Gambling groups are pressing the European Union to reject as inadequate an American compensation offer for losses suffered when the US closed its online betting market last year. Brussels won an extra month to study the offer at the weekend. The US has agreed that talks can continue until October 22 after it filed its offer - made after a World Trade Organisation ruling - days before Saturday's deadline.

According to the Keevon Research, Strategy and Communications survey released Monday, 37 percent of Israelis want gambling legalized while 55 percent are happy with keeping it illegal. Eight percent had no opinion. The poll, which had 500 Jewish Israeli respondents and a 4.5 percent margin of error, found that opposition to gambling is stronger among the religious, the less educated and the poor.

Freeport - Laying anchor in Freeport once again, the owners of the Texas Star Casino gambling boat are looking for a fresh start after being scuttled by controversy. The Texas Star Casino gambling boat returned Monday from Burton Shipyard in Bridge City where it received [[USD]] 200,000 in repairs and refurbishment and an overhaul inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard, Texas Star Casino CEO Grant Poynor said.

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday unanimously rejected a concept of allowing casino customers to use their debit cards to buy ticket in-ticket out vouchers that can be gambled on slot machines. The proposal, which had been requested through a partnership between Global Cash Access and slot machine giant International Game Technology, was denied by commissioners for several reasons. The most prominent concern by the five-member panel was they didn't see the need for that particular system to be established.

Brussels, Belgium: Belgium's gaming commission took international gambling Web site Unibet to task on Wednesday over its game allowing gamblers to place bets on when the country's political crisis will come to an end. The commission said it filed a complaint with the Brussels prosecutors office claiming Unibet's game of chance on when Belgium's deeply divided political leaders will form a new national government was against the law. Elections were held June 10.

Britons are no more addicted to gambling than they were eight years ago, a surprising new report has found. The survey by the Gambling Commission said around 32 million people took part in some type of gambling activity in the past year - a million down on the 33 million who gambled in 1999. If the number of people playing just the National Lottery are discounted, the findings showed the number of gamblers betting in other types of games had increased by 2% from 46% to 48%.

Following a sustained attack from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding its restricted Internet gambling market, French officials have initiated talks in Brussels to consider the opening up of the industry to foreign competitors. A spokesperson for the French government said it wanted to show they were open to discussions. Meanwhile, gambling monopoly Française des Jeux said that talks would give them the opportunity to put an end to the “unfair competition from internet gambling sites”.

Boston - Gov. Deval Patrick is preparing to unveil a proposal as early as Monday to bring three full-scale casinos to Massachusetts, a plan he hopes will generate hundreds of millions in revenues and thousands of jobs. Gambling opponents are already mobilizing against the plan, which they say won’t be the cash cow Patrick hopes and will end up costing the state money while destroying its character.

A plan to boost the number of poker machines at a Chinese community club and shift operations closer to Star City Casino is worrying gambling experts, who warn that Asian people are unlikely to seek help for problem gambling. After 42 years at the corner of Goulburn and Pitt streets, the Mandarin Club has sold its building and lodged a development application with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority to relocate to 1 Dixon Street, in Chinatown.

Johannesburg - Online gambling in SA came one step closer to being regulated, with the passing of the National Gambling Amendment Bill in Parliament yesterday. The Bill, introduced by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), aims to legalise Internet gambling by creating legislation for the licensing of interactive gambling activities. In terms of the proposed legislation, software vendors providing online gambling platforms would have to obtain a national licence for key staff...

A Finance Ministry proposal to amend Poland's gambling law has raised an outcry among slot-machine operators. The draft seeks to increase taxes levied on slot machine owners and establishments offering gaming services. Industry insiders say this may hinder the growth of the market or even cause it to decline. As a result, they say, gambling may begin to flourish in the off-the-books sector of the economy controlled by the criminal underworld.

Just weeks after the introduction of the UK Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission has announced that it will publish its prevalence study examining problem gambling in the UK on September 19. "There will be a presentation to industry bodies on the Tuesday evening before it is released the next day,” one gambling industry source, who did not wish to be named, told news agency Reuters.