Bulgaria has raised gambling taxes by as much as 50 percent despite industry warnings that it could lead to job losses.

Under new regulations coming into force at the beginning of January, all forms of gambling will be taxed at 15 percent. Currently, taxes on sports betting are levied at ten percent, while other types of gambling – including casino gaming, the national lottery and bingo – are taxed at 12 percent.

More members

Three new entrants bring the membership list at the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) to 83 firms. The latest additions are display maker Ceronix, poker and slot machine developer Lightning Gaming, and promotions company SCA Gaming.

The Aspers casino in Swansea, Wales, says going membership-free has helped it to grow customer numbers to more than three times the average for venues outside London.

Footfall at the casino in Salubrious Place rose by 13 per cent in its second year of operation, with Aspers welcoming some 35,000 visitors during October alone.

Online gaming will be legalised in the U.S. by 2014 at the latest, according to experts surveyed by the American Gaming Association.

Half of those polled for the eighth edition of the G2E Future Watch forecast, unveiled at November’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, said legalisation is likely in 2010 or 2011, while the majority of the others were confident it would come just a few years later, in 2012-2014.

Law-makers in Australia and Bermuda are pondering their gaming policies in exercises which could lead to new regulatory approaches in both countries.

In Australia, the government’s Productivity Commission is seeking public comment on a draft report which urges joined-up policy on problem gambling.

Bally Technologies and MEI have both been recognised at industry awards events in the US and Europe.

At the Global Gaming Business Gaming and Technology Awards, presented at G2E in Las Vegas in November, Bally says it won more awards than any other firm for the second year running, including two first places for Best Slot Product and Best Productivity Enhancement.

JCM and Bally Technologies have both been victorious in patent infringement cases at US federal courts.

In the JCM case, a federal district court judge upheld the verdict delivered by a Las Vegas jury in January that found MEI’s CashFlow SC series of bill acceptors had infringed patent protection on JCM’s removable stacker mechanism.

Rank Group has taken over Isle of Capri Casinos’ property at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, England, rebranding it under the G Casino marque and confirming Isle of Capri’s departure from markets outside the US.

The acquisition brings Rank’s G Casinos estate in Britain to a total of nine sites, with a tenth set to open soon in the northern city of Sheffield.

The progressive Magic Casinos Jackpot launched in France in September is based on the world’s largest network of interconnected casinos, according to Atronic, which provided the underlying technology and is operating the system.