Bwin.party the next in line to provide quality action to the Danish market

An announcement came this week from Bwin.party.digital entertainment that its online poker and casino offering has gone live in Denmark for Danske Licens Spil (‘DLS’), a wholly-owned subsidiary of former monopoly Danske Spil A/S.

The Danske Spil Group is owned by the Danish Government (80 percent), Sports Confederation of Denmark (10 percent) and Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations (10 percent), and it represents one of the largest betting and gaming organisations in Europe, offering the national lottery, numbers games, instant games as well as gambling on machines. Its online business already counts more than 600,000 registered online customers.

In a comment on the new venture, Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, co-chief executive officers of Bwin.party said: “Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM and Boyd in the US market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated and to-be-regulated markets. We are delighted that DLS has recognised our expertise and high standards of business practice and we look forward to building a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer.”

On the other side, a statement arrived from Jens Aalose, CEO at DLS, who stated: “With some of the world’s leading products in online poker and casino as well as a large international customer base, Bwin.party was the obvious choice for DLS. Combining this with Danske Spil’s unique and strong position in the Danish market I am confident that we will deliver a highly attractive customer experience to players in Denmark.”

The Board expresses thanks

This week, online gambling group 888 Holdings announced that one of its independent non-executive directors, Michael Constantine, has retired. His retirement is effective from December 31.

According to the Board chairman, Richard Kilsby, “I would like to express on behalf of the Board and all at the company our appreciation of Michael’s contribution to 888. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Sen. Ray Lesniak, online gambling advocate, is planning to take advantage of the DoJ turnabout

Department of Justice change of policy on online gambling encouraged New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak, one of online gambling’s strongest supporters, to capitalize it by immediately pushing for intrastate legalization as 2012 starts out.

Lesniak will try to get a bill through the Legislature and on Governor Chris Christie’s desk as early as next week in order to make New Jersey the national leader in online gambling, now that in-state bets do not violate the law.

“We can be the Silicon Valley of Internet gaming. It’s the wave of the future. It’s going to come and we can be in the lead on it,” said Lesniak

The bill itself contains safeguards to address Christie’s concerns, including fines of $1,000 per player per day for anyone running an illegal Internet betting parlour, and $10,000 for advertising such illicit operations. Bettors would have to be: New Jersey residents, at least 21 years old, and physically present in the State, which could be verified by existing software.

A spokesman for Senate leadership said it has to be clear whether there’s enough support to move forward quickly on the bill whilst a spokesman for the House of Assembly leadership said Lesniak’s request would be heard before deciding on a course of action. Even if it is not scheduled for vote on January 9, the last day of the current state legislative session, Lesniak is trying to secure approval from Assembly and Senate leaders to have it approved in committees, and then finally approved on January 9 and sent to Christie.

Robert Griffin, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts and president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, confirmed the trade group is going to discuss the matter. It is in accordance with their plans announced last year to set up an online gambling operation as soon as it becomes legal, so that money currently going to offshore online betting operations could benefit New Jersey.

According to the Lesniak bill, only the Atlantic City casinos could offer Internet gambling in New Jersey, requiring the computer servers to be physically located in Atlantic City to comply with state law mandating that all New Jersey casino gambling occur there. As for the gamblers, they would have to set up online wagering accounts with the casinos.

The bill would also require that Internet betting licensees pay $20 million a year for three years to help increase horse race purses and help the tracks through a difficult period.

Instead of the existing 8 percent on traditional casino revenue, Internet gambling revenue would be taxed at 10 percent.

Finally, the bill would allocate $100,000 a year from online gambling proceeds to fund programs for compulsive gamblers. It would be enable people with gambling problems to set limits on how much they could bet or lose within a specific time frame.