Macao (Xinhua) -- Results of an official survey released on Monday showed that average earnings (excluding bonuses and allowances) for full-time employees in Macao's gaming Industry rose by 7.4 percent year-on-year to 15,565 patacas (1,946 U.S. dollars) in June this year. Average earnings for casino dealers grew by 0.3 percent in June over the same period of last year to 13,776 patacas (1,722 dollars)...

Takings from touch-screen roulette machines in Ladbrokes' betting shops have edged ahead of earnings from traditional horse racing bets — the first product to do so in the group's 122-year history. The average weekly sum per machine lost by punters playing in Ladbrokes' UK betting shops rose by 18.2% to GBP 676 during the first six months of 2008. Average over-the-counter takings rose by 0.9% to GBP 251.80, with horse racing accounting for just under half of that figure...

James Packer's publicly listed gambling company, Crown, and the poker machine maker Aristocrat are bracing for the impact of the strong economic headwinds undermining US casino earnings. In the past fortnight, the owner of the iconic Tropicana casino in Las Vegas has filed for bankruptcy and four of the US's largest gambling companies have reported earnings slumps. Most market observers said the falls illustrated that the industry was not as recession-proof as it liked to think.