Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Stanleybet International Ltd., a U.K. sports betting company established in 1997, said the opening of two outlets in Greece is in accordance with European law and plans to open more in the country to tap betting revenue.

``Our plans are simple,'' Stanleybet's deputy Managing Director Adrian Morris said in a telephone interview today, ``We're always looking at new markets and research indicates Greece has a substantial sports betting market.''

U.K.- and Malta-based Stanleybet said yesterday it opened a store in the Greek capital of Athens and another in Thessaloniki. The outlets are a challenge to the monopoly on sports betting held by Greek gaming company Opap SA, which said in a statement it will ``resolutely'' defend its rights.

Opap shares dropped 64 cents, or 3.6 percent, to 17.4 euros in Athens, erasing yesterday's 3.1 percent gain.

``In this case Greek law doesn't comply with European law,'' Morris said, adding Stanleybet has had no direct contact with Opap. Stanleybet, which operates in eight countries, plans to open more stores in Greece next year, Morris said.

The stores are ``a symbolic movement against Opap's monopoly that will trigger legal actions against it,'' said Dimitris Birbos, an analyst at Marfin Analysis SA. `We maintained our `buy' recommendation of OPAP but we cannot rule out a period of increased volatility for OPAP shares,'' he added.

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Opap, which is the biggest publicly traded gambling company by sales in Europe, paid the Greek government seven years ago for a license that gave it the right to be the country's exclusive gambling service until 2020. Per-capita betting in Greece is among the highest in Europe, providing Opap with sales last year of 5 billion euros.

Stanleybet, which posted sales of about 400 million euros last year, has already attempted to enter the Greek market by asking for a permit from the state. That request was refused and has been appealed to Greek courts.

William Hill, the U.K. bookmaker, said last year it will go to the European Court if the Greek government fails to grant it a permit. In February, the European Union's executive commission threatened to sue Greece for barring foreign betting companies from competing with Opap.

To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Weeks in Athens nweeks2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 30, 2008 12:02 EDT