Brussels, November 25, 2005 --- With final preparations in full swing for the Gala Opening Night of Grand Casino Brussels on January 19, 2006, Mr. Freddy Thielemans, Mayor of the City of Brussels, Mr. Bertin Mampaka, Deputy Mayor of the City of Brussels, Mr. Paul Herzfeld, CEO of Casinos Austria International, Mr. Josef Leutgeb, CFO of Casinos Austria International, Mr. Tim Cullimore, General Manager Grand Casino Brussels, and Dr. Peter Ketzer, Casinos Austria International Representative in Brussels took the opportunity to present their new casino and offer journalists a sneak preview of the many attractions on offer.

betandwin.com to hold presentation at the N.Y. Roadshow of Erste Bank and Vienna Stock Exchange in co-operations with Auerbach Grayson.

Analysis of a Düsseldorf court ruling that classifies a premium-call quiz as an illegal game of chance, despite a skill-based question.

The line of reasoning of the Free State of Bavaria and the other defendants of the state monopoly is relatively simple. Very self confidently the Bavarian under-secretary proclaimed that only the state could guarantee gaming without manipulation. With the state monopoly the "market model" of commercial profiteering was dismissed. Private operators pursued a "rampant expansion". Only the legal ODDSET offer can prevent "illegal offers" by private operators (which does constitute a certain circular argument).

As expected, an "exchange of blows" took place between the supporters of the state monopoly and the private operators at the hearing on the 8th of November 2005 before the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). The Bavarian under-secretary Schmid warned against a "rampant expansion" of private operators in the year of the football world cup. The canalisation and containment of peoples' gaming instincts could only be guaranteed by an exclusive state offer.

I-gaming Industry Convenes in Nice

Karlsruhe/Munich 8-10 November 2005. There has hardly ever been an event so eagerly awaited by the national and international gambling industry as the oral hearing in the case (1 BvR 1054/01) before the German Constitutional Court on November 8th. I am sure that bets will also be taken on the outcome of these proceedings" were the words of the Constitutional Court judge Prof. Dr. Bryde as he – acting as court reporter – spoke to the first senate, the parties to the proceedings as well as the audience in the full public gallery of the Constitutional Court.

2006 is poised to become a watershed year for the organisers of ICEi, the i-gaming sector of the annual International Casino Exhibition (ICE), which takes place at Earls Court 2, London across 24-26 January.

The 2006 International Casino Exhibition (ICE), which takes place at London’s Earls Court 2 on 24-26 January, is on track for yet another record-breaking year. Whilst the last few remaining stand pitches have been filled, online visitor registrations have been pouring in and show organisers ATE have confirmed that entry badge requests are already up year-on-year.

Online betting is becoming more and more important in the German betting market and is dominated by private operators such as BetandWin. However, meanwhile also operators traditionally focused on the retail business are beginning to add Internet offers to their line of sales channels (e.g., Springer/oneXtwo, Hobiger/Wetten.de, ...). The online operators Jaxx/Fluxx and Tipp24, both of which serve as brokers for the state operator DLTB, are especially important in this market. A few years ago they took advantage of the DLTB’s weaknesses on the Internet and offered the Oddset bets as well as lottery products of the DLTB via the Internet.

With the new opportunity for British casinos to increase from 10 to 20 slot machines only a few weeks old, Novo Gaming UK, subsidiary of Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH (AGI) is already delighted with the substantial share of the business that its new range of games has generated.

Whilst visiting the product presentation of the Gauselmann subsidiary STELLA and MEXIM at this year’s FORBES in Prague, Rolf Klug, Member of the Gauselmann Group Board and responsible for the MERKUR International segment, and Rolf Falke, CEO of MERKUR CASINO took the opportunity to drop in on the newly opened 5th MERKUR CASINO located in the south-east of Prague.