The U.K. government plans to allow slot machines with payout prizes above 2,000 pounds (3,591 USD) for the first time, restricting them to the largest casinos due to concerns about their effects on gamblers. Machines offering prizes larger than 500 pounds will be restricted to casinos of 5,000 square meters (54,000 square feet) or more under the Draft Gambling Bill published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Atlantic City, New Jersey - Attached is an open letter to Tropicana employees from Dennis C. Gomes, president of resort operations, Aztar Corp., the parent company of Tropicana Casino and Resort, and Pamela J. Popielarski, president and general manager of Tropicana, Atlantic City, NJ.
The Government is set to give the green light today for US operators to build Las Vegas-style casinos with unlimited jackpot slot machines in Britain's run-down town centres. Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, will block attempts to allow big-prize slot machines in existing casinos, however, claiming they could lead to widespread problem gambling.
Driven by the success of its recent investments in Zambia, South African hotel and gaming group Sun International is now looking into new investments in Angola and other East and West African countries, including Mozambique, for potential expansion, according to CEO Peter Bacon.
Las Vegas - Harrah's Entertainment and ESPN says they'll capitalize on poker's best-known event by beginning a series of high-profile tournaments across the country next year. The Las Vegas-based gambling company hopes name recognition shuffles rival tournaments to the back of the pack, while enriching shareholders and players as it tries to carve out a huge swath of the lucrative and fast-growing poker market.
What has long been seen as the Holy Grail of Mexican tourism could become a reality as the 59th Congress prepares to assess the initiative for a new Federal Gambling and Raffles Law, and probably authorize the opening of casinos in Mexico.
As he toured his city, breathing a sigh of relief that the damage from Ivan wasn't worse, one disturbing thought kept entering Gulfport Councilman Kim Savant's mind: What if the casinos had been wiped out?
Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) - A union that represents about 17,000 casino hotel workers will remain on the job through Oct. 1 and strike then if no new contract is reached, officials said Friday. Members of the contract committee of Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union voted 3-1 in favor of extending negotiations with 11 of the 12 casinos, rather than stage a walkout.
Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) - The union representing about 17,000 casino hotel workers extended contract negotiations Friday until Oct. 1, averting a possible strike one day before Atlantic City hosts the Miss America pageant. Local 54 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union has been working without a contract since midnight Tuesday. Union members have voted to authorize a strike but one has not been called.
Caesars Entertainment, the US casino owner that operates five casinos in Las Vegas, including the Caesars Palace and Flamingo complexes, wants to open the UK's biggest and most lavish gambling resort at the new Wembley stadium in north London.
Biloxi - The big signs in front of Coast casinos flashed "now open" as dealers, cocktail servers and slot machine technicians went back to work Friday. Most opened promptly at 7 a.m., the time specified by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, after a more than two-day shutdown because of Hurricane Ivan, but by 5 p.m. all were back in business.
St. Petersburg - A year ago, the owners of a new casino ship predicted the Ocean Jewel of St. Petersburg would open for business in March, but then said homeland security issues got in the way. Then in July, the owners said the 450-foot ship would set sail from the Port of St. Petersburg with the sounds of gambling and partying in mid- to late-August.
