Governor Jon S. Corzine signed a bill that will keep video lottery terminals out of New Jersey horse tracks for three years while requiring resort casinos to annually pay USD 30 million to horse racing interests. The bill also establishes a casino tax credit on bonuses several casinos give to players that can only be used at those casinos. While the casinos currently pay an eight percent casino gross revenue tax on them, the bill caps the tax on the first USD 90 million.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding took a bold gamble this past week with his decision to license casino gambling. Indeed, even one of the staunchest Church critics acknowledged the move as an act of political confidence. Speaking on the Nationwide current affairs programme, Impact (TVJ) Wednesday night, Rev Peter Garth remarked that the prime minister must be a very confident man as he would be fully aware of the position of the Church against casino gambling.

Ignoring the new government headed by Fernando Lugo, the current government would be after a fast tender process of games of chance within the country, mainly in casinos. Carlos Riveros, from the party Alianza Patriótica para el Cambio (APC), warned that such decision is highly suspicious. In case those casinos are granted, a revision of the contracts would be performed so they might be cancelled.

Last week's announced slowing of casino development and fixing of commission rates for junket operators was welcomed by the director of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), Stanley Ho Hung-sun yesterday as necessary to stop the “cut throat” competition between operators. “I think it is excellent news for Macau in general. It is high time to take care of the gaming sections problems,” he said before presenting the trophy for the Macau Derby 2008 at the Macau Jockey Club yesterday, a race sponsored by SJM.

Atlantic City - Gamblers on the floors of Atlantic City casinos will soon have to give up at least one vice: smoking. Ending a battle that lasted more than a year, the City Council voted 9-0 Wednesday to end the last major loophole to a tough statewide ban on smoking in public buildings that had conspicuously exempted gambling halls. But patrons still will be able to light up in unstaffed smoking lounges away from the table games and slot machines if the 11 individual casinos choose to build them.

Kuala Lumpur: Landmarks Bhd is keeping mum on whether it has obtained a gaming licence from the Indonesian authorities to operate its proposed casino on Bintan Island off Indonesia. Nonetheless, the company’s shareholders yesterday unanimously approved its proposed acquisition of the remaining 26% stake in Bintan Treasure Bay Pte Ltd (BTB) that plans to develop Treasure Bay, within which an integrated resort with a casino is to be built.

Veranstalter von Pokerturnieren außerhalb staatlich konzessionierter Spielbanken, die auch nur im entfernten Sinne für die Spielteilnahme ein Entgelt verlangen, dürfen sich auf massiven Gegenwind einstellen. Sie müssen damit rechnen, strafrechtlich verfolgt, zumindest aber mit hohen Ordnungsgeldern belegt zu werden. Ihre Veranstaltungen werden untersagt. Sie gelten fortan als illegales Glücksspiel. Dies ist kein Horrorszenario in den Albträumen der Turnieranbieter, sondern bereits in Teilen Deutschlands ganz aktuell Realität und droht, in absehbarer Zeit nahezu in der gesamten Bundesrepublik tägliche Praxis zu werden.

Dass Poker eigentlich kein Glücksspiel sein kann, weil sich an den Final Tables der Welt meistens die gleichen Nasen tummeln, ist ein Fakt, den wir an dieser Stelle gern mal wieder in Erinnerung rufen. Jüngstes fleischgewordenes Beispiel ist Isaac Baron aus Menlo Park (US-Bundesstaat Kalifornien), übrigens jener Ort, in dem der legendäre Erfinder Thomas Alva Edison 1879 die weltweit ersten von ihm erfundenen Glühbirnen installiert hatte.

Casino Gambling could soon become legal in Jamaica. The Government has given approval for a group of international investors to establish the island's first legal casino. Prime Minister Bruce Golding is expected to announce the decision and provide details during his presentation in the Budget Debate on Tuesday. Government sources say the first casino is to be established at a new hotel to be constructed in Montego Bay, St James.

The Government faces fresh embarrassment over its casino laws as potential bidders for the 16 new licences start to walk away from the process - just as the legal framework is finalised. Casino groups Aspers, Gala, Rank, Stanley Leisure, Ladbrokes and Genting have all significantly cut back - and in some cases abandoned - their plans to make multiple bids for the new-style licences. The Casino Location Order, part of the 2005 Gambling Act, is due to go before the House of Lords in the next few weeks where, if accepted, it will become law.

Hammond, Indiana (AP) - Construction of a new USD 485 million Horseshoe Casino in Hammond is ahead of schedule and is expected to open in late summer instead of early fall. Casino officials say their full-time payroll is expected to jump from around 2,300 employees to 2,700 when the new facility opens. The Horseshoe project includes new gaming rooms, restaurants and a theater designed to draw Las Vegas-style entertainment.

Wir hatten einen wunderschönen Aufenthalt in Saarbrücken. Vielen Dank nochmals für den Gewinn der Wochenendreise. Mein Mann und ich haben die kulinarischen Speisen sehr genossen - insbesondere das Restaurant Gemmel. Die französische Küche kann man nur weiterempfehlen! Die Mitarbeiter der Spielbank Saarbrücken waren absolut nett und sehr zuvorkommend. Wir haben auch ein kleines Taschengeld am Roulettisch gewonnen.