Macau, China - The laid-off worker from Hunan province hung back from the baccarat table as his wife placed bets. He sipped water and explained how he justified traveling to this former Portuguese colony on China's southern coast -- the only place in the country where gambling is legal -- and blowing USD 450 in savings there. "We are not rich, so we took a train to Guangzhou first, then we took a bus to Zhuhai," bordering Macau, said Zhang, 50, who would give only one name.

The UK online bingo authority website BingoPort.co.uk, released data showing that Internet bingo use in the United Kingdom has increased significantly over the past six months. The report shows that since September 2007 the average daily player numbers across all UK focused online bingo operators has increased by around 19%. "I don't think this increase has taken anyone that works in the online bingo industry by surprise,"...

Macao -- Macao saw its economy unleashed by the booming gaming industry in the past eight years, but further development requires a more diversified economic pattern, said a Macao legislator in an interview with Xinhua on Monday. "Historically speaking, the special administrative region (SAR)is at the best time for its economic development in the light of its rapid growth in the past eight years," said Ieong Tou Hong, a member of Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR and Board Chairman of Macao Association of Economy Promotion.

Macau (Reuters) - Macau's biggest corruption trial opened on Monday with the court hearing charges that a former top official had taken millions of dollars in kickbacks to speed up construction of the gaming haven's multi-billion-dollar casinos. Former secretary for transport and public works Ao Man-long faces 76 counts of corruption, including accepting bribes, laundering money and abuse of power, shining a spotlight on the crime feeding off Macau's boom but also fanning hopes for stronger supervision.

In the twelve Austrian Casinos, the gross poker revenues on August 10 were 370 % above last year’s revenues: From January 1 to August 10, the company entered gross poker revenues of 2,6 million euros in the books, while the same period last year amounted to 560.000 euros. On July 5, the Sit&Go Poker Events started in the Casinos. With a buy-in of only 25 euros, the events are mainly targeted at new guests who want to start with Poker.

Biloxi, Mississippi - This seaside gambling resort along a stretch of the Gulf Coast, sometimes called the “redneck Riviera,” has 40 percent fewer hotel rooms and only two-thirds as many slot machines as it did before Hurricane Katrina. A major bridge that connects the casinos in this popular tourist destination to Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and other points east remains closed...

Casino operators believe they will have no problem filling hotel rooms with guests and packing casinos with free-spending gamblers during the current building boom, which is expected to bring at least four new resorts to the Strip and an estimated 45,000 more hotel rooms to the Las Vegas market by 2012. Finding enough employees to clean the rooms, work the restaurants and staff the casinos may not be as easy.