Befair’s licensing renewals in the Australian state of Tasmania continue to generate heated debate as the international online casinos and betting company’s Australasian division negotiates its next kicensing period.

Betfair’s first licence was a groundbreaking Aussie state move back in 2006, an arrangement that is due to expire in April 2011, hence the negotiations now being negotiated. The betting and casino gambling company is reportedly concerned it no longer has a “level playing field” following the government’s recent decision to replace taxes for online casinos corporate bookmakers with a flat fee of $256 000 a year.

Last week Betfair’s regional chief exec, Andrew Twaits, was reported as saying that the Tasmanian operations have still to grow, and the imposition of new tax burdens will have a significant impact on the company’s business plans in the state which may cause it to look at alternative arrangements.

Twaits said the proposed flat fee contrasted with the 15 percent of gross revenue, plus GST, that his company paid as tax in the state under its present licensing agreement.

“In terms of total (Betfair) contribution to Tassie, it’s at least $20 million in the past three-and-a-half years, including the product fee to industry and probably A$7 million to A$8 million in tax,” he said.

Twaits told the Australian newspaper The Age that Betfair wanted legislative change to ensure it was treated equally with the online bookmakers Tasmania is hoping to lure from the Northern Territory.

“We are an online operation, just as the bookmakers are; we have a non-exclusive licence, just like the government is offering to the bookmakers – there is really no difference,” he said. “They are direct competitors of ours. So I’m not sure why the tax should be any different.”

Betfair’s Hobart base in Tasmania employs 120 staff, the newspaper reported.

The government remained optimistic that the negotiations would be fruitful, however.

Treasurer Michael Aird told The Age that he was confident an agreement on a new post-2011 licence would be concluded by year’s end.

“There’s a bit of an exaggeration going on about Betfair leaving the state – all indications from Betfair are that they want to stay here,” the politician said.

“We want to protect the jobs at Betfair, and we think they have provided a very good skill base in terms of data storage and transfer, and that they have been very good corporate citizens. I’m confident we will be able to get an agreement with them.”

Despite initial widespread opposition to Betfair being licensed in Tasmania, its presence now has bipartisan support, The Age reports.

The UK-based casino gambling giant William Hill plc is considering the issue of bonds to raise as much as GBP 200 million in cash from investors, the Financial Times reported over the weekend, pointing out that as recently as February 2009 the internet casinos company had raised GBP 350 million in a rights issue.

The intention is apparently to use the new money to reduce the company’s GBP 850 million debt burden, insiders told the FT.

Sources said that the casino gambling company was in the preliminary stages of negotiations with British banks, and that the final amount of the bond had not yet been decided, but could be as high as GBP 200 million. It is understood that Citigroup has been appointed to review options.

Last week rival gambling group Ladbrokes plc launched a GBP 286 million rights issue in order to attack its GBP 960 million debt pile.

The FT notes that Brit bookies have been hit by heavy losses on football this season, where there have been fewer drawn matches, giving punters better chances to back a winner.

William Hill and Ladbrokes both plan to cut costs by moving their online sports betting operations to Gibraltar, where a more benign tax regime will enable them to better compete with offshore rivals.

Poker pro Robert Mizrachi will be a disappointed man this morning following the end of the Ultimatebet 2009 Aruba Classic casino tournament in the Caribbean; after leading the pack for four days and making the final table holding the chip lead, he had to settle for a chopped second placing with casino gambling winner Brandon Hall.

Hall, a 20-year-old from Littleton, Pennsylvania collected a $753 330 take-home following the elimination of Chase Steely in third place, which cleared the online casinos way for a Hall vs. Mizrachi heads up, but at this stage the two survivors from an original field of 474 hopefuls agreed to a chop.

The two players agreed that Mizrachi would take the lion’s share of the chop due to his chip leading position, and that each player would put up $30 000, the winner to add this amount to his agreed chop balance.

In a dominant position, Mizrachi must have been disheartened to watch his young opponent close the gap and then overtake him to win the tournament.

Earlier, Hall had been reluctant to end play on the fourth day as he had a flight to catch back to the States; he must therefore have been glad that tournament director Matt Savage persuaded him to hang in, leading to a lucrative victory and a big dip into the event’s $2.3 million prize pool.

Hall faced some impressive opposition on the final table, which included Mizrachi in the lead, 2009 World Series of Poker double-bracelet holder Brock Parker and fellow WSOP 2009 bracelet winner Eric Baldwin – all with substantial chip stacks. Other players included Chase Steely, Jose Roberto Santos and Matt Ross.

With the table down to four players, a rather long delay occurred as the survivors tried to reach a four-way chop, but they were unable to agree and the action was resumed. Not long after that Baldwin exited, leaving the heads up decider between Steely, Hall and Mizrachi. Eventually Steely found himself out in third place after a clash with Mizrachi, deciding the Hall vs. Mizrachi heads up.

Once the heads up chop had been agreed, the action lasted for only a quarter of an hour, with Hall emerging vicorious and taking the big money. Mizrachi had to be content with $414 680.

Remarkably, the Aruba Classic was Hall’s first live tournament final table, although he has played in seven major tourneys including the EPT German Open main event. His $753 330 Aruba win massively extends his formerly $32 266 career earnings record.