Casino Betting Systems

The famous poker player Cloney Gowen, lodged a complaint against Tiltware LLC and Full Tilt Poker last Thursday. The indictment includes several famous players representing the second largest online poker room in the world.

The defendants include Eric So Lintgkren, Gus Hansen, Patrick Antonious, Aivy Phil and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

In the indictment, Gowen (better known as Cloney) argues that in 2004 she was offered (and accepted) 1% of the Tiltware and FTP property in exchange for becoming a celebrity member of the team, and that she has put on promotional material for FTP in return to the share taken without any compensation.

In May 2007, all members of the FTP group received some checks as a share without  herself to accept something! On 6 November 2007, when Lederer offered to pay her $250,000 for the services she offered by then, she has refused, arguing that the amount was negligible compared to the actual compensation she earned.

Gowen estimates that the company value of Full Tilt Poker is now approaching $ 4 billion! So despite the fact that the Gowen was not paid, she continued to work for the company and promote it until 11 November 2008, when she was informed that FTP issued a press release announcing publicly that Gowen was not anymore a member of the team of professionals for Full Tilt Poker.

Gowen also accuses the defendants for the following:
1. Breach of Contract, claiming losses $ 40 million …
2. Violation of the agreement in good faith and fair dealing
3. Unjust enrichment
4. Fraud

The last act of the case will be played in the rooms of American courts, which are not known to be very “friendly” to Internet casinos !!

One of the leading companies developing software for Internet casinos, CryptoLogic Limited, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2008. The company announced a loss of $ 5.9 million, which is the main reason that led Cryptologic to the recent strategic cooperation with GTECH Corporation, the biggest shareholder of Boss Media.

The financial result forced CryptoLogic to significantly reduce its dividend, to $ 0.03 per share, a decrease of 75%. In the past, the company had paid a dividend of $ 0.12 per share.

“The continued payment of dividends, even in a difficult year for the company, expresses the confidence of the board’s in CryptoLogic strategic planning , which will restore its growth and profitability in 2009,” said the company in a press release.

The company published earning of $ 14.0 million in its latest financial report, a 16.4% decrease compared with the second quarter of 2008 and 19.7% compared to the same period in 2007. Operating costs for the third quarter (until 30 September 2008) amounted to $ 16.5 million, or 117.5% of revenue.

The increase in operating expenses is primarily due to losses of $ 4.2 million in foreign exchange recorded during the quarter, after the U.S. dollar appreciated about 10% compared with the British pound and the euro, at a time when the company had significant amounts in these currencies. With the cooperation with GTECH, the company hopes to reduce operating expenses to $ 12 from $ 15 million in 2009.

“In such a difficult year for the company and the industry, we recognize that we must perform even better - and that is why CryptoLogic puts a direct implementation plan to achieve its profitability objectives and strategy growth in 2009, “said Brian Hadfield, chairman and CEO of CryptoLogic.

“CryptoLogic casinos offer attractive campaigns to new customers and our branded games have won the confidence of some of the largest companies in the world. We have already reduced our operating costs in an effort to strengthen cooperation in the field of poker. ”

With the cooperation with the GTECH international poker network which is imminent in 2009, Cryptologic will give licensees and players access to an even bigger network, while limiting the annual expenditure.

This move is just one part of the aggressive policy of CryptoLogic to increase revenues to a central axis to concentrate on online casino operators and branded games.

Cryptologic also announced agreements with the Gaming Media Group Limited, the Sky Betting and Gaming, and GigaMedia Limited, and also presented a new site for Betjacks, one of the new European customers of the company. This site came to online on 4 November.

CryptoLogic’s online casino are by far the most profitable businesses and the company expects a significant increase in revenue in the next year. The company came to an agreement with 10 new customers in 2008 and is close to cooperate with even more.

The newspaper Las Vegas Review-Journal reported this week that the change in the presidency of the United States - after the elections last week - can bring some good news for the online gambling business in the near future.

With particular reference to statements by the chairman and chief executive of Harrah’s, Mr. Gary Loveman, who replied to questions relating to the matter at a press conference, the LVRJ reported that the senior member of Harrah’s argues that the chance to legalize the online poker have been strengthened considerably since the results of national elections last week and which the Barak Obama and Republican won by a large majority.

As Loveman described, the prospects of legalizing online poker are now extremely promising. On the other hand, he has not expressed the same optimism in relation to casino games and sports betting on the internet where the chances of legalization in the near future are very ‘poor’.

He also mentioned that he was satisfied with the outcome of the elections, not only for the transfer of control to the democratic party, but also because none of the leaders of committees that negotiate the poker issue is not opposed to the procedure (ie with the prospect of legalization of online poker).

” It is something we work every day and we now believe that opened the way to achieving our goals” Loveman said.

Loveman is president of the giant casino company “Harrah’s Entertainment” which has serious business interests in the case of online poker in the U.S.. Suffice to note, Harrah’s owns also the brand of World Series of Poker.