Miami Herald – Gamblers could ban themselves from casinos or gambling websites without having to admit they have a problem under a bill that the New Jersey Assembly approved Thursday. The state’s voluntary self-exclusion lists permit people to sign up and request that they not be admitted to casinos or allowed to gamble online. But the law currently requires them to attest that they have a gambling problem. The bill, passed by a 77-0 vote, would let people sign up for the lists without having to admit they are compulsive gamblers. “This is simply another option for those who want…

Business Week – Las Vegas Sands Corp. has asked Singapore authorities for more land to increase rooms at its resort in the city-state by about 60 percent after facing almost full occupancy, billionaire Chairman Sheldon Adelson says. The world’s biggest casino operator plans to add 1,500 rooms to the 2,563-room Marina Bay Sands, Adelson said at a briefing in Singapore today. The company will also add meeting rooms, ballrooms and exhibition spaces to the $6 billion casino resort and largest hotel in Singapore, when the government releases more land, he said. “We need more rooms,” Adelson said. “We are running…

Poker News – As online poker conversations continue to expand, Indian tribes are being thrust into the forefront, especially in California where legislators have introduced two bills. That state is home to dozens of federally recognized tribes, almost all of which want a piece of the iGaming pie. “At the heart of the Internet gaming debate, tribes are simply asking to be able to compete on an equal footing,” said Ernie Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) in the latest issue of Casino Enterprise Magazine. “To protect tribal sovereignty and ensure equal access to the market,…

The Daily Journal – By this time, New Jersey figured it would be raking in the bets on professional and college sports. But with its bid to offer legal sports betting stalled and relying on a long-shot appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the only madness this March will bring to New Jersey is anger that things did not turn out quite the way it had hoped. A handful of state legislators and Atlantic City’s mayor held a news conference Wednesday to tout the benefits of sports betting. But the only nine people who could really help them — the…

TampaBay.com – As a Florida House committee voted Wednesday to create a new state agency to regulate gambling, Gov. Rick Scott asked the Senate to put the brakes on its proposal to bring two resort casinos to South Florida so that the legislation would not interfere with his gambling negotiations with the Seminole Tribe. As a result, Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter abruptly canceled a scheduled meeting Monday to take up the Senate’s gambling bills. “The governor’s office called me and asked if we would slow down the process until we know what the terms of a potential deal…

Boston Globe – Anti-casino political campaigns across the state during the past year have eroded public support for casino gambling in Massachusetts, a potentially dangerous turn for the industry ahead of a possible campaign this fall to repeal the state casino law, political and casino specialists said Wednesday. Forty-six percent of likely voters approve of locating casinos in Massachusetts, while 43 percent disapprove, according to a new WBUR survey conducted by MassINC Polling Group. The poll, released Wednesday, shows a significant drop in support for the gambling industry in just the past two months. In a January survey, MassINC found…

UK chancellor George Osborne has announced changes for Point of Consumption Tax (POC) and Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs). New tax laws for the UK gambling industry are in the government’s Budget for 2014, with the tax rate for FOBTs increasing to 25%. Additionally, the bingo duty would be cut to 10%, and the government will proceed with plans to introduce a 15% POC tax for remote gambling. UK bookmakers in particular were hit with the announcement that the tax rate for FOBTs will be increased from its current rate of 20% to a new rate of 25%. Shortly after this…

Wall Street Journal – Macau gambling company Galaxy Entertainment Group said Wednesday that it recently signed a framework agreement to build a 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) resort on a nearby island China hopes to transform into a thriving city at the heart of the Pearl River Delta. Unlike Galaxy’s megaresorts in Macau, which has ballooned into a $45 billion gambling market, this project wouldn’t have a casino. The rationale for building the resort, the first such project set to be built by one of Macau’s six casino operators, is to complement Galaxy’s business in the territory, differentiate it from…