On Jan. 1, a smoking ban went into effect in the state of Illinois, banning smoking in virtually all public places including offices, theaters, museums, libraries, educational institutions, schools, commercial establishments, enclosed shopping centers and retail stores, restaurants, bars, private clubs and gaming facilities. As a result of the ban, Illinois riverboat casino revenues have dropped significantly compared to the same time last year.

Madera, California - Plans are moving ahead to build an off-reservation casino along Highway 99 just north of the city of Madera. The Bureau of Indian Affairs says it is no longer considering an alternative proposal to place the USD 250 million project closer to the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians' original reservation in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

New York (AP) -- Shares of companies that operate casinos sank to new lows Tuesday on reports that the industry is suffering in the wake of the nation's economic downturn. Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Jake Fuller, in a note citing several factors for cutting his price target and earnings estimates for Las Vegas Sands Corp., noted his own survey work found the company's Venetian Las Vegas "discounting heavily in the June-July timeframe."

Twin River casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island says that because it hands over 60 percent of its profits to the state that it’s going under. So it’s asking the state to take less. In return, it promises to pay more! It would start by promising to give the state USD 500 million up front. It wants the state to cut its take from 61.45 percent to 25 percent. “The situation is dire. We are standing on the edge of a precipice,” announced a spokesman for the casino.

The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, owners of the new Red Hawk casino scheduled to open later this year in El Dorado County, have agreed to pay the state the largest share of slot machine winnings of any tribe in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday the signing of an amended compact with the tribe that runs through 2029 and allows a maximum of 5,000 slot machines at the casino.

A federal judge who earlier said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger negotiated in bad faith with the Rincon Indian band will not force the state into new negotiations with the tribe, for now. Judge William McCurine said Tuesday that the two sides can wait until an appeals court rules on his decision that the state can't legally demand a cut of casino profits when negotiating with tribes that want to expand gambling.

Construction of the planned Pittsburgh slots casino has been suspended for about two weeks until a contractor is paid the USD 10 million he is owed, a spokesman for the casino developer said. But Bob Oltmanns, spokesman for Majestic Star Casino developer Don Barden, said Tuesday that USD 120 million in funding for the casino has been secured from Walton Street Capital LLC.

One local gaming house has already started to adjust to the sluggish market. The Crystal Palace Casino has now been forced to make adjustments to its operating hours, something its owners attribute to a falloff in the number of tourists coming to play a hand or two of cards or some other table game. "We are trying to get the efficient use of the operating hours of the casino," said Robert Sands, Baha Mar's VP of External Affairs.

Slot machines flickered to life Wednesday at the Moulin Rouge, the first racially integrated casino in Las Vegas, which hasn't operated as a functioning business since 1955. The machines, 16 in two rows in abandoned office space along Bonanza Road, didn't make much, if any, money for developers Moulin Rouge Development Corp. or Republic Urban Properties.

Plains, Pennsylvania — In three weeks, when the first visitors walk through the main entrance of the new casino at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, they will pass a sculpture that starts as a hunk of coal at its base. Slowly, as it spins toward the ceiling, fist-sized black chunks morph into clear rocks and finally into polished diamonds. When the USD 208 million expansion opens July 17, it will reflect the Pennsylvania coal country where it sits and how the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority...

Thompson, New York - As work crews smash apart the Concord Hotel — the biggest of the old, empty Borscht Belt resorts — developer Louis Cappelli surveys the rubble and sees a new shot at glory for the Catskills. Over the rumble of demolition, Cappelli talks about a USD 1 billion resort with gambling, golf, shopping, a spa, a water park and horse racing. He sees Vegas, the Hamptons without the traffic...

Chicago (Reuters) - The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a gambling law allowing state-owned casinos and slot parlors is constitutional, upholding a previous ruling on the law. The case was filed in 2007 by former Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison on behalf of the state in an attempt to test the law's constitutionality and clear any potential legal hurdles. The ruling means plans for casinos and slots owned by the state can go forward.