The United Kingdom’s major casino operators have shown their full support for London’s International Gaming Expo (Earls Court Exhibition Centre – 26/27/28 January) with the announcement of an exclusive sponsorship agreement between the National Casino Industry Forum (NCiF) and IGE organisers, Clarion Gaming. The co-operative alliance will see the two organisations pool their marketing resources, with the NCiF becoming official supporters of IGE and taking a high profile presence at Earls Court, both on and off the show floor.

The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court has directed the Goa government to freeze its directive to offshore casino operators to move outside the city limits and drop anchor in a nearby bay. The bench issued the directions Thursday after Hotel Leela Ventures Limited (HLVL), which operates Casino Rio, moved the court challenging a state cabinet decision taken Feb 26 to move the offshore casinos from Mandovi river to the Aguada bay some 3 km away.

Offshore casinos in Goa are committing ‚gross violations‘ of the law, the state’s Tourism minister Francisco Pacheco has said. The minister, better known as Mickky, warned that provisions of the Goa Tourism and Trade Act would be invoked if the casino operators did not clean up their act. ‚First of all they have to be five nautical miles from the shore,‘ he told a local cable television channel Tuesday.

Los Angeles (Reuters) – Casino operators, many loaded with debt piled on when credit was easy, are offering bargains to lure gamblers, but the odds for more bankruptcies are rising in the industry as fewer people try their luck. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc last week filed for its third trip to bankruptcy court as business at its three Atlantic City casinos continues to sour.

The beleaguered casino industry suffered a fresh blow after the second of the UK‘s two dominant operators declared it was pulling out of the sector’s oncepowerful trade body. Rank’s resignation from the British Casino Association means the association will have even less clout when arguing with ministers over future issues such as taxation. The BCA, which had already been hit by Gala Coral’s departure in October, is left contemplating the radical options…