The Week That Was: August 18th – 22nd

For the first time in recent memory, the biggest news in the poker world had nothing to do with any sort of cheating scandal, past or present. Here’s what’s happening:

• The World Poker Tour is in serious danger of being de-listed from the NASDAQ stock exchange following a sustained plunge in stock value. WPTE, as it is referred to on NASDAQ, dropped below the minimum listing price of $1 more than a month ago and has now languished below the minimum mark for more than 30 business days. Though no date for de-listing has yet been set, with WPT having announced even further 2Q losses last week the future look s bleak.
• Betfair Australia has followed up the announced resignation of current CEO Anthony Klok with the appointment of Andrew Twaits as its new Chief Executive Officer. Klok will move on from the Australian Betfair sector which he spearheaded to serve as Crown Limited’s International Business Development Director. Andrew Twaits will assume his position as Betfair Australia CEO on October 16th, 2008.
• WinkBingo.com has drawn the ire of the UK Advertising Standards Authority with a new ad designed to be “irreverent, cheeky, sassy and a bit naughty.” The television ad, which featured a hospital nurse ignoring a mother giving birth to a baby to instead pay rapt attention to a bingo game, has been cited to be in non-compliance with CAP TV Advertising Standards Code clauses ensuring social responsibility in advertising. For its part, Daub Ltd (owner of WinkBingo.com) has stated that the ad was presented in such an exaggerated fashion that it would be ludicrous of any potential viewer to mimic the priorities of the nurse in question. Regardless, the ad has been banned from publically broadcast television in the UK.
• The International Poker Network (usually referred to as Boss Media) has suffered a preliminary judgment in a Malta court. Former IPN skin, PokerTrillions has successfully lobbied Malta to both freeze €20,000,000 in IPN assets (in preparation for a possible damages penalty against IPN in a forthcoming lawsuit) and cease all commercial activities on Maltese soil. The latter punishment is of serious concern as many IPN servers are located in Malta. IPN has assured its thousands of clients that any stoppage of server activity in Malta would not alter any gaming activity on its more than 40 skins. Click here for more on the IPN – PokerTrillion dispute.
• Despite the woes of IPN and WPTE, several major gaming entities are reporting positive financial pictures. Finland’s RAY state-owned gaming operation is reporting profits of nearly €200 million for the 2008 Second Quarter, an increase of almost 1% over last year. Australian gaming giant, Centrebet has reported a net profit of AUD $13 million for 2008 to go along with a 6% jump in total business sales over last year. Finally, bwin Interactive Entertainment has reported that a 62% gain in sports betting revenue has more than offset a €6.7 million 2Q loss and that the European gaming company is experiencing a six month net profit of more than €4 million.
• Norway’s biggest political party is vowing to open the Scandinavian country up to non-State sponsored gaming operations in the near future. Per Sandberg, deputy leader of the Progress Party has stated the following “The morality of casinos and gambling is always being discussed… These are modern times… This is not a moral issue.” While the amorality of gambling is the official reason behind the new stance of the Progress Party, it is believed that Norway hopes to avoid a dispute like the one in Sweden between Ladbrokes and Svenska Spel.

And that’s what’s happening in poker.