France is reported to start issuing authorization for online betting operators from the second half of 2009. The decision followed the meeting between Budget Minister Eric Woerth and International Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy where they discussed proposals that would avert court action against France by the EU over restrictions on online gambling.

Whether legal proceeding will be suspended, it’s not clear yet. The French government should send detailed provisions to EU authorities. To notice, the share of revenues from the gambling sector has been put at 5.3 billion euros ($8.27 billion).

“Regarding horse racing, only parimutuel betting will be allowed,” Woerth said. The term “pari-mutuel” refers to the system in which the total sum bet on a race is placed in a pool and the final prize is not set until all bets are placed.

“For other forms of sports betting, we will hold discussions with leagues and federations. There, we will not have parimutuel betting but fixed odds betting,” he said. (Fixed odds betting is a system in which the prize is agreed before bets are placed.). Woerth added: “We also want to open up casino games like poker but also roulette or black jack.

Woerth said: “Licenses would require minors to be prevented from betting and would contain strong protection for gamblers given the risk of addiction, as well as restrictions on advertising and controls against money laundering”.

Bingo is getting more and more popular in the online gaming industry. This fact requires new business initiatives and fresh ideas.

In the UK, the game of bingo has been the most popular game for years. And now, its fans can play their favorite game for free, on TV. ITV1 is said to be airing Bingo Night Live in place of their Play TV block which has been criticized for its play per pay service.

You can play bingo for free following this scheme: download game boards off the website of the show. Then watch as the numbers are called.

Melinda Messenger and Michael Underwood are the hosts of the show. Messenger will announce occasional ‘Magic Number Draws’, while Underwood will be the bingo caller.

The game is expected to be very popular in the UK, as nation’s favorite game will allow viewers to play from their home for free.

Intertops.com was the first among several prominent sportsbooks to respond and give the most and thorough and informative answers to an anonymous customer email inquiry. In fact, it was the anonymous test conducted by SportsbettingReview.com.

In their test SBR asked if the sportsbooks had overnight lines on the NBA playoffs. It’s amazing, but it took some sportsbooks days to answer, and the answers were incomplete. The others didn’t reply at all. Intertops.com’s complete answer came within 30 minutes: “Yes, Intertops offers overnight lines on the NBA Finals. During the play-offs the maximum stake is increased from US$275 to US$550. The Totals and the Straight up or the Totals and the Spread can be parlayed on NBA games”.

Michl Posch of Intertops.com said: “Since providing the best possible customer service is such a high priority with us, we’re particularly proud to have received the highest score in this test”.

“During the course of the next 5 weeks everyone will be focused on the Euro 2008 Championship. This momentous football event will be seen everywhere. On Television, in newspapers and magazines, on the Net and more importantly it will be on the lips of millions of people all over the world. A large percentage of these football fans will also be Poker Players. This Poker league is for them,” said a spokesperson for RedKings.com.

The spokesperson has mentioned EuroKings 2008 tournament introduced by RedKings.com. It’ll kick off with the Opening Ceremony of three $1,000 freerolls on May 27, 29 and June 3. Participating in the tournament, players can support the team they wish to play in based on who they will support during Euro2008 and the winning poker team will be awarded the honor of having the best poker playing fans in the Tournament.

The top 50 players who’ll take part in the individual competition will get amazing prizes, and ten top players in the League will win prizes like a Nintendo Wi, Sony Playstation and Nokia Phone with the overall winner travelling to Vienna to watch the Final. In addition to the prizes, players can use the bonus code EUROKINGS when making any deposit and get a football shirt of their choice plus $400 in cash bonuses.

Players in New Zealand can enjoy lotto online. New Zealand Lotteries’ MyLotto website was developed over the past year, and it cost several million dollars, but its income is expected to increase steadily. The site revenue is predicted to be more than $7 million in its first year.

The online version of Lotto has proved to be u success. Thus, several days ago the site went online, and by 6 o’clock in the evening 1100 users had registered there. Now, New Zealand Lotteries keeping up with changing consumer patters make it possible for the infrequent Lotto buyers to purchase tickets online.

John Tabatabai is reported to have joined Team Betfair.

A 23-year-old member, the game’s latest rising star, is from Cardiff, but now he is living in London. Before turning to poker, Tabatabai played chess.

In 2007 Tabatabai almost defeated Obrestad, Betfair-sponsored pro, at the WSOPE 2007. thus he first hit the headlines. Later he won the All-Africa Poker Tournament.

Big things are expected from the new member of the Betfair team. They consider him to be a very aggressive poker strategist and an absolute class act at the table.

Tabatabai would be playing for Team Betfair at World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada, in July.

Traditional bookmakers are thought to disappear in the nearest future, as more and more gamblers prefer to place their bets online with looking at betting exchanges.

Though laws to “level the playing field” have been pushed by the government, still lots of people believe that more needs to be done.

Times are changing. While lots of smaller Bookmaker businesses have been around for some years, they are finding margins being reduced on a constant basis. Lots of smaller shops are being forced to take larger than normal gambles on their books, risking not only money but the future of many establishments.

Of course, no one is able to tell how the industry will look like, but hopefully the traditional elements will be retained.

888 is known to have become partners with the popular Internet game-server software developer Rival Powered. Previously partnerships have been signed between 888 and Cryptologic, Electracade and GTS.

According to the agreement, Rival Powered is to provide 888 with its games and backend systems to be integrated into the cross-platform system for its customers and white label partners. The financial details of the agreement are unknown.

Rival Powered is supposed to add freshness to 888 with its i-slots video clips, atmosphere and characters.

With the online bingo community growing and bingo halls closing down due to smoking laws, Bingo.com has made a decision to expand outside of the United Kingdom.

It must be noticed that the decision came at the right time, as bingo is getting more and more popular with the online gaming community. Online bingo has become a good alternative for gamblers. Now, they can enjoy their favorite game sitting at home. No wonder, the number of online bingo sites is growing.

To start the expansion operations, Bingo.com Ltd. have closed a private placement of two million shares at $.30 per share.

In the nearest future the company is planning to launch a Spanish version of their website. Their customers will also be able to make deposits in different currencies.

The chance of becoming rich with the help of the lottery ticket attracts not only customers, but also employees who see how much money can be earned instantly.

Thus, Heather Michelle Wright, 18, of Mulbury, was arrested and charged with stealing $600 worth of lottery tickets from her employer.

The lottery tickets were sold for $20. Wright took tickets and cashed the winning ones at various convenience stores around the town. The amount of money that Wright has managed to cash is not known.