Following the launches of U*BET and Quick KENO games, Maltco Lotteries yesterday launched U*BET HorseRacing.

This new edition of U*BET offers a portfolio of multi-leg bets on Swedish horse racing through all Maltco agents’ shops in Malta and Gozo, in cooperation with AB Trav Och Galopp (ATG), the official horse racing betting operator in Sweden.

U*BET is the only licensed fixed odds sports betting company in Malta, and the player has the opportunity to participate in an international tote pool which includes Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Estonia, Poland, USA, Australia and South Africa. This way, the amount one wins depends on the amount of bets present in the pool and the number of correct predictions made by all the players.

“Amateur betters can rein in the assistance of Harry Boy, an intelligent quick pick who makes a selection on behalf of the player, which is not random, but based on other players’ bets,” said Antoine Gouder, Maltco’s sales and marketing manager. This makes it easy for a broader range of people to participate in the games.

“Betting on horse racing shall be available 364 days a year, with live races held at the agents’ shops, Monday to Friday at lunchtime and evenings, the most important event every week being the V75 meeting on Saturday. In V65 a player wins with five or six correct predictions out of six horse races, while in V75 the winners must make five, six or seven correct predictions from seven horse races. Due to the jackpot a game such as V75 can offer winnings per customer of up to EUR5 million,” he explained.

“ATG has exchanged its know-how of horse racing, and the next step will be the introduction of simple betting forms some time next year.” said Mr Magnus Tottenham, from ATG.

“From June 2004 to October this year, Maltco provided Lm16.5 million in lottery duty, over Lm1 million in corporate taxation till 31 December, 2006, and nearly Lm1 million was contributed to the Good Causes Fund, which the Finance Ministry can administer according to its own discretion. Lm7.5 million was given as commission to agents, as a result of a better communication structure and introduction of new games,” said the general manager of Maltco Lotteries, Mario Cassar.