The Rome-based group also posted EBITDA of Euro 596.4 million, up 4 percent when compared to the same period in 2008, and reported on Board appproval for a senior unsecured bond of up to Euro 750 million to re-finance part of its current debt burden.

“Gruppo Lottomatica has just completed a [third] quarter in which we enjoyed significant commercial success,” said Marco Sala, chief executive of the Lottomatica group.

“We have positioned ourselves to be the sole concessionaire for the Italian scratch and win license. By securing approximately 20 percent of the newly available video lottery terminal licenses, we will significantly expand our Italian gaming solutions business. And, with the approval of the cross selling of multi-jurisdictional jackpot games in the US, same-store revenue growth will be enhanced.

“All of these developments will be significant contributors to the sustainability of our results. [Land] industry trends are encouraging as well. Same-store revenues appear to be on the upswing and anticipated operator opportunities are beginning to materialise.

“Further, we are seeing the beneficial impacts of governments expanding their lottery programmes to meet severe budget gaps.”

“Despite the challenging economic climate, I am pleased to report that we experienced top-line growth in all of our businesses,” said Stefano Bortoli, Chief Financial Officer for Lottomatica.

“Following the recently-announced share capital increase to fund expansion opportunities in the Italian market, we will also improve our capital structure through the Board-approved Euro 750 million bond, which will allow us to refinance our existing debt, further diversifying funding sources and lengthening the average maturity of our debt.”

Early reports are sketchy, but it is believed that the lucky player landed a just-in-time-for-Christmas $273 927 on the Microgaming-powered Major Millions.

December 1st 2009 is U-day; the implementation date of the regulations supporting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act compelling US financial institutions to block financial transactions with imprecisely defined ‘illegal’ online gambling operators.

Among others, including Congressman Barney Frank, the Poker Players Alliance has been active in petitioning for the postponement of the regulations for a year in order to create an environment for debate and to avoid over-blocking by confused and busy financial institutions burdened with enforcing the federal law.

The PPA has some unlikely allies in its initiative in the form of National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and on Monday six influential Kentucky Congressmen added their weight to the request.

Republicans Geoff Davis, Harold Rogers, Edward Whitfield and Brett Guthrie, and Democrats Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth submitted a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to support pushing the December 1 deadline back a year.

The letter cites a specific example of the law being misapplied – a case where MasterCard had stopped processing transactions with the code used by the U.S. horse racing industry in preparation for UIGEA’s enforcement, despite horse racing receiving an exemption in the legislation.

“This letter cites a specific incident where overblocking occurred, so I think that could be particularly powerful with the Treasury and Federal Reserve Board,” said PPA executive director John Pappas. “But I think the letters from others will carry just as much weight.”

Fighting the requests for postponement are arch online gambling detractors Representative Spencer Bachus and Senator Jon Kyl, both of whom have written to the federal officials protesting at any attempt to postpone the implementation of the regulations.

Fueps’s site, 4A – The Poker Suite, has joined PartyGaming’s dedicated and growing Italian poker network alongside PartyPoker and Intralot. More than 550 000 registered users play over 100 games on Fueps’s casual games website, presenting significant cross-marketing possibilities.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of PartyGaming said: “Fueps is our fifth business-to-business deal this year and is an excellent addition to our Italian poker network.

“This agreement is consistent with our aim to establish a strong presence in the Italian poker market and to be well-placed to take advantage of the further deregulation of online gaming that is already planned to take place in Italy over the next few months.”

PepeGames.com is a joint venture between Globalia and VistaGaming, the Maltese based bingo and casino software provider which have teamed up to leverage Globalia’s reach within the tourism, hotel and travel industries within Spain.

The Pepe brand is synonymous throughout Spain and promotes products ranging from travel, rent a car, chauffer services, mobile phones, insurance and credit cards.

OddsMatrix has been successfully integrated into VistaGaming’s back office product and has allowed PepeGames.com to rapidly and cost effectively launch a sports book product, without the risk and expense of setting up their own service, whilst also being able to offer their own suite of games.

Daniel Illanes Rodriguez, VistaGaming’s Head of Marketing says that the addition of the OddsMatrix sports book solution will enable PepeGames.com to quickly and effectively market sports betting to its target audience without the cost and risk associated with incorporating, setting up and operating as a fully functional bookmaker in this competitive area.

Stian Hornsletten CEO of OddsMatrix said: “This is a great opportunity to use the marketing reach of a traditional bricks and mortar organisation both online and offline to penetrate this emerging market. It also demonstrates that more companies are embracing the relationships and revenues that can be generated from the sports betting arena.”

The Guardian newspaper reported that Britain’s Labour government has proposed the creation of a fund that would lead to bookmakers handing over millions in voluntary contributions to Sport England for reinvestment in grassroots sport.

Describing the proposal as ‘ill conceived’, RGA chief Clive Hawkswood told The Guardian it could put Sport England in “an untenable position with no prospect of success” by asking for a solution by the end of December 2009.

“If any sort of voluntary scheme is to work fairly and effectively then it needs the support of the wider industry and neither the online or offline sectors have been consulted as a group,” the trade association executive said.

According to the Guardian report, Sutcliffe wants bookies “…to move relatively quickly to an agreement” with contribution figures in the letter suggesting a range between GBP 5 million and GBP 10 million.

Net income was GBP 6.1 million in the quarter ended October 31st, well up from the same period in 2008 of GBP 3.9 million, the London-based company said in a statement Wednesday.

Sportingbet is attracting more sports gambling by encouraging customers to bet during games using its live streaming services introduced a year ago. The increase in sporting wagers is helping to compensate for a slump in online poker, a more competitive market, the company revealed.

“I am pleased to report a solid performance for the seasonally quieter first quarter of the new financial year,” said chief executive Andrew McIver. “Group performance continues to be driven by the European sports-betting business, which has seen strong growth in all its metrics, including amounts wagered, net gaming revenue and active customer numbers.”

Group operating profit for the quarter was GBP 6.3 million, up from GBP 5.2 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

Cecure, which also operated the Aces Royal, World Poker Tour mobile and Ladbrokes Poker Million mobile gambling brands, went into administration back in July and was subsequently acquired, although the purchaser’s identity was not at the time clear.

Cavendish Corporate Finance facilitated the acquisition of Cecure, which had technology assets enabling real money gaming on a wide range of mobile devices and significant partnerships with mobile operators like Orange, T-Mobile, 3 Mobile and Vodafone.

The consideration paid for the company, and how Pokerstars intends to deploy it, is not at present known.

Longbottom’s responsibilities will be taken over by Gala’s gaming division commercial director, Mark Sergeant, until a new md can be found, although there has been media speculation that he may be confirmed permanently in the position.

Longbottom’s departure comes at a difficult period for the parent company, which is currently the subject of a bid for control by the Blackstone group, which has offered to invest GBP 300 million.

The company’s statement stressed that Longbottom’s departure was unrelated to plans to refinance Gala Coral’s GBP 540 million immediate debt burden. Overall the company reportedly owes around GBP 2.5 billion to some 200 lenders.

Taking a positive view, the loss is an improvement on Q3 2008, when it was greater at $5.9 million, although this did include a $4.2 million negative due to forex developments. The lower loss has been attributed by management to continued cost savings associated with CryptoLogic’s divesting of its poker network and accompanied restructuring, which enabled it to cut quarterly operating expenses by 25 percent on a year-on-year basis.

For Q3 2009, branded game revenue saw strong growth for the third consecutive quarter, but seasonally sluggish wagering activity and a slower-than-expected rollout of games by new licensees adversely affected the overall result.

The company warned that Q4 would see another loss due to the continued impact of the economic environment and delays in rolling out branded games.

Financial highlights:

* Revenue of $9.6 million (Q3 2008: $14 million)
* Branded game revenue increased by 46 percent to $780 000, up from $530 000 in Q2 2009
* Internet casino revenue decreased to $7.1 million (Q3 2008: $10.1 million) following two major progressive jackpot wins
* Poker revenue of $500 000 (Q3 2008: $3.2 million)
* Net loss before minority interest of $3.4 million (Q3 2008: $5.9 million – included a $4.2 mill forex loss)
* Diluted loss per share of $0.25 (Q3 2008: diluted loss per share: $0.45)
* Net cash as at September 30, 2009: $28.4 million (Q3 2008: $48.7 million)
* Dividend of $0.01 per share for the quarter (2008: $0.03 per share)
* Operating expenses were $9.2 million for the quarter (Q3 2008: $16.5 million).
* General and administrative expenses were $2.4 million (Q3 2008: $3.1 million).
* Company remains debt-free.

Operating highlights:

* 33 branded games on the market by new licensees in Q3, up from 13 in Q2 and three in Q1
* Total customer base now at 29 licensees after signing new multi-year deals in Q3 to provide branded slot games to leading operators.
* Signed a three-year agreement to license CryptoLogic’s full Internet casino suite to Betsafe
* Expanded relationship with 888.com to include five more games for launch later in 2009
* Release of new downloadable game lineup including a video slot version of Street Fighter IV, one of the most popular video games of 2009
* Continued momentum of signing up new licensees in Q4 through new deals with Rank Interactive and Unibet.

Q4 2009 outlook:

* Continuing steady roll-out of branded games by licensees with 50 games on the market.
* More than 80 branded games expected to be live by year end, based on current launch plans by licensees
* The continued impact of the economic environment and the delays in rolling out branded games will result in a loss in the fourth quarter
* In light of recent performance and the current trading environment, the company is reviewing the carrying value of its assets, which is likely
to result in a significant impairment charge in Q4

Cryptologic’s CEO and president, Brian Hadfield, said: “Despite a disappointing third quarter, Cryptologic’s business strategy is delivering tangible progress, albeit at a slower pace than anticipated.

“With a lower cost base, the largest customer roster in Cryptologic’s history and our third consecutive quarter of increased revenue from branded games, we remain focused on executing our plan – and returning to profitability and long term growth.”

The company revealed that its most popular games in the quarter included Cleo-Queen of Egypt, Cubis, Hulk Ultimate Revenge, Millionaires Club III and Spider-Man Revelations.