The real power behind Casino on Net
March 17, 2005
The Israeli publication Haaretz this week carries a fascinating
article on the Israelis wo own the parent company of online gambling
giants like Casino On Net, Pacific Poker and Random Logic.
Written by Galit Yemini, the story remarks that Israelis who try
to gamble at the popular global casino Web sites Casino-on-net.com
or 888.com, which combines Casino-on-net and the Pacific Poker site,
will find their entry barred. These two sites have made a strategic
decision to block the entry of Israeli surfers, mainly due to the
lack of clarity in Israeli law concerning Internet gambling.
Local gamblers have good reason to be insulted. While other international
sites welcome Israelis and set up foreign-based sites in Hebrew,
the biggest Internet casino site in the world, founded and controlled
by Israelis, blocks their access!
Galit says that even without the Israeli visitors, however, the
two pairs of brothers - Avi and Aharon Shaked and Shai and Ron Ben-Yitzhak
- placed the right bet: The Internet gambling empire they established
rakes in over US $1 billion a year, with estimated annual profits
of $200-$300 million.
And he says that the mother company, VHL, which operates from Gibraltar
and runs Casino-on-net and Pacific Poker, is now considering issuing
stock on the London stock exchange, with a value around $2 billion,
thanks to its high profitability. If the company does go public,
it will have to disclose its financial reports, which could impact
the whole gambling industry worldwide.
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