Bogart's Casino

The largest betting agency in the world in terms of market value, British giant gambling company William Hill Pic just got a little bigger with the acquisition of Australian online betting mega-company Tom Waterhouse NT. William Hill paid A$110 million or about GBP 64 million, and $34 million (U.S.) and acquired the company debt. This makes William Hill Australia’s leading online sports betting site as of August 2013. This increases value for the brand that is an FTSE 100 group that also employs 3,000 people in Yorkshire and nearly 1,300 Leeds workers

William Hill pledged to put money into Ton Waterhouse NT to make the online giant even better for bettors. William Hill will invest up to A$70 million adjusted to earnings on tomwaterhouse.com to guarantee annual growth of the company to A$10 million in 2014 and A$30 million in 2015.

Already operating Centrebet in Australia, William Hill’s takeover effort supplements its recent purchase of Sportingbet PLC’s operations in Australia. It paid A$670 to Sportingbet and took over Tabcorp Holdings Ltd. in the land down under. William Hill CEO Ralph Topping said the acquisitions were expanding the company’s customer base rapidly in compatible markets.

Topping said the company was putting in place the top people in sports betting to form one impressive team. Tom Waterhouse and his team represented a valuable addition to the William Hill family, he said.

William Hill makes more than GBP 1.2 billion annually. However, the tomwaterhouse.com site is not making money. William Hill leadership was confident its influx of capital and other “substantial synergies” would turn around the /australian giant. Tom Waterhouse will keep his post as managing director and join the William Hill team, officials said.

The international market has assumed front center stage for William Hill, the top betting company in market value in the world. Company officials now term Australia as its “second home market.” The Tom Waerhouse company had been controversial. Waterhouse frequently appeared on Channel Nine as a highly publicized bookmaker. He provided a public face to the making of odds for football games on the tube. However, it later was revealed he paid to be on TV.

The Australian government announced a crackdown n bookies promoting betting odds after those disclosures. Waterhouse said he would get off TV in a public letter printed in The Daily Telegraph.

Stoke City striker Cameron Jerome has been fined £50,000 by the Football Association for betting offences that were said not to be related to match fixing or betting on games in which he played. The Football Association did not state exactly what the betting offences were, but they did state that several of them took place.

Personal Hearing

The 26-year-old striker fought the charges by requesting a personal hearing. The hearing was held on August 13, but the fine was upheld. Jerome must pay £50,000 to answer for his unspecified violations of Football Association rules concerning betting.

After the hearing, the Football Association released a statement explain the ruling which stated that, “Jerome, who was also severely warned as to his future conduct, admitted a number of breaches of The FA’s Betting Rule.”

Speculation Rampant

There is no telling what the sports betting offences may be. The chances are that Jerome was placing bets of some kind that ran him afoul of Football Association rules that strictly prohibit most forms of gambling by players.

Chance of Appeal

Jerome can fight the ruling if he chooses to do so. Although he will not miss any playing time, £50,000 is a hefty chunk of change that will surely give Jerome incentive to think about fighting the charges. Although he already lost at the personal hearing, he may be able to reduce the fine amount by going through the appeal process. A complete overturning of the sentence is highly unlikely, and Jerome will have to be more careful in the future to avoid breaking the Football Association’s betting rules.

Not the Only Recent Betting Violations

Jerome is not the only person to run into problems with the Football Association regarding betting violations. Tottenham midfielder Andres Townsend was recently fined £18,000 and suspended for four months for unspecified betting offences, which caused him to miss playing for England in the Under-21 European Championship.

Also, Robert Heys, the managing director of Accrington Stanley, has admitted to committing betting offences as well. He has not yet been sentenced by the Football Association, but he has a hearing soon in front of the FA to respond to the charges.

Stoke City management is standing by their striker. They have said they support him and that he will not miss any playing time due to the violations, which is good news for Stoke City fans. This incident will serve as a warning to other players in the future.

July 29 was the deadline for the filing of applications for internet gambling license in the State of New Jersey for the go-live date of November 26, 2013. Among the 37 vendors filing applications was the British online gambling company 2UP Gaming PLC. 2UP is a publicly-traded (GXG:2GM) online gaming and wagering company based in London with an operations office located in West Melbourne, Australia.

The new legislation in New Jersey requires vendors to partner with a bricks-n-mortar casino located in Atlantic City before they can legally offer online gaming in the United States. Until New Jersey passed this law the only states licensing internet gaming operations in the U.S. were Delaware and Nevada. The Nevada-licensed Ultimate Poker is currently the only online gaming company operating legally in the U.S.

2UP has partnered with the New York City-based venture capital firm MidOil USA and together they are currently looking for an Atlantic City casino to form a partnership with, but with 37 applications for online gaming and only 12 existing casinos the prospects for a deal are far from certain. In addition to the $75 million contribution from MidOil, an Asian investment firm has committed another £215 million to the purchase or construction of a casino in Atlantic City. A lack of capital should not be a problem since recent sale negotiations for two Atlantic City casinos hovered between $15 and $20 million dollars due to the severely depressed real estate market.

The expansion of 2UP’s customer base into the U.S. market is a part of their strategy to become the leading online gaming site globally. In January of this year, 2UP announced the purchase of DBG Poker Group, thereby gaining access to proprietary, cutting edge technology that allows customers to experience “live dealers” online when playing poker, blackjack, baccarat, or roulette. From the perspective of 2UP, the American market must seem like the Wild West with only one legal competitor in play. After only 3 months of offering online gaming an Ultimate Poker customer recently won the 10 millionth hand. That amounts to over 110,000 hands per day on average. However, with 37 internet gaming companies filing applications in New Jersey in preparation for the go-live date in November, the U.S. market for legal online gambling will quickly become competitive. Whether 2UP will be able to throw their hat in the ring this year will depend on whether they find a casino to partner with.

MGM Resorts International is proposing a large casino resort to be located in the downtown Springfield area. Along with an 89,000 square feet casino, the $800M project would include 15 acres of property, including a 250 room hotel, wide variety of retail shops, variety of restaurants providing a formal as well as casual dining experience, night clubs, pool, and a health spa. The property would also house banquet and meeting areas, a 12-screen cinema, bowling lanes, and residential property in the form of one and two bedroom apartments.

Thanks to the state’s new gambling laws, the MGM Resorts International was able to apply for a casino gaming license. During a recent election, a majority of Springfield voters approved; but MGM still has a way to go before they can start building. MGM faces competition from two other gambling casinos. The Mohegan Sun and Hard Rock have applied for casino gambling licenses in the area. Mohegan Sun has proposed a project in Palmer, while Hard Rock has proposed a project for West Springfield.

MGM Resorts’ proposed casino project would bring significant revenue to the western Massachusetts area that would help pump up the economy. A natural gas explosion brought major trauma to an area near Springfield in November 2012. In addition, a tornado in 2011 brought major devastation to the city itself. According to plans, the casino project would be located in that same area.

Even though the project promises to bring much needed revenue to the area, opposition does exist. Opposers feel that having a casino in the area would promote irresponsible gambling which could lead to financial problems among low-income residents and the elderly on fixed incomes. Opposing residents also feel that the project could increase crime in that area and be the source of major traffic problems. However, the project would bring much needed jobs, including temporary construction jobs while the project is being built. MGM Resorts is planning to offer the Springfield area first priority for jobs with strong consideration for residents in surrounding cities and towns.

MGM Resorts International is one of the largest gaming and hospitality companies in the world with casino properties in Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan, and outside the United States in China. They also own and operate non-casino properties such as high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas, NV as well as overseas.