Global Market Share Discussion Threads

[lyceeuk] 26/10/2006 07:01

Trading Statement




Gaming Corporation PLC

Trading update

The Board is pleased to announce a trading update for the year ended 30
September 2006. The key financial parameters are expected to be as follows:

-- Profit after tax increased 400% to £2.5m (2005: £0.5m) *

-- Gross profit increased 75% to £4.7m (2005: £2.7m)

-- Cash balances at the year end over £5.2m (2005: £2.8m)

-- Consolidated net assets of £17.3m (2005: £14.8m)

-- Earnings per share of 0.9 pence (2005: 0.2 pence)

-- Cash per share of 1.8 pence (2005: 1.0 pence)

* Although trading remained strong in the second half of 2006, profits were
adversely impacted by a weakening in the US dollar and by one-off costs. The
combined affect was approximately £0.2 million.

Commenting on today's announcement, Justin Drummond, CEO, said:

"This is an excellent set of results; profit after tax has increased 400% in one
year and the business now has in excess of £5 million of cash for further
expansion and acquisitions.

Our media and advertising businesses have performed very strongly during 2006
and are now well placed to grow both organically and via acquisition".

Strategy going forward

The Board is proposing to change its name to Media Corporation plc at an
Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at the Group's registered office on 26
October 2006. This reflects the fact that the Group generates its entire
operating profit from its portals and advertising businesses. Furthermore, it is
the Board's intention to make an appropriate media related non-executive board
appointment.

In addition, the Board can confirm that it is seeking a buyer for its online and
mobile gaming business, incorporating the www.casino.co.uk brand. The Board
believes that the recent changes in US regulations are extremely positive for
the valuation of both Casino.co.uk and mobile gaming business since these
businesses have no US customers and derive over 95% of their revenues from the
UK market. It is anticipated that the sale proceeds could be significant and
would enable the Company to accelerate the growth of the media and advertising
business further.

The Board is still evaluating the implications of the recent US anti-gaming
legislation and has developed new functionality for the international search
engine which allows advertisers to exclude US visitors from viewing their
listings.

The traffic and click through rates to the Group's gaming related search
marketing sites have shown no reliable pattern since 30 September 2006. It is
anticipated that a trend should be evident by the end of November 2006.

The Board will continue to monitor the situation and update shareholders
accordingly.



Enquiries:

Justin Drummond, CEO, 020 7618 9000

Paul Tuson, Group Finance Director, 020 7618 9000

Trevor Phillips, Holborn PR, 020 7929 5599

[paulo2] 25/10/2006 14:51

Any chance you could string together a coherent sentence?

[general5] 25/10/2006 13:52

paulo2 are you still doing favours for sailors I see.

[the analyst] 25/10/2006 11:28

Cheers Jack. If ever there was a good time for the Drummonds to put their deal-making prowess into action, it is now.

Let's see if tomorrow brings anything remotely optimistic to the table...

[sabretooth] 25/10/2006 11:23

general5 - 25 Oct'06 - 09:29 - 22648 of 22653 (Filtered)

[general5] 25/10/2006 10:06

Lol MoneyLoser Lol I only deal in facts son!

[besbury] 25/10/2006 09:43

geeral5

Oh wise one, how sad that you appear to gain enjoyment from observing the discomfort of your fellow human beings.

[jackthetrader] 25/10/2006 06:04

Good to see you're still around TA. Quite clearly you are extremely knowlegeable. You once asked me to apply for employment in the field of SEO with GMC. I wish I had have done. Probably it's too late now irreespetive of the new ageism laws.

Meanwhile I would be prepared for the fist time ever (for me) to go to a pubilc meeting, (e.g. the one in November) to help vote you into an office of your choosing.

Signed off as JackTheTrader, previously outed as John by the man with the lump hammer (Bengo). (T.A. This is a serious proposal.)

[moneymaker6] 24/10/2006 15:33

Good stuff TA. Nice to see you still here and hope you are enjoying the cultural experience in Japan.

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 14:11

This is a list of the current (as of today) top 20 poker networks based on numbers of real money players online. The ones with the X by the name are the ones that have exited the US so far. This list contains all the major networks judging by number of players online. To illustrate, the number 20 network, action poker, only had 241 active real money players at it's peak period in the past 24 hours. So, any further down than number 20 really are irrelevant.


1. PokerStars

2. PartyPoker X

3. Full Tilt Poker

4. PokerRoom/Ongame X

5. Microgaming (Prima)

6. Bodog

7. Everest X

8. CryptoLogic Network X

9. Tribeca Network

10. International (Boss Media) X

11. iPoker Network X

12. PacificPoker X

13. UltimateBet

14. Absolute Poker

15. Ladbrokes X

16. Tain Network

17. Paradise X

18. B2B Network X

19. World Poker Exchange

20. Action Poker Network X

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 14:03

Quite some list isn't it?

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 14:03

A list of sites (mostly white labels) so far that will no longer be accepting US customers and therefore are not likely to advertise on the US-facing gambling.com site:


EmpirePoker
PartyPoker
ParadisePoker
WallStreet.com
AlamoPoker
Aloha Poker
Americas Cardroom
Angels Poker
BayouPoker
Beach House Poker
BestBluff
bet24
Betmaker Poker
betsson
BettingChamps
Canbet
Carib Sports
Casino.co.uk
CasinoDogg
CasinoEuro
Casual Poker
Check n Raise Poker
CherryCasino
Coral Poker
Delta Poker
DownHome Poker
Downtown Poker
DSI Poker
Duke's Palace
eCardroom
EPokerRoom
Eurobet
EuroPoker
Fabulous Poker
Full Contact Poker
GlobalCardRoom
HoldemPoker
Hollywood Poker
Idol Poker
InterChamps
Interwetten
jackdaddyspoker
LadyBuck Casino
Live Action Poker
Lucky River Poker
Mega Poker Lounge
New York Poker
Open Table Poker
Panther Poker
Play It Now Casino
PodiumPoker
Poker Chaos
Poker Playground
Poker Shootout
Poker Stand
PokerLoco
PokerPlaydium
PokerPoka
PokerRoom
PokerSouls
Pokes Poker
PowerPlayer
PST Poker
Pure Poker
Reno.net
RivalBet
Rivalry Poker
Stay Home Casino
Texas Hold'em Room
ThePokerClub
USA Sports Casino
WantMyPoker
West Coast Wagers
Xtreme Bluff
Aces.com
Ahead Poker
AllStar
BeKingOfPoker
Bet Direct Casino
Betandwin Poker
Betoto Poker Lounge
BetRoyalPoker
BetUSA
Bowmans Poker
Canbet
Capital Sports Poker
Casino Club Poker
Casino.Net
CelebPoker
EuroSuperPoker
Fonbet Poker
Fortune Poker
ImperialPoker
JuegaPokerYa
King Solomons Poker
landora poker
lastminute.com poker
Linesmaker Poker
London Poker Club
Maharajah Club
Mermaid Poker
PlayWebPoker
Poker Heaven
Poker Syndicate
Poker.co.uk
PokerHour
PokerWIDE
Ramblas
SportingOdds Poker
Sports Cafe Casino
TGF Poker
Timbas Poker
TotalPoker
VIP Poker Club
Virgin Poker
WallStree Live Poker
betfair poker
Classic Poker
InterPoker
Littlewoods Poker
Poker Plex
Ritz Club London, The
SunPoker
totalbet poker
ukbetting poker
William Hill Poker
BetFred Poker
CDPoker
Centrebet Poker
Dafa Poker
Diamond Club Poker
Fair Poker
Kiwi Casino Poker
Noble Poker
PlayGate Poker
Poker Ocean
Poker770
Prestige-Poker
Sports Interaction Poker
Titan Poker
USA Poker
24hPoker
4assiPoker
4Kings
66 Poker
727 Poker
Aha Poker
AHOY Poker
Asteria Poker
Backroom Poker
Bamba Poker
Best Poker
Bet and Game
Bet4E
Betbutler
Betlads
Black Card Poker
Caliber Poker
Cap Bet Poker
Cool Poker
DLP
Dreamland Poker
ePokerKing
Equal Chance Poker
Farsi Poker
Fitzwilliam Poker
Glocal Poker
Go Play
Goodguys Poker
Gutshot
Heypoker
HorsesBet
i4Poker
Irish Eyes Poker
JetBet Poker
Major Poker
Martins Poker
Metelitsa Poker
Metropokeri
MetroPokker
Montreal Poker
No1Gaming
Norpoker
Piraya Poker
Point Poker
Poker Club Europe
Poker Dandy
Poker Plaza
Poker Polska
Poker Zon
PokerAnts
Pokerdassi
Pokerihuone
Pokerium
PokerKKK
PokernBets
Potraiser
Redbet
Rival Poker
Royal Card Room
Sense Poker
Skandia Bet
Staffpoker
Stingbet
Sunderlands
Tip-Ex
Tipsnyttpoker
Top Ranked Poker
Topstakes
U2Poker
UvsPoker
Vision Game
VSPoker
Wall Street sport betting
Wasa Poker
Wass Poker
Winning 365
247poker
3lionspoker
724sportsbook
777betz
789poker
AcrossTheFelt
ActionPoker
AlumniPoker
AsiaCasinoGames
AtlantisWorldPoker
BreakAwayPoker
crybabypoker
EnglishHarbourPoker
ExpressPoker
fourofakindpoker
HolyCowPoker
inspinpoker
IslandPoker
JimFeistPoker
KoreaCasino
LakesidePoker
LAPokerScene
leaderboardpoker
mtpoker
MyTeamPoker
net2netpoker
NinePoker
okjohnny
parthenonpoker
PleasurePanPalace
PlusPoker
pokerfever
PokerInCanada
projopoker
RedFeltPoker
rexcasino
SelectPoker
starsonpoker
SuperCityPoker
SuperiorPoker
TaiwanCasino
TheBike
TigerGaming
ValeioPoker
Viet-Casino
vietbet
vippokergames
youwager

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 13:57

Gambling sites will change software to stay in U.S. market
20 Oct 2006
Several online gambling sites will have to change the software platforms that power their games if they wish to continue taking bets from Americans.

In the wake of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, publicly-held gaming software development companies like Playtech, CryptoLogic, Ongame and Boss Media have announced that their software platforms can no longer be used to provide gambling services to people located in the U.S.

But some privately-owned gambling site operators such as GoldenPalace.com, FullContactPoker.com and SportsInteraction.com have a prominent US presence and may be betting that the U.S. prohibition will prove unenforceable.

FullContactPoker has already announced its intent to leave the Ongame poker network and switch to another software provider that would allow it to take U.S. play.

"FullContactPoker could potentially end up with fantastic software that is even better than the Ongame software," said professional poker player Daniel Negreanu, who endorses the site. "There is also the possibility that it would be a little slower, and then there would be a process of building new software that is even better."

David Szetela, a spokesperson for privately-owned software developer CyberArts, thinks a lot of private operators will migrate from one software provider to another in the coming months. "Our platform is such that we can get operators back up and running very quickly," he said. "We can make a site that looks and acts exactly the same as it did on the Ongame Network. We can duplicate an existing skin pixel for pixel."

Negreanu could not say which software companies FullContactPoker is in discussions with, but he did say a quick transition could take place as early as next month.

"FullContactPoker's main concern at this point is downtime," he said. "Ideally there would be virtually no downtime. It would be like one of those maintenance upgrades where it takes a few hours overnight and then when you wake up the next day you open up the program and you've got new software."

Negreanu also speculates that a lot of the poker sites that are being shut out from their software providers could end up aggregating their players into a common shared network.

"You're definitely going to see a lot of the skins bouncing around," he added, "but what could end up happening-- and it will likely happen-- is a new network will be born with some different software because that's probably the easiest as far as transferring funds over."

Not all sites will have to switch software platforms in order to continue servicing U.S. players though. Many, such as Bodog.com and PokerStars.com, use proprietary software.

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 13:05

Also, it's worth noting that Ongame (Pokerroom network) is going to halt their US side of the business too very soon (see below). That will affect casino.co.uk's poker room, especially as a lot of their customers are from the US, signed-up through their listing on gambling.com US version.



email from Pokerroom:

"U.S. Restrictions

Hi

On September 30th 2006 the U.S. Congress passed the SAFE Port Act which also contained certain provisions known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 that affects the processing of payments between U.S. customers and online gaming companies. The legislation was signed into law by President George W Bush on October 13th 2006.

We regret that the U.S. has taken this step to make it virtually impossible to offer real money entertainment to U.S. customers. It is doubtful that the U.S. authorities will achieve their stated goals by introducing such legislation. We believe that a properly monitored forward-looking regulation would be much more effective than this general ban.

Entirely due to this new law, we are disappointed to announce the following restrictions for all customers within the U.S.:

Depositing Restrictions
As officially stated before, we have been working on a technical solution to restrict all customers within the U.S. from depositing new funds at PokerRoom.com. This solution will be implemented on October 25th.

Real Money Restrictions
We will have implemented the technical solution to restrict all customers within the U.S. from accessing our real money games starting Monday, November 6th. After that time you will still be able to login to PokerRoom.com, enjoy all of our play money games and withdraw funds from your account at your convenience.

Cash-Outs
Your funds will continue to be safe, secure and yours, and will be transferred to you at your request. The option to cash-out will remain available to you.

Unused Tournament Tickets
Valid tournament tickets are as good as cash and will be refunded to your account once the U.S. restrictions are implemented on November 6th. It may take some days for all tickets to be processed into cash, and only valid tickets (not expired) at the time of the U.S. restriction will be refunded.

Player Points / Loyalty Points
Player points and loyalty points will be inaccessible to all U.S. customers once the changes go live; but this does not mean that your points will expire. Your hard earned points will be stored indefinitely, in the event of real money play becoming available again. Until the U.S. restrictions are in place on November 6th you are free to use your points in our loyalty program.

Pending Bonuses
Pending bonus tasks will be void after the U.S. restrictions come into effect on November 6th, as it will not be possible to collect player points via our real money games. Until the Real Money restriction is in place you can continue to collect points to clear bonuses in your account.

At PokerRoom.com, we are of course very sorry for this development and we hope that we get the chance to meet all our U.S. players again in Real Money games, as we are aiming to offer real money games as soon as the legislation allows us to. We will do our utmost to continuously keep you up to date with future developments.

PokerRoom.com "

[the analyst] 24/10/2006 13:00

Just been catching up with things. Can't see many positives apart from the name change and the cash in the bank.

I suspect the Drummonds have no idea what is going on or what to expect from the gambling.com business now the bill has been signed, so I'm not too surprised at the lack of update.

I notice that the number of advertisers on the US gambling.com has plummeted. Not too many quality advertisers left which is not good news. I had been hoping to see a lot more traffic on the gambling.com site to make up for the reduction in advertisers, but there has been no rise thus far. Also, not seen any major increase in advertisers on the UK version. Just from those observations I can only imagine that revenue at gambling.com has dropped a lot recently. I also think that we will only really know the impact when the 270-day period has elapsed and we get clarification of the bill and its effect on 3rd party payment companies like Netteller.

however, I'm inrigued to know what is in store with the company changing name. What can we expect from the new company? I get the impression they may be making a deal or two soon and changing focus more towards eyeconomy and creating a more balanced mix of media and advertising to include offerings other than gambling-related advertising.

[the analyst] 23/10/2006 22:52

But not good to see me side - food is soooo good in Japan, my stomach needs a rest!

[paulo2] 23/10/2006 22:48

Nice to see ya back... and your front!

[the analyst] 23/10/2006 22:44

Still here! Cheers for the kind words. Been in Japan for the last two weeks and haven't touched a computer. It's been brilliant!

Now trying to catch up, which I think could take some time...

[bengo] 23/10/2006 21:35

Now now Eeyore don't start :)

I agree with batman,
GMC's current net asset value and the further money it has made this year should see the share price back up again on release of the full year accounts in November.

Unlike you, I also see the silence from management as a promising thing, if it was bad news then why not get it out along with all the other companies while all the share prices were bombing, it doesn't make sense.

When news does come I am optimistically expecting it to be relating to something positive !

Re: the Analyst, I think you may be right about him moving on and we should
all wish him well, he put a lot of hard work in on this board.