Agreement

The Regional Government of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands (Islas Baleares) has agreed to implement horse bets on the island of Minorca in the year 2007, that will work in much the same way as the Lototrot is now operating on the island of Mallorca. To this end, a Turf Gaming Consortium of Menorca, (similar, as well, to its counterpart in Mallorca), will be created within the first three months of 2006. The system to be applied is still not clear, but it is likely to resemble the Mallorca model, that is to say: 70% of placed bets will go to prizes, 11% of the Lototrot takings are used to foster the island horse industry (trotting, horse breeding), 7% goes straight to public treasury and 12% is the margin left for the operator and operational expenses. However, in view of the poor results obtained by the Lototrot – electronic horse bets – in Mallorca in these first months after the launch, it is likely that the new Menorca betting system will be easier and more affordable for players, since they will only be betting on the winning horses of one race.

Rage

Sport bets on the Internet are presently a big rage among the Spanish population. All analysts forecast an even greater interest in the years to come. There are over twenty betting sites in Spanish, but “miapuesta.com” seems to be the one currently with the greatest number of visitors; it registered a total count of 173,000 users in November, while “betandwin” registered 83,000 users in the same period. Betting sites in Spanish are already operating with Spanish banking institutions.