Greek betting monopoly OPAP is scouting the market for an IT supplier as its current contract with Intralot is due to end in July 2012.

Greek betting monopoly OPAP is scouting the market for an IT supplier as its current contract with Intralot is due to end in July 2012.

The Group’s strategy to expand outside Greece with video lottery and online betting will have a large bearing on any supplier it selects.

Reuters reports that Intralot and Lottomatica subsidiary GTECH are on its shortlist with OPAP excluding US-based Scientific Games Corp who had shown an interest in bidding for the contract.

Online gambling software provider Cryptologic’s woes continued through 2010, the company’s latest full year and Q4 results show, with the annual net loss in 2010 lower but still significant at $20.4 million (FY 2009: $35.5 million), probably due to the severe cost cutting and restructuring measures adopted by the company during the year.

Management’s note on the full year performance shows:

• Total expenses reduced by 39% to $47.5 million (2009: $77.6 million)

• Total revenue at $26.0 million (2009: $39.8 million) Full year revenues reflected the lower contribution from a major licensee and the impact of the loss of a key customer in 2009.

• Net loss of $20.4 million (2009: $35.5 million)

• Cyprus and majority of UK operations consolidated into Malta, while all other locations reduced significantly

• Signed several licensing deals for CryptoLogic games with 170 branded games now live (2009: 66)

• Launched new gaming package, Instant Click

“While the additional restructuring measures taken since August 2010 have significantly reduced the total recurring cost base and cash outflow, improving revenue performance remains a key management priority,” the management notes.

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Top online gambling software provider International Game Technology (IGT), has announced agreement in terms of which it will supply its top performing content to Cozy Games in the UK.

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Kudos to an online casino based in Gibraltar, JackpotCity, which this week made a donation of A$5,000 to help victims of the recent Australian floods.

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Fresh from its award of Kenyan and Dominican licences, Canadian entertainment solutions provider, Amaya Gaming is in the news again this week.

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According to data released by the Finance Services Bureau of the Macau Special Administrative Region, the gambling island off the coast of China generated a 62.3% increase in tax revenues in January 2011 over the same period in 2010.

Gaming taxes accounted for 85.9% of Macau’s total receipts in January; the total revenue of the city rose 61.3% to 8.06 billion patacas ($1 billion), while its total expenditure jumped 225.3% to 1.71 billion patacas ($213 million).

The huge increase in expenditure was mostly due to higher transfer payments to the government’s autonomous entities and the payment of so-called wealth-share handouts to residents last year, according to a report in the newspaper China Daily.

Land casinos licensed in Macau pay 35% of their gross revenues as direct tax to the government.

In a “revelation” that should surprise no one, it has been reported that local government agencies in California are misallocating funds from the tribal casinos. It seems that instead of using the money the way it is intended, those funds are going to other things.

Under the contracts between the state of California and the tribes, a percentage of the net wins from the casinos is deposited into a Special Distribution Fund for local governments. The

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February 15 – Microgaming’s February games release contains three fantastic slots as well as a new multi-wheel roulette game.

The games are available at all Microgaming powered casinos like All Slots where you can get up to $5000 in free bonuses and play in huge slots tournaments.

Sneak a Peek – Planet Exotica is a five reel, 15 pay-line space themed video slot, and takes place in an intergalactic strip club. Now that’s a first.

Betting range is between 0.01 and 0.10 per line, with a maximum bet of 30.00.

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Business World Online reports that broadcast firm GMA Network Inc has signed a partnership deal with Manila Jockey Club Inc. (MJC) to initiate horse race betting via mobile phones and the internet.

GMA Network subsidiary, GMA New Media Inc. and Asia’s oldest horse-racing club will invest P10 million each (£142,300) into the new venture revealed Judd Gallares , president and chief operating officer of GMA New Media.

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It was slim pickings for licensed Las Vegas sports books last weekend, when the Super Bowl football final between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers played out in Arlington, Texas.

It wasn’t for want of wagers – the gamblers turned out in force – so much as the result going generally against the bookies, ESPN reports.

The Nevada Gaming Commission gave a figure of $87.5 million wagered across 183 sports books in the state, which has exclusivity on legal sports betting in the US; from this, the bookies scored only $724,000.

“I can’t say I’ve got a cheese head in my office right now,” Jay Kornegay, executive director of the race and sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, told ESPN in a reference to the win by the Packers.

Green Bay beat the Steelers 31-25 Sunday night.

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