The chairman of Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. reassured New Jersey gaming regulators last week that his company remains serious about building a new casino, despite uncertainty about the financing and timing of the project. Chairman Dan Lee said Pinnacle has already invested USD 400 million in land, design work and other expenses and is waiting for the global credit crunch to finally ease before it seeks construction financing for a megaresort that could cost "in the billions."

Casinos may be hit with a higher tax structure than numbers forecast operators (NFOs) under the gaming sector tax structure to be announced in Budget 2009 this week. OSK Research in a sector update report yesterday said: “Raising casino taxes is unlikely to cause a significant drop in casino visits apart from the VIP segment, as most of Resorts World’s casino visitors are domestic day trippers.”

The Health Commission of the House of Representatives introduced a series of changes in order to create spaces 100% smoke-free in the Province of Buenos Aires. Among them, smoking will be forbidden in buildings belonging to the public administration, as well as in private spaces such as bars, restaurants, bingos and casinos. The prohibition could start before the ending of the year.

Ver.di ist in großer Sorge um den Erhalt des Spielbankstandortes Aachen und somit auch um die rund 160 Arbeitsplätze, so Bernhard Stracke von der Bundeskoordinierung Spielbanken. In einer Mitarbeiterversammlung wurde den Beschäftigten von der Geschäftsleitung mitgeteilt, dass aus wirtschaftlichen Gründen der Standort Aachen geschlossen werden soll.

Alaska voters will be asked Tuesday whether they want to create a Gaming Commission within the state Department of Revenue, resolving a bitter fight between pro- and anti-gambling forces. The seven-member commission would have authority to expand gambling by allowing slot machines, poker rooms, lotteries or any form of waging game.

Three federal employment lawsuits have been filed on behalf of 80 former employees of gambling ship operators that curtailed sailing amid heightened competition from tribal casinos. Plaintiffs’ attorney Peter Valori, of Miami’s Damian & Valori LLP, obtained an overall settlement of more than USD 23,000 in representing 11 former employees of Party Line Cruise Co., according to a defendant’s court filing.

It was one step forward, one step back for the city this week as it battles with developers for two local casinos about their controversial riverfront locations. The state Supreme Court yesterday ruled that then-Mayor Street's administration properly issued a license last year for SugarHouse to build its casino on state-owned "riparian lands" along the Delaware River. Half of SugarHouse's 22 acres in Fishtown are riparian lands.

Kansas City (Reuters) - Kansas gaming officials have awarded two contracts for development of state-owned casinos as the first in a series of such projects the Kansas officials hope will ultimately bring in at least USD 200 million annually. The Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board awarded 15-year contracts to privately held Harrah's Entertainment Inc and Penn National Gaming Inc to construct and manage casinos that will be owned and operated by Kansas, the first U.S. state to do so.

Tropicana Entertainment filed a motion in US bankruptcy court to seek a better sale price for its Indiana casino, the same day two unions voted in favor of a new contract for 750 workers at the company’s Las Vegas Strip property. The company said last Friday it hopes to get a higher bid for Casino Aztar in Evansville, Indiana. Tropicana already agreed to sell the property to Eldorado Resorts in March, but said it was operating under a different governance structure.

Instead of a single casino that generates USD 240 million for Ohio counties, the gambling measure on the November ballot could lead to three casinos that pay no state and local taxes, opponents of the measure said yesterday. The gambling measure, designated as Issue 6, would provide a boost to an Oklahoma-based Indian tribe that's been struggling for years to win federal approval to open one or more casinos in Ohio, the Vote No Casinos committee said.

In León, it is being build one of the largest betting centers of the region and even of the country, that will have remote betting and slots. The Secretary of the City Council, Francisco García León, assured that it is allowed. This "Casino", which will be its commercial name and is located in one of the zones with best added value of the place near Plaza Mayor, has all the requirements demanded by the town council so far.

Er verdankt seinen Spitznamen seinem Nationalstolz. Max war der Leute überdrüssig, welche nicht erkannten, daß er Italiener ist, deshalb hat er sich eines Tages entschieden ein Bandana mit der italienischen Flagge zu tragen. Kurz danach hat er den Namen "The Italien Pirat" bekommen und der Name ist bis heute geblieben. Im Gegensatz zu anderen PokerPros mag er seinen Spitznamen sehr und ist sehr stolz darauf, was er z.B. dadurch zeigt, daß er seine persönliche Webseite komplett im Piratenlook designt hat.