So, at long, long, last, nearly three and a half years after the Gambling Act 2005 passed into legislation, on the day Parliament rose for the 2005 General Election, after all the Government stumbles and fumbles and changes of tack, we finally have the legislative Order allowing for eight new so-called "large" casinos and eight so-called "small" casinos, passed through both the House of Commons and House of Lords.

Aristocrat Technologies Europe has appointed of David Daniel to the newly-created post of Customer Services Manager.

TableMAX has received GLI certification for its Caribbean Stud poker electronic table game. The company's Progressive Blackjack game was the first to be certified. Other games due to be submitted to GLI or that are pending certification include Caribbean Draw Poker, Bonus Blackjack and Texas Hold 'Em Bonus Poker.

Sanntu Leiononen and Hannu Korva, two friends who travelled from Finland to enter the first Genting Stanley National Poker Championships in the UK, were the last two players in the final game. They each walked away with £27,800, having agreed to split the prize money before playing for the trophy, bragging rights, and a potential seat in a future event. Hannu Korda took the title with a high card.

Following its acquisition by Apollo and TPG, Harrah's Entertainment Inc declared a first-quarter loss of $187.8million. Revenue fell 2.1 per cent, year on year, to $2.6 billion. The company joined Rank (eight per cent overall drop in revenue in the first 17 weeks of 2008) and MGM Mirage (30 per cent profit fall in the first quarter) in posting poor year on year figures.

Austrian Gaming Industries' Super-V+ Gaminator was designed, developed and produced in Austria. Its maker's aim is for it to become the new international standard multi-game cabinet for the top performing, 10- and 20-line Coolfire II gaming platform.

Caro Développement, a manufacturer of gaming equipment in France since 1816, has launched a new finish for its wood tables - a mother of pearl look that is available in ten main colours, gives texture to the material and plays in the light, and has seen great success according to Sales Manager Arnaud Hervé.

While some traditional casino operators are seeing revenues fall, suppliers of gaming equipment have been posting positive financial results.

In a joint venture with the owners of Barajas y Naipes de Mexico, Cartamundi and Copag have set up Cartamundi de Mexico, a new playing card manufacturer in Mexico City, Mexico.

Jamaica's Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has spoken up for plans to introduce casinos to his country, echoing the point made by Prime Minister Bruce Golding that the government intends casino gaming to be part of a wider tourism offering, and re-asserting that it would form no more than 15 per cent of the total experience.

The seventh annual Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) regulators roundtables for North America drew over than 200 regulators from 93 jurisdictions across the United States and Canada. GLI's fifth annual European Roundtable attracted 47 regulators from 18 jurisdictions across the continent, from the UK to Lithuania.

Innovative Technology Ltd's latest bill validator, the NV200, is now on sale, following three months of field tests and feedback, "which has been excellent," according to Innovative's Lizzie Thompson, who claims a typical acceptance rate of 99.8 percent for the unit.

Multi-layer display technology (MLD) from PureDepth features in IGT's new REELdepth games and cabinets.

Genting Stanley is to partner the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, UK, in a proposed £90 million project to develop a leisure and entertainment complex, including a large casino, at the NEC. The development is the first phase of a larger plan for the NEC site to deliver a range of leisure and business facilities to complement the current exhibition halls and arena.

Pluto 8 is the latest addition to Heber's range of embedded and PC-based reel and video gaming control systems.

WagerWorks, the online subsidiary of International Game Technology (IGT) now offers integration to Orbis and Finsoft, two leading sportsbook providers.

According to a spokesperson for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, James Packer is about to sign a deal to build a hotel casino resort on reclaimed land in Manila Bay, which the Philippine Government hopes will become a gaming attraction on the scale of Macau.

The UK's Gambling Commission has issued a consultation paper as part of a review of two aspects of the new licensing system as it affects the implementation of the Gambling Act 2005. The twelve-week consultation period ends on 8 September 2008.

Harry C Hagerty has been appointed to the Board of Directors of Trump Entertainment Resorts and will serve on its Audit Committee.

Aristocrat Technologies has received multiple test lab certifications for its new award-winning VIRIDIAN cabinet in key markets in North America.

The Swiss Casino Association reports that 2007 was a good year for the country's 17 casinos, with gaming profits up 5.4 per cent, year-on-year. Visitor numbers were up too, by 300,000 to five million. The good times may not last though, because a smoking ban is on the cards and new tax laws are in preparation.

AmEx 2009 - The 30th Irish Gaming and Amusement Exhibition, will be held at the Green Isle Hotel, Dublin on 3rd and 4th March 2009. AmEx is organised by MD Associates and supported by IGAA - The Irish Gaming and Amusement Association.

Harrah's is the first casino company to use Microsoft Surface, a $10,000 30-inch tablelike display that allows individuals or groups of people to interact with digital content in a way that feels familiar by using touch, gestures or objects from the real world.

International Game Technology has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, IGT, has entered into an agreement to purchase substantially all of the assets and business of Cyberview Technology, Inc., including cash on hand of approximately $17 million, for a cash purchase price of $76 million. IGT will also enter into a licence agreement with Cyberview to gain access to certain Cyberview patents and technology not included in the asset purchase, for a one-time licence fee of $9 million.

Marten Cox has taken up newly-created post of Technical Support Manager for Aristocrat Technologies Europe. His responsibilities include overseeing the technical compliance and specific requirements of the company's new products across all European jurisdictions.

The 2nd annual Gaming Executive Summit will be at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, Spain, 8th-10th July.

Costs can be more than halved and efficiency better than trebled when it comes to developing games for regulated markets such as casinos and video lottery terminals  (VLTs), according to Meta Games Universal Limited, (MetaGU). Providing you use its new Cargo system, the company claims that games can be generated without the need to understand - or touch - any software code.

Bally Technologies has collected more awards for its CineReels seven-reel widescreen stepper slot and iVIEW Display Manager (iVIEW DM) systems technology. Both these products received top honours in Casino Enterprise Management magazine's (CEM) Slot Floor Technology Awards 2008. Judge Ralph Margolis of Mystic Lake Casino and Resort said that iVIEW DM had "a very, very cool and elegant approach," while judge Buddy Frank of Pechanga Casino Resort noted, "This is revolutionary and allows any game to utilise the main game screen for marketing enhancements."

TableMAX's Progressive Blackjack game has gone live with a wide-area progressive, the first in the world for table games, running in casinos in tribal country in Oklahoma.

Tony Tong, Chairman and CEO of PacificNet was elected a member of the Euro-Asian Cooperation on Gaming at Asia GEM 2008 in Manila, Philippines. The ECG is an association for gaming operators, suppliers, and regulators and promotes the development and growth of the legitimate gaming industry. (www.ecglimited.com)

IGT's operating results for the second quarter ended March 31, 2008 showed a decline in net income for the period, year on year, of almost 50 percent - a reduction in net terms of $59.8 million. The six-month period ended March 31 2008 presented a less down-beat financial picture, but still reveals a 27 percent fall in net income for the longer period, year on year.

Alfastreet is ramping up its presence at G2E Asia, taking its own stand for the first time and using it to premiere a new range of games.

Planning is already underway for the 2009 International Gaming Awards, which are held in London during ICE, the International Casino Exhibition.

Intel's Embedded Communication Group (ECG) has increased the guaranteed lifecycle of components included on its roadmap for embedded systems from five to seven years, including the chipsets and CPUs.

Shuffle Master was recognised as one of the top 35 most innovative companies on the US Patent Board's Consumer Electronic Patent Scorecard, as published in the Wall Street Journal at the end of April.

Software development expert Line Robichaud is the Gaming Standards Association's new Educational Director. She will create and oversee the GSA's educational outreach programs, including its Executive Awareness Program and its Certified G2S/S2S Engineer Programs.

US legislators start to have doubts...

Expert testimony to Congress in April offered evidence that the US ban on Internet gambling won't work. Witnesses unanimously agreed that US financial service companies would face serious regulatory burdens in attempting to enforce the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, a law that is unlikely to stop millions of Americans from gambling online.

The Board of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has approved the membership applications of 12 new companies, bringing the group's gaming supplier membership to a total of 42.

The Olympic Casino Acropolis, located in Romania's newest shopping centre in the City of Pitesti, is the company's fifth gaming hall in the country, and the second to open there this year.

Ritzio International is the  largest national gaming clubs operator in Romania, with 70 gaming locations and 2,357 machines in 39 cities across the country.

Casinos may soon be operating in Jamaica, following announcements made by Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding.

Pokertek's financial results for its first quarter, ended March 31 2008, explain its founders' confidence in investing a further $2 million of their own money to fund the company's continued growth (Casino International News, May 2008).

Jay Pierson has joined Gary Platt Manufacturing as Vice President Operations. 

Tropicana Entertainment has filed for bankruptcy protection. Scott C. Butera, the company's President, said that the filing provides "an opportunity to take a break spell" and get the company's debt under control.

Century Casinos, Inc has appointed Paul Campbell as new Managing Director of its South African subsidiary Century Casinos Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc plans to change its name to Caesar's Entertainment Corporation.

Louis J. Nicastro, 79, will retire as Chairman of the Board of WMS Industries Inc, effective July 1, 2008. Mr Nicastro had a 43-year distinguished career with WMS and its predecessor companies; he will remain on the Board of WMS in the new position of Founding Director, and will continue to serve as an advisor to the Company.

Nos Vemos En Panama / See you in Panama was the slogan of SAGSE-Gaming Panama 2008, which aimed to attract leading operators from Central America, the Andean area, the Caribbean, and Mexico according to the event's organisers.

Canadian company Racino Royale's wholly-owned subsidiary InterAmerican Gaming Corp has received licensing approval from the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism to operate a gaming enterprise.