Councillor of Partido Acciona Nacional (PAN), Armando Amaral Macías, mentioned that, after the problem aroused due to the approval of a casino in Monterrey, a regulation to control the ways in which betting centers are approved. Last December 21st, the Council approved the installation of a casino in a session which was abandoned by more than ten legislators from PAN party, in disagreement with such approval because they could not count with the corresponding file, in order to issue their vote.

According to a leading authority on gaming law, aboriginal tribes in California have been spending more money than ever before in the run up to a vote next month on whether to allow casino expansion. Professor Nelson Rose stated that voters will decide on new compacts that would see four of California’s tribes able to offer players up to 5,500 additional slot machines in return for sharing up to one-quarter of gaming revenues with the state.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party plans to propose legislation to legalize casinos in Japan under strict supervision, Jiji Press learned this week. Under the lawmaker-initiated bill, an LDP panel on casinos plans to call for the establishment of an independent watchdog with strong investigative authority in order to prevent crimes. Inspectors of the envisioned organization would be empowered to screen casino business license applications from the private sector, conduct on-site inspections of casino operators, etc.

Las Vegas (AP) - The casino industry lobby has filed legal challenges against two petitions that propose a tripling of the state's gaming tax. The Nevada Resort Association claims that the petitions amount to taxation without representation because they would allow other states' tax rates to influence Nevada's. Under the petitions, the gaming tax rate in Nevada would be set at the average maximum rate applied in the 11 other states with casino gambling.

Washington - The federal government has turned down plans for two Indian casinos in the Catskills, saying the gambling sites aimed at drawing high rollers from New York City might leave their faraway tribes worse off. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe had sought to build a USD 600 million casino in Monticello in Sullivan County, about 90 miles from New York City. The Stockbridge Munsee of Wisconsin had also sought to build a casino in Sullivan County.

The new casino tender process in Chile will allow the authorization of three licenses that are still pending from the previous contest, after the Chilean House of Representatives rejected the postponement of the tender until the year 2011, in opposition to the initiative that the government introduced to the Parliament. This way, the Casino Superintendence should be the one to decide the granting of licenses.

Vietnam is considering the possibility of legalizing different forms of gambling to better manage the activities and get bigger funds, its news agency VNA reported quoting a local newspaper as saying. The ministries of Finance and Planning and Investment are drafting legal documents to submit to the government for consideration, under which special regulations can be issued to ensure the sound operation of gambling services providers...

Macau’s SJM (Sociedade de Jogos de Macau) gaming company informed this week that it will launch a project to rebuild Macao’s landmark casino resort Hotel Lisboa. The company said the rebuilding project, covering an area of 17,500 sqm, will be kicked off in 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2012. To ensure the quality of the new landmark casino resort, SJM will hold an international architectural design contest, in a bid to select the best architects for the project, according to the company’s press release.

During last year, players left USD 840 million of gross income in Panamenian casinos. This figure registrates a 13.5% growth with regards to 2006, when the total income was USD 740 million. The numbers show that the campaign performed by different trade unions in order to prevent players to go to casinos has had little effect. Antonio Alfaro, president of the Association of Games of Chance Administrators (ASAJA), confirmed that the increment of players is stronger month after month.

Las Vegas Sands tycoon Sheldon Adelson, the first outsider to open a casino in Macau and whose company won a license to open the first casino in Singapore, now hopes to keep winning in Massachusetts. Like other Las Vegas operators, Adelson is closely watching Governor Deval Patrick’s campaign to bring casinos to Massachusetts. The governor’s legislation would license three resort-style casinos, which he says would generate USD 400 million annually in tax revenue and 20,000 jobs.

The vice-governor of Chaco, together with other provincial authorities and a businessmen, evaluated the chance to build several casino hotels in strategic points of the province, with the aim to combat clandestine gambling and generate new jobs. Last Monday, there was a meeting with the Juan Carlos Bacileff Ivanoff, the Deputy Minister of Legal and Technical Issues, Pedro Augusto Miró; Deputy Minister of Tourism, Ignacio Saife; president of Recrear, Chaco Jorge Glibota; a businessman from Chaco, Rodolfo Galizzi and political consultant, Andy Rivas.

New York: The Galaxy Entertainment Group had no business entering the casino business when it made its bid for a gambling license in Macao. Competing in Macao, after all, meant going head to head with Stephen Wynn, who practically invented modern-day Las Vegas, and Las Vegas Sands, parent company of the Venetian, which over the last several years has opened two properties in Macao, including the world's largest casino resort. This month, the MGM Mirage opened its giant Macao property.