The auction prompted a frenzy of bidding from the industry big hitters
Monday 31st January 2005
Inspired by the enormous worldwide humanitarian response to the tsunami disaster in South-East Asia, the online casino industry has been galvanized into lending their support. The industry has been one the success stories in recent years, and this made two highly respected gaming portals and consumer watchdogs, CasinoMeister and Got2Bet.com, realise they were in a unique position to raise some serious money for the relief effort.
Last week, Bryan Bailey and Ted Loh, operators of the two sites respectively, joined forces and decided to auction off a prime advertising banner spot on each of their sites. The highest bidder, they said, would get to ‘own’ the coveted banner spots for twelve months and 100% of the proceeds will go to the tsunami fund.
The auction prompted a frenzy of bidding from the industry big hitters and within minutes of launching, bids had reached $20,000. When the auction closed one week later, the total stood at a staggering $111,000, with popular site InterCasino.com (www.InterCasino.com) and its sister casino VIPCasino (www,VIPCasino.com) taking the top spot.
Ryan Hartley, Casino Manager at InterCasino, said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve won the bid and we hope the money we’ve pledged will make a difference to people’s lives. UNICEF does such an important job around the world. The auction was a great idea and we hope that it will inspire our players to get out there and give them support.”
CasinoMeister Bryan Bailey said the success of the auction surpassed his wildest dreams. “I’m absolutely excited and enthused. We raised more than I ever expected and it’s all going to such an important cause.”
UNICEF has been tireless in fundraising and delivering relief to all areas affected by the disaster, and helping children all over the world.
Inspired by the enormous worldwide humanitarian response to the tsunami disaster in South-East Asia, the online casino industry has been galvanized into lending their support. The industry has been one the success stories in recent years, and this made two highly respected gaming portals and consumer watchdogs, CasinoMeister and Got2Bet.com, realise they were in a unique position to raise some serious money for the relief effort.