INTERNET VERY MUCH A PART OF GREEK GAMBLING MONOPOLY'S PLANS

Written On 5/9/11 By Recentpoker.com staff writer Lenny Wasman :

OPAP has ambitions both within and outside its homeland, especially over the internet, chief exec reveals

In an interview with the Bloomberg news service this week Ioannis Spanoudakis, chief executive of the Greek gambling monopoly OPAP, said his company has ambitious expansion plans that include the internet.

However, the company also has to find a balance between cutting payroll costs whilst remaining competitive, he cautioned.

“We are not looking just to become a more cost-effective, productive company, but we are looking to be involved in more business opportunities in Greece, on the internet and outside of Greece,” he told the news agency.

The payroll reduction plan apparently does not involve extensive job cutting, although Spanoudakis could not reveal the detail until he had final board approval. However, the arrangements had been negotiated and agreed to by the relevant unions, he said.

Greece’s government is currently working on legislation to regulate the gambling market.

Licenses for video-lottery terminals, internet betting and an instant-lottery scratch game are “tremendous opportunities” for OPAP, Spandoukis said, adding: “We are going to fight for them."

Bloomberg notes that last month the Greek government announced plans to sell its 34 percent stake in OPAP in 2012, call a tender for the national lottery and sell its holdings in land casinos as part of a state- asset sale to raise Euros 50 billion through 2015 to help pay down the country’s debt.

The national lottery is an “attractive opportunity,” while the company doesn’t plan to bid for the land casino assets, Spanoudakis said. There haven’t been any talks on government plans to extend the company’s monopoly on sports betting, currently until 2020, he revealed.

Greece’s illegal gambling market is worth over Euros 4 billion a year, the Greek finance ministry claimed earlier this year.

Spanoudakis predicted that OPAP earnings will be weaker in 2011 due to the recessive nature of the economy. Net profit in the second half of 2010 reached Euros 323.9 million off sales of Euros 2.4 billion.

Tim Chung Wins MPNPT Manchester - The 288-runner £550 MPNPT Manchester Main Event today crowned its champion, awarding the bulk of the £150,000 total prizepool to the nine players surviving after two days of tournament poker at the Grosvenor Casino.

MPNPT Manchester Day 2 - Day 2 of the £550 MPNPT Manchester Main Event saw 60 Day 1 survivors (from a total of 288 entries) and three intrepid last-minute registrants sit down to play to the final table.

Day 1B MPN Poker Tour Manchester - Day 1B of the £550 MPNPT Manchester Main Event saw the field rise to 285, as players took full advantage of the whole-day re-entry period.

Day 1A MPNPT Manchester - The £150,000 guaranteed MPNPT Manchester kicked off today in style – 74 poker players from all over Europe arriving at the Grosvenor Casino to contend the first of two starting days

Kung Fu Rooster Slot Goes Live - Celebrate Chinese New Year - 2017 Year of the Rooster. It's time to sweep away any ill-fortune and make way for incoming good luck, with this exciting 12 lines slot game.

Sensational Sixes Slot Goes Live - Light up Icons like BAR's, black spades, red hearts, blue diamonds, and green clubs. The best part of Sensational Sixes are the three wild icons, for 2X, 4X, and 6X multipliers!

3 New Betsoft Slots - 3 new Betsoft slot Games were also added this week to most online casinos allowing US players.

2017 Bodog Super Millions Poker Open - The first events on the 105-tournament schedule have already been completed; there are three more tourneys on Thursday’s schedule, with a total of $34,000 in guaranteed prize money waiting to be won.

Pokerstars Pulls Out Of Coloumbia - Pokerstars Has taken the decision to cease offering real money services to players located in, playing from or resident within Colombia, effective from the 17th of July 2017.

The Railbird Launched By Americas Card Room #acra - Watching your friends conquer the tables just got a whole lot easier. Americas Card Room recently launched its industry-first Player Observer Tool dubbed “The Railbird”, a new feature that allows players seated at Americas Card Room tables to instantly share a live stream of their action with friends.