Sportingbet may be pessimistic about this year’s World Cup, but it’s doing some serious jonesing on the European basketball front. Euro-roundball currently accounts for 5.7% of the outfit’s sports betting revenues, but CEO Andrew McIver wants to see that figure rise to 10%. Perhaps they could ask 7′1″ retired Serbian superstar Vlade Divac to help them reach the top shelf… Read more.

Vieri bad day for the punterSportingbet has reported a welcome 7% rise in second-quarter profits but is not expecting any favours from betting on the World Cup this summer – other than the obvious boost to turnover. “Bookmakers don’t tend to make a lot of money on things like the World Cup because there’s not many teams and the predictable ones tend to be there at the end,” said Chief Executive Andrew McIver, clearly oblivious to that fact some of us did our bollocks betting on the 2002 World Cup when France were sent packing without so much as scoring a goal, Portugal...

Do I look bovvered?Normally it’s the French that are accused of arrogance but in this case you couldn’t get more bullish than Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander. Along with Bwin, 888 and Sportingbet, Unibet faces a law suit for unfair competition brought by the Barriere, Joagroupe and Tranchant casinos and the Casinos de France trade union, who claim that as foreigner operators they are contravening gaming legislation by offering casino games. But with a dismissive wave of the hand, Nylander said that was “relaxed” about the case and that his side would “definitely...

No, not that EmmanuelleBan Camembert and Brie, boycott Bordeaux and Chardonnay, throw away those ‘arty’ films starring Emmanuelle Beart you couldn’t bring yourself to chuck out. Ok, maybe keep them. Thing is those pesky Frenchmen are at it again, seeking to bar Johnny Foreigner (that’s SportingBet, 888, Unibet and Bwin to you and me) from operating in France when the Gallic market is liberalized this summer. Read more. And what if they don’t succeed? Can you set lorries on fire on the borders of cyberspace? They might have to think of something because the lawyers...

Sportingbet is set to launch live roulette, blackjack and baccarat from live dealer provider Evolution Games. Not be outdone, Bodog, Sega, Media Corporation and Sky Bet among others are also wheeling and dealing. Read more.

Light at the end of the tunnel for horseracingThe British Horseracing Board (BHB) will be delighted by the announcement last week that the government plans to introduce stricter licensing requirements which could see overseas-based gambling firms contributing towards the horseracing betting Levy. The sports minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, said on Friday that he intends to introduce measures that will see the Gambling Commission issue individual licences to online firms, with the licence fee going towards the cost of regulation, the treatment of gambling addictions – and in some cases contributing...

Shares slump as government plans clampdownShares in William Hill Plc and Ladbrokes Plc fell after the UK government said it plans to introduce stricter licensing requirements and a levy on overseas gambling firms that want to provide their services to British consumers. The measures, which parliament are still to approve, will not just affect William Hill and Ladbrokes, who moved their online operations to Gibraltar in August to dodge UK tax and levies, but PartyGaming Plc, 888 Holdings Plc and Sportingbet Plc. Read more.

When's the Christmas party?The punters are coming back to the tables, according to two of Britain’s largest online gaming groups. Thanks to the returning popularity of online poker PartyGaming has recorded its best quarter since the second quarter of 2008, while Sportingbet insists it has gone from strength to strength. Hap-py Christmas! Read more.

Authentic Forest kit complete with evil sponsor nameTiger Woods has been learning a few salient lessons over the last few weeks. One is always to delete saucy text messages from your mobile phone; another is never let your wife get hold of your golf clubs and another still is, if you’re going to cheat on yer Missus at least do it with someone goodlooking. But the other thing Woods might have learned is that you can’t have your cake and eat it. Actually, that expression never did make much sense to me. After all, why else would you have a cake. What I mean I, you can’t have it both ways. Oh...

Sportingbet saw its bottom line significantly increased due to a fifty- six percent increase in European sports net gaming revenues…Read more.