The North West government is anxiously awaiting a ruling from the minister of trade and industry, which will determine if they can recoup the loss of the Morula Sun Casino licence.

Television producer Tinopolis is making inroads into the high-stakes world of poker programming. Its Sunset+Vine subsidiary - acquired by Tinopolis through its takeover of The Television Corporation - yesterday announced it would produce five new gaming- themed series with a contract value of GBP 4m.

A rival to the National Lottery is being launched today with the promise that it will give a higher percentage of its takings to charity. Organisers of the new Monday lottery say punters also have a greater chance of winning prizes than they do with the official Camelot draw. It is being promoted by Chariot, a company led by Tim Holley, the former chief executive of Camelot.

Alantic City - New Jersey gaming regulators Wednesday granted the new owner of the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort an initial one-year operating license after hearing assurances that the gambling hall's financial troubles are finally behind it.

Hotel guests at the Pacific Casino Hotel were forced to flee from their rooms when looters attacked their hotel early this morning. Hotel guests had to shelter at the Oceanview Restaurant as looters attacked the reception area at around 3am.

Las Vegas (AP) - Nestled near the entrance to a scenic national conservation area, Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa is set to open its doors Tuesday, becoming the priciest off-Strip casino resort ever built in Las Vegas.

New York (Reuters) - At Wynn Resorts Ltd., it isn't just the casino patrons who are hoping to hit it big. Investors have bid up shares of the company some 41 percent this year, enthused by the company's plans in the booming Chinese gambling resort of Macau and its prospects in Las Vegas, where it opened its first and only casino last April.

Tomorrow night, Station Casinos debuts its newest property, Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa. Not only is it the company's biggest casino to date, it also represents a shift in focus toward the 215 Beltway and the continuing outward expansion of Las Vegas' suburbs. Red Rock is but the newest bullet in a bandolier of casino-resorts that will encircle the valley, from Aliante in North Las Vegas, to Siena and Rhodes Ranch in the southwest, and a Cactus Avenue-sited project to the south, just off I-15.

Atlantic City - Mark Brown is going to be a top casino boss in the "Las Vegas of the East." But it isn't Atlantic City. Today, the former Trump executive will board a Cathay Pacific Airways jet for a 15-hour flight to Hong Kong and then catch a ferry to Macau. Brown will oversee the Macau casinos for the Las Vegas Sands Corp., billionaire Sheldon Adelson's gaming company that is transforming the Chinese enclave into the celebrated "Las Vegas of the East" — or in this case, the Far East.

England footballers were yesterday warned by the sports minister, Richard Caborn, against betting on matches at the World Cup this summer amid growing concern about the gambling habits of the game's top stars.

It's a weekday afternoon and I am standing, slack-jawed and agog, in the sparkling lobby of the huge Sands Casino. Directly over my head, suspended from a well-reinforced (I hope) ceiling, hangs what is purportedly the world's largest chandelier -- a monstrosity of glittering glass and chrome that sends showers of twinkling fantasy light to the floor below.

The States' Economic Development Department has announced it will carry out a full consultation within the next few months. A proposal for a casino was defeated in the States last year, after worries it would increase problem gambling.