is also a priority. Deals
being made with Cable & Wireless, Telewest and Open.
Hilton Group also has 6 London and 20 provincial casinos. Before the details
became public on Monday 14th the share price was 161p. At the time of writing,
Thursday 17th it stands at 227p a gain of 40%.
15th
February London Source:
Silicon.com
UK
Bookies in £100m online venture
7th
February London Source:
ICE Press release
The
10th International Casino Exhibition held in London from January 25th to
27th attracted 103 exhibitors from 29 countries. The largest grouping coming
from Great Britain with 28 companies represented, the United States had
the second most with 18. Countries of the European Union with significant
presence included Belgium(6), Germany(7), Italy(4), Netherlands(7) and
Spain(4).
The show in 1999 had a total of 86 exhibitors and 5,814 visitors that travelled
from 101 nations. The first ever London show in 1991 had 16 exhibitors
and 309 visitors.
3rd
February Lyons, France Source:
London Evening Standard
The
1988 amendment in the French law to allow casinos to open in cities with
a population over 500,000 has seen Group Partouche succeed, at the third
attempt, with a license application in Lyons. It will be the first casino
in the country to be located outside a spa town or resort. The facility
located in the basement of the Hilton Hotel is expected to open in March
with 12 tables and 400 slots.
French
casino operator wins battle of Lyons
14th
January Chicago/Barcelona Source:
Press release
WMS
Gaming Inc.
has announced that Sebastian Salat formerly the Managing Director of Unidesa
has been appointed as Director of Operations for their new Barcelona office.
Mr. Salat will be head WMS Gaming International, S.L. in the company's
efforts to market electronic gaming devices, and provide product service
in new markets outside of North America.
13th
January Toronto/London Source:
Press release
From betting slips to mouse clicks!
CryptoLogic
the Toronto based Internet casino builder and operator has announced that
the
William
Hill Casino has now gone live. This marks perhaps the first live online
gaming tie up between an Internet casino operator and a major established
company in the traditional betting world.
William Hill was established in Great Britain in the 1930's but recently
called off it's proposed IPO by owner Nomura securities. The company is
the acknowledged leader in European telephone betting on live sports events
and in 1998 had a gross turnover of $1.8 billion.
2nd
January London Source:
Yahoo UK/Evening Standard
Napoleon's Casino
in London's Leicester Square owned by A & S Leisure could find itself
the center of a lawsuit from an employee over it's non installation of
an adequate ventilation system according to an article in the Evening Standard.
The club that is patronized by mainly Asian players from the nearby Chinatown
has for years, it is claimed, been giving out free cigarettes to
customers and ignored the dangers associated with passive smoke. The Croupier
at the center of the lawsuit has worked at the club for 11 years and is
being backed in his claim by the GMB union.
|
