Pinnacle Entertainment announced that the Louisiana Gaming Control Board has approved its plans for a hotel and gaming entertainment project on more than 222.5 hectares of land that the company owns or has under contract in Baton Rouge. The master-planned development requires various other approvals, including a local-option referendum in East Baton Rouge Parish, which the company will seek to put on the ballot in February 2008, and adherence to certain conditions imposed by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

By a vote of 7-0, the Metro Council voted Wednesday to file a lawsuit and use any legal means necessary to get information about the economic impact of Pinnacle Entertainment’s proposed riverboat casino project in south Baton Rouge. Pinnacle had released an economic impact study in May, but declined through its lawyers to release a revised study that it recently submitted to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

Evansville, Ind. - A majority of casino dealers and dual-rate dealers at Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind., filed a petition today with the National Labor Relations Board seeking a union representation election. About 180 workers will be eligible to vote in the election. Casino Aztar workers presented their employer with a notice of the decision by a majority of casino dealers to form their own union in Evansville today.

Majestic Star Casino paid its USD 50 million licensing fee Monday for a North Shore slot machine parlor and said it welcomed an expedited timetable for the state Supreme Court to consider arguments by Pittsburgh's sports teams about casino traffic. The Detroit-based casino company paid the fee to the state Gaming Control Board, a board spokesman confirmed. The Supreme Court earlier this month rejected appeals by two losing bidders, affirming the company's license.

(AP) - Illinois gambling regulators signed off on plans Monday to move the Casino Rock Island to a new USD 150 million complex with a hotel, conference facilities and a third more gaming tables. The long-planned move from a riverboat in downtown Rock Island to an inland site near Interstate 280 and Illinois 92 was unanimously approved by the Illinois Gaming Board during a special meeting in Chicago.

The Swedish media earned USD 103.7 million from publishing gambling ads in 2006, despite it being technically illegal in the country. Sweden’s chief legal counsel at the Gaming Board said that it ’hardly felt worthwhile’ reporting cases when nothing happened. Commenting on the results, Hakan Hallstedt, Sweden’s chief legal counsel at the Gaming Board, said that it ’hardly felt worthwhile’ reporting cases when nothing happened.