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NetplayTV plc is on a roll, it appears. The UK interactive gambling firm has followed its major product exchange deal last week with Playtech with a two year agreement with top European gambling group Stanleybet International.

The agreement will see Netplay launch a new set of live betting products designed for land-based operations, with Stanleybet becoming the first retail distribution partner for the interactive company. The plan is to introduce the retail products initially in a hundred of Stanleybet’s 1 400 shops, where customers will be able to enjoy NetPlay’s classic branded live table games, such as Live Roulette, on dedicated terminals.

Netplay’s new B2B division headed by Guy Templer will handle the Stanleybet contract. Most of Stanleybet International’s outlets are in Italy, although the company also operates in Poland, Belgium and Germany.

“Over the past two and half years we have worked hard to perfect our live interactive casino gaming offering. Customers are now demanding more from their gaming experience and we are uniquely positioned to deliver the customer exactly what he or she needs,” said Martin Higginson, CEO of NetPlay TV plc.

“Our live interactive TV products beat their equivalent online games by a factor of more than six to one in revenue terms and generate player session lengths of over 90 minutes. This new deal with Stanleybet International is a significant milestone for the group. The move into supplying retail operators is a first for the company and opens up new global opportunities,” he said.

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The Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas, where the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker is being decided this week, was looking remarkably spacious by the end of Day 5 on Sunday evening, as 185 players - all that remains of an original entry field for the event of 6 494 - bagged their chips in preparation for Day 6.

407 survivors from Day 4 started playing at noon Sunday with an average chip stack of 475 000, and a structure that called for five levels or no further than the elimination of 232 players. The action was immediately fast and furious, and five hours into the tournament well over fifty percent of the field had been eliminated. An hour later, after six hours of what had been anticipated would be a 10 hour day, Tournament Director Jack Effel decided that at 185 players and three levels, it was time to call it an early day.

Incidents of note were Phil Ivey’s precipitous decline down to only 220 000, and his equally remarkable come-back to end the day around 46th position with 1 380 000. He had to contend with some tough encounters with Elad Magidov, who finished in 26th place on 1 762 000.

Dutch player Noel Boeken had a good day, finishing 12th on 2 338 000, but the convincing chip leader at the start of Day 4, Bertrand Grospellier suffered a decline and ended the day in the 83rd spot on 973 000. British pro James Akenhead waved the flag for the UK and poker games, ending up in the top ten with 2 692 000.

Matt Affleck, the the University of Washington undergrad from Seattle who looked almost unassailable as he headed the field into Day 5, ended it in the 7th position on 2 882 000.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips saw the end of his Main Event hopes, hanging on until the last hand of the day, when he went all in before the flop with pocket kings against two players, both with pocket aces. The board didn’t save him and he headed for the rail as the two players split the pot.

Seemingly appearing from nowhere after a disciplined and selectively aggressive performance, Warren Zackey ended Day 5 in the chip lead with 4 872 000, over 500 000 ahead of second placed surprise Kasper Cordes on 4 352 000.

Departing the Main Event on Day 5 were David Levi, Thor Hansen, Dan Harrington and Bobby Baldwin. Early knockouts included Jeff Kimber, Peter DeBaene, Thor Hansen, Sorel Mizzi, Sander Lylloff and Burt Boutin. Later eliminations included Nick Binger, Kara Scott - the only woman to cash in both the 2008 and 2009 WSOP Main Events, Dan Shak, Day 1 chipleader Amir Lehavot, Nick Schulman and Adam Sanders.

Among those who remain in the running are Phil Ivey, Ludovic Lacay, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Tom Schneider and James Akenhead. The field still has two remaining World Champions of poker – Joe Hachem and Peter Eastgate, and those reporting for duty on Day 6 will include Joe Sebok and Antonio Esfandiari.

The Top Twelve chip counts going into Day 6 are:

Warren Zackey 4,872,000
Kasper Cordes 4,352,000
Darvin Moon 3,218,000
Tom Schneider 3,168,000
Bernhard Perner 3,022,000
Miika Puumalainen 2,894,000
Matt Affleck 2,882,000
Charlie Elias 2,780,000
James Akenhead 2,692,000
Steven Begleiter 2,621,000
Eugene Katchalov 2,544,000
Noah Boeken 2,338,000

Average Stack for Day 5 action was 1,053,081.

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An Irish civil action for libel that has been running since 2004 is still some way from conclusion, but its central issue will be of interest to all owners of internet gambling message boards, and reinforces the need for discipline to avoid some posters going too far, and for the timeous removal of defamatory third party material.

The Post.ie reports that the case was heard in the Irish High Court last month after two Irish bookies, Seamus Mulvaney and Ellen Martin, launched libel proceedings against The Sporting Exchange Ltd, parent group of Betfair. The duo claimed that members on Betfair’s forum published defamatory comments about them.

Betfair argued that the 2003 Irish regulations implementing the 2001 European E-Commerce Directive, a law designed primarily to shield Internet Service Providers from liability arising from 3rd party content, protected it from the consequences of its forum users posting defamatory comments on its forums.

The High Court supported Betfair’s defence - and this is important - despite a clause in the directive that excluded gambling activities from protection. In noting that the message board was not part of the cpompanys core betting activities, the judge in the case, Mr Justice Frank Clarke said: “It follows that the gambling exclusion does not prevent Betfair from placing reliance on the E-Commerce Directive as a defence in these proceedings.”

The judge also found that a chat room was an ‘‘information society service’’ for the purpose of the regulations, so Betfair qualified as a ‘‘relevant service provider’’. Betfair was therefore entitled to the protection of the regulations, provided it could establish that it was unaware of the alleged defamation and took prompt action once the matter was brought to its attention.

Feidhlimidh Wrafter, one of Betfair’s legal team, said after the decision was handed down: “That’s really what the judgment’s saying, that gambling companies that operate a chatroom are now considered to be protected by the EU directive. It’s on appeal but it’s certainly a judgment that we’re very pleased with and we think it’s the right one.”

The High Court judge hearing the case found that Betfair was an intermediary service provider and therefore had limited liability because its chatroom was not core to the company’s main betting business. Betfair stored third party information on its servers and could therefore be defined as acting as a host in terms of the E-Commerce Directive, Mr Justice Frank Clarke ruled.

The plaintiffs are taking the case on appeal, and the ruling must therefore be regarded as a preliminary measure that simply confirms that the E-Commerce directive is an acceptable defence. Betfair will still have to show that it was unaware of the chatroom comments, and that it acted with reasonable alacrity in removing the defamatory material as soon as it became aware of its existence.

The case is likely to run on for over a year, given the full rolls in the Supreme Court where the appeal has been lodged.

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Online gambling regulators in the Caribbean licensing jurisdiction of Antigua and Barbuda have long trumpeted their capabilities and the respect in which they are held internationally, even successfully fighting for inclusion on the UK’s advertising “white list”, but a banking scandal unfolding in the United States has the potential to impact the islanders, and one senior official has already been suspended.

The suspended official is Leroy King, head of the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission to which the island’s Internet gambling regulators also report, and the damaging issue under consideration is an alleged pyramid banking scheme run by the larger-than-life Texas financier R. Allen Stanford (59).

Stanford gave himself up to US federal investigators Thursday, and an indictment unsealed on his arrest claims that he paid King more than $100 000 to conceal an elaborate Ponzi scheme that lured about 30 000 investors, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times. Stanford is being held in custody pending a hearing in Houston, Tx.

Federal prosecutors said the alleged bribes helped Stanford and colleagues conceal the scheme that pulled in many American investors and enabled Stanford to live the high life, sponsoring grandiose sports events and jetting around the world.

Stanford, three executives of his firm and King, are named in the indictment and accused of fraud and obstruction charges.

The indictment alleges that in 2005 the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Stanford Financial Group and making inquiries with Antigua’s financial regulators. The indictment alleges that King showed Stanford the SEC’s inquiries and once responded to the agency with material prepared by Stanford.

King, a dual citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and the U.S., has been suspended from his post. The U.S. is seeking his extradition from Antigua.

Also named in the 21-count indictment are Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford Financial’s chief investment officer; Gilberto Lopez, its chief accounting officer; and Mark Kuhrt, global controller of an affiliate.

James Davis, Stanford International Bank Ltd.’s chief financial officer, was charged in a separate fraud indictment.

Prosecutors said Stanford enticed about 30 000 investors, many in the U.S., with promises of unusually high interest on bank certificates, but in fact ran a scheme in which new investor money, instead of being invested as promised, was used to pay “profits” to earlier clients.

In February, the SEC filed a civil fraud complaint against Stanford, Davis and Pendergest-Holt. Stanford has denied any wrongdoing.

The Attorney General for Antigua, Justin Simon, has disclosed that the island government’s Cabinet will meet in the coming week to decide King’s future.

“Antigua and Barbuda’s offshore business activities (are) once again placed under intense international scrutiny, and this will clearly have adverse effects on the economy and raise questions about our regulatory legal framework,” Simon said, assuring the international community that an extensive internal investigation of King and the systems involved is already underway.

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Congressman Jim Moran, a Virginia Democrat, has introduced a legislative proposal aimed at investing federal financial resources in addictive gambling research and treament, according to The Hill blog.

Moran notes that the majority of Americans gamble, most without doing harm to themselves, their families or their communities….but unfortunately, for approximately 3-4 percent of American adults, recreational gambling can become a problem.

The politician says that as state governments look for ways to boost revenues in these tough economic times, many are turning to legal gaming operations to expand the tax base.

“Based solely on the law of averages, this will in turn increase the number Americans struggling with gambling addiction,” Moran opines, adding that he has therefore introduced legislation titled the “Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act,” (HR 2906) which for the first time would devote federal resources to the research and treatment of problem gambling.

“The bill, supported by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG), represents a long overdue federal commitment to address gambling addiction, whose social repercussions add up to more than $7 billion each year,” claims Moran.

Under the legislation the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) would be the lead agency tackling problem gambling. SAMSHA would conduct research, develop guidelines for effective prevention and treatment programs, and provide assistance to community-based gambling addiction services. In addition, the bill would establish a grant program to assist states and localities in administering prevention and treatment programs, to fund research efforts to better understand problem gambling, to develop effective treatment programs, and to support a national public awareness campaign.

“With the expansion of gambling operations, problem gambling will grow,” Moran concludes. “But, if at the same time, we ramp up local, state and federal commitments to combat this disease, we have an opportunity to keep it from getting out of hand.”

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In a sequel to the case of the missing Wilds in certain Top Game-developed gambling software games one of online gambling’s biggest information portals, Casinomeister.com, issued a warning to players as the week closed.

The issue of appalling behaviour by Top Game Support staff servicing licensees and questionable software issues has been escalating since the end of May, when apparent software flaws were reported to Top Game. Since then there have been claims that the games were taken down and fixed, and denials that this was done in a heated altercation that has involved Top Game representatives, licensee spokesmen and the player community across a growing number of message boards.

On Friday, and belatedly, a Top Game representative posting as Jan.Strydom apologised for the incidents and assured players that corrective measures were being taken and that players prejudiced by the missing Wilds would be compensated. Others who had played on the affected games would have their deposits returned once the playing logs had been studied by Top Game, he added.

But, as Casinomeister succinctly summed up the reaction of the player community, it was “…a day late and a dollar short.”

The warning now up on the Casinomeister website will probably trigger similar cautionary notices elsewhere, and reads:

“TopGame is a vendor that provides software, security checks, customer support, and payment processing to its clients http://www.topgameplatform.com.

“Due to serious customer support issues, public postings of player emails (to include player names and email addresses), software issues, and apparent aloofness to these problems by TG - a warning is issued to players, affiliates and operators.

“WARNING: The vendor TOP GAME is displaying a serious lack of professionalism and judgement concerning player support, privacy, and software issues.

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