The Israeli Minister for Tourism, Abraham Hirshenzon recently backed proposals for a casino in Eliat, raising the possibility of the country’s first casino being built.

Following hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that Las Vegas Sands is planning a $2.5 billion development in Macau is the report – in a Macau newspaper – that the city will generate $2 billion from gaming tax this year.

William Hill became the latest site this week to launch a language specific poker room with the opening of its Greek language site.

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. said today that it has signed an agreement to sell the Flamingo Laughlin hotel and casino in Laughlin, along with another piece of undeveloped land in Atlantic City.

Las Vegas Sands, the company which owns the Venetian casino in Las Vegas, is looking to secure $2.5 billion of loans to finance a casino development in Macau, China.

The US Supreme Court yesterday threw out a case brought by a collective of anti-gambling organisations who wanted to overturn a New York State law.

The authorities in Colorado recently gave out a mixed message to gamblers in the state.

Two senior citizens are the latest unlikely victims of the nationwide police crackdown on illegal gambling after they were arrested for running a gambling ring in a trailer!

A report just published by research firm IDC, which specialises in information technology markets, suggests that the future is bright for mobile gambling.

Casino operators have sent in an unprecedented spate of applications for new gaming licenses, according to a report by The Guardian.

The UK’s newest casino is set to open its doors this weekend and will be throwing a party to remember according to a casino spokesman.

Michael Scanlon, a former congress press secretary, yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe a congressman and public officials.

A collection of ex-Motown stars are clubbing together to launch an Internet Gaming site, it was reported yesterday.

Frustrated Linux users welcomed today’s news that PokerRoom and 888.com have released Linux compatible versions of their online casinos.

By 2008 gambling through mobile phones is expected to generate $4.26 billion according to a report by Visiongain.

UK based casino operator Stanley Leisure reported today that its London based casinos have staged a recovery after a slow August.

The rapidly expanding Russian gaming industry applauded a move by the government to clear up confusion over regulation.

A proposed super-casino in Birmingham has been granted a gagging order preventing any information about the plans for the casino to be released.

A mistake by Harrah’s direct marketing vendor could cost the company’s Joliet Casino $5.8 million.

The world’s top architects, or ‘starchitects’ as they are being called, are being courted by Singapore in a bid to jazz up the city’s skyline.

Yarmouth, the coastal town near Norwich, in the UK, is fast becoming East Anglia’s answer to Las Vegas – or so town authorities would have you believe.

A smoking ban, if implemented in Atlantic City, could cost the state $93 million in tax revenue from the casinos alone, according to a report published yesterday.

The imminent arrival of Vegas type ‘Super Casinos’ to the UK capital must be handled with care, according to a new report.

The huge popularity of internet gambling means that were the industry to be regulated, the US government could make billions of dollars in tax revenues, according to a 60 MINUTES report due for broadcast next Sunday.

A Dakota County jail employee who stole over $120,000 to finance her gambling habit may soon return to her workplace, but not as she might have wished.

Dennis Publishing is to host the UK gambling awards on January 24th in London – to be voted for by the public.

In one of the more extreme reactions to a run of bad luck a 56 year old Italian woman burned down four local bars where she had lost her money.

The runaway train that is online gambling shows no signs of slowing down, according to a new report by eMarketer which predicts revenue for online gambling this year will top $10 billion.

In one of the more bizarre legal cases in gambling history a French gambler is suing a casino because they did not stop him gambling.

Hurricane Katrina, along with the human devastation it caused, also wiped out nearly every slot machine on the Mississippi gulf coast, according to gaming authorities.

UTE Mountain Casino, the largest in southwest Colorado, is to hold three preliminary tournaments for the 2006 World Series of Blackjack. The winner of each preliminary will win one of 40 seats at the 2006 WSOB and a chance at the $500,000 first prize.

Casinos in Vegas are betting on wireless gambling proving a hit with the punters after Nevada became the first state to allow the use of wireless gaming devices. The move has already sparked tremendous interest among technology companies that could potentially provide the equipment.

A change in British gambling laws has resulted in a huge increase in the number of first time gamblers, according to industry figures. 100,000 additional gamblers have been welcomed through casino doors in the five weeks since the law changed – three times industry estimates.

David Jonas, a top executive for Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. – one of the world’s biggest gaming companies – has quite his post as regional president for Atlantic City. A company spokesman cited ‘personal reasons’.

According to William Hill, the UK’s biggest gambling company, more than $30 million was wagered on last weekend’s Premiership football match between Manchester United and Chelsea. A spokesman said it was probably the largest amount ever waged on a single Premiership football game.

Baha Mar Resorts Ltd. announced today it is to team up with two of the world’s most famous gaming and hospitality companies: Harrah’s Entertainment and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to create a huge $1.6 billion resort in the Caribbean.

A family from Oregon have come forward to claim the second biggest prize in US lottery history.

Rumours are rife that Virgin Games may be offering the truly astronomical prize of a trip to space to its online gaming customers – presenting an attractive alternative to the $20 million it would cost to buy the trip.

The chairman of the UK’s new gambling watchdog has warned that unattractive tax rates may damage future growth in the industry.

Cryptologic Inc. – the software company behind many of the world’s biggest online gambling operators – reported a massive 80 per cent rise in third quarter profits on Thursday. The share price went up 23 per cent in one day as a result.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer the owner of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain presented plans for a $380 million casino to Penn city officials yesterday.

NEWS – London Clubs International has won a casino license to operate a casino on a site next to the Empire Cinema in London.

How does it feel to hold 89 of diamonds and see the queen of your suit hit the deck on the river – completing your straight flush?

Online poker company PartyGaming have made a takeover bid for rival group Empire Online. However rumours of a $400 million price tag have been questioned by analysts.

In a battle to snatch the last available harness track/slots casino license in Pennsylvania the gloves have come off and the insults are flying.

It looks as though the days of Ryanair being know as the airline that provides cheap no-frills flights may be numbered. Because instead of being just cheap, Ryanair is about to gain a reputation for being absolutely free. Oh, and for gambling too.

The Great British Public is in the grip of online gaming fever according to a recently published survey. The virtual casino and even the virtual bingo hall are being visited by an ever increasing number of gamers, and money is being staked online like never before.

An ex-surveillance supervisor from a casino in Atlantic City was pleading his innocence this week after being accused of spying on women. He is using the very same 11-minute videotape in his defence that the prosecutors are using against him!

The Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City has announced it will be erecting a 25 foot tree to kick off the 2005 holidays. The lighting of the tree will mark the restoration of an old tradition for starting the holiday season.

Illinois may be about to lose one of the gambling world’s most famous icons, the riverboat casino, after House Democrats voted to abolish casino gambling by a big majority.

An unemployed man this week won a record payout with a jackpot win of nearly two million dollars. The man, from Florida, had lost his job at the end of September only for his fortunes to swing again.

Some of the casino world’s most feared figures looked even scarier last Saturday as they dressed up for a Halloween Blackjack Ball in Las Vegas. The inaugural event for the world’s best blackjack players was invitation only and attracted a colourful crowd.