Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Reuters) -- Howard "Butch" Kerzner, chief executive of hotel and casino operator Kerzner International Holdings Ltd., was killed on Wednesday in a helicopter crash in the Dominican Republic. Kerzner was surveying potential development sites for his company when the helicopter went down near the resort of Puerto Plata. He died along with two pilots and another passenger, the company said in a written statement.

When the state takes control of the gambling industry, foreigners will have an advantage over Russians thanks to Kremlin legislation that will make investments, well, a big gamble. The legislation, expected to cruise through the State Duma next month, will empower the state to handpick companies to operate inside four zones where gambling will remain legal after 2009. Russian companies, however, said Thursday that the legislation lacked clarity, meaning big risks that they could not afford to take.

The build-up and break-down of ATEI, ICE and ICEi will be in new hands from 2007, following the appointment of leading logistics contractor, Exhibition Traffic Management Services (ETMS). The company has been appointed to help manage the increased traffic flows generated by an ever-increasing number of exhibitors at the Earls Court show, as well as ensuring a smooth transition to the reworked floor plans.

Casino operators have offered Government a proposal to have their industry regulated instead of shut down, which may happen if the State enforces legislation Prime Minister Patrick Manning said it would in his national budget presentation last week. Delegates from the Association of Members Clubs (AMC) met with Minister in the Ministry of Finance Conrad Enill yesterday for clarification on Manning's announcement last Wednesday.

London - Online bookmaker Sportingbet inched higher Wednesday after admitting it is considering a number of approaches that it has received for its US facing business. The group believes that any sale of the business must be completed prior to the proposed US anti-Internet gambling Act becoming law, but that it is not likely to realise a significant cash consideration.

Controversial betting exchange Betfair has officially launched its Australian and New Zealand operations. The exchange – which allows punters to set the odds at which they want to bet and to back losers – has been taking bets since February 7. But the company started processing bets through its Tasmanian exchange just six weeks ago after the roll-out of USD 10 million in infrastructure.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's largest casino company, was sued by two shareholders who say a USD 15.1 billion offer from buyout firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group is too low. Harrah's disclosed the offer of USD 81 a share on Oct. 2. The transaction is an "apparent camouflaged management buyout," investors Henoch Kaiman and Joseph Weiss claim in a Delaware Chancery Court complaint filed Thursday.

London (Reuters) - Online gambling firm Sportingbet is unlikely to downsize its operations in the wake of a looming U.S. ban on Internet gambling, its chief executive said in an interview with the Antigua Sun newspaper. Sportingbet is yet to update the market on its future strategy after the U.S. Congress unexpectedly passed a bill at the start of this month to ban Web gaming.

(Bloomberg) -- Genting Bhd., which gained control of the U.K.'s biggest gaming operator three days ago, said a successful bid for a Singapore license may help propel its ranking to among the world's three biggest casino companies. The operator of Malaysian mountain-top gaming-resorts plans to submit a bid exceeding USD 1 billion tomorrow for a license to build Singapore's second casino in a complex with a Universal Studios theme park, hotels, shops and restaurants, among other attractions on Sentosa island.

Allentown, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Pennsylvania's foray into legalized casino gambling will mark an important milestone on Nov. 14, when the first of as many as 61,000 slot machines statewide are scheduled to begin whirring and ka-chinging at a horse racetrack outside Wilkes-Barre. The Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, one of five racetracks to be awarded casino licenses by state gambling regulators last month, announced Monday that it will be first out of the gate to open a slots parlor.

There are more than 2.000 cases regarding the cross-border provision of sports betting pending before German courts at the moment. The cases are about the freedom to provide services and the freedom of establishment granted by the EC Treaty and their collision with the state monopoly for sports betting currently in effect in Germany. A German court has now, for the first time ever, asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for its opinion on this in accordance with Article 234 EC Treaty. In its Gambelli decision of 2003, the ECJ had already established the relevant criteria regarding this conflict.

Just ahead of the submissions of proposals for the Sentosa integrated resort (IR) site, Genting International added a feather to its cap with the acquisition of 69.4 per cent of Stanley Leisure's ordinary shares, giving it majority control of the United Kingdom's largest casino operator. "This will definitely strengthen our bid - not that it needs further strengthening," said Genting International chairman Lim Kok Thay.