Rhode Island voters soundly rejected a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday that would have allowed the Narragansett Indian Tribe and its Las Vegas partner to build a resort casino in West Warwick. The defeat for the tribe and gaming giant Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. followed one of the costliest ballot campaigns in Rhode Island history, and marked the latest setback in the Narrangansett’s long-running effort to bring casino gambling to the Ocean State.

On 20 September 2006, the Parliament voted for a temporary amendment to the Gaming Act of 1964, which grants an exclusive license to Holland Casino to offer remote gaming. Revenue earned on this new monopoly will be entirely for the benefit of the national treasury. The law can only be obstructed as a last resort by the First Chamber. Will the First Chamber be influenced by the severe critique from the Council of State and the European Commission on the law? A preparatory hearing at the First Chamber is scheduled for 7 November 2006. So what exactly are the critical comments from the Council of State and the European Commission?

“Battle of the windmills” is the title in Manager Magazin of 19th October 2006 for a report by Rita Syre on the Dow Jones Media Workshop with the title “Sportwetten am Wendepunkt?” (“sports betting at a turning point?”). Syre compares the situation of the state’s fight against the opening of the markets with Don Quijote’s battle against his imaginary foes – the windmills. The author did not choose the metaphor from literature incidentally, because it was the President of the Football Bundesliga Club TSV 1860 Munich, Stefan Ziffzer, who used this image during the event in Frankfurt and probably received the greatest amount of applause for the following apt choice of words.

The Tote, the state-owned bookmaker founded in 1928 by Winston Churchill, was in the spotlight last night after gaming group Gala Coral confirmed it has made a bid for the business, which values it at GBP 405 million. Gala said it would prefer to bid solely for the Tote's 540 betting shops, which it values at GBP 325m but would consider other options depending on how the government views its proposals.

Hong Kong - Macau casino operator Sociedade Jogos de Macau S.A., owned by local gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, has hired a top executive from rival Las Vegas Sands Inc. to oversee its business development in the enclave, the company said Wednesday. Frank McFadden was appointed president of joint ventures and business development of SJM, it said.

St. Louis (Reuters) - BETonSPORTS Plc and government prosecutors have agreed on a court order permanently restraining the indicted online gaming company from taking bets in the United States, lawyers on both sides told a U.S. court in St. Louis on Monday. The order is expected to be filed with the court later this week after technical Internet-related language is screened by experts.

The KwaZulu-Natal government has hailed the building of the ZAR 100-million state-of-the-art casino in Newcastle, northern Zululand, as a major boost for the region. Century Casino will be launched next month during a colourful function which will be attended by a delegation of political bigwigs, including former deputy president Jacob Zuma, King Goodwill Zwelithini and KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele.

Jefferson City - In a highly unusual move, the Missouri Gaming Commission voted Friday to take over the Casino Aztar in Caruthersville until a buyer can be licensed. Without the action, the casino was likely to close this month, said Gene McNary, the commission's executive director. He said a state takeover was necessary to save 283 casino jobs and USD 6 million in taxes and fees the casino pays.

London (Reuters) - UK bookmaker Ladbrokes Plc said on Sunday it was considering a possible bid for online gaming group 888 Holdings Plc, as the sector consolidates after a U.S. ban on Internet-based gambling. "We're in the early stages of reviewing a possible transaction involving 888," said a Ladbrokes spokesman. "No decision has been made about whether a proposal will be made." An industry source said: "Any deal (to buy 888), if it occurred, would have to be north of 470 million pounds."

Vienna (Reuters) - Austrian online betting firm bwin denied on Monday reports it was in talks with PartyGaming to sell part of the firm to its rival, trimming gains the stock had made in early trading. "We are talking to PartyGaming, like with all other big firms, about lobbying together to show a united stance for the industry in the European Union," said Karin Klein, spokeswoman for bwin. "But we are not talking to PartyGaming about a sale."

London - Sportingbet is to pay the vendors of acquisition Paradise Poker an earn-out of approximately GBP 22m in cash and shares even though its US business was shut down last month. After the introduction of the Safe Ports Act, Sportingbet sold all of its US operations, bar Paradise Poker, for USD 1 though it ceased taking deposits from US resident customers of Paradise Poker on 13 October and started to wind the business down. The Paradise Poker businesses outside the US were unaffected by the new US legislation.

A Rhode Island man was arrested Wednesday and charged with counterfeiting casino slot tokens. Rhode Island State Police, Connecticut State Police, New Jersey State Police, the FBI, Secret Service and other investigative agencies executed a search warrant on the Pawtucket, R.I., home of Louis "The Coin" Colavecchio and found hundreds of manufactured slot tokens for Connecticut, New Jersey and Las Vegas casinos.