Right now, most of the Northern Hemisphere is seeing record-breaking cold temperatures, freezing pipes, running up heating bills, keeping people indoors, killing crops and causing all kinds of problems. It’s enough to make you wish that “global warming” was real. Though the aforementioned problems are well known, not many people think of the impact cold weather has on the gambling industry.

For starters, I’m having trouble typing this because my fingers are numb. That is only a minor concern, though. A bigger concern is a loss of revenue. Online betting exchanges make a lot of money on sports like horse racing. With the freezing temperatures, though, many races have been cancelled. That is done both for the protection of the horses (and jockeys) and also because not many people are willing to stand in freezing temperatures to watch a race, anyway.

Betfair, one of the biggest online betting exchanges in the world, has seen a drop of stock value as the weather has hurt their bottom line. CEO David Yu stated that that cold weather has “caused a number of race meeting cancellations, moderating overall growth rates in the quarter to date.”

Of late, Betfair’s stock has dropped by 10%. Since their stock market flotation in October, shares have dropped by 34% overall. Last quarter, revenues were up 27% at Betfair, aided largely by increased betting on the FIFA World Cup.

Horse racing and soccer (or football, depending on where you are) are two of the biggest betting subjects. Though soccer games will still take place in virtually any weather, horse racing can be delayed, postponed or canceled due to bad weather. Keep that in mind when you complain about the cold. If you think it’s ruining your day, think about how the staffs of online betting exchanges feel.

If the folks at Betfair believe the saying that there’s no such thing as bad publicity, then they must be really happy about all of the press they’ve been getting. The online bookmaker and casino is once again in the news for business ethics that leave a little to be desired.

It all started with a promotion that was just a little too good. Betfair Casino was offering a Happy Hour Special, where players could receive 50% reload bonuses and only had to wager the bonuses ten times. The bonuses were unlimited. Due to the small play-through requirement, those who played games with a small enough house edge and managed their money wisely were all but guaranteed a profit. That is why larger wagering requirements are usually given.

Since the deal was so good, it was quite popular. It only took a short time for Betfair to realize that they were losing money. That is when some players allege the unfair business practices went into play. The promotion started on Saturday and by Sunday, Betfair began suspending accounts. According to many players, Betfair then sent emails to players saying that their accounts were locked while the company investigated whether the player violated an unnamed term or condition. Some players who won money using the promotion had those winnings deducted from their accounts.

Some players who had already withdrawn the money had the amount won deducted anyway, even if it brought their account to a negative amount. For players in the red, Betfair sent an email telling the player that their account “held insufficient funds to accommodate such a debit.” The company then told the players to repay the debt and that failure to do so “may result in us taking the appropriate action to recover this sum from you.”

As a way of covering for themselves, Betfair allegedly changed the terms and conditions of the promotion after it had been promoted with different terms and after the players had signed up and started playing with those terms. The original terms of the promotion were reported to have a 10x rollover and every game at the casino counted for the play-through requirement. The revised terms, allegedly released after players had won too much money using the original terms, state that there is a 20x rollover and that only wagers on online slots count toward the play-through requirement. The games with a low house edge do not count.

If these allegations are true – and there is little reason to think otherwise – then it is a devastating blow to the reputation of Betfair and online gambling as a whole. Though they have been involved in controversies before, Betfair has always been considered a safe place to play. Here’s hoping the situation is resolved in such a way that is beneficial to the players and restores confidence in the online casino.

Betfair is licensed in Malta and any complaints about their service, including potential fraud, should be directed at the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authority. The Independent Betting Adjudication Service (IBAS) is another avenue for dispute resolution.

In a surprise move, the European Union’s Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the Netherlands could block Ladbrokes and Betfair, the popular bookmaker and betting exchange, from offering bets to Dutch gamblers if the reason for the ban was to protect against “fraud and crime.”

All members of the European Union have a free trade agreement that prohibits banning foreign goods from another EU nation in favor of domestic competition. For that reason, in 2008 the Dutch Supreme Court asked the ECJ to rule on whether their position of banning those sites was compatible with EU law.

Representatives from Ladbrokes and Betfair were predictable disappointed. They say that while the Netherlands claim to be concerned with gambling addiction and corruption, their real reason for the ban is to preserve the state-run monopoly on the gambling market in the form of De Lotto.

A spokesman from Ladbrokes said that the stance of the Netherlands was “hard to reconcile with its expansive gambling policy, which is characterized by the introduction and active advertising, marketing and promotion of new gaming products.”

It seems that the Netherlands thinks that gambling is dangerous unless it’s under the control of their government. That’s a common theme among the more authoritative governments and as a monarchy, the Netherlands certainly belongs to that group. I guess Queen Beatrix doesn’t trust the people to make their own decisions about what kinds of bets to make and what people to do business with. Therefore, she will make the decision for you. How kind and protective of her.

In response to the ECJ ruling, Betfair’s European public affairs chief, Tim Phillips, said that the judgment “once again demonstrates the need for the European Commission to take a lead on this issue, so that we can…settle the online gambling debate once and for all.” He and others calls for the EC to pass online gambling legislation at the EU level that would strictly and clearly state the rules each member nation must follow regarding online gambling.

The world’s top executives from the online gambling industry have descended on the Bella Centre in Copenhagen for The European i-Gaming Congress and Expo. On the second day of the expo, the top brass of seven of the industry’s biggest online gambling companies gathered for a panel discussion and weighed in on the future of the online gambling industry.

The panel, a who’s who of the online gambling world, 888.com CEO GiGi Levy, Petter Nylander of Unibet, Bwin’s Norbert Teufelberger, Betfair’s David Yu, Ladbrokes’ Ed Andrewes, Party Gaming CEO Jim Ryan and William Hill’s Henry Birch.

Mr. Levy was particularly optimistic about online gambling industry’s future, mentioning that only 8% of the $350 billion online gambling industry comes from online activities and that there is plenty of room to grow. Still, he did seem somewhat reserved about the new regulations facing the European market. “Regulation, and in particular the recent ECJ verdict, is the big thing facing us,” said Levy. “It is the one thing that could change the industry altogether on the European side.”

Norbert Teufelberger, Bwin head honcho and man with my favorite name ever, though admitting the ECJ ruling was not a help to his company, took the high road and had some positive things to say about European regulation of online gambling. “This will benefit local operators too, and will create3 a very tough time for the pirates.”

CEO of PartyGaming, Jim Ryan maintained that the recent Harrah’s deal would not be the last of inked deals in the USA and that he was sure his company would be back in the US in one form or another eventually. In fact, all present are currently looking for ways to include the US market in their future plans.

In fact, Betfair is super busy in the states with their hores racing deal with TVG. David Yu made it clear that Betfair approaches the legalities in the US conservatively and with caution, but added that the demand was definitely present in the American market. Rumor has it, in continuation of their recent marketing strategies, they will be launching an aggressive Happy Meal campaign with McDonald’s that is in no way aimed at minors featuring toys like “play fake-ids,” Pokey the Poker Player and Rolly the Roulette Wheel action figures and Betty BetFair dolls for girls women.*

While the industry as a whole seems confident in the future of US online gambling, they seem divided over the Asian market. Jim Ryan mentioned that Party Gaming will be steering efforts away from the Asian market while Bwin is continuing to invest in the possibility of a regulated online gambling market.

* I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Relax Betfair lovers. That Happy Meal thing is completely false and untrue. I think they’re working with Wendy’s.

In this global recession, companies are doing whatever they can to expand their customer base. By reaching out to people not currently using their product, companies hope to add extra revenue. For that reason, UK online betting website BetFair decided to start marketing to minors. After all, marketing only to those people who are of legal age to gamble is really limiting. What about all of those teens who are eager to place bets on your site illegally? Don’t you want their business? It seems that BetFair does.

For that apparent reason, BetFair recently released an advertising campaign geared towards a younger demographic. The ad had a picture of a young woman and a tagline that read “Online experience is measured in games, not years. Join the new breed. Annette_15.”

The woman pictured is actually Annette Obrestad, winner of the World Series of Poker Europe. In reality, she is 20 years old, though she certainly doesn’t look it. The screen name in the tagline seems to imply that she is 15 years old and honestly, she looks even younger than that. For those people who don’t follow the winners of poker tours, which would be approximately everyone, there would be no reason to think that Annette is older than 15. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that BetFair is trying to get teenagers to start gambling on their site, which would be illegal.

After complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, the ad has been banned. BetFair insists that they in no way were marketing online gambling to minors, which is kind of like Bill Clinton saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” Senator Larry Craig saying “I’m not gay” or President Obama saying “I’m not in favor of a single-payer system.” In other words, I don’t believe them. Remember the good ole’ days, when the only thing people objected to about online gambling was that it could lead to gambling addiction?