Thursday, January 3

The Victorian Heavyweight Title: Intralot and Tattersalls

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Tattersalls loses monopoly.
Intralot gets scratchies.

"Last December, the Government awarded a 12-month license extension to Tattersall's, worth at least $100 million, after a Government committee bungled a report to recommend whether the gaming giant or Intralot should get the license."



The Story Behind the Billion Dollar Phenomenon









MELBOURNE, Australia -- As reported by the Herald-Sun: "Greek gambling giant Intralot has backflipped on last week's pledge not to introduce SMS punting. "Intralot director John Katakis opened the door yesterday to SMS gambling once the company's Victorian licence took effect from 2009. "If it serves the purposes of the game and the player, then why not?" he said on 3AW" ...However Mr Katakis said SMS gambling would not be available from the start of Intralot's operation in Victoria.

http://www.rgtonline.com/Article.cfm?ArticleId=76513&CategoryName=Headline&SubCategoryName=News






Click the Photo to Enlarge these Already
Large Figures from the Australian
State of Victoria







While this news is only representative of one Australian State, it is significant for several reasons. Most importantly, it is apparent that Intralot are going to challenge the standing legislation regards online and mobile gaming. As mentioned, the term 'scratchies' is synonymous with scratch and win cards in Australia and there is simply no other term. Say we play a game of word association and pretend Pepsi didn't exist.






If we said Coke - all narcotics jokes aside - you'd be at a complete loss. Ask Joe Public to take the Pepsi Challenge with 'scratchies' and you would find him staring blankly back at you. He'd probably unconsciously do a Marcel Marceau with a coin in one hand and imaginary scratch card in the other, raise his shoulders incredulously and mouth the word, 'Scratchies'.








Intralot are about to take scratchies beyond the traditional news agency and into supermarkets and service stations - we'll have to wait to see what they have planned for the digital space. Don't forget that classic image right above. Australians are kept in the dark as to what's out there in the world - particularly online.


Scratchies and pokies are their world.

The scratchies products are licensed as 'Instant Lottery Games' by the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, issuer of both Tattersall's and now Intralot's permits. This marks a small change from the Commission's former wording for Tattersall's, where cards were 'Instant Money Lotteries'. Interestingly, both companies raft of other games adopt a non-generic approach to the nomenclature of their games, such as Powerball, TV Bingo, Super 66, Pick 3, and Tattslotto.












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The Impotent Australian Casinos.


This commentary on Graeme Philipson of the Sydney Morning Herald
by Online Casino News editors:

“Dear Minister, congratulations on your appointment as Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. It is a big job but you have very small shoes to fill. Your predecessor left an unfortunate legacy and very many problems, which only astute policy-making can solve.” Was the welcome to office that writer Graeme Philipson of smh.com.au offered.

Representing a broad view that seems to permeate most cognizant Australian’s minds, Philipson asks the question – why can Australians bet on non-Australian gambling sites, while not allowed to bet on Australian gambling sites, while the rest of the world is free to bet on Australian casino gambling sites as they wish? -A logical question that has not been answered since the legal anomaly was born out of Australian online gaming legislation several years ago. Australians are among the heaviest gamblers in the world,'











Intralot and its terrestrial scratchies games may begin to encroach on what would otherwise be considered Scratchies.com territory in 2009.

As it happens, Lasseters and AusVegas online casinos closed their operations as of October '08. As we have outlined here, they were Australian-based casinos, yet they could not market to Australians. The remainder of the international casinos are still trying to make inroads into Australia while being hobbled by not being able to advertise to them directly - so it comes down to the affiliates doing their bidding. This is another reason why using a distinctive, existing brand is best practice.






While this is not seen as an extraordinary threat, as there are already a handful of established gaming operators - Scratch2Cash & Prime Scratchcards being the two leaders internationally in scratchies games and frankly leaving all other lotteries including the giant Tattersalls for dead - their moving from the terrestrial space to online gaming will put us closer into competition. In actual fact, scratchies play a very minor role in our operation, so the likelihood of any jostling for position is unlikely.

Gaming Minister Tony Robinson said Victorians had had a long love affair with "lotto" products, but he would not say if the scratchies market would be opened up to the Internet and mobile phones. "It has always been the case that the lottery license holder has been free to innovate as they see fit," he said.

Intralot are not strangers to online gaming - and their capability in operating sms games is significant. The same rules and legislation will apply to them as any operator that is licensed to operate an online casino from within Australia. They can offer cash play to certain international markets, but they will not be able to target Australians directly. John Katakis' comments on 3AW would suggest a test case might be in the offing in 2009. What do you think??



Scratchies is as much of a household name in New Zealand. To a lesser degree, the word scratchies [or variations on the theme] is very well recognised and loved in a number of countries throughout the world. The Montreal Mirror notes that the instant win cards in that country are known both by scratchies and gratteux - the two of which Maverick operate at the TLD - raking in C$500,000,000.00+ annually. The industry globally is estimated to be worth countless billions of dollars.






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