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02-01-2006, 03:19 AM
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#12 (permalink) |
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SBR MVP
Join Date: 09-20-05
Posts: 4,562
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I don't know of any specifics but SBR says there were complaints all the time, and they used to have this ridiculous disclaimer that all sharp, steam, or syndicate plays are restricted to over the phone, which seem liked a license to cheat players to me.
With the Computer Group guy if they were going to stiff him they should have done so earlier and not just wait until he requested a payout and had made so much money Although I do agree that they seem safe right now. |
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02-01-2006, 03:23 AM
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#13 (permalink) | |
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SBR Rookie
Join Date: 07-12-05
Location: Texas
Posts: 6,797
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Quote:
I think we will certainly take in the past as a large part of the weighting. But we can't take Jay's advice verbatim as noble and right as it may be. We can't get caught in the past. |
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02-01-2006, 03:31 AM
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#14 (permalink) |
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SBR Sharp
Join Date: 08-23-05
Posts: 475
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Even if Gary is really gone, (some say yes, some say no), Carruthers is still there and has been for some time. I don't recall if he was there at the time of the robbery, but I'm pretty sure he was there when the guy was still trying to get paid. And I believe the same can be said about the parlay player they robbed.
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02-01-2006, 03:35 AM
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#16 (permalink) | |
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Senior Member
Join Date: 08-10-05
Posts: 2,622
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I didn't agree with the 50/50 rule. No more than 50% of your bets could be props. I'm not sure if that still exists. This is a whole new company: Quote:
BETonSPORTS plc [BSS] (“BETonSPORTS” or the “Company”), the holding company of a group which operates a leading US facing online and telephone sportsbook and online casino, announces its successful admission to AIM. Trading of BETonSPORTS shares commenced at 8:00am on Thursday 15 July 2004. The Company raised £54.6 million through the successful placing by Evolution Beeson Gregory, of 39,032,006 ordinary shares with institutional investors at 140p per share. This was the third largest fund raising on AIM this year and the company, upon admission, had a market capitalisation of £114 million. " 14 October 2004 BETonSPORTS PLC Interim Results BETonSPORTS, the world’s largest USA facing online and telephone sportsbook and online casino, is pleased to announce its results for the twenty six weeks ended 1 August 2004. Highlights Successful IPO on AIM raising $44m (after costs) in July 2004 Bought out 49% minority in Millennium companies for $25m IPO funds to be used to continue the successful expansion of the business, particularly in Central and South America Profit Before Tax increased 7.3% to $4.4m from $4.1m Administration expenses reduced 10.2% to $21.1m from $23.5m Earnings Per Share increased by 6% to 5.3 cents from 5 cents in the previous period Cash at Bank increased by over $50m to $58.8m as compared with August 2003 Successful launch of BOS Poker.com in October 2004 Chairman’s Statement This is BETonSPORTS PLC’s first interim report as a public limited company. It has only been 3 months since our successful admission to trading on AIM so the update which we can give to shareholders is limited. However, it is the Board’s intention to communicate regularly and effectively with shareholders. To this end the Chief Executive, in his review, has provided an insight into early progress and our future strategic intentions. Your company was admitted to trading on the AIM market on 15 July 2004. We were very pleased that the successful placing of shares provided the business with $44m to fund its planned expansion. As part of the process the Group acquired, for $25m, the balance of the Millennium companies (49%) that it did not already own. This has strengthened the Group’s very successful multi brand strategy (offering customers differently branded sportsbooks). It is pleasing to report that the profit before tax for the 6 months under review was $4.4m (2003 $4.1m), which was slightly ahead of the previous year. The figures for both periods have been prepared as though the current Group structure had existed throughout. As was highlighted at the time of the flotation, the first six months of 2003 included a period of exceptional results, which we did not expect to be able to reproduce. Careful control of costs, and a decision to further focus the advertising expenditure towards the second half of the year, have enabled the Group to exceed its internal expectations. These points are discussed in more detail in the Chief Executive’s review. Prior to flotation, but during the period under review, the Company declared and paid an interim dividend of $3.8m. The dedication and support of the entire BETonSPORTS team has helped the Group to achieve rapid growth in its core market over the last five years. We now intend to use this experience in other countries where the provision of wagering and gaming is currently under-developed. To achieve this objective we will need to further strengthen our management resources. This we will do in the short term. The philosophy of the Group has always been to develop its activities in both an ethical and innovative way. Our strategy is to increase volumes in our traditional market by providing new offerings such as on-line poker and other on-line products, as well as developing our sports book brands. Additionally we are investing significant resources in new technologies and methodologies and in order to leverage our significant investment in an effective way, we are developing methods of accepting wagering in a number of new territories utilising the call centres in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. On Friday 8 October, we successfully launched the BETonSPORTS poker game, BoSPOKER.com with a high profile charity poker party in Beverly Hills at which professional players challenged well known celebrities. We are working hard to promote ethical gaming and currently support many help organisations and charities, including UK based Gamcare. The Group continues to lead the campaign in the USA to legalise and regulate on-line gaming and we have been very active in this area in the period under review. More details about this are given in the Chief Executive’s review. The Board is confident that the Group will, over the next few years, deliver continually improving performance, resulting in an increase in long term shareholder value. The industry represents a dynamic and exciting arena in which to develop our business and we look forward to the Group’s prospects and its future as a plc. Clive Parritt Chairman 14 October 2004 Chief Executive’s Review Financial Results Twenty six weeks ended 1 August 2004 The profit before tax for the period was $4.4m as compared with $4.1m for the comparable period last year. As anticipated in the AIM admission document the turnover from online and telephone sports betting and the online casino was lower in the period than in the comparable period for 2003. However, the group has experienced strong growth in fee income generated from market research and telemarketing service companies utilizing the BETonSPORTS business infrastructure ($4.1m as against $1.4m.) Opportunity for further growth in fee income exists, as the increasing levels of core business activity moving to the internet channel will free up further infrastructure for future expansion. As a result of this growth in fee income and successful cost control, including the planned rephasing of advertising expenditure, the results for the twenty six weeks to 1 August 2004 are slightly better than the comparable six months to 3 August 2003. It should be understood that short term patterns in sporting results can heavily influence operating profits. Our financial performance for the first six months of 2003 benefited from an unprecedented period in which favourites lost consistently. As explained previously, this was not repeated in the period under review. Our business is inevitably subject to short-term swings and it is vital to review the underlying long term performance in order to assess the strength of the business. Additionally the business of BETonSPORTS plc is highly seasonal with the majority of turnover, margins and profits arising in the second half of the financial year. Review of Operations Internet traffic in the sportsbook continues to increase. We have introduced different delivery channels for expansion into new territories and are in the process of launching a number of new products. The group has strengthened its operational infrastructure capability with the provision of further redundancy coverage for its operating server rooms and the continued development of defense systems to offset risk from denial of service attacks, which remain an ever present threat to on-line industries. Despite the highly visible strong arm tactics from the Department of Justice in St Louis, Missouri to try to frighten advertisers from taking advertisements for online gaming, BETonSPORTS has been able to secure marketing spends in all mediums (Print, Radio, TV Internet and Point Of Sale) albeit that some new properties in existing channels, explored in addition to the traditional properties, are untested and speculative. The Group has also continued successfully to market its services using direct mail to reach its extensive customer database. We are maintaining our market leadership and brand recognition in our core market place. It is too early to assess whether there will be any impact on cost per customer acquisition as a result of exploring new advertising properties since any advertising property takes time to mature and cost benefits only accumulate from multiple exposures. BETonSPORTS continues to lead the industry in its efforts to secure regulation certainty in North America. Coinciding with the start of the NFL Football season BETonSPORTS launched phase two of its ‘Right to Wager’ campaign with a series of TV adverts coast to coast and a media summit tour of four major cities (New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles). We remain optimistic that in the medium term there will be positive change to the regulatory environment for online gaming in North America. The group continues to progress its strategy to develop the BETonSPORTS brand in South and Central America and Asia and has made good progress towards launching activity in Mexico, Panama and Guatemala. We are expecting to make announcements regarding the commencement of trading in Mexico and Guatemala shortly. The Group launched BoSPOKER.com with a star-studded, high profile charity poker party in Beverly Hills on 8 October. Online multi-player poker is currently the fastest growing gaming product on the internet and, with over 1.2 million registered customers, BETonSPORTS is confident that this product will enhance its customer experience and, in addition to attracting new customers, will reinforce customer loyalty. Outlook During the first six months of the current financial year, BETonSPORTS has continued to make progress in the development of its business. The resources and reputation benefits obtained from its newly acquired plc status will position the business to exploit opportunities to which it would otherwise not have had access. This year the NFL season started one week later than last year, and it has been affected by several major hurricanes. It is too early to draw definitive conclusions from the first few weeks of the season, but the Group remains broadly confident about the future. David Carruthers Chief Executive Officer 14 October 2004 Notes to Editors BETonSPORTS is a leading North American-facing on-line and telephone sportsbook and casino operator. The company admitted to trading on AIM, London Stock Exchange on 15 July 2004 The Group gained its first internet sportsbook operating licence in Antigua in 1997. At the peak of high season in the financial year ended 31 January 2004, it employed over 1,600 employees in Antigua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom For the year ended 31 January 2004, BETonSPORTS reported turnover of US$1.25 billion and profits before tax of $27m. The Company’s profits have grown every year since 2000, rising by 4,400% over the five year period. The Company operates 11 online brands, and takes the majority of its revenues from bets placed on US sports such as American Football, Basketball and Baseball Over 33 million sportsbook and casino bets were placed with the Group in the financial year ended 31 January 2004. This equates to more than one bet every second, and approximately 90% of all the bets it received were taken over the internet. Further information on the company can be found at www.betonsports.com Further Enquiries: BETonSPORTS plc David Carruthers (Chief Executive Officer) +44 (0)783 435 1773 Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ginny Pulbrook, Victoria Brough +44 (0)20 7638 9571 Unaudited Consolidated Profit and Loss Account Pro forma Pro forma Pro forma Notes 26 Weeks to 26 Weeks to 52 Weeks to 1 August 2004 3 August 2003 1 February 2004 US$ '000 US$ '000 US$ '000 Turnover (2) 403,417 429,775 1,252,328 Cost of sales (378,094) (402,241) (1,162,090) Gross profit 25,323 27,534 90,238 Administration expenses (21,072) (23,514) (63,448) Operating profit 4,251 4,020 26,790 Interest receivable 108 70 175 Profit before taxation 4,359 4,090 26,965 Taxation (75) - (86) Profit after taxation 4,284 4,090 26,879 Dividends Payable (3,796) - (22,846) Retained profit for the period (4) 488 4,090 4,033 Earnings per Ordinary Share (cents) 5.3 5.0 33.1 Earnings per Ordinary Share fully diluted 4.9 - - Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheet Proforma Proforma Notes As at As at As at 1 August 2004 3 August 2003 1 February 2004 US$ ‘000 US$ ‘000 US$ ‘000 Fixed assets Tangible assets 4,082 4,234 4,297 Intangible assets 2,136 1,758 2,172 Goodwill 21,670 1,189 1,054 Investments 95 170 95 27,983 7,351 7,618 Current assets Debtors 22,010 29,971 20,714 Cash and bank balances (3) 58,845 8,718 28,429 80,855 38,689 49,143 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (36,054) (33,633) (36,911) Dividend payable - - (7,500) Net current assets 44,801 5,056 4,732 Total assets less current liabilities 72,784 12,407 12,350 Net assets 72,784 12,407 12,350 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 1,493 50 50 Share premium account 62,630 - - Profit and loss account (4) 8,661 12,357 12,300 Shareholders' equity funds 72,784 12,407 12,350 Unaudited Consolidated Cash Flow Statement Pro forma Pro forma Pro forma Notes 26 weeks ended 26 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 1 August 2004 3 August 2003 1 February 2004 US$ '000 US$ '000 US$ '000 Net cash inflow from operating activities (3) 3,509 (9,484) 27,331 Returns on investments and servicing Of finance: Interest received 108 71 175 Taxation (75) - (86) Capital expenditure and financia |