Gulfport - Gulfport is back in the casino business. The Island View opened Monday evening about an hour and a half earlier than planned, giving people time to mingle, find the slot machine that felt lucky or check out the buffet offerings. Rochelle Harper of Sister Jazz sang old standards at the north entrance, where dripping ice sculptures of pelicans kept the shrimp cool.

The Government is in exclusive talks to sell the Tote to a racing industry consortium, after the group made a formal offer for the state-owned bookmaker. A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that it was in “closed discussions” with the bidder and that it was “looking to make a sale to the racing consortium at full market value”.

The two heads of Austrian betting firm bwin.com, arrested in France on Friday, are scheduled to appear before a judge near Paris on Monday afternoon, the company said. Bwin's joint chief executives, Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger were detained for questioning by French authorities on Friday over alleged breaches of French gaming laws and were held in custody over the weekend.

Bill Kearney, an in-your-face mortgage broker from Philadelphia, a recovering compulsive gambler and a one-time high roller in Atlantic City, is proving an annoyance to casino executives because of what he's trying to make them do. More than two years ago, Kearney began pushing a bill in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to require soon-to-open casinos to issue monthly statements to gamblers showing their casino winnings and losses.

Whereas the case of EFTA Surveillance Authority v Kingdom of Norway (case E-1/06) concerning the Norwegian State Monopoly on gaming machines has been pending before the EFTA Court since 16 March 2006, this European court now has to decide on the legitimacy of a state monopoly on betting and gaming. In a case regarding the British bookmaker Ladbrokers Ltd. against two government departments, the Oslo District Court (Oslo Tingrett) requested an Advisory Opinion of the EFTA Court on several questions.

The Federal Constitutional Court, in its sports betting decision of 28 March 2006 (case-no. 1 BvR 1054/01), declared the present state monopoly to be unconstitutional and urged the "legislator" (that is the federation or the states respectively) to pass new legislation until the end of 2007. The Federal Constitutional Court named two alternatives: the licensing of private operators or a state monopoly strictly aimed at containing gaming addiction and betting fervour. The new draft of Interstate Treaty on Lotteries in Germany (LottStV-E), which was published beginning of September, clearly focuses on maintaining the state monopoly. This draft, dated 22 August 2006, should undergo fundamental changes in the course of the upcoming negotiations, though.

Tips are as integral to Las Vegas' gambling culture as high-rollers and showgirls. They are a vital and expected chunk of many casino workers' pay and the reason why many folks with little more than a high school education are able to break out of the lower middle class rather than scratch out a living on minimum wage. And yet, tips - like the coveted dealing jobs at the swankiest properties - aren't guaranteed. Nor are they sacred.

Tampa Bay, Florida - Plans to run a 400-foot gambling ship in the gulf off Pinellas County have hit another setback. Crew members of the Casino Royale filed suit Friday asking a federal judge to order the vessel seized and sold at auction so they can recover more than USD 230,000 in unpaid wages. Crewmen interviewed last week said they hadn't received a paycheck since early July.

The French national lottery warned online gaming executives yesterday that they could be arrested if they set foot in France, after the joint chief executives of BWin, of Austria, were detained by French police. The arrest of Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger as they prepared for a press conference at Monaco football club, which is sponsored by BWin, sent a fresh shudder through the online gaming industry.

Peter Dicks, the Sportingbet chairman arrested on gambling charges in America last week, was on his way back to Britain last night after a New York judged ruled that an extradition warrant issued in his name was not good enough to hold him in custody. The decision was made at a brief hearing at Queens criminal court yesterday morning, where Mr Dicks appeared before Judge Gene Lopez.

Whilst announcing the cooperation with the AS Monaco, Mr. Manfred Bodner and Mr. Norbert Teufelberger, Co Chief Executive Officers of bwin International Entertainment AG, were detained for questioning by French Authorities because of alleged violation of French gaming laws this afternoon, Friday 15th of September 2006. A hearing is scheduled before a court in Nice for tomorrow morning.

The District Court of Ravensburg - 2nd criminal division - affirmed the exemption from punishment for transmitting sporting bets by its decision of 29 August 2006 (case-no. 2 Qs 89/06). It thereby rejected an appeal by the Public Attorney's office against the decision of the County Court of Ravensburg of 6 June 2006 (case-no. Ds 36 Js 21918/04), which had not allowed to open criminal proceedings against an agent transferring sporting bets to a bookmaker licensed in Austria. The District Court referred to the fundamental decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 28 March 2006, which established the current legal situation?s violation of constitutional law, and explicates: