The first International Gaming Awards ceremony for land based gaming will take place in London on January, 2008 at the Natural History Museum. The event intends to become one of the industries biggest gatherings of the year, and an opportunity to network with the industry and celebrate excellence. The aim of the ceremony is to help International charities. The Gaming Awards will be donating % of profits, and 5 % of the table bookings and sponsorships to the Macmillan House charity and Care International charity.

A US gaming lawyer and respected author has stated that online gambling in the nation is not dead despite the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) as there will be increased demand by individual states for involvement in the activity and the revenues it can raise. Martin Owens was speaking in Spain at a conference during the sixth annual European Interactive Gaming Congress And Expo (EiG) and ran over the “curious” nature of state versus Federal law in the United States.

St. John's - Antigua and Barbuda's finance minister on Friday defended his nation's bid to impose USD 3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the United States, which it accuses of ignoring a World Trade Organization ruling against a U.S. online betting ban. Finance Minister L. Errol Cort dismissed criticism of Antigua's plan to target U.S. trademarks with USD 3.4 billion in penalties every year, until the United States applies its online and offshore betting ban more uniformly or allows Americans to place bets with international gambling businesses.

According to weekend reports in Gambling News Review, 4Flush and Launchpoker, the Norwegian government minister responsible for matters gambling is planning a Norwegian equivalent of the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The US law has caused so much grief in the industry by inhibiting financial transactions with online gambling companies. In an unsourced, but seemingly authoritative report, the portals claim that Norwegian culture Minister Trond Griske may be taking a page from the US legislation book on hamstringing online gambling in the Scandinavian country.

New York (AP) -- Shares of gaming companies with interests in Macau slipped Wednesday, after a Morgan Stanley analyst said preliminary Macau gaming revenue growth in September is significantly below her estimate. Analyst Celeste Mellet Brown said early Macau figures show September gaming revenue growth of 55 percent year over year, which is well below her forecast for more than 75 percent growth. The data is also likely to be below general expectations across Wall Street, she added.

Gaming is big business the world over and Jamaica is no exception. As the industry grew here, thegovernment recognized a need for regulation, and so in 1975, it created the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission. In an interview with JIS News, Executive Director of the Commission, Derek Peart explains that the purpose of the Commission is to regulate the gaming industry. "The Commission has the responsibility of regulating them, licensing or approval being given and also to ensure that only persons who are licensed or receive approvals are able to participate.

650 international exhibits added to Gauselmann Collection

Gary Kaplan used to throw lavish parties in Costa Rica and plaster the name of his thriving online gambling company on New York City buses. Now, the 48-year-old founder of BetonSports PLC and the multibillion-dollar industry he helped spawn are in reduced circumstances -- the man on the run, the industry in disarray. Mr. Kaplan is a fugitive from a racketeering conspiracy and fraud indictment filed last year in a St. Louis federal court charging him with heading a criminal enterprise that illegally took in over USD 3.5 billion in wagers since 2001.

The Indonesian cigarette billionaire Putera Sampoerna has put Les Ambassadeurs, his high-rolling London casino, up for sale 18 months after buying it. A number of the world’s biggest gaming groups, including Harrah’s, are taking a keen interest, but it is thought that Las Vegas Sands is the frontrunner to buy it. However, the purchase price could be below the [[GBP]] 115m that Sampoerna paid. Les Ambassadeurs is one of London’s most exclusive casinos, attracting high rollers as well as a good smattering of hedge-fund managers, trustafarians and Premiership footballers.

The referendum battle over a major expansion of Indian casino gambling in California already resembles the stretch run of a bruising political campaign -- despite the fact nothing has even qualified for the ballot. But with signature gatherers circulating petitions for Feb. 5 referendums seeking to stop four of the Golden State's richest tribes from adding up to 17,000 new slot machines, big campaign dollars are flowing and the political vitriol is in full bloom.

Atlantic City - New Jersey gaming regulators have scheduled a hearing next month to consider a USD 17.1 billion buyout of Harrah's Entertainment Inc. by two private equity firms. Harrah's Entertainment, the world's largest gaming company, controls about 40 percent of the Atlantic City market through its ownership of the Harrah's, Bally's, Caesars and Showboat casinos. Pending regulatory approvals in states where Harrah's operates casinos, private equity firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group will acquire the gaming giant in the casino industry's largest takeover ever.

Progressive Gaming International announced that it has executed a purchase agreement with Shuffle Master, whereby it will acquire Progressive’s worldwide Table Game Division assets, including the worldwide rights and lease contracts for all of the table game titles including Caribbean Stud and Texas Hold ’Em Bonus. The agreements also include a "Software Distribution License Agreement" under which PGIC will be the exclusive provider of progressive table technology to Shuffle Master...