Article about Betholdem not good!!!!!!

[oober]

Thought any BH players need to know....

http://www.eog.com/news/industry.aspx?id=10548

Glad I got most of my money out before the freeze. Might lose 500, but least I can stomach that...

[boondoggle]

bodog buys them (http://www.eog.com/news/industry.aspx?id=10554)

All is well.

cheers
Boon

[oober]

If this is true that's great. FIngers crossed!!!!!!!!!

[MLSchaff]

Thank you, Calvin!

BODOG ACQUIRES BETWWTS FOR 9 MILLION DOLLARS, WWTS NETS 4 MILLION
written October 19, 2006

EOG has been informed that BODOG paid 9 million dollars for BETWWTS.com. As we reported on Wednesday, the deal had already been consummated but not all the paper work had been completed.

The higher up executives from BetWWTS arrived back in Antigua yesterday afternoon with smiles on their faces.

According to "inside" sources, and these are all ballpark figures, here is the breakdown of the deal.

WWTS had a post up debt of 9 million.

WWTS had a $1 million dollar debt to its software providers.

WWTS had $5 million coming to them within the next 6 months from "receivables" and from "processors."

Therefore, their net liability is/was $5 million dollars.

Bodog paid $9 million dollars to acquire Betwwts.com.

WWTS walks away from deal with a net of $4 million dollars plus whatever cash they had on hand (approximately 2-4 million)...

We suspect this is not only good news for gamblers and punters, but we believe their stock will go UP once this news breaks "officially" and assuming our sources are correct of course...

written by Kenneth B. Weitzner

copyright--EOG

[MLSchaff]

And another one - this time from gambling911.com

BetWWTS.com sold for $9 million
The sale for BetCorp's, BetWWTS.com, has been complete with an announcement forthcoming either later Thursday or some time Friday. BetWWTS.com has been sold for $9 million, including the company's infrastructure.

All details will be provided by Friday in regard to this sale, though more information could be available by Thursday afternoon.

Melbourne-based Betcorp said it had suspended its US operations after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was signed into law by US President George Bush last Friday.

Betcorp said it was "unable to sell its US operations prior to the act coming into force", given that both the ASX listing rules and the AIM Rules required any such transaction to be conditional upon shareholder approval.

"Having taken legal and regulatory advice, the company's board were unanimously of the view that the company should comply with this requirement," it said.

Three parties had been vying for the purchase of BetWWTS.com according to Gambling911.com sources.

---

Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published October 19, 2006 10:09 am ET

[portisfreak]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you, Calvin!

[/ QUOTE ]

Something very wierd about hearing that statement...

[Little_Luck]

Then you didn't have money in a WWTS account

[[censored]]

so how much poker traffic will this add to bodog?

[MLSchaff]

Looks like this will add roughly zero traffic to Bodog. I believe their poker traffic between Bet Holdem and 123Poker was relatively small compared to Bodog anyway. This purchase has nothing to do with poker, and apparently nothing to do with US customers at all based on the newest article.

Here's the latest from gambling911:

BetCorp sale of BetWWTS.com announcement anticipated Friday
A $9 million sale of BetWWTS.com still needed final approval on Thursday by BetCorp and its shareholders but the pending sale - expected to be officially announced on Friday - will leave BetWWTS.com US customers quite happy.

Gambling911.com has been careful not to name the company that is purchasing BetWWTS.com out of fears the deal may be negatively impacted.

"We will cover their (US customers of BetWWTS.com) balances," said the founder of company finalizing purchase of BetWWTS.com. Everyone gets paid, he reassured Gambling911.com.

However, the company in question has no intent on keeping the BetWWTS.com US facing business in tact. They are purchasing the group for its European infrastructure and customer base.

"We are not buying that business (the US customer base of BetWWTS)," he said. "They (BetCorp) are closing down the US facing business on the advice of
their lawyers."

Originally we were told an announcement would be forthcoming on Thursday. A delay has pushed that back to Friday.

Gambling911.com can also report that BetWWTS.com founder and a major shareholder in BetCorp, Bill Scott, had also been involved in serious negotiations to buy back the company. A group of Antiguan based businessmen - possibly including Hayden Ware of World Sports Exchange - were also involved in discussions to purchase BetWWTS.com.

Gambling911.com has advised its readers that we fully believe monies would be safe and have left BetWWTS.com as a Gambliing911.com Certified Sportsbook as a means of instilling confidence in our readership base. Gambling911.com is likely to lose a significant revenue stream as a result of the purchasing firm's intent to dissolve the brand however. Once a deal is announced, Gambling911.com is likely to remove the brand at that time.

It is widely anticipated that US customers monies will be returned early next week.

----

Christopher Costigan, www.gambling911.com (http://www.gambling911.com)

Originally published October 19, 2006 10:41 pm ET

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
so how much poker traffic will this add to bodog?

[/ QUOTE ]

Prima is pretty deserted in general when it comes to limit. A few 5/10+ tables a night. Lower limits are better but not by much. And bet holdem is only part of that network.

In all likelihood, this is much more about the sports book then about poker.

[MLSchaff]

Here's the official announcement:

http://content.sininter.com/2006-10-20%20Disposal%20of%20Gaming%20Operations%20v3%20FI NAL.pdf

The upshot is that our accounts are still frozen until November 15 at the earliest, which is when the shareholder meeting to approve the sale is expected to be held. Assuming they are unfrozen then, I would guess it will take another couple weeks at least before the money is paid out. I'm not counting on getting my cash until December. What a load of crap.

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
The upshot is that our accounts are still frozen until November 15 at the earliest, which is when the shareholder meeting to approve the sale is expected to be held. Assuming they are unfrozen then, I would guess it will take another couple weeks at least before the money is paid out. I'm not counting on getting my cash until December. What a load of crap.

[/ QUOTE ]
If I understand correctly, Bodog has agreed to pay out our account balances which virtually assures that we will be paid assuming the deal is completed.

This is an extremely good outcome considering that BetCorp is apparently insolvent and unable to borrow money or raise any more capital.

Bodog is a hero for preventing a default on customer accounts that would have enormously damaged the online gambling industry.

[MLSchaff]

Yes, it does appear that Calvin Ayre has come to our rescue on this one. But another month before we get our $ is brutal when we were told over and over and over by anyone involved with Betholem and Bet WWTS that 1) they were staying in the U.S. market and would continue business as usual, and then when that was proven to be false that 2) our funds would be release any day now. any day. just give us a couple days. should be next week. etc., etc., etc.

[oober]

[ QUOTE ]
Here's the official announcement:

http://content.sininter.com/2006-10-20%20Disposal%20of%20Gaming%20Operations%20v3%20FI NAL.pdf

The upshot is that our accounts are still frozen until November 15 at the earliest, which is when the shareholder meeting to approve the sale is expected to be held. Assuming they are unfrozen then, I would guess it will take another couple weeks at least before the money is paid out. I'm not counting on getting my cash until December. What a load of crap.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pathetic that they stalled us until they froze our accts. You would think as operating a Prima/Microgaming skin, Prima would not allow one of its operators to do this.... I have not been able to find any statement from them.... Just glad I got most out 3 days before the freeze... Bastards....
Screw Bet Corp and Screw Microgaming. I will never play that network again after this is all over....

It's amazing anyone will trust there money there after that, US or NOn US players.....

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
You would think as operating a Prima/Microgaming skin, Prima would not allow one of its operators to do this

[/ QUOTE ]
Prima manage its network responsibly? You must be new around here /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Seriously, Prima used to be the worst run network on Earth. I'd say it has improved in the last year so that it now ranks as merely "Poor". But this Betholdem black eye is another huge setback for them.

Nowadays however I must concede that Ongame has far exceeded anything Prima ever accomplished and is truly in a class by itself when it comes to network mismanagement.

Prediction: Within one year there will be a scandal involving a small Ongame skin deceiving network operations by covertly signing up U.S. residents.

[Pokeraddict]

[ QUOTE ]
Prediction: Within one year there will be a scandal involving a small Ongame skin deceiving network operations by covertly signing up U.S. residents.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a feeling several licensees will not go down quietly and will certainly have back doors. The thing is will Bet and Win care? That is the question.

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Prediction: Within one year there will be a scandal involving a small Ongame skin deceiving network operations by covertly signing up U.S. residents.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a feeling several licensees will not go down quietly and will certainly have back doors. The thing is will Bet and Win care? That is the question.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know the in and outs of their contracts with ongame, but if the skins want US players they could just head for another network.

[oober]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You would think as operating a Prima/Microgaming skin, Prima would not allow one of its operators to do this

[/ QUOTE ]
Prima manage its network responsibly? You must be new around here /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Seriously, Prima used to be the worst run network on Earth. I'd say it has improved in the last year so that it now ranks as merely "Poor". But this Betholdem black eye is another huge setback for them.

Nowadays however I must concede that Ongame has far exceeded anything Prima ever accomplished and is truly in a class by itself when it comes to network mismanagement.

Prediction: Within one year there will be a scandal involving a small Ongame skin deceiving network operations by covertly signing up U.S. residents.

[/ QUOTE ]

New to this forum, but have played Prima for 4yrs and never had a problem till now....Just sad that people practice business in such a manner.....
Prima has lost a customer for life and I will tell all any fellow poker player to never play there...

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You would think as operating a Prima/Microgaming skin, Prima would not allow one of its operators to do this

[/ QUOTE ]
Prima manage its network responsibly? You must be new around here /images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Seriously, Prima used to be the worst run network on Earth. I'd say it has improved in the last year so that it now ranks as merely "Poor". But this Betholdem black eye is another huge setback for them.

Nowadays however I must concede that Ongame has far exceeded anything Prima ever accomplished and is truly in a class by itself when it comes to network mismanagement.

Prediction: Within one year there will be a scandal involving a small Ongame skin deceiving network operations by covertly signing up U.S. residents.

[/ QUOTE ]

New to this forum, but have played Prima for 4yrs and never had a problem till now....Just sad that people practice business in such a manner.....
Prima has lost a customer for life and I will tell all any fellow poker player to never play there...

[/ QUOTE ]

Oober, what would you expect Prima/Microgaming to do?... they are the network provider... it is Betcorp management making the bad decisions here...

Poker only accounted for 3.5mil in revenue to Betcorp during the first 6 months of 2006; this is likely a much larger issue for sports bettors.

By the way, in July Betcorp purchased Oasis Sportsbook & Casino for $9.76mil... so that should give you an idea of what Bodog is purchasing here.

For those interested, Betcorp has 100% controlling interest in the following entities:

BCL (Asia) Pty Limited, Australia
Applewick Holdings Ltd, Cyprus
Tasman Gaming Inc., Antigua
W.W.I. AQ Limited, Antigua
Betcorp (UK) Limited, United Kingdom
Tasman Investments Inc, Antigua
Swan Holdings, Antigua
Tartar Sauce Investments Ltd, Antigua
Cyber Processing Corp. Ltd, Gibraltar
Sinsational Intertainment Inc., Antigua
Cyber Processing Corp. Ltd, St. Kitt’s & Nevis
Betcorp Canada Inc., Canada
Oasis Antigua Holdings Inc., Antigua

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't know the in and outs of their contracts with ongame, but if the skins want US players they could just head for another network.

[/ QUOTE ]
You are right that the big players on Ongame will either ban U.S. residents or move on to someplace where their American customers are welcome.

But put yourself in the shoes of many of the tiny online poker rooms with nothing going for them and virtually no customers. If Ongame succeeds in eliminating U.S. residents from the network, then any skin that manages to break the embargo has a big selling point. You could make a lot of money doing that because you would have a monopoly on U.S. access to Ongame.

The only problem is that anything truly good always winds up in A/R or the Zoo by the end of the week and then it's spoiled /images/graemlins/tongue.gif.

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
You could make a lot of money doing that because you would have a monopoly on U.S. access to Ongame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Stellar, but what is that really worth... the only people taking advantage of it would be US Sharks.

Is the Ongame non-US player pool so attractive to enough US Sharks to make a skin want to run the risk of not only being shut down by the network, but also sued?

[MLSchaff]

I'm not sure why all the Prima/Microgaming bashing over the Betholdem issues.

I actually like the fact that Microgaming has stayed out of the decision of accepting or rejecting U.S. customers unlike Crypto, Ongame, B2B, etc. Microgaming is really just a software/backoffice provider. I think they are doing the right thing by allowing their skins to make their own decisions. The fact that BetCorp made bad decisions does not in my mind reflect on the network. I've got a fair amount of money stuck with Bet Holdem.

But it didn't stop me from moving over to a different Prima skin because that network offers me what I want - the ability to play during the day against Eurofish, high rakeback, and daily rakeback cashout.

So I'm quite happy for Microgaming to not make a statement. Keep the status quo for as long as possible. Let the skins decide.