Betfair and William Hill target India

October 27, 2009

Betfair and William Hill target India

By James Thompson

Online Sportsbook 

Foreign operators bid for licence in Indian state to grab share of $60bn market

Britain's biggest betting companies are bidding for the first online gambling licence in India to gain a slice of the country's $60bn (£37bn) betting market. The high-street bookie William Hill, along with internet players Betfair and Bwin, are bidding for the internet licence in the Himalayan state of Sikkim in early September. A decision is expected in the next two weeks.

Some 13 betting companies, including local Indian operators, are battling it out for at least three licences in Sikkim. Sources said they want their betting services live from April 2010 - in time for the football World Cup in South Africa. The bookie Ladbrokes and the online specialist 888 are also considering bidding for a licence in Sikkim.

The licence holders will be able to promote their services in Sikkim, but they expect to be able to take bets from all over India. While Sikkim has a population of less than 600,000, India has a rapidly growing population of 1.2 billion. Furthermore, once other Indian states see the huge revenues and tax receipts flowing into Sikkim, they are likely to follow suit. Internet penetration in India remains low by Western standards, but is soaring in the more affluent states.

A William Hill spokesman said: "I can confirm that we are interested in entering the Indian market and we are in discussions with potential partners at the moment." Under Indian law, foreign companies have to partner with a local joint venture operator to launch in the country. William Hill is thought to have held talks with Global Torrent International, based in Sikkim.

Betfair, the peer-to-peer betting exchange, is partnering with Agilisys Managed Services. Betfair, which declined to comment, and Bwin, which did not return calls, have had teams on the ground in India for some time.

A Ladbrokes spokesman said: "We are watching the space to see what happens because there are several partner opportunities to get a licence in the province of Sikkim." 888, which also declined to comment, is also considering bidding for a licence in Sikkim.

The only legal betting activities in India are horse racing, trackside at meetings, and gambling at casinos in just two states, Goa and Sikkim.

According to official figures, legal operators of casinos and horse racing operations make about $400m in revenue in India each year from an estimated total betting turnover of $20bn.

But on the black market - of which cricket accounts for more than half - the total value of bets waged in India each year is at least $40bn. As a result, illegal outfits generate combined operator revenues of about $2bn each year. Online accounts for only a fraction of the overall market.

As all black market betting in India is done on credit, the current default rate - where either bookies or customers do not pay - is estimated to be about 40 per cent, which is a key opportunity that foreign betting companies are keen to exploit. But a degree of uncertainty remains about how the Sikkim licence will apply outside the state. As online gambling will be illegal elsewhere, it is thought that anyone placing a bet with the licensed operators in Sikkim will be breaking the law. But it is believed that criminal liability will be with the customer and not the licence operator in Sikkim.

Playtech Introduces the New and Improved Poker Client

Playtech Introduces the New and Improved Poker Client

Wed Nov 4, 2009 

Online Poker 

 DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, November 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Playtech is

pleased to announce the release of a brand new version of its poker client,

deployed on iPoker, the world's largest poker network, with over 35,000

concurrent players, and on iPoker.it, already one of the leading Italian

networks. The new client boasts an innovative, intuitive design and a variety

of exciting fresh tools and features.

     The new poker lobby welcomes players with an appealing, user-friendly

interface. Improved, easy-to navigate search options enable players to find

their game of choice swiftly and simply from a broad menu of cash tables,

tournaments and casino side games.

    Player convenience is integral to the new design of the client and a

variety of functions have been incorporated that allow for unparalleled and

uninterrupted game-flow. One of the most significant improvements is the new

multi-currency option, available in British Pounds, USD and Euro, that frees

up players to enjoy the game in their local currency, and bypass the currency

conversion process. 

The new Auto top-up, linked to the cashier, is another user-friendly convenience tool, aimed at maintaining game momentum. Players sitting at multiple tables simultaneously can now define conditions automatically, for buying chips and for topping-up their stack at the end of a hand.

    Other innovations aimed at ensuring fun and fast-paced navigation and

game-play include a five-step quick seat functionality enabling players to

easily find a seat at the cash table or tournament of their choice. A hand

for hand mode function has been added to keep the game moving during the

bubble in multi-table tournaments. 

Additionally, the brand new tournament time-bank facilitates game flow and enhances the player to player experience by offering players a predefined allotment of extra time throughout the tournament.

    Another exciting enhancement is the new my buddies functionality, that

offers players full management of their buddies list. Notes about buddies can

now be added and viewed also when a buddy is offline.

Danny Frishman, Playtech's Head of Poker, notes: "We are delighted to

introduce the new Playtech Poker version which includes exciting, innovative

ideas that enrich our poker offering. Playtech is dedicated to anticipating

the needs of its licensees and their players and we aim to continue improving

our poker product, to ensure we remain at the forefront of developments in

the international online poker arena. This is only the first step in a far

reaching overhaul of the client. In the next version we look forward to

revamping the poker table and introducing a wealth of additional exciting

features and tools."

    About Playtech

    Playtech, the world's largest publicly traded online gaming software

supplier, develops industry leading platforms shaped to provide operators

with the added value and optimized business performance needed to capitalize on the growing world market for multi-activity gaming operations. Playtech has know-how garnered from years of experience in penetrating new markets and providing packages to suit the specifications of a diverse range of

countries.

The company also has extensive expertise working in regulated

markets, having established global credentials, and a reputation for

responsible and transparent gaming.    Website: http://www.playtech.com

Women Waiting for Their Viagra

OrlandoSentinel
Women Waiting for Their Viagra
Men's drug turns 10, females still hanging on.

Drugstores Online

Lindsay Lyon
Premium Health News Service

September 11, 2009

Happy birthday, Viagra. It's been a decade since Pfizer's lovechild was borne through the straits of regulatory approval. The little pill has helped millions of men reclaim their pride and their sex lives. It has also spawned progeny, in a sense, in the form of the erectile dysfunction drugs Levitra and Cialis. Men these days have little reason to let ED ruin a romp in the bedroom. Women, on the other hand, might not be as eager to celebrate.

After 10 years of buzz about a Viagra-like drug for women, nothing has been approved to date. Two companies are racing to change that. Both have active, advanced research programs working on prospective female libido drugs, one of which is available now to women who qualify to join a clinical trial.

Illinois-based BioSante Pharmaceuticals has launched several late-stage studies of a testosterone gel intended to remedy libido loss after menopause. About 100 U.S. medical institutions are now on board to test the drug's safety and effectiveness among thousands of women; volunteers, some of whom will unknowingly receive a placebo, are still being recruited.

Earlier trials found the gel useful in women bothered by low desire following medically needed surgery to remove their ovaries. (Those sex organs produce roughly half a woman's natural testosterone. Though often thought of as a "male hormone," testosterone is tied to libido in both sexes.) A dollop a day of the gel on their arm boosted the frequency of satisfying sexual events compared with a placebo.

An approved medication for low female libido may be in higher demand than Viagra ever was for men, says Stephen Simes, president and CEO of the company. His rationale: 1.4 million off-label testosterone prescriptions were written for women in 2006 alone. He forecasts the drug will be available by 2011, as long as no snags arise. (Women interested in enrolling in the trial can E-mail the company's investigators to see if they're eligible.)

A nonhormonal treatment is also on the horizon, with late-stage testing well underway. Boehringer Ingelheim's once-daily pill acts on serotonin receptors in the brain, which, after all, is the organ most heavily involved with sexual desire. Studies involve pre-menopausal women bothered by a low sex drive.

TOO SOON TO TELL. Still, excitement might be premature at this point, experts say. In 2004, a testosterone patch poised to be the first-ever treatment was denied approval by an FDA advisory committee. Long-term safety was a major worry. Procter and Gamble had demonstrated the patch's effectiveness with minimal side effects, but that couldn't shake concern that it might carry health risks down the line. After all, painkiller Vioxx had just been yanked off the market and the unforeseen ills of female hormone replacement therapy had recently surfaced.

"Before we approve a therapy that could be used by millions of women, I'd like to know that we're not going to hurt them, particularly when the benefit is modest," says Steven Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic ( Cleveland, Ohio), who was involved in deciding the patch's fate. "This is not a lack of sympathy for those who are unable to have a satisfying sexual relationship, but about balancing risks and benefits." The patch is approved in Europe.

One reason for the delay is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set its approval standards high: A drug for women must not only elicit desire but also yield an increased number of sexually satisfying events. That's a requirement that Viagra never had to meet, says Anita Clayton, professor of psychiatry at the University of Virginia, and coauthor of "Satisfaction: Women, Sex, and the Quest for Intimacy."

"I think the holdup is really our lack of understanding of female sexuality and applying this greater complexity to how we're studying potential treatments," says Clayton. "For women, a lot of our sexuality is above the neck, not below the waist," she says, which could explain why Viagra failed to produce results when tested in females. Viagra helps men with their most typical sexual problem--the inability to achieve and maintain an erection during sex--by causing blood to pool where it's needed. But female sex problems are more complicated and can be caused by a combination of hormonal, psychological, and interpersonal factors.

Nonetheless, treating patients will remain a difficult process until a product for women is approved, says Irwin Goldstein, director of sexual medicine at Alvarado Hospital, San Diego, California. Patients trek to his clinic from all corners of the country to seek a solution for their sexual woes.

When medically appropriate, Goldstein and other specialists prescribe testosterone products approved for men off-label in significant numbers of women like Bette (who asked that her last name not be used), whose levels of the hormone are deemed low by blood tests. Doses, of course, are scaled way back because men have much higher levels of the hormone to begin with (too much testosterone can cause acne, excess hair growth, and voice lowering in women).

"There are people who would like to go to their nearby doctor to get this care," says Goldstein. "Having a drug that's FDA approved would (make that possible)."

Some don't agree. A group of self-appointed feminists are doing everything they can to ensure that female libido drugs don't reach pharmacy shelves. "This is not what women want, and this is not what's in their best interest," says Leonore Tiefer, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, who's at the helm of this countermovement. Her view: It's normal for some healthy women to experience a decline in sexual interest, and it doesn't warrant medical treatment.

So much controversy, and pink Viagra hasn't even entered the world yet.

(BEGIN OPTIONAL SIDEBAR1)

FIVE THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT VIAGRA

Ten years ago, Viagra got the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's stamp of approval. Here are some facts about the little blue pill:

-- Roughly 1 billion Viagra tablets have been doled out since the drug debuted.

-- An average of about three Viagra tablets were dispensed each second between its launch and the end of last year.

-- Thirty-five million men worldwide have used Viagra, which remains the most commonly prescribed drug for erectile dysfunction.

-- The drug has been evaluated in more than 120 clinical trials involving more than 16,000 men.

-- Viagra was also tested in about 3,000 women as a potential treatment for sexual arousal disorders. But the trials were "inconclusive," and Pfizer announced in 2004 that it had stopped them.