Los Angeles (Reuters) - MGM Mirage reported a fourth-quarter loss of USD 1.15 billion on Tuesday as gambling demand declined, and it wrote down impaired assets, sending its shares down 3 percent in extended trade. The No. 2 casino operator also said its banks had agreed to waive debt covenants through May 15. MGM, grappling with weak demand from recession-weary consumers and a credit market crisis, warned earlier in March that auditors had substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern.

(Bloomberg) - Casino gambling revenue dropped 15 percent on the Las Vegas Strip in January and tumbled 19 percent in Atlantic City last month as the U.S. recession curbed spending on travel and betting. Casino proceeds on the Strip, the biggest U.S. gambling center, slumped to USD 510.4 million in January, Nevada’s Gaming Control Board said today in an e-mailed statement.

Lincoln, California - A Placer County tribe says the declining economy has forced it to stop construction on a hotel that was planned to complement its casino. Doug Elmets, a spokesman for Thunder Valley Casino, says the United Auburn Indian Community will likely downsize the project when it is re-evaluated in three to six months. Construction was halted with just five of the 22 stories built. The project was estimated to cost USD 1 billion.

Aristocrat Leisure, the world's second-largest maker of slot machines, fell the most in more than five years in Sydney trading after cutting its annual profit forecast as much as 40%. Aristocrat fell 28% to AUD 3.94 in Sydney, the biggest decline since May 27, 2003. The drop erased AUD 710 million of the company's market value. Aristocrat, whose chief executive officer quit last month, is struggling to find buyers for new games...

Atlantic City - This was a September no one wants to remember, as casinos suffered their biggest monthly revenue decline in Atlantic City's 30-year history of gambling. In a dramatic, post-Labor Day slowdown, revenue plunged 15.1 percent to USD 356 million for the month. It is fresh evidence the gaming industry continues to be battered by the weak economy, Wall Street's unfolding financial crisis and competition from slot parlors in Pennsylvania.

(Bloomberg) - Las Vegas Strip casino gambling revenue declined for the eighth straight month in August as cash-strapped U.S. consumers curbed entertainment and travel spending because of an economic slowdown. Gambling proceeds from the Strip fell 7.4 percent to USD 494 million in August, Nevada's Gaming Control Board said today. Casino revenue at the largest U.S. gambling center slid 6.7 percent to USD 4.21 billion this year...

New York (AP) -- Gambling revenue dipped 1.1 percent for the state of Nevada in the month of June as revenue collected by the largest casinos on the Las Vegas Strip fell, according to data released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board on Monday. Nevada's gambling licensees reported a total "gaming win" of USD 949.3 million for the month of June, a 1.1 percent decline from USD 960 in June 2007.

Las Vegas (AP) - Dealers at the Rio hotel-casino in Las Vegas have voted down union representation. Saturday's action, taken on a 247-162 vote, was the first setback for Las Vegas Dealers Local 721 after successful organizing efforts last year at Wynn Las Vegas and Caesars Palace. Union officials say after the vote count, overseen by officials from the National Labor Relations Board, that they're not discouraged and would continue the efforts at local casinos.

Shares of gaming companies with properties in Macau declined Monday as data showed May gaming revenue grew less year over year than in the first four months of 2008. Macau gaming revenue increased 31 percent in May compared with the prior-year period according to Lusa News Agency, but the growth rate was below April’s 44 percent climb, which had been the lowest to date. oseph Greff of JPMorgan attributed May’s gaming growth to strong VIP play as well as new casinos and expansions.

For the third month in a row, the state of Nevada is reporting a significant decline in gaming revenue blamed on the economy. In March, Nevada casinos won 2 percent less from gamblers than a year ago while the state’s biggest economic engine, the Las Vegas Strip, generated 5 percent less gaming revenue, the Gaming Control Board reported today. But the real story is in slots, historically accounting for more than 60 percent of the state’s gaming revenue.

The Squamish Nation is in talks with Toronto-based Boardwalk Gaming and Entertainment Inc. to build a small gambling hall on the Sea to Sky Highway. The community gambling centre will have up to 150 slot machines and a bingo hall, said Greg Walker of the B.C. Lottery Corporation. Squamish’s mayor, Ian Sutherland, confirmed that negotiations between Boardwalk and the District of Squamish for the gambling centre...

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission will not authorize new casino licenses and will seek a study on the impact of new casinos. The five member commission made its decision Thursday morning at a meeting in Johnston. At least five communities have said they want to build new casinos: Fort Dodge, Franklin County, Newton, Ottumwa and Tama. Iowa has 20 casinos, and it’s been three years since the state accepted new applications.