Washington, DC – The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide, today applauded the six month delay of the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) regulations. The Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury today extended the deadline for UIGEA enforcement until June 1, 2010, which is the result of a petition filed by the PPA…

With credit markets locked down and largely unavailable to finance new gambling projects, Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. on Tuesday received additional 150-day delays in timelines to build new riverboat casino projects in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. While Las Vegas-based Pinnacle is in much better shape in credit markets than many of its competitors…

The Louisiana Gaming Control board has granted a three-month delay for Pinnacle Entertainment to present details of two casinos it plans to build in Louisiana. Pinnacle says one of the casinos will be located in Baton Rouge, the other in Lake Charles. The company says it intends to complete both projects, but needs the 90-day delay because of trouble in the capital markets.

Atlantic City – This town’s run of bad luck continued yesterday with word that the opening of the USD 2.5 billion Revel casino would be delayed for as long as a year. Revel’s decision means all four megacasino resorts planned here are either delayed or shelved indefinitely because of the national credit crisis. It adds to the misery that hangs like a fog here because of a collapse in business that has six of the city’s 11 casinos in or near bankruptcy.

Following moves by other companies to delay or cancel building projects amid the floundering economy, Harrah’s Entertainment is delaying the opening of its Octavius Tower expansion at Caesars Palace until demand for hotel rooms improves, the company said today. The company had planned to open the 660-room tower, part of a USD 1 billion hotel expansion, this summer.

Canaveral Port Authority commissioners on Wednesday could be asked to approve a temporary gambling operation out of Port Canaveral, until the 415-foot Ocean Jewel is refurbished at a shipyard in the Dominican Republic. Port commissioners in September ratified a five-year, USD 18 million deal with Omega Commercial Finance to bring the 2,000-passenger Ocean Jewel to Brevard County early next year under the new name, Omega Royale.

Singapore (Reuters) – The full opening of one of Singapore’s casinos may be delayed due to construction issues and a shortage of labour, a local newspaper reported on Thursday. The Marina Bay Sands integrated resort, awarded to Las Vegas Sands in 2006, is several months behind schedule, the pro-government daily Straits Times said, citing sources. The casino was due to open at the end of 2009.

Boyd Gaming, which hoped to resume work on its stalled Echelon resort on the Strip next year, said the deteriorating economy will likely delay those plans through the end of 2009. Boyd halted construction on Echelon August 1 after joint venture partners weren’t able to secure financing for two key hotels and a mall on the site. During a conference call to discuss the worst quarterly declines in company history, Boyd executives said the company will explore alternatives in the coming year…

The first ever casino in Rwanda, Casino Kigali, failed to open as promised due to what insiders call unforeseen delays, The New Times has learnt. Casino Kigali which will be located at Top Tower Hotel in Kacyiru was supposed to open on October 21. Sources close to the venture but who preferred anonymity, say that the Casino which will operate under Lotto Rwanda, from the opening was delayed by unfinished work at the building where it will be located.

Atlantic City, New Jersey (AP) — With the economy crumbling and revenues plunging, Atlantic City is considering delaying the start of a total smoking ban at its 11 casinos. The ban, which was approved in April after a year-and-a-half battle between casino workers and gambling hall operators, is set to take effect Oct. 15. But even before it was approved, casino owners said they feared the ban would cost the industry millions of dollars in lost revenue and lead to job losses.

The slumping economy has taken a toll on a massive construction project that was supposed to help boost the Las Vegas economy. Work on the Echelon Hotel- Casino stopped Friday and won’t start back up for at least a year. The delay for Echelon is the first huge blow to the future of Las Vegas because of the slow economy. 800 construction workers were told to stop working because Echelon has been placed on hold.

Promoters of Gran Scala has 1,700 of the 2,000 hectares necessary to carry on the project. They also assure that they already have a guarantee of 20 million euros asked by the Government of Aragón. Besides, they assure that the project is working properly, but the inauguration will be delayed between two and four months because they still do not have all the necessary land for the complex.