London – Clarion Events has announced that its World Regulatory Briefing (WrB) conference will return to London on 10thSeptember 2015, bringing together the largest global gaming operators, regulators, and industry associations to discuss how to drive the adoption of responsible gambling and corporate responsibility.

The number of paid employees in the gaming industry stood at 43,835 in the fourth quarter last year, down 2 percent year-on-year, the latest figures released yesterday from the Statistics and Census Service show. The survey on manpower needs and wages of the gaming industry for the fourth quarter of 2008, which excluded junket promoters and junket associates, shows that analysed by occupations that are directly related to betting services…

BetMarkets: 4 – 5 March – Vienna. The 3rd BetMarkets is aimed at any sports book professional and focuses on terrestrial and online sports betting and the merging of the two. European Gambling Briefing (EGB): 22 – 23 April – Budapest. Developed in response to the critical regulatory, legal and business changes shaping the European industry, the European Gambling Briefing conference offers a complete picture of this sector.

Gamblers will be able to bet more and win bigger prizes on slot machines in pubs, clubs and amusement arcades after successful lobbying of the Government by the gaming industry. Prizes will double from GBP 35 to GBP 70 and the maximum stake will rise from 50p to GBP 1, the second rise in two years, under the plan authorised by Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary. The relaxation of gambling rules is expected to provide a boost to the industry in the downturn by generating an extra 20 per cent in revenue.

Dithering has always been part of Britain’s political culture but time is rapidly running out for amusement arcades and the wider pay-to-play leisure industry. Delays in policy decisions are putting nearly 30,000 jobs in the industry in severe jeopardy. More and more businesses are forced to close every week — especially seaside arcades. Far from heralding a liberalisation of the gambling laws, the 2005 Gambling Act has introduced greater regulation for land-based operators…

Philippines gaming industry will remain resilient to the current economic climate due to access and affordability, according to a local gaming firm. „The online gaming industry is one of the most affordable modes of entertainment,“ said Gil Edeza, CEO of IP E-Game Ventures. “Signing up for an online game is usually free and it may be played for as low as USD 0.40 an hour in internet cafes,” he added.

A major casino owner in the north has accused the Turkish Cypriot authorities of being “coy” over the USD 500 million made annually from the gaming industry, and has called on the administration to devise a clear and workable policy on casinos. “In 2007, casinos in north Cyprus paid USD 75 million tax to the government, and directly or indirectly injected USD 500 million into the economy,” director of the Grand Casino Club, Aydogan Turay told the Turkish-language daily Hurriyet.

The Slovakia Show, the coin machine event for this small country of 5.4 million people, was held this week over two days, ending last week. The show had 45 exhibitors and was held in the Incheba expo centre in Bratislava. The Slovakian industry’s current status of mixing AWP machines and VLTs in street locations was reflected by the show, but with an accent on the transition which will come on January 1, 2009, when the country enters the euro zone.

Washington — The gaming industry changed irrevocably when President Reagan signed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act on Oct. 17, 1988. Twenty years later, tribal casinos earn more money than those in Las Vegas and Atlantic City combined. „I believe the expectation of almost every lawmaker then was that the future of Indian gaming was going to be in high stakes bingo,“ said Phil Hogen, chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.

South Florida’s floating-gaming industry may be running out of luck. SeaEscape Entertainment, the only gaming vessel left at Port Everglades, on Monday informed Broward County its last sailings from Port Everglades will be Sunday. In recent months, Horizon’s Edge Casino Cruises and Aquasino have ceased operations in Miami-Dade County. And Palm Beach Princess is on the auction block — raising the possibility that a buyer may want to relocate the vessel from Port of Palm Beach.