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Macau.com has partnered with G2E Asia for this year’s G2E Asia, which will be held for the first time at the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, from June 3-5, 2008.

The event will showcase the latest gaming products and technologies, as well as holding conferences on global gaming led by prominent industry experts.

Christina Siaw, CEO of Macau.com, said, "By partnering G2E Asia 2008, we are able to showcase Macau as a premiere travel destination to an audience of international gaming industry professionals. We are sure they will leave Macau with plans to return soon after letting them experience first-hand what Macau has to offer in terms of world-class accommodation, dining and attractions"

Macau.com will also offers special deals and promotions to travelers via its free email newsletter.

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Advertising agency, TBG London, has been awarded the contract worth an estimated seven million dollars by land and Internet gambling operator Ladbrokes.

Previously, it was Aegis agency Vizeum, that handled the account. TBG stated that it would run search and display advertisements for all of the operator’s online betting and gaming products, which include casino, poker, sportsbooks, bingo and games.

Simon Mansell, Managing Director for TBG, said, "Ladbrokes has been my number one target account for some time." He further said, "We have been able to show the company what we can do through the live test campaigns we have been running in the past few weeks."

TBG stated that its first campaign would support a new Tomb Raider game and that it would place adverts on casino and bingo websites.

Mansel further said, "We have been able to draw on our experience with operators such as Sky Bet and Cyberslotz and get double the amount of players spending the same amount of money on Ladbrokes compared to its previous agency."

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According to the Las Vegas Gaming Wire, terrestrial gambling has been impacted by US economic downturn.

The Las Vegas Gaming Wire has reported that gaming revenues on the strip fell by 3% in February which is blamed on the economic downturn, increased fuel prices, airline problems and general economic pressures which are causing prospective visitors to stay at home because of pressures on their disposable income.

Zarnett, a Las Vegas casino operator, have reduced labour hours and are reported to be likely to lay off staff to reduce costs. This follows the news of MGM Mirage laying off 440 staff last week.

There was a drop in revenues by 12 percent from March 2007 to $60.8 million in Connecticut Foxwoods, while The Mohegan Sun's earnings fell 1.4 percent on the previous year. There has also been an overall drop in slot revenues on Atlantic City.

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Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, has announced that it has permitted casino license in Jamaica and has already approved proposals for a major new investment predicated on the granting of a casino license.

According to the Prime Minister, the decision was taken on a review of the issues surrounding casino gambling. However, he placed certain conditions. These are:

* a minimum investment of US$1.5 billion and the construction of not less than 1,000 rooms.

* the casino component should be no more than 20 per cent of the total project

* operators of the casino will be subject to the approval of the Government after appropriate due diligence including fit and proper tests and evaluation of track record

* an appropriate regulatory framework with the necessary legislation and enforcement mechanism put in place.

The investment sees the development of a 65-acre property adjoining the existing Palmyra Resort at Rose Hall and consisting of 2,080 new hotel rooms. The total investment of the project involves a figure of us$1.8 billion.

Mr. Golding said, "It is our intention to dedicate the revenues from casino operations to a special fund to finance capital development in health, education and security."

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Swedish online gambling firm, Betsson has launched a scholarship programme for research into the impact and consequences of problem gambling.

A sum of amount $2,552 would be awarded twice a year from a list of candidates pre-selected by their respective student faculty. This was announced by a panel of experts knowledgeable in the field of gambling. However it did not mention who would constitute this jury. Betsson has used the services of Global Gaming Guidance Group from Amsterdam in the past for responsible gambling guidance.

Betsson is a public company that runs through two subsidiaries, Betsson Limited and Betsson Malta Limited whose main business is to operate online betting exchange Betsson.com alongwith virtual casinos CasinoEuro.com andCherryCasino.com

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Glen Chorny, the 22 year old poker player from Ontario, Canada is the winner of European Poker Tour Grand Final. He won $3.2 million prize besting 841 other players.

It was Denes Kalo, from Hungary, who won in the second place winning a prize of $1.9 million. Maxime Villemure, another Canadian was placed in the third position.

The remaining eight players who made the official televised final table are listed below, in seat order, along with their chip counts:

Denes Kalo 1,119,000

Michael Martin 1,320,000

Luca Pagano 688,000

Valeriy Ilikyan 1,396,000

Antonio Esfandiari 501,000

Maxime Villemure 1,206,000

Glen Chorny 3,613,000

Isaac Baron 2,853,000

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It was a great weekend at Hollywood Casino Bay St.Louis where four lucky winners won brand new 2008 Mercedes-Benz sedans. What's more, another 20 lucky players won $500 in Star Play consolation prizes.

Jeffrey Sabree, Senior Director of Marketing, said, "This place was lit up with excitement all weekend long as we gave the fourth car away yesterday. The excitement hasn't stopped either because now we have our $100,000 Hollywood Superstars Slot Tournament."

It was a memorable Friday night for Phyllis Vutera who got to choose between four C300 luxury sedans with each car sporting a different color. She was the first Mercedes winner and she picked the white model. She was very excited and said, "I had a feeling I was going to win tonight. I told my husband that I was going to win."

There are 291 guest rooms, 1,142 new slot machines, 21 unique table games, a 6-table poker room and a 14-station video poker bar at Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis and Hollywood Hotel. It also has four restaurants including uscany Steaks and Seafood, Jackpot Java, the Bridges Grill, and the all new Epic Buffet.

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The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is all set to open their new Agua Caliente Casino Resort and Spa. With a 10,000 square foot conference center, a 340 room luxury hotel, a 10,500 square foot spa, a 2,000 seat theatre, and a 50,000 square foot pool area, the resort will be something special for Californians.

The resort is sixteen story's high, and runs right along Interstate 10. The casino resides between the Indian resort casinos in Indio, to the Morongo casino in Cabazon. It has been noticed that many states have expanded their gambling limits for which the competition is getting tough.

Las Vegas and Atlantic City which used to rule the casino gambling market, has now become very difficult to keep their hold on the nations gambling money.

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Bally Technologies has announced that it would showcase more than 30 game titles and systems innovations, which include Reel Money, GameMaker HD, the ALPHA Elite Bar Top gaming device, and the Million Degrees wide-area progressive in the Native American gaming industry, to be held from April 20-23 in San Diego, California.

Gavin Isaacs, Executive Vice President and COO for Bally Technologies, said, "We will show a variety of new game titles designed to deliver high performance in the rapidly growing and vitally important Native American gaming market. This venue also gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our Networked Floor systems solutions, many of which are already available to gaming operators."

A variety of games, which include, Quick Hit Platinum Black Gold, Quick Hit Platinum Stars & Bars, Quick Hit Triple Blazing 7s, Quick Hit Black&White, Hot Shot Progressive, Golden Monkey, Bonus Frenzy Freegames, Fortune 8s, Mega Winners and Tower of Cash, will be showcased during the event.

Attendees will see a variety of games including Quick Hit Platinum Black Gold, Quick Hit Platinum Stars & Bars, Quick Hit Triple Blazing 7s, Quick Hit Black&White, Hot Shot Progressive, Golden Monkey, Bonus Frenzy Freegames, Fortune 8s, Mega Winners and Tower of Cash.

So, make sure you make it to the great event without fail.

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Playtech, the international designer, developer and licensor of software to the online and land-based gaming industry, has announced that it has signed a new licensing agreement to supply its market leading casino product to Betsson (SS: BETS), one of the largest publicly traded online gambling operators to the European market.

According to the terms of the licence agreement, Playtech will provide Betsson with its download casino portfolio which consists of more than 110 games and integrate its industry leading back-end system.

Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, said,"We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Betsson, one of the largest online gaming operators in Europe, and look forward to a productive working relationship. The agreement is further evidence of Playtech's ability to add high profile licensees to its client base whilst it also extends the Group's customer reach and appeal in the valuable European gaming market."

Thomas Kalita, CEO of Betsson Malta Ltd said,"We are delighted to be able to add yet another quality product to our broad offering. Playtech's proven track record as a software supplier, supported by its wide range of languages is of great essence to Betsson especially when expanding into new territories."

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Income Access, a renowned gaming affiliate marketing network, has joined hands with Canbet affiliate program on its network. Canbet, which happens to be one of the Internet's distinguished global bookmaking and gaming operators, offers affiliates and players the assurance of complete security, reliability and fast payouts.

Powered by Microgaming, the Canbet gaming suite, which includes Poker, Casino and Live Dealer games, gives the players access to millions in progressive jackpots.

Julia Van Heerden, Head of Marketing & Gaming at Canbet, said, "Income Access is established and respected in the European affiliate market, giving Canbet significant marketing leverage as we become a major player in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia."

Affiliates get the opportunity to earn up to 35% commission on the net revenue generated by their referred players.

Interestingly it includes no negative carry over and separate Poker calculation, ensuring Poker commission is always in the black. More than that, the affiliate program offers complete marketing tools including XML-datafeeds, themed landing pages, and special promotions to help maximize revenue for affiliates.

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The Harrah's Entertainment Board of Directors has announced that the company will change its name. Very soon, the World Series of Poker rights holder will be known as Caesars Entertainment Corporation.

CEO Gary Loveman, said, "Adoption of the name Caesars Entertainment Corporation will provide our company with greater prestige and help attract strategic business partners as we pursue expansion opportunities in new jurisdictions."

Loveman further said, "Our employees will remain dedicated to the innovation, customer-service excellence and corporate citizenship that have been hallmarks of our company for decades. But this re-branding of the corporate name can open exciting new opportunities for us in the future."

The Harrah's name will be used solely as a casino brand name. However it is not certain by which name the company will be using during the WSOP as the name change is pending approval.

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Intralot, the Greek betting technology company, has announced that it has made an agreement to acquire 51 percent of Slovenske Lotterie for $4.9 million with an option to raise its stake to 81 percent over the next two years.

The Government has also licensed the Slovakian company to operate video lottery and automated roulette terminals. What's more, it will also have exclusive access to software from software developer Tornado.

Constantinos Antonopoulos, Chief Executive Officer for Intralot, commented, "With this acquisition, Intralot establishes its presence in the Slovak Republic, a country that is strategically located in central-east Europe." He further added,

"The company plans to expand the footprint of Slovenske Lotterie, enrich its gaming portfolio and further develop its established network."

Incorporated in 1998, Slovenske Lotterie aimed at developing and operating a nationwide video lottery network and has got terminals in over 300 locations across Slovakia in pubs and specialised gaming venues.

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Betfair, the online betting exchange and gambling group has announced that it has joined hands with the Tasmanian Tote to distribute the totaliser’s betting products around the world.

Andrew Thwaits, Business Director for Betfair, said, "We'll be distributing Tote Tasmania products to our customers worldwide. What that means is that Betfair customers will be able to bet directly on Tote Tasmania products through their Betfair accounts. 'There will be a single log-in, a single interface and a single account so no transferring of funds. The convenience factor that we're announcing today is compelling. "

Mention can be made here that Betfair has now more than 1.1 million active customers globally. The firm will also receive a share of Tote Tasmania’s net revenues for acting as an agent.

Thwaits further remarked, "We are ideally placed, we think, to take Australian racing to the world.For every dollar that is bet through the Tote Tasmania interface on Betfair, money is returned to both the Tasmanian industry and via the participation fee that Tote Tasmania pays to Tabcorp for being a part of the SuperTAB pool, and a share of that revenue goes directly to Tabcorp as well. "

Thwaites said that the company expects to launch its new service towards the end of May. Regarding the agreement it would not stop Betfair from entering into similar arrangements with other pools including Tabcorp in New South Wales and Tatts Group.

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Gaming software provider GTech Corporation has announced that it has signed a deal to acquire 90 percent of Gibraltar-based St Enodoc Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries which includes St Minver Limited, a highly successful provider of end-to-end white-label gaming services.

According to reports, a subsidiary of Italy’s Lottomatica, GTech has stated that it would pay $43.8 million for the stake on a cash and debt free basis and up to an additional $21.2 million based on the performance of the business over the next two years.

Jaymin Patel, President of Chief Executive Officer for Providence-based GTech, said, "As we continue to expand our presence in regulated Internet-based gaming, St Enodoc is a logical fit." He futher stated, "The St Enodoc group has provided white-label management services to some of the most recognised brands in Europe operating interactive bingo, poker and casino games including specialised support for peer-to-peer networks around managing fraud, collusion, and various tournaments."

"For companies in both gaming and non-gaming industries that want to offer Internet-based gaming, St Enodoc provides solutions to afford these organisations the ability to maintain their brand and customers while essentially outsourcing the gaming operation to St Enodo" he continued.

He said that the St Enodoc management team is delighted that it can leverage its Internet gaming capability to be part of one of the companies that will shape the future of the gaming market.

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Come April 20, and Brad Garrett is all set to host Charity Poker Tournament by putting his funnyman act on hold for the day. The charity poker tournament will be held at the Hollywood Park Casino. It will proceed to the 1736 Family Crisis Center.

Now when it comes to the 1736 Family Crisis Center, it is dedicated to providing help and services to abandoned youths and domestic violence victims. The center is funded wholly by grants and donations. Mention can be made that Brad Garret is a poker player and comedy actor who has appeared in films like Underdog, Ratatouille, and Everyone Loves Raymond.

There will be a buy in of $350 in the tournament which is scheduled to begin at 1 PM. It also has $100 rebuys available in the first hour. When it comes to celebrity, there will be actors like Ray Romano, Mimi Rogers, Jennie Garth, Anthony Anderson, and professional poker player Cyndy Violette.

The lucky winner will take away a cash prize of $10,000 and the second placed player will win a seat to the World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational 2009.

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More than 1,000 pre registered people attended the last week's Casino Affiliate Convention (CAC) in Amsterdam making it the biggest single iGaming conference in the industry.

CAC covers all online and traditional gambling marketing with a conference programme that focuses on promotions to the European Internet gaming

The great event was held from April 3 to 5 at the NH Grand Krasnapolsky Hotel. Organisers Ticonderoga Ventures Incorporated stated that the attendees included some of the world’s largest online gaming owners and operators alongside affiliate and managers. What's more, the event also witnessed affiliates that represented approximately 30 to 50 percent of the total attendance including some of the highest revenue-producing individuals in the industry, known as ‘super affiliates.’

Previously CAC attracted around 700 attendees last October. So, now CAC has beat previous year records which was held by the European iGaming Conference and Expo (EiG) in Barcelona.

The Chinese enclave of Macau has the highest domestic product (GDP) per capita in Asia according to official Government figures. It has overtaken rivals including Singapore, Brunei and Japan.

With a population of only around 538,000, Macau is the world’s 20th richest economy. The GDP increased 27 percent to $36,357 last year. This shows that the special administrative region of China is ahead of Italy and just behind Germany and France.

The GDP was helped by the increase in the revenues from gambling which increased by 47 percent in 2007 to $10.34 billion. It is estimated that these figures should continue to grow by 23 percent this year and around 20 percent per year over the next two years.

But inflation climbed 9.5 percent and the average resident only saw their median monthly wage rise by 7.5 percent last year to approximately $1,020. On the other hand, the rent is rising by 15.6 percent and the rate for basic medical consultations went up by 24.2 percent in 2007.

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EverestPoker.com has announced the final list of players who will be representing Everest Poker at all the major events in world poker for a whole year. After two days of interviews along with hundreds of poker hands and hours of deliberation by an expert panel of poker celebrities and Everest Poker staff members at the Palais Auersperg in Vienna, the lists finally got prepared.

Now let us look at "The lucky Live the Dream team" who will now each enjoy a $100,000 package are:

* Fernando Festas (Portugal)

* Daan Slutter (Netherlands)

* Otto Richard (France)

* Voitto Rintala (Finland)

* Simone Coppari (Italy)

* Ghaoudi Machou (France)

* Stefanie Bergener (Germany)

* Steven van Zadelhoff (Netherlands)

* Romain Despres (France)

* Pablo Martinez (Spain)

* Woooka Kim (Japan)

For those players who did not make in the final twenty were offered a $3,500 package to play at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) where Everest Poker has recently signed a major deal to be the official felt sponsor at the iconic Las

Vegas tournament.

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Poker legend Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott will be the keynote speaker for the upcoming Poker Conference and Expo alongside the Casino Affiliate Program (CAP) Spring Break event in Cyprus.

Ulliot will be giving delegates his unique insights who will attend CAP Spring Break and the Poker Conference on May 21. Mention can be made that Ulliott happens to be the ambassador for DevilfishPoker.com

Ulliott was very excited and he commented, "I never thought I’d see the day where I was a keynote speaker. I’ll have to get cracking on my speech writing now."

So, get ready for the Poker Conference and Expo which will take place from May 19 to 21 at the Grand Resort in Limassol. Watch this space for more updates.

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All Jackpots and All SlotsCasino launch $100,000 Free Slots April Tournament

The qualification for the European Ladies Championship Poker Tournament, created by Ladbrokes Poker three years ago, is running until the end of April. Some of the best female poker players in Europe will take part in this tournament offering £15,000 first prize. According to Samantha Alleyne, PR Manager for Ladbrokes Poker, "The European Ladies Championship is the FA Cup of the poker circuit. Amateurs pit their wits against some of the best online poker players around for a shot at the title and the glory. Its a really prestigious event and the beauty of the tournament is like the FA Cup, its an un-missable tournament guaranteed to deliver a few shock results!" Read more ..

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Finally the wait is over. The hearing for Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) will take place on April 2nd at 10 a.m. EST from the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington. The hearing has been titled as "Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden without Benefit?" and will be overseen by Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)

This hearing will give a chance to examine UIGEA. The American banking business had lots of problem since the UIGEA showed up in 2006.

Now let us look who would be the alternatives to the UIGEA. Well, the name includes Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA) Internet Gambling Regulations Enforcement Act (IGREA), Rep. Robert Wexler's proposed exception for skill games and Rep. Pete McDermott's (D-WA) Internet Gambling Restriction and Taxation Enforcement Act (IGRTEA)

Poker Players Alliance will telecast a live programme on the Congressional hearing. If you wish to know more information, just visit the website, pokerplayersalliance.org

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