British bingo operators have won some reprieve from planned tax increases, but venue closures are still feared. In April, the government had proposed to increase the gross profit tax from 15 percent to 22 percent – an unexpected move that led to a demonstration at the Houses of Parliament in London under the banner of the I’m Backing Bingo pressure group.

Many casino operators’ attention is likely to be turning to Africa this winter, with regulations easing in Mozambique and a South African licence up for grabs.

The relaxed Mozambique gaming regime, unanimously approved by the nation’s assembly in June and now signed into law by President Armando Guebuza, will allow casinos to be developed throughout the country.

Elektroncek add-on

Elektroncek has redesigned the PID component of its Megastar Roulette and Dicestar multiterminal gaming machines. The new PID Star, an optional add-on, is mounted above the centre unit and provides players with information including live video and statistical data about the last 200 games.

Two Las Vegas casinos have opened new hotel towers despite what some see as an over-supply of rooms in the gaming capital.

Planet Hollywood Resort has 1201 rooms in its new PH Towers – about 200 of them marketed as timeshares for extended visits – while the HRH Tower at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino has 374 rooms, intended to offer a boutique option to older, premium customers.

888.com has acquired the Wink online bingo business, which operates networks including Wink Bingo, Posh Bingo and Bingo Fabulous.

Wink has enlisted more than 60,000 active players since its launch in early 2008.

Casinos Austria has reshuffled top management as it prepares to implement international expansion plans approved last month by the group’s board.

Josef Leutgeb, previously Financial Director, and Paul Herzfeld, currently Deputy Director General, are leaving their posts to focus on international development. Leutgeb has already stepped down from his finance role; Herzfeld will vacate his position in the middle of the year.

Genting is this month opening the first phase of its $4.4bn Resorts World Sentosa development in Singapore.

The complex debuts with 1350 rooms and ten restaurants across the Hard Rock Hotel, Hotel Michael and Crockfords Tower, as well as the Festive Hotel, which – unusually for a casino resort – is designed specifically for families with children.

Online gaming firms based outside the UK may have to apply for a British licence if they want to serve customers in that country.

British Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe is proposing that licensing by the country’s Gambling Commission should be a requirement for companies wanting to advertise or provide online gaming services in Britain.

Rank Group subsidiary Grosvenor Casinos opened its G-branded venue in the northern English city of Sheffield in December, just a week after closing its Grosvenor-branded site in the same city.

Online gaming firm 888 has published its first report on corporate responsibility, covering 2008.

During that year, 888 jointed FTSE4Good – a London Stock Exchange index “designed to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards”.

Online gamers can play Poker with real cards – kind of – after a deal between Gioia International and Red Planet Gaming.

The RealDealPoker.com Website, run on a Red Planet platform, will use Gioia’s new Cut N’ Shuffle dealing system when it launches in February.

Mark Gasser is the new President of Gasser Chair Company, where he has worked since 1973, becoming Executive Vice President in 1985. The role was previously held by Gary Gasser, who remains Chairman and CEO. The Ohio firm specialises in seating for the hospitality and gaming sectors.

The arrival of table games in Pennsylvania’s casinos is likely to bring smiles to cash-strapped state authorities and woes to already beleaguered Atlantic City.

A law recently ratified by Governor Ed Rendell allowing casinos, currently slots-only, to offer table games too will help to balance Pennsylvania’s budget by adding to its annual casino tax revenue, currently just over $1bn.

The president of Palau has vetoed legislation which would have allowed gaming in the tiny Pacific nation.

The Palau Gaming Control Act of 2009 would have authorised the first gaming venues in Palau – also known as Belau – and established a supervisory commission.

Aristocrat has collaborated with video-game legend Sega to create two new slots.

Based on characters from the Sega classics Bonanza and Golden Axe, they will be available from Aristocrat in the first quarter of 2010.

Online casino group Grand Privé has enlisted eCogra to investigate claims that it betrayed affiliates when it cancelled its affiliate-marketing programme in December 2008.

Internet forums have bubbled with resentment at Grand Privé apparently expressed by former affiliates, making claims such as “the casino group will continue to profit while tossing hundreds if not thousands of Webmasters into the cold”.

An alliance between game design firm Astro and server-based gaming (SBG) specialist Inspired Gaming Group will see the two draw on each other’s technology and expertise.

One man was jailed and another received a suspended sentence after cheating at British casinos.

Abdullah Toksoz, a Turkish national living in London, was sent to prison for 16 months after pleading guilty to deception, false representation and fraud.