Italy has had an interesting relationship with online gaming. In February, the country attempted to ban all IP addresses of online gaming sites, and then a few days later reportedly tried to set up an 'exclusive' relationship with an online poker room, allegedly for a slice of the pie.

Harrisburg -- Smokers would be allowed to puff away when they're gambling at slot machines in Pennsylvania casinos, under an amendment adopted by the Senate Rules Committee yesterday. The pro-smoking amendment is among a package of 31 changes to Act 71 of 2004, the law that will bring 14 slots casinos to Pennsylvania. The whole package -- expected to be approved in the Senate today -- also includes an amendment by Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, to make the use of slots suppliers optional.

The crackdown on internet gambling intensified yesterday after Louisiana police warned all online gaming companies to stop accepting bets in the state. The move came as the Barclay brothers' gaming website, The Ritz Club Online, unexpectedly closed its site to new members with immediate effect. Louisiana police said the state was pressing ahead with its clampdown, warning executives that they risked being arrested if they visited the US.

Coventry city councillors are so determined to try to bring a super casino to the Ricoh Arena that they are lobbying politicians at this week's Labour Party conference. John McGuigan, director of city development, has overseen the making of a DVD which will be shown on the city's stand throughout both the Labour and Conservative party conferences. Mr McGuigan said the film, which includes interviews with local business experts, community champions and councillors from both main parties: "pulls no punches."

A second area of Kent is withdrawing its application to the government for a new casino. Canterbury City Council decided not to progress with the idea after public consultation showed 75% of respondents were against the idea. The Canterbury district, which covers Herne Bay and Whitstable, was in the running for a large or small casino. Dartford Borough Council also voted unanimously in August to halt its attempts to get a casino.

Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung- sun's flagship company is sailing ahead with plans to publicly list casino operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau on the Hong Kong stock exchange by the end of the year, voting Monday to incorporate a new Hong Kong subsidiary to facilitate the planned HKD 15 billion offering. Under the terms of the shareholders' resolution, share capital in the new, unnamed subsidiary will be exactly the same as that of current SJM shareholders in terms of proportion.

Think of Costa Rica and flashes of colorful birds, bright beaches and long hikes through the rain forest come to mind. But several recent arrests and indictments have thrust the country into the spotlight for another, less savory reason: its cozy relationship with the online gambling industry. The industry is under fire from U.S. authorities, helping create the notion that this small Central American nation is the cybernet version of 1950s Cuba.

Steve Wynn, the man who was anointed king of the casino industry after he remade Las Vegas in the 1990s, wants to roll the dice on Atlantic City -- again. Wynn had a private audience Friday with Gov. Jon Corzine and state Sen. William Gormley at the Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, and was later spotted walking along Atlantic Avenue with the powerful Republican senator from Atlantic County. The casino mogul was in town to advance his latest plan for a casino.

The crackdown on internet gambling in the US has begun to frighten off senior directors. World Gaming chairman James Grossman and non-executive director Clare Roberts have both resigned from the online gaming group on fears they will be arrested in the US. David Carruthers, chief executive of Betonsports and Peter Dicks, chairman of Sportingbet, have both been arrested in the US recently in connection with online gambling laws.

Macau’s gaming mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun claimed that the opening of competitor Wynn Resorts had increased business in his own casinos, the Macau Daily reported. Ho said Baccarat accounted for 80 per cent of Macau’s gaming market, 63 per cent of which came from the VIP rooms.

Several follow-up decisions to the ECJ’s Gambelli decision, a fundamental decision on the freedom to provide services with regard to sports betting, are at hand. As reported, the ECJ will probably pronounce its judgement in the joined cases of Placanica et. al. (Cases C-338/04, C-359/04 and C-360/04) in the course of this year. If the Court follows the Advocate General’s opinion on these three Italian cases, delivered on 16 May 2006, this would mean the factual end of the state monopoly on sports betting and games of chance in Germany.

As Pennsylvania moves closer to issuing slots licenses, a statewide coalition opposing casinos is fighting to get the legislation repealed. Dianne Berlin, volunteer coordinator of CasinoFreePA, will be a speaker at a community meeting 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Rockwood Christian & Missionary Alliance Legalized Gambling. Berlin has been speaking out against gambling for 12 years.