The online gambling industry is very well-placed to be resilient in the face of the continuing global recession argues Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC) in its new Interactive Gambling Report. The total global interactive gross gambling yield surpassed USD 20bn for 2008 in what proved to be a good year overall for the interactive gambling industry.

With December and year-long revenue results expected to be posted this week, Nevada’s gaming industry has been forced to deal with sharp declines in casino revenues and hotel occupancy. According to the latest estimates, casino revenues were down about 10 percent from the previous year, the first year-over-year decline in the state’s history. The number of visitors to Las Vegas declined about 4 percent, while hotel/motel occupancy slipped to under 80 percent in November and December...

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority will open an office in Palmer, Mass. The idea isn’t to promote Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, but to prepare for the potential expansion of the brand to Palmer should the commonwealth legalize gambling. The tribal authority already has a lease on a 150-plus acre site. The office opening comes at an uncertain time in the gaming industry.

Revenue plunged at Arizona's 22 Indian casinos during the fourth quarter, as the worsening recession kept gamblers away from the tribes' gaming tables and slot machines. Based on fees paid to the state, the casinos' combined revenue was down 16 percent, marking the biggest quarterly drop since Arizona Indian gaming was legalized in 1993. "People are saving their money," said Sheila Morago, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association.

The announcement that the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino will close its doors for two months as a result of the global recession has prompted the Bahamas Gaming Reform (BGR) Committee to renew its call for the Government to comprehensively examine the nation’s current gaming laws. The traditionally slow tourist season is between August 17 to October 5...

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) -- Juan Jimenez's job at the casino wasn't the most glamorous one in the place. But picking up cigarette butts, vacuuming dirt from carpets and shampooing stains from spilled drinks (and other, much worse substances) allowed him to bring his family from the Dominican Republic, buy a small house and claim a tiny slice of the American Dream. In October, his luck ran out.

There may be no place more calculating, more confident and with more swagger than Las Vegas, a seemingly invincible boomtown built on the finely honed skill of talking people out of their money and offering them nothing tangible to take home. And then, some of those people move here to get a piece of the action — finding work at a casino or hotel, or building homes and high-rises, or erecting booths inside convention halls.