The Victorian Government has awarded Tattersalls a licence to run a mid-week lotto game over rival Intralot. The lottery will run on Monday and Wednesday nights in several states. The new games are in addition to the nation-wide lotteries already run by Tattersalls on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights. Intralot has struggled to gain a foothold in the Victorian gambling industry since breaking Tattersalls' monopoly on lotteries.

Victorian Premier John Brumby says a parliamentary committee inquiry into gaming licence tenders was nothing more than a smear campaign and its final report is an embarrassment to the Opposition. The committee, dominated by non-government MPs, tabled its final report today, delivering an open finding with insufficient evidence to prove allegations of improper conduct by the State Government, Tattersall's or lobbying firm Hawker Britton.

The Victorian government has broken a 54-year monopoly on the state's lottery market, awarding licences to both Tattersall's and Intralot. In opening up the market, the government hopes to reap more money - from more gambling. Today's announcement coincides with a report clearing the state government of any bias in its gaming tender process. The report, by a review panel chaired by retired federal court judge Ron Merkel QC, said the two gaming giants had been treated equally and impartially.

When the Victorian Government introduced smoking bans in gaming rooms across the state in September 2002, Tabcorp was caught unawares. "It came very quickly and we didn't have the in-depth customer research that we should have," recalled former chief executive Matthew Slatter. "The impact was very dramatic."