Rob McLoughlin is Aristocrat's new Executive General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He succeeds Nick Khin, who assumed the post of President and Chief Executive Officer of Aristocrat's American business in September.

Following an auditor's warning that there was ‘substantial doubt' that the company could survive, in November the Las Vegas Sands corporation updated its development plans and raised capital of $2.1billion through the sale of stock and warrants.

A month after a smoking ban came into force, gamblers can now smoke again in Atlantic City's 11 casinos.

Eleven weeks before the 2009 International Gaming Expo, visitor pre-registrations are up almost 35 percent year-on-year, according to the event's marketing manager, Charlotte Skinner.

The Gaming Standards Association's G2S and S2S committees have approved manufacturer extensions for GSA's Game to System (G2S) protocol and its System to System (S2S) protocols that were received from platinum member company IGT. These extensions are the first to be donated for inclusion in a GSA protocol by any manufacturer.

Patrick Covell has joined Raving Consulting as its new vice president of training. He will be working alongside Raving Service President Steve Browne on guest service and training programs and on initiatives provided by Raving Consulting Company.

The UK's Gala Coral Group is planning for a downturn, according to Dominic Harrison, the firm's new Chief Executive Officer who replaced Neil Goulden in September. "Like everybody else, we are seeing pressure on the disposable pound," he said, commenting on the company's plans to trim its five divisions back to three, which could lead to up to 200 job losses.

The 40th venture for Lucien Barrière Hôtels et Casinos is the Barrière de Blotzheim, a leisure destination that is convenient for France, German, and Swiss customers. It is well-placed to serve a catchment area of 1 million people.

Interactive gaming provider Cantor Gaming has extended its deal with slot machine manufacturer Atronic, and can now draw on a wide range of Atronic games, such as Sphinx, for online and handheld use.

Gaming Partners International has appointed Gregory Gronau as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Gronau's duties include management of the company's US and Mexico operations conducted through its subsidiary, Gaming Partners International USA, Inc. The hiring is part of a succession plan necessitated by the planned retirement of longtime President and Chief Executive Officer Gerard Charlier, who is due to retire in September 2009.

At the beginning of December the Jamaican Cabinet was due to discuss a proposal put forward by Finance Minister Audley Shaw and backed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to permit casino developments.

Missouri's $500 loss limit on riverboat gamblers, put in place to rein back casino gambling in the state, has been lifted. Mandatory tracking cards ensured that players could not buy more than $500-worth of slot machine credits or table game chips every two hours.

MGM Mirage's Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni has retired from his executive positions, but remains on the Board of Directors and joins the Diversity Committee.

The Government of Bermuda and the Bermuda Hotel Association (BHA) have joined forces to commission a feasibility study on gaming in Bermuda, in a move that may help to revitalise the country's tourism industry.

Clarion Gaming and the European Casino Association have joined forces to present the International Casino Conference, which starts at noon on January 26th at Earls Court, before IGE. 

Despite ‘challenging economic and capital market conditions', Bally has announced record first quarter revenues of $237 million for the period ending 30th September.

Gary Platt Manufacturing shipped 1,700 custom chairs in a variety of fabrics for the November grand opening of Casino Snoqualmi, Washington. The Manitoba Lottery Corporation, in Winnipeg, Canada purchased 840 Barona style seats, upholstered in custom fabric and mounted on Gary Platt's, new aluminum Hi-Lo understructure. While the Rainbow Casino in Wisconsin bought 580 Gazelle X-Tended Play seats, with polished chrome understructures.

Fin City Associates, a business development company focused on Guatemalan economic development, has signed a licensing agreement with the Guatemalan Gaming Agency for development of six casino/hotel/golf destination resorts over the next ten years.

President, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary Paul  Meyer departed from Shuffle Master at the expiration of his contract at the end of October to pursue other opportunities. Mr Meyer will be available to the company as a part-time employee for a period of time, but will no longer serve as an Officer of the Company.

The Gaming Industry Piracy Alliance (GIPA) is a new organisation set up to help its members enforce intellectual property rights and work together on anti-piracy activities and initiatives.

The Gaming & Amusement Expo Mexico 2009 is the first event of its kind to group together all the gaming sectors in the country, from route and amusement businesses, which are the basis of the industry, to the new games and betting parlours licensed under recent Federal legislation.

Adedicated website has been launched for the Gaming Standards Association's GSA University: www.gsauniv.com.

Visitors can find information on schedules for classes in the Executive Awareness and Certified Engineer programs, and also register and pay for courses online.

Innocore Gaming and Octavian Global Technologies have signed a five-year agreement that will see Innocore's DPX-based hardware platform used for future Octavian gaming applications.

Twenty three judges are getting their heads down to pore over the nominations for the International Gaming Awards, which will be announced at a glittering ceremony in London in January while IGE is in town.

Multimedia Games has appointed Dallas Burnett Manager of Compliance, a new position at the Company. He oversees all product compliance, corporate and employee licensing in current and new markets, and will serve as the Company's primary liaison with all regulatory agencies and test labs in jurisdictions where Multimedia operates or seeks to operate. Mr Burnett reports directly to Multimedia's General Counsel, Uri Clinton.

Elixir Gaming has issued a statement saying that it intends to chase Shuffle Master for millions of dollars in damages as a result of a patent infringement action brought by Shuffle Master.

Octavian International has completed a reverse merger with a publicly-traded shell company and changed its corporate name to Octavian Global Technologies, Inc. It has also completed a private placement with institutional investors for gross proceeds of $13 million.

Aristocrat Technologies Europe claims it has conjured up another mystical marvel in Luigi's Ball, a new Multi Line game available in Viridian, and XCite formats.

Inspired Gaming International (Inspired), part of Inspired Gaming Group has entered into its first shared-revenue partnership deal, and is investing in the total development of the Club 19 resort in South-East Asia. It will share all revenues in the venue (not just machine incomes) with its partner, Silver Heritage Limited (SHL).

G2E is no longer the greatest show on earth, but it's still pretty damned good. A lot of business happened this November in Vegas, as Casino International discovered…

Ricki Chavez-Munoz brings the news from Latino America in the English-language version of his excellent column…

Ricki Chavez-Munoz brings the latest news from Latino America in his Spanish-language column

A huge spanner has been thrown into the works of Macau’s casino engine on the Cotai Strip as credit dries up, projects slow or freeze and the city as a whole slides into economic gloom. Paulo A. Azevedo reports with Olívia Alonso

Gaming in Pennsylvania has proved a resounding success – mostly. Sharon Harris looks under the covers

G2E was, even to someone as optimistic as I, a pleasant surprise. A lot of business was done, with some companies enjoying their best-ever shows; some great new product was on show too, with highlights from WMS with the new Bluebird 2 cabinet, Shuffle Master with their excellent new electronic card table, and Microsoft’s expansion on last year’s offering, alongside their wonderful Surface technology.