Anyone holding these? Evil K drove the price right down and now they seem to be recovering---are they worth considering now they seem to have sorted out their finances?

Thanks Hustler. There is plenty of upside anyway, as the Paradise aquisition has not been fully integrated. They will either be on the aquisition trail or be aquired themselves. The market is growing fast.

the uptrend is relentless at the moment, so, I do feel that there is likely to be a short term pull back soon though as people take their profits. This will need to be re-rated.

For the record, I understand that The Poker Channel will start on the Sky TV Network mid March 2005. That should encourage plenty more willing donors to the internet tables which is good news for me (the poker newbies are easy prey) and good news for Sportingbet and Neteller. Also, don't forget William Hill and Ladbrokes who have big flourishing poker sites already.

Any views on current sp which has dropped from 350p to circa 313p in last couple of days. I bought @90p last year and whilst appreciating profit taking recently I don't want to lose out again as I did with the fall of OKR sp.

Should I sell now?

I think if I was sitting on your profit I would take it. It has been trading within a narrow band. I think to-day drop takes it out of its normal band. I believe there was a slightly negative opinion in the IC. Also the ad and obv indicators have turned down ROC also down. Take your profit I sold yesterday at 332p. Luck

You ca buy back in later if the trend is positive for your dealing.

Many thanks for your views, Fred1new

> Tenereds - don't be greedy!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/03/27/ccbreak27.xml


Online poker is suddenly the biggest game in town. Already this year, it has emerged that two of the world's biggest poker sites, PartyGaming and Cassava Enterprises, which owns the 888.com online casino, are considering floating on the UK stock market.

They hope to tap into the huge investor interest in online gaming stocks that has boosted shares in Sportingbet, the leading online gaming group, by more than 300 per cent in the past year, driven partly by its acquisition of Paradise Poker.

But Sportingbet's shares still look cheap. They trade on 24 times this year's forecast earnings, according to Investec. This may seem racy, particularly compared with other UK gaming stocks, such as Rank, Hilton and William Hill, which trade on multiples of about 14.

But Sportingbet is forecast to deliver earnings growth of more than 40 per cent a year. In contrast, Ebay is forecast to grow earnings by a mere 30 per cent, yet the online auction group's shares trade on 48 times this year's earnings, according to Merrill Lynch.

Why does Sportingbet trade at such a discount to other fast-growing internet stocks? After all, it makes profits and generates huge quantities of cash since it has little debt and is based in Gibraltar where it pays hardly any tax. Nor is there much doubt of its growth potential.

Online gambling accounts for less than 5 per cent of the gross win of the global gaming industry - a figure that is expected to soar as punters become more familiar with online gaming and broadband internet connections rise.

What is holding the shares back is regulatory fears. Sportingbet makes most of its poker revenues in the US, where the status of online gaming is ambiguous. US law prohibits the use of telephones to take bets. Sportingbet, like other online gaming sites, is located offshore, beyond the reach of the authorities.

But regulators have tried to control matters via the banks that process transactions and other affiliated businesses. This can make life more complicated for online gaming sites, but not impossible. At worst, regulators will succeed only in slowing growth. Sportingbet's investors will still be left to share a big pot.

http://www.thisismoney.com/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=399226&in_page_id=19

Big rewards, big risks in poker deal
27 March 2005

ONLINE poker is a red-hot sector for investors. The possible flotations this year of Party Gaming - the company behind the world's most popular poker website - and internet casino owner Cassava have captured the imagination.

Party Gaming, which owns the Party Poker site, could boast a price tag of 3bn, enough to see it into the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies.

Fuelled by lottery-style jackpots offered via online tournaments, the global online poker market is enjoying spectacular growth. It was worth 318m in 2003, 750m last year and is expected to be 1.2bn in 2005. Operators take a cut from each pot, known as the rake. So the more poker hands played, the greater the profit.

A leading UK-listed operator offering excellent exposure to all this action is Sportingbet. It was a large, unloved sports bookmaker until last year's 169m purchase of Paradise Poker.

That transformed Sportingbet, led by chief executive Nigel Payne, adding 775,000 new customers, taking its total to 2.2m, while providing a kicker to the shares. Like its new owner, Paradise's main market is America, where nearly three-quarters of its player base comes from.

Paradise is ranked four in the world but should benefit from being the only live poker site with a sports betting operation. Over time that should also help to protect Paradise's margins, currently a mind-boggling 64%. By contrast the sports betting side has much lower margins - about 5%. Analysts reckon Paradise's profits will overtake those of Sportingbet's core business by next year.

Midas verdict: This is a tough call. The main risk is regulatory. Online poker's legal status in the US is unclear. Some law-makers argue it is a game of skill and should not be legislated like other gaming. But the Justice Department sees it as a game of chance and has stymied efforts to licence internet poker, arguing it violates several federal laws, including the 1961 Wire Act.

Sportingbet is also exposed to the weak dollar and there is also the risk that online poker may be just a passing fad. Sportingbet's shares have had a tremendous run, touching 349p this month before retreating to 271p as profit-takers moved in. But with brokers forecasting pre-tax profits this year of 53m rising to 78.5m in 2006, the stock trades on an undemanding price to earnings ratio of 20 dropping to 15. Having fallen by more than a third from their recent peak, we see an opportunity to invest and recommend a speculative buy

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1543316_1,00.html

Focus: Poker crazy [page 3 of article refers to Sportingbet]

Betfair pair odds on for 700m float

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1542939,00.htmlt

NLR and GMC are also good companies in for the ride. I foolishly sold out of SBT at 25p when Evil rubbished them he's now trying the same thing with NLR--I won't be falling for his tricks again!!

At the moment they are trading on far too high a prospective earnings ratio and are best avoided in favour of better value elsewhere.

Quite a statement given both companies are due to report in the next couple of weeks. I'm in both NLR and GMC and happy to be so. Will re-evaluate when I see the figures.

Good new for this sector:

Sportingbet PLC
08 April 2005


For immediate release
8 April 2005

Sportingbet Plc
('Sportingbet' or the 'Company')

The Board of Sportingbet notes the publication yesterday of the World Trade
Organisation ('WTO') decision to uphold the principal original rulings in the
trade dispute between the United States and Antigua over online gambling. These
rulings found that the United States has not complied with its obligations under
the General Agreement on Trade in Services ('GATS'). In yesterday's ruling, the
Appellate Body of the WTO recommended that the Dispute Settlement Body request
the United States to bring its measures into conformity with its GATS
obligations.

Sportingbet welcomes this development and looks forward to continuing its
efforts to promote the regulation of the industry in the United States.

The Board also notes the successful passage of the UK Gambling Bill, which
includes provisions for the regulation of online gambling. Sportingbet looks
forward to working with the new Gambling Commission and awaits with interest
clarification of the new regulatory framework and the level of taxation that
will be levied on UK licensed online gambling operators.

Times:8.4.05:
Sportingbet, the AIM-listed online gambling company, added 14p to 275p as dealers mulled over the implications of a World Trade Organisation ruling in favour of Antigua in a protracted dispute with the US. The ruling was hailed as a landmark victory that brings the legalisation of internet gambling in the US, where Sportingbet is one of the biggest players, a step closer.

Sportingbet said it has enjoyed a good third quarter and expects operating profit before interest and goodwill amortisation for the period not to be less than 19m.

In a trading update, the company said sports betting volumes during the period have been strong and there has been some improvement in margin compared with the first half.

The poker, casino and gaming have also continued to perform well.

Sportingbet will announce its third quarter results and cumulative results for the nine months ending April 30th 2005 on June 2nd.

Hope this is good for the sector on the whole - what with NLR pain of last few days??
Any one anything to add?

Looking good,with some good buying in the last half hour.

16 May 2005


SPORTINGBET PLC

Notification of Third Quarter Results

Sportingbet Plc will be announcing its third quarter and cumulative results for
the nine months ended 30 April 2005 on Thursday 2 June 2005. There will be a
presentation for analysts at the offices of Ashurst, Broadwalk House, 5 Appold
Street, London, EC2A 2HA at 09.30.

Hi 271,

Do you hold Sportingbet? Do you think this caused the drop today? If so any ideas why? TA suggests it should start climbing back to 320 resistance. Sportingbet have fabulou scredntials and profits are alledgedly soaring, any idea what's holding the sp back?

Hi Chiva
Yes i hve been a fan for a long time , though bought in also at the ressistance level at aroung 3.20 at a time . Have added on weakness twice since then. Mid April and late April, shares mag and some news through Digitallook set a target price of around 3.75. Current weakness I think is due to the sector as whole suffering, I also hold some in UKB,WMH, NLR( which accepts payments for this sector). All these too are down. No particular news I know for the drop - but if you look at buys/sells last 20 odd days - the buys have far outweighted the sells.
p/271