“The best of the world”

[francisco]

Do you know this?

www.masdehipodromos.com (http://www.masdehipodromos.com/articulo.cfm?idArticulo=9871) “The best of the world” = “Lo Mejor del Mundo”

[hobbes]

no --- what is it. seems like a race field and i thought Sth America but i guess Spain ??

[francisco]

Dear colleagues:

I am from Spain and I have been working on horse racing and related issues for over 30 years. Visit our http://www.masdehipodromos.com/ (http://http://www.masdehipodromos.com/) page and feel free to join!

Best,

Francisco Salas,
Madrid, Spain

[imaufo]

Oct 04, 2004

The astonishing growth in gambling around the world, including a forecast fivefold increase in UK betting turnover in the three years since 2001, is revealed in an authoritative report published today. While the world economy has been stalling, the net total lost by punters around the globe has surged 12.2pc since 2000 to $208billion, according to the Midlands-based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC).

In their third annual report, "Double or Quits", GBGC predicts an even rosier future as the gambling industry benefits from a double whammy of government deregulation and the rewards of massive investment in technology.

Britain has led the field in the gambling boom following the decision by Chancellor Gordon Brown in October 2001 to replace the betting tax with a gross profits tax on bookmakers.

UK betting turnover was £7.6billion in the 12 months to the end of September 2001. This year, based on Custom and Excise figures up to July, turnover for the 12 months to September 2004 will be about £39.4billion - a more than fivefold increase.

The massive increase is due to recycling of punters' money after the scrapping of the betting tax, the installation of 15,000 fixed odds betting terminals in Britain's 8,000 betting shops, the globalisation of the UK industry via the internet, and growth in sports betting - particularly soccer.

Gross profits made by bookmakers, £1.73billion in the year before the tax changes, will almost double to £3.19billion for the year to September, GBGC predicts.

Warwick Bartlett, lead partner at GBGC, says: "It has been the global slowdown which has acted as the primary catalyst for expansion. We are seeing governments deregulate gambling to raise what are essentially voluntary taxes, a process we predicted three years ago and one that is now well underway."

Not surprisingly, the globe's leading betting and gaming stocks have performed spectacularly well and in April this year the top 50 tracked by GBGC had surged to just over twice their pre-September 11 value.

http://www.gamblingmagazine.com/managearticle.asp?C=280&A=12055