Proponents of a ballot measure that would help pave the way for higher casino bet limits turned in almost twice as many signatures as needed to qualify for the November ballot. The petitions with roughly 130,000 signatures were filed with the Colorado secretary of state's office, which needs to certify whether the measure has received enough valid signatures to be put to the state's voters this fall. It needs about 76,000 to qualify.

There is to be a trial in South Australia of a card that aims to limit spending by gamblers on poker machines. The State Government says gamblers can use the card to nominate how much they can spend in a day and when that is reached, they will be alerted. The trial will be operated by the company which markets the venue card system J-Card. SA Gambling Minister Paul Caica says the trial will start next month...

Prague- Some 80 percent of Czech municipalities would like to limit gambling on their territory, Dzamila Stehlikova, minister for human rights and minorities, told journalists today, referring to a survey she ordered. Over 85 percent of the municipalities said the negative effects of gambling, such as crime, were more serious than the financial effects of casinos to their budgets, the survey conducted on some 100 municipalities showed.

Finnish government agreed on a bill to amend current gambling legislation to protect the under aged. The bill would increase the age limit for using gambling machines to 18. The proposal would include a one-year transition period implementation of the new age-limit for some automatic gambling machines. Currently the age limit is 15 for using gambling machines and participating in games of chance provided by Veikkaus, the state betting and lottery organization.

The Norwegian Ministry for Culture and Church Affairs has introduced strict new laws on gaming terminals operated by Norsk Tipping, the Norwegian state-owned gaming company. Under the rules, gaming machines will only be accessible to pre-registered users via prepaid cards. In 2007, the EFTA court and the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that Norsk Tipping could continue to be the sole operator of gaming terminals in Norway, on grounds that it seeks to limit gambling opportunities.

Deputy of Dominican Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Dominicano - PRD), Radhamés González, informed that a project will be presented with the aim to modify law 29-06, on sportsbooks and games of chance. He explained that the initiative intends to eliminate slots from places which can be easily reached by kids. “We understand that sportsbooks are the places which have facilitated children and teenagers to have contact with this sort of games”.

The Senate today approved a bill that would limit casinos to the counties where they are already operating. Senate Bill 2199 passed 36-14. “After 15 or 16 years of legalized gaming, every county along the (Mississippi) river or the coast has had ample opportunity to approve it,” said Sen. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, principle author of the bill.

Las Vegas (AP) - Caesars Palace says it is raising its betting limits to accomodate the biggest gamblers in the world. Starting tomorrow (Monday), the casino will allow players to bet up to USD 50,000 per hand at blackjack, and the same amount on line bets at craps. The casino owned by Harrah's Entertainment says the limits are the highest in Las Vegas.

Tory leader David Cameron will call on the government to raise the age limit for all forms of gambling to 18, after a new Conservative report said that it was the "single most important" measure for combating problem gambling. A Tory report says that tens of thousands of children are addicts.

Thirty eight Russian regions have prohibited all gambling activities since Sunday when the new federal law restricting gambling in the country came into effect. The Primorye region, which is in the list of four gambling zones to be left in Russia by July of 2009, has not entirely banned gambling but has introduced considerable restrictions.

However, there are signs that illegal gambling dens are beginning to spring up. "In Krasnoyarsk there are already five or six illegal casinos and dozens of illegal slot clubs," said Michael Boettcher, CEO of Storm International, a casino group that operates the Super Slots chain and several casinos, including Moscow’s Shangri La. "Every time you try to ban something it goes underground."