Though not much of a gambler himself, William Yung III has effectively doubled-down - and more than doubled the size of his Columbia Sussex Corp. with two recent deals that bolstered his casino holdings. With last week's disclosure that its pending acquisition of an East St. Louis, Ill., riverboat casino will cost USD 200 million, the company's buying spree of the past year now tallies about USD 4.7 billion.

The Sporting Emporium, a EUR 5.5m Dublin casino that opened seven months ago backed by financier Dermot Desmond, faces closure by Christmas along with the 13 other casinos in the country. Officials at the Department of Justice held a meeting with casino industry representatives last Thursday in which they said that plans to shut down the EUR 60m casino industry were already in the hands of the attorney-general.

In the last National Fair of Recreational and Gaming Machines (FER) that was held in Málaga, the most outstanding novelty was the new B4 gaming machine models; they were the highlight of the fair, in which several manufacturers exhibited their new models. These special B4 machines are specifically meant to be installed in bingo halls of Andalucía and are gradually being authorized by the different regional governments, although under different names.

Emmetsburg - Wild Rose Casino and Resort opened its doors for the first time Sunday to friends and family of the owners and their employees. The grand public openings for the casino are scheduled for June 30 and July 1, a little more than one year after the Iowa Gaming Commission awarded Palo Alto County a license to build the facility.

The first time he saw China's planned Cotai Strip development four years ago, Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson thought the Chinese government was banishing him to some faraway no-man's land. Much of the Cotai Strip was submerged under several feet of water. Engineers were just beginning to reclaim land from the South China Sea and transform the area into an industrial complex.

Las Vegas Sands has hit the jackpot by winning the bid to build Singapore's first integrated resort, to be called The Marina Bay Sands. It staved off fierce competition for the Marina Bay project from three other bidders - Genting International and Star Cruises, Harrah's Entertainment and Keppel Land, and MGM Mirage along with CapitaLand.

The oncoming launch of a new instant lottery -to be operated throughout Spain by the ONCE-Spanish organization for the Blind- has generated formal complaints from many different sectors. Several governments of Autonomous Communities have lodged corresponding claims against the Royal Decree approving the launch and development of the new ONCE scratch lottery.

Blues could still be in with a chance of landing the Las Vegas style Casino, despite Birmingham City Council's decision to not back the plan, and favour the doomed NEC bid. Cabinet member for Regeneration, Councillor Ken Hardeman, stated today that the Government could in fact extend the number of regional casinos and that the council was looking at a proposal for Birmingham aswell as the already turned down NEC bid.

The recent opening of Pinnacle Entertainment's casino in Emerald Bay, Exuma is just the first of what may turn out to be many such enterprises popping up throughout the Family Islands. Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said as much yesterday when he revealed that requests have already been made for casinos in Bimini, Abaco and Eleuthera.

The fight to bring Britain's first regional casino to Coventry is not over - even though the city didn't make the shortlist. City council leader Ken Taylor said last night the body would be doing all it could to appeal against the exclusion. And Coventry North-west MP Geoffrey Robinson has already written to Prof Stephen Crow, chairman of the Casino Advisory Panel which made the choice, asking for an urgent meeting.

Decree 25/2006 of the Cataluña (Catalonia) government modifies criteria applicable to the gaming planning of this Autonomous Community; it also amends the Games and Bets Regional Catalogue. This Decree extends to 4 the number of allowed operating casinos in all the Catalonian territory.

Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow and Greenwich are all possible contenders for Britain's first 'super-casino', it was announced today. The shortlist unveiled by the casino advisory panel also includes Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Brent as sites for the regional casino, which will be able to have 1,250 gambling machines with an unlimited jackpot.