Betfred To Add New Gaming Machines

UK gambling company, Betfred will be expanding its betting shop services by adding 1,700 new gaming machines to its retail locations.

The group has signed an exclusive five year contract with Inspired Gaming which will see the games supplier deliver new Category B2/B3 gaming machines to an additional 500 Betfred shops that once served as Tote betting shops. Betfred acquired Tote from the UK government in 2011.

Inspired Gaming will ensure that the new Betfred gaming machines are installed by January 2014, bringing to over 5,100 the number of gaming machines in the group's portfolio.

According to the Managing Director of UK at Inspired Gaming, Lee Greogry, Betfred is well known in the gambling industry for its successful machine businesses and award winning retail marketing campaigns for new game launches.

"We've worked together to accomplish many successes over the past 15 years, from when AWP's were first allowed in bookmakers, and look forward to many more milestones - including a new hardware launch in 2013," said Gregory.

"Inspired UK's business as a whole is going from strength to strength and we anticipate a positive year ahead with the recent launch of Fortune Spins, a new game feature, and the upcoming launch of the next phase of our technology roadmap."

In other Betfred news, the company was told that an email ad put out in March has been banned by the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ad, according to the authority, was misleading and did not include important information.

The ad was headlined: "Risk free in play offer & double and trebled odds on Champions League action". Players were told that they could enjoy a "risk-free in-play bet".

Complainants argued that the bet was misleading because it wasn't understood from anywhere in the ad that the offer was paid as a 10 bet and not in cash.

Betfred countered that all promotional emails included a clear link to terms and conditions of all offers, including the ad in question.

After lengthy correspondence where Betfred and the ASA referred to all points that the gambling group offered in its defense, it was finally ruled that the ad would be banned.

Betfred has therefore been told that the promotional material may not appear in its current form, and was warned that any future emails would need to contain clear conditions in the actual body of the email and not just as a link. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.happmart.com.