• Kansas Lottery’s ‘Power Play Shopping Spree’ Promotion a great Success. Full Story
• Lottery Dynamics’ First Lotto Gold+ Game Drives Revenue Growth of 114%. Full Story
• Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. to Join the New Jersey Lottery at Giants’ Game to Award Winner a Custom Orange County Chopper™!. Full Story
• Best Wishes for the Festive Season to be Granted with SA Lotteries’ Christmas Wish Promotion. Full Story
• Scientific Games Awarded Contract in Mexico. Full Story
• Games, Inc. Announces Extension of Maryland Lottery Contract. Full Story
• Reidar Nordby Jr, Henry Chan and Gøran Wessberg Elected to the Advisory Board of .................Full Story
• Ready.... Set.... Jenga!®, MDI Acquires License to One of America’s Most Popular Table Games. Full Story
• Feature Article - An Exciting Year and More to Come – Looking Back on 2005 and Looking Ahead to the New Year. Full Story.

Kansas Lottery’s ‘Power Play Shopping Spree’ Promotion a great Success
TOPEKA, Kansas, USA (December 9, 2005) – Five Kansas Lottery players don't have to worry about finding the money for holiday gifts or holiday travel this year – they've won gift cards worth thousands of dollars to spend any way they choose.

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The Kansas Lottery held its “Power Play Shopping Spree” drawing today. One lucky player won the grand prize of a $10,000 VISA gift card. Four other players won $2,000 VISA gift cards.
The winners can use their gift cards anywhere VISA is accepted. Their prizes also include all state and federal mandatory withholding taxes.
Kansas Lottery players, who added Power Play to their Powerball purchase from Sept. 4 to Dec. 3, automatically received an entry form for the drawing. The Lottery received nearly 132,000 entries.
“We consider this promotion a great success,” said Lottery Executive Director Ed Van Petten. “A lot of players who were not familiar with Power Play tried it during the promotion, and sales of Power Play increased by 50 to 60 percent.”
Power Play is an option where players can elect to spend an additional dollar per play to multiply their prizes by two, three, four or five times (except for a jackpot or Match 5 Bonus prize). There are four slots each of 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the Power Play wheel, so the chances of the Power Play number being 5 are just as good as the number being 2. With the changes made in Powerball earlier this year, it's possible for a player to win $1 million by matching the first five numbers with a Power Play number of five.
For more information on Powerball and Power Play, other Kansas Lottery games, winning numbers, Kansas Lottery promotions and much more, visit www.kslottery.com.
SOURCE Kansas Lottery.
CONTACT: Sally Lunsford (785) 296-5708, Email: sally.lunsford@kslottery.net.

Lottery Dynamics’ First Lotto Gold+ Game Drives Revenue Growth of 114%

IRVING, Texas, USA (December 15, 2005) -- In a milestone event for Lottery Dynamics LLC and lottery players around the world, Lottery Dynamics announced the successful launch of the first game based on its patented Lotto Gold+™ program of multiple-priced tickets and guaranteed-higher starting jackpots within a single Lotto offering. 

Lottery Dynamics' unique new game – Super 9

The unique new game – Super 9 – was created and launched as a joint effort of Lottery Dynamics and The Instituto Provincial De Loteria y Casinos (IPLyC) in Misiones, Argentina, to revitalize sales of the province’s daily draw game through player choice and player value. This game offers a guaranteed starting jackpot of $4 million Pesos, the highest starting jackpot ever offered in Argentina or any other Latin American lottery. The jackpot is progressive and increases beyond the guaranteed $4 million Pesos with rollovers.

The Super 9 game replaces the one-peso Quiniela Poceada with a three-level betting strategy of one, two or three pesos with respective starting jackpots of $1 million Pesos, $2 million Pesos and $4 million Pesos. The Quiniela Poceada had a starting jackpot of $100,000 Pesos. Lottery Dynamics and IPLyC also designed a state-of-the-art daily program incorporating SmartPlay’s machines for Super 9’s nationwide televised drawings.

In the initial period since its launch Nov. 23rd  to great fanfare in Misiones, total revenues have soared 114%, driven by a 67% increase in ticket volume and a dramatic increase of the average price point from $1.00 Peso to $1.28 Pesos, up 28%.

Initial data indicates that 20 percent of player transactions have migrated to $2.00 Peso and $3.00 Peso tickets.

 “The launch of Super 9 has been a great success for IPLyC and for our company,” said Stephan Egli, President of Lottery Dynamics. “The results clearly speak for themselves! Most importantly, we were able to demonstrate that our programs of player choice and player value are a profit-enhancing solution that can be implemented by any lottery around the globe. A key point to remember is that this significant increase in sales volume was accomplished without any sacrifice to the lottery’s traditional game margins.”

The game has seen increased volume at all three ticket-price levels “confirming that the much-higher jackpot prizes provided by the Lotto Gold+™ program attracts new players at the higher price points as opposed to shifting ticket sales from the $1.00-Peso or $1-dollar player,” Egli added.

Speaking at the pre-launch press conference in Argentina, Engineer Eduardo Torres, President of IPLyC, noted that “Super 9 will make history in Misiones and the rest of the country. It is a game that will have millionaire prizes on a daily basis which is something new to Argentina. We have the support of the people of Misiones, the agents and many other Argentinean provinces. The increased revenue from Super 9 will allow the Institute to provide better attention to the good will entities that it supports.”

With Super 9, players are also enjoying five prize levels vs three previously and many more chances to win. Lottery Dynamics was able to significantly increase the players’ “winning experiences” in Super 9 with one ticket in 68 being a winner, vs 1 in 1444 with the Quiniela. Additionally, the secondary prizes are all fixed at specific levels so that players always know in advance what they are playing for.

Significantly, the new game offers the players in Misiones - a province with only 1.5 million people - the chance to become a millionaire six days a week. The higher starting jackpots and additional prize levels are made possible by the assumption of the prize risk by Lottery Dynamics.

Argentina is a country of 38 million people comprised of 24 provinces, each with its own lottery. Several provinces are currently discussing joining Misiones’ Super 9 game.

Super 9 is a 9 of 20 game played with a draw of 20 balls out of a universe of 100. Players select nine numbers when they purchase a ticket and all nine must be correct to win the jackpot. Additional prizes are awarded for picking 8,7,6 or 5 correct numbers.

About Lottery Dynamics:
Lottery Dynamics LLC, based in Irving, Texas, is a company with a mission to re-energize lotto and other lottery games with proprietary programs highlighting player choice, player value and player excitement. The company’s programs work with any matrix and any currency around the world and are designed to build lottery profits by 40-100 percent over current levels.

SOURCE: Lottery Dynamics LLC media release.
CONTACT: Karen Lazarovic, VP Corporate Communications, Email: klazarovic@lotterydynamics.com.

Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. to Join the New Jersey Lottery at Giants’ Game to Award Winner a Custom Orange County Chopper™!

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, USA (December 13, 2005) -- Oberthur Gaming Technologies (“OGT”) partners with the New Jersey Lottery, along with Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr. of Orange County Choppers™ (“OCC”), Saturday, December 17, 2005 at the Meadowlands Stadium to award a New Jersey lottery player his custom Orange County Chopper. The player won the bike by entering the Lottery’s 2nd chance drawing from its OCC instant game. Paul Teutul Sr. and his son Paul Jr., the stars of OCC, will be presenting the winner of the drawing with a custom autographed bike on the football field before the start of the Giants-Chiefs football game.

The New Jersey Lottery was the first to launch an OCC ticket, OGT’s exclusive licensed brand, in April 2005. OGT managed the Lottery’s second chance drawing program including Web site management that awarded players OCC branded merchandise. “Feedback from New Jersey lottery players was extremely positive, especially among the many Orange County Chopper fans,” said Foster Krupa, New Jersey Lottery’s Marketing, Instant, and Online Manager. “The most exciting part about running this game is being able to give away the most unique prize New Jersey has ever given – a custom Orange County Chopper. Plus, awarding this prize at the Giants’ game with the Teutuls really makes this special.”

When 51-year-old grand prize winner, Joe Van Vooren from Hackettstown , New Jersey found out he won the Orange County Chopper, he summed it up by saying, “Are you kidding? This is every red-blooded-American-male’s dream come true.” Van Vooren entered the drawing with non-winning OCC lottery tickets. “This whole thing is unbelievable! Not only did I win an OCC bike, I get to meet the guys from OCC and stand on my favorite football team’s field. Let’s just say I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights.”

OGT worked with the New Jersey Lottery to pull together the Award presentation and coordinated with OCC for the Teutuls’ appearance at the Giants’ game to present the custom chopper to Van Vooren making his dream come true. “OGT is elated to be a part of this special event,” said Carla Schaefer, Vice-President, New Business Development at OGT. “New Jersey is such a great Lottery to work with, making it easy for us to help them bring together one of the biggest promotional events of the year.”

The Giants game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, December 17, and will be televised on CBS.

About Oberthur Gaming Technologies
With more than 35 years of lottery-specific expertise and over a century's experience in the security printing industry, Oberthur Gaming Technologies is the world’s leader in the printing of innovative instant lottery tickets. Comprehensive services include strategic game planning and innovative conceptual design with OGT’s Dream Team™, mobile gaming, Cyber Games™ as well as state-of-the-art Global Operations and Lottery Distribution System (GOLDS). OGT currently supplies a full range of high quality products and services to 100 clients in some 50 countries. The company has production units or offices in Montreal, Canada; San Antonio, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the U.S.; Paris, France; Vienna, Austria; and Sydney, Australia.

About Orange County Choppers™
Headquartered in Montgomery, N.Y., Orange County Choppers is regarded as one of the world’s premier builders of custom motorcycles. The OCC brand has become one of the most recognizable brands in the world and has produced a wide array of merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, diecasts, assorted novelty items, and more. Orange County Choppers is featured weekly on the Discovery Channel program, “American Chopper” and continues to be the network’s number one rated show.  For more information, visit www.orangecountychoppers.com.

SOURCE: Lyse Trudel, Communications Officer, Oberthur Gaming Technologies,  (+1-514) 254-3600, ext. 101, Email: lyse.trudel@mtl.oberthurgt.com.
For information: Vicki Smith, Sales Support Specialist, Liz Johnson, New Business Coordinator, Oberthur Gaming Technologies – USA (+1-210) 509-9999, ext 236,  (+1-210) 509-9999, ext. 119. For New Jersey Lottery: Foster Krupa, Marketing, Instant & Online Product Manager, (+1-609) 599-5878, Email: foster.krupa@lottery.state.nj.us. For Orange County Choppers: Michele Paolella, Director of Public Relations, (+1-845) 457-1992 ext. 1006, Email: michele@orangecountychoppers.com.

Best Wishes for the Festive Season to be Granted with SA Lotteries’ Christmas Wish Promotion

ADELAIDE, South Australia (December 12, 2005) -- SA Lotteries has teamed up with local radio station Triple M to make wishes come true for even more South Australians this Christmas. 

From Saturday 10 December until Thursday 22 December, SA Lotteries and Triple M are giving listeners the chance to fulfill their dreams for Christmas by registering their wishes on the Triple M website at http://www.mytriplem.com.au/shows/jsc/christmas/index.php.

SA Lotteries will grant the Christmas wish of one lucky local each weekday from Monday 19 December until Friday 23 December.

SA Lotteries has been turning dreams into reality for 38 years, with the South Australian community benefiting from the contribution of more than $1.6 billion to the State Hospitals Fund. 

And with tickets now on sale for the RECORD $32 million New Year’s Eve Lotto Megadraw, SA Lotteries hopes to make wishes come true for more lucky locals, who may see in the New Year as millionaires.

SOURCE: SA Lotteries media release.
CONTACT: Rebekah Payne, Promotions Manager, Telephone: +61 8 8208 4378.

Scientific Games Awarded Contract in Mexico

NEW YORK, USA (December 13, 2005) -- Scientific Games [Nasdaq:SGMS] has been awarded a contract to provide technical support, hardware and consulting services to Apuestas Internacionales SA, a subsidiary of Grupo Televisa, S.A. [NYSE:TV], in connection with its number draw-based and related games. The contract has an initial term of eight years plus an option for a two-year extension. Scientific Games will be compensated based on percentage of revenue derived by Apuestas Internacionales SA. The operation is expected to launch during the first half of 2006.

“We are especially pleased to start this operation with Apuestas Internacionales in Mexico, where we look forward to being as successful as with our customers in the United States” said Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games.

Apuestas Internacionales recently obtained a permit from the Secretaría de Gobernación, or Mexican Ministry of the Interior, to operate sport books and number draws, including the establishment of 65 locations throughout Mexico.

About Scientific Game
Scientific Games Corporation is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut and the Netherlands and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. Scientific Games’ customers are in the United States and more than 60 other countries. For more information about Scientific Games, please visit our web site at www.scientificgames.com.

SOURCE: Scientific Games Corporation.
Company CONTACT: Investor Relations, Phone: 212-754-2233.

Games, Inc. Announces Extension of Maryland Lottery Contract

CINCINNATI, Ohio, USA (December 13, 2005) -- Games, Inc. (OTC BB: GMSI) announced today that its VIP Club and Related Services Contract with the Maryland Lottery has been extended for another year, through November 9, 2006.

The contract was originally awarded through a bid process on October 21, 2004, and covers services provided for the creation and implementation of an Internet-based VIP Club. These services include database management, e-mail and text messaging services and other customer relationship management services.

"Games, Inc. is very pleased to have this opportunity to continue to work with the Maryland Lottery," said Dennis Kennedy, President of the Games, Inc. Lottery Division.

Cincinnati, Ohio-based, Games, Inc. owns and operates a portfolio of online portals focused on the delivery of interactive entertainment and content to consumers. The Company features two community-focused online game sites as well as proprietary games for purchase-and-download, conventional online play, peer-to-peer and tournament game play. Games, Inc. also features a digital greetings site and a site and proprietary back-end system for the online facilitation and reporting of state and provincially-sponsored Lotteries. Revenues are largely driven by online advertising and subscriptions; however, proprietary content delivery and decremented payment systems will enable software licensing to become a component of the revenue mix alongside merchandise and lottery-driven commissions. For more information, please visit the Company's corporate website, www.gamesinc.net, or their portfolio sites, www.gameland.com, www.skillmoney.com, www.lottery.com and www.cards.com or contact Sue Craner at investorrelations@gamesinc.net.

SOURCE: Games, Inc. media release.
CONTACT: Sue Craner, Phone: (513) 721-3900, email: investorrelations@gamesinc.net.

Reidar Nordby Jr, Henry Chan and Gøran Wessberg Elected to the Advisory Board of Strategic Development at the China Center for Lottery Studies, Peking University

Reidar Nordby jr., President of WLA, Professor Shen Ming Ming, and Dr. Wang Xuehong, both of The China Center for Lottery Studies

NORWAY (December 14, 2005) -- President of the World Lottery Association, Reidar Nordby Jr, President of the Asian Pacific Lottery Association, Henry Chan, and Gøran Wessberg of the WLA Academy Program have been appointed to the advisory board of The China Center for Lottery Studies (CCLS)at Peking University. 

The appointment ceremony took place during the International Conference on Gaming Industry and The Public Welfare this past week in Sanya, South China. 

Peking University is one of few academic institutions with a solid curriculum within gaming-related studies.  The tenure of the appointment is three years 

SOURCE: Peer J. Svenkerud, Senior Vice-President Public Affairs, Norsk Tipping AS.

Ready.... Set.... Jenga!®, MDI Acquires License to One of America’s Most Popular Table Games

ALPHARETTA, Georgia, USA (December 15, 2005) -- Lottery players will tumble for a new Jenga® instant ticket now that MDI Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS), has acquired the license to the popular building game for nimble fingers.

Under the agreement with Pokonobe Associates, MDI has the worldwide rights for Jenga lottery games, including Jenga Throw n Go, Jenga Truth or Dare, Jenga Casino, Jenga Jacks and Jenga Extreme.

"For two decades, Jenga has been an acknowledged board game classic and a staple game in homes and college dorm rooms across the country and worldwide, and its popularity is greater than ever," said Steve Saferin, MDI President. "Young adults have latched onto this game and brought it to the top of pop culture. We believe lotteries will be thrilled with the new audience this game will attract."

Jenga is the original wooden block tower building game that was debuted by Hasbro in 1986. In the original game, players take turns removing one of the 54 wooden blocks of a solid 18-layer tower to place the block on top and build the tower taller, story-by-story. As the blocks are removed and re-added, the tower gets less stable and shakier. The winner is the last player to remove a block without making the tower fall. The world record for the original games stands at 40 2/3 stories! Subsequent versions of Jenga have combined this game classic with card games, truth-or-dare style group play, casino style gaming, and extreme stacking challenges.

Pokonobe Associates partner David Grebler notes that he and his partners, Paul Eveloff and Robert Grebler, are pleased to have their premier Jenga property associated with MDI Entertainment and Scientific Games Corp., the leading companies in their field. "Jenga always has stood for the highest quality and best play value, and we look forward through this relationship to making the Jenga experience available to lottery players worldwide.”

Unique to Jenga, Lotteries can host Jenga "tournaments" as a fun and creative way to launch the new game. MDI's integrated marketing staff can assist lotteries with organizing the tournaments, bringing in celebrity Jenga judges and awarding prizes. For nearly 10 years, schools, clubs and non-profit groups have hosted these fast-paced and suspenseful tournaments for fund raising and publicity purposes. Tournaments like these have been extremely successful for lotteries in the past and have garnered significant PR and press coverage.

About Pokonobe Associates
Pokonobe Associates holds worldwide rights to the Jenga game and all related patents, trademarks and copyrights. Manufacture and distribution of Jenga board game products is through Hasbro and its affiliates worldwide, as well as Tomy in Japan. Jenga games are sold in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

About Scientific Games
Scientific Games Corporation (www.scientificgames.com) is the leading integrated supplier of instant tickets, systems and services to lotteries, and the leading supplier of wagering systems and services to pari-mutuel operators. It is also a licensed pari-mutuel gaming operator in Connecticut and the Netherlands, and is a leading supplier of prepaid phone cards to telephone companies. MDI Entertainment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scientific Games Corporation, is the worldwide leader in licensed lottery games and promotions.

SOURCE: MDI Entertainment media release.
CONTACT:  Jeff Schweig, Phone: 678-297-5212

An Exciting Year and More to Come – Looking Back on 2005 and Looking Ahead to the New Year
MECN’s 2005 Review and 2006 Outlook of the Gambling and Gaming Industry

Article provided By: Media & Entertainment Consulting Network GmbH. (MECN)

LONDON, United Kingdom (December 14, 2005) -- We have been tracking the media and entertainment industry for quite a while now, and we have seldom seen any industry sector moving and shaking as much as today’s gambling and gaming sectors. Therefore, we would like to review the highlights of 2005 and look ahead to what is in store in the coming year. Let’s begin with our review of an exciting year.

2005 – The year that was
We saw the gambling industry coming out of the shadows of the economy and becoming one of the rising stars of the stock markets. We witnessed private operators attacking state monopolies - sometimes successfully and sometimes not - and we saw state operators reacting to this threat. We realized that cross-border gambling will slowly become a reality, and more state operators will more and more hand over operative responsibilities for their businesses to private companies. All in all, 2005 was full of groundbreaking developments shaping the industry – we will highlight some of the most important ones.

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Online poker – IPOs and Svenska Spel
Online poker is a phenomenon that has been closely watched by many industry experts for quite a while now. But it was not until Party Gaming’s IPO, one of the biggest ever in London, that the world took notice. Suddenly online gambling was THE topic at stock markets all over the world. Many other IPOs followed, and stock prices of almost all online operators rose to P/E ratios previously known only from the good old Internet boom times. But as in all booms, many investors are on tenterhooks and anxiously wait for signs of decline and market saturation - but until now there has not been much to worry about. What came as a surprise was the quick reaction of one of the forerunners of the state-controlled operators to the new threat of online gambling. As Scandinavia is one of the key regions for online poker, the Swedish state lottery Svenska Spel just recently announced its plans to launch its own online poker offer, which is expected to bring about USD 40 million annually to the Swedish state coffers. The question now is whether other state operators will follow this strategy.

Gambelli, Gambelli, and no end in sight
What started in November 2003 with the advocate general of the European Court of Justice outlining his opinion in the Gambelli case seems to have become a never-ending story. Almost every month each side (state vs. private operators) can celebrate some kind of small victory.On the one hand, several European supreme courts (e.g., Italy, Netherlands, …) decided in favor of the state monopolies and gambling was once again excluded from the EU-wide service directive. On the other hand, many national decisions are still pending (e.g., Germany), and the EU commission continues to be concerned about pursuing a common gambling market and regularly calls on countries to justify their regulations. At the moment the conflict seems undecided with no conclusive decision in sight.

Privatization – staying competitive
It seems to happen quietly and without wide public notice – privatization of state-controlled gambling operators. The reasons are manifold and range from filling empty state budgets to trying to stay competitive in an increasingly tough market. More and more state operators are now owned and operated by private companies and shareholders. The list is already quite long and includes the Who-is-Who of state-controlled gambling (e.g., UK National Lottery / Camelot, OPAP, Asian Berjaya, …). More privatizations are expected. In fact, more than 70% of gambling experts questioned in a recent survey anticipate an increase of privatizations in the gambling industry in the near future. Among the privatization prospects mentioned were Milli Piyango, the UK Tote, and a large number of casinos in Germany as well as many state operations in developing countries.

Macau – where Asia beats Las Vegas
What poker is for online gambling Macau is for land-based casinos. Macau has long had a flourishing entertainment and casino industry, and with more than USD 4 billion in gambling revenue it will unseat Las Vegas as the Mecca of gambling. Three gambling licenses were signed with private operators, and more and more US large players (e.g., Wynn) open new mega-casinos in what is believed to be Asia’s gambling hub.

More to come next year – looking ahead to 2006

The carefully thought out revenge of the state operators
For a long time the state monopolies were slow in reacting to threats such as online gambling. Many private operators would like to see state monopolies minimizing their marketing efforts in order to focus solely on curbing the passion for gambling. But the truth is quite different – state monopolies have to advertise and have to expand their portfolio. Particularly in the Internet sector, an expansive strategy is in some cases a must and not just an option. In order to curb the passion for gambling and bring it under the control of state authorities, jurisdictions have to prevent that more and more customers turn to hard-to-control Internet offers, which are sometimes operated in hidden and small jurisdictions. However, this does not mean that state operators themselves should begin to develop and launch new products before even private operators do so; three rules should apply:

1. Only react and do not initiate action – only launch a product if competitors have already introduced something similar.
2. But react much faster – it is not acceptable that it takes even forerunners among state operators 3-5 years to launch products after private operators have already done so (e.g., online poker).
3. Always analyze the legitimacy of expansive strategies – some expansions are necessary while others are only intended to fill state coffers.

Private companies will take over sales for state operators Sales for state lotteries have long since been handled by private companies. Most of these were little shops, which in return for 5%-8% commission sold the entire product portfolio of the state lottery – a system implemented around the globe. But this arrangement is changing rapidly, and large companies are increasingly taking control of entire retail channels. Sometimes they develop new sales channels, as Tipp24 did for the Internet; sometimes they develop and sell new product bundles, and sometimes they just use their massive retail network (e.g., Lottomatica). This trend will continue as state lotteries are seldom sales experts and competition forces them to look for private companies whose key competence is sales, sales, and sales.

Casual Gaming
With other growth sectors in the gambling industry maturing, the search is on for other, as yet unpolished gambling gems. According to many experts, casual gamblers and gamers are the ones who will trigger the next growth spurt in the industry. The casual gambling and gaming sector includes many offerings ranging from bingo and skill-based games, such as Solitaire, to the “Betfair Light Version” on Yahoo. Although some of the casual gambling and gaming offers have already been in existence for several years, the industry has only recently begun to focus on them.

Betting and the soccer world championship
The betting market will continue to grow, pushed by online offers and the soccer world championship in 2006. Before the start of the championship in summer many operators will launch new offers (e.g., live betting), and advertising and media coverage will be reaching new heights. New players probably will successfully enter the betting market, and others will likely fall by the wayside because they cannot not live up to what their share prices promise.

Consolidation in P2P pushed by investors
Liquidity is everything when it comes to the p2p business, and the two major gambling p2p models – betting exchanges and online poker – are no exception. That’s why in both markets there are dominant market players, Betfair for betting exchanges and Party Poker for online poker. Most of the other offers make a decent living but nothing that thrills big-time investors such as private equity companies. And these investors make their money by buying several companies offering the same product, consolidating to realize synergies, and then selling the company again. If you think betting exchanges and online poker would be of interest to such investors, you’re absolutely right.

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More IPOs to come?
It would be nice if there were an endless supply of investment money for the gambling industry. But the reality is that hardly any other industry has to fight as many objections as the gambling industry: no oil money can be invested due to sharia-compliant investment rules, and there is little money from “politically correct” US investors. While that leaves more profit to be divided among fewer investors, it limits the total amount of money available from institutional investors. Traditional gambling companies such as Harrah’s take a big chunk of that money, and rising stars such as Party Gaming and Sportingbet take most of the rest. So will there be enough investment money for many future IPOs to come? We doubt it and so did probably Betfair, which cancelled its IPO a few weeks ago and lost its CEO and CFO in the process.

So we can expect a lot for the months to come. MECN wishes you and your family a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Related MECN reports:

• Online Poker
• Driving Gambling to New Heights
• Privatization of state-controlled gambling operators
• Betting Exchanges - The eBay of the Betting Industry
• Betfair - the betting exchange to beat
• The German betting market
• The European Union and its Impact on State-Licensed Gambling Monopolies
• Investing in the Gambling/Gaming Industry
• Potential investors and investment targets in the gambling/gaming industry

About MECN:
MECN is a network of experts in the media and entertainment industry that offers its clients detailed expertise and analyses regarding business strategies.

SOURCE: MECN – Media & Entertainment Consulting Network GmbH. (www.mecn.net)
CONTACT: Martin Oelbermann, Tel: +49(0)89 3835 6785, e-mail: pr@mecn.net

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