Online gambling operator Centrebet believes its about to collect a cool AU $90.7m refund of GST payments from the Aussie tax office. A similar Federal Court case between tax authorities and Sportsbet (in which Sportsbet ultimately prevailed) led Centrebet to believe they would also emerge victorious and laden down with cash that they haven’t seen in a while and really, really miss counting. In a statement released Thursday, Centrebet says it was informed by the Commissioner of Taxation that there would be no appeal of the Sportsbet judgment, and that the commissioner had decided he would not re-argue the similar issues in the Centrebet proceedings.
Last month saw the launch of GambleGang.com, a service Starlight Networks LLC hopes to turn into a “Groupon for online gambling.” Much like its famous online coupon counterpart, GambleGang hopes to bring the benefits of group buying to online gamblers, offering them special online casino, poker and sportsbetting bonus offers they couldn’t get anywhere else. Offers are limited for three weeks from the time of their appearance and are contingent on a critical mass of gamblers opting in. The company has so far enlisted Microgaming’s Red Flush Casino, and hopes to add many more gambling outfits to their list in the future.
Paddy Power has added former Ulster Bank chief exec Cormac McCarthy to its board as a non-executive director. McCarthy replaces Brody Sweeney, who retires Sept. 1 after six years at his post.
A very happy fifth birthday to PKR, which launched on Aug. 17, 2006. Despite hanging out their shingle just weeks before the letters UIGEA came into our collective consciousness, PKR has thrived, to the point where the Sunday Times dubbed PKR the UK’s fastest-growing tech outfit last year. In more quantifiable terms, PKR has registered almost 4.5m players in its five years of existence, and handled almost $1b in bets. If you want to get really technical, on Aug. 17, 2006, PKR recorded a whopping total of 1,153 visitors. On Aug. 16, 2011, that daily visitor tally was 50,512. The UK continues to lead PKR’s country list, contributing 18.6% of its total players, followed by France (14.2%), Holland (8.1%), Germany (6.3%) and Canada (5.0%).
