Birmingham council to select NEC's £300million scheme

BIRMINGHAM, England -Controversial plans to build a Las Vegas-style super casino at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre were set for a major boost after Solihull Council, which has responsibility for issuing planning permission on the NEC site, was expected to back the £300 million casino scheme at a meeting.

Cabinet members in Solihull are set to discuss the plans and, if agreed, will mark the NEC as its preferred location for the casino. That could scupper the rival Birmingham City FC stadium scheme.

The NEC's plan was revealed last month, just weeks after Birmingham City Football Club unveiled rival plans to build a super casino as part of a new 50,000 seater stadium in Saltley, Birmingham. NEC bosses want to build an 800,000 sq ft complex which would also boast a hotel, restaurants, bars and sports facilities, but with the Government capping the number of super casinos in the UK to just eight, Birmingham would only be allowed one.

Strategic director for Solihull Council, Julian Wain, stressed that any planning or licensing permission for the casino would have to be dealt with by the council's relevant committees at a later date.

But he added: "We are arguing that the NEC is a good site for a super casino in economic terms.

"Business tourism is very important and we would hope that the benefits would be felt in Solihull.

"The NEC is a leisure and business destination in its own right and we would argue that a casino at the NEC would create a more complete visitor experience and enhance the attractions that the NEC has.

"We would say that the concerns people have over casinos would be better addressed in a super casino. There would be strict controls."

Paddy Power targets online poker profits

As reported by the Times Online UK

PADDY POWER, Ireland’s biggest bookmaker, will this week launch a suite of online poker games to capitalise on one of the most lucrative areas of internet betting, writes Ciaran Hancock.
The bookmaker is planning a “soft launch” of Paddy Power Poker, which will involve an initial 200 players who have been pre-registered. An icon for the poker games was recently added to the Paddypower.ie website, although this has not yet been enabled. Analysts estimate that about £100m (€143m) a year is bet on online poker in the UK alone.

The company is targeting Irish and British players but the games will also be open to residents of some other European countries.

Paddy Power will act as a facilitator for players, offering them the opportunity to play live over the internet with players hosted by other sites. This makes it no-risk betting for the bookmaker, which will typically earn about 2% of each pot.

The company will also organise online tournaments, charging a fee for each entry. Players will be required to put a minimum €10 or £10 into their betting accounts but the bookmaker will not extend credit. Novices will be able to play for stakes as low as 5p or 5c and small-stake gamblers are expected to account for a large volume of traffic on the site.

Paddy Power has already enjoyed success with its online casino, which was launched in January 2004. In the first six months of last year, the bookmaker earned an operating profit of €1m from the venture. The company was also recently voted by readers of the Racing Post as the best online betting website among 18 different providers in the UK and Ireland.

Online betting has revolutionised the image of poker. The game has also had its profile raised by high-stake tournaments carried by Channel 4 and Sky in Britain.