THE ASAHI SHIMBUN – Moves are accelerating to bring casinos to Japan, but the economic benefits could be overshadowed by the social costs evident in other countries where gambling is legal. Shintaro Ishihara started the trend in 1999, when, as governor of Tokyo, he proposed establishing casinos in the fashionable Odaiba district of the capital. Hokkaido, the prefectures of Chiba, Osaka, Nagasaki and Okinawa, and the cities of Yokohama and Chiba have all earmarked budgets for casino-related studies this fiscal year, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey. A supra-partisan group of lawmakers in December submitted to the Diet a bill…

Gambling 911 – Don’t tell this to the throngs of people who love Las Vegas but Sin City has just registered at number 10 on the SmartTravel “10 Most Disappointing Vacation Destinations” list. It could be worse we suppose. “Is there any place more depressing than the inside of a casino at three in the morning? Fluorescent lights, a thick haze of cigarette smoke, and the stink of desperation don’t really add up to a dream vacation,” SmartTravel’s Caroline Morse wrote in her review. “Whether you’re losing your money by gambling it away, paying for obscene amounts of food at…

St Louis Post Dispatch – An Illinois House committee is planning a daylong hearing on gambling expansion in the state. The Executive Committee will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Bilandic Building in downtown Chicago. The morning session will focus on a plan by Rep. Bob Rita to create a large casino in Chicago, but none elsewhere. The session beginning at 1 p.m. will focus on Rita’s alternative to build a smaller Chicago gambling house and four scaled-back casinos in Winnebago, Vermilion and Lake counties, and in a south suburb of Chicago. The Blue Island Democrat has proposed alternative…

Chicago Tribune – In what has practically become a harbinger of spring, state lawmakers who favor gambling expansion began their annual push Wednesday by debating the latest plan to bring a massive casino to Chicago. But neither Gov. Pat Quinn nor Mayor Rahm Emanuel breathed much life into the proposal, as they joined Republican governor candidate Bruce Rauner in declining to weigh in on the merits of the legislation. The newest version separates plans for a Chicago casino with up to 10,000 betting positions from a broader package that would add a total of five new casinos across the state…

Card Player – Late last week, IGT announced that its “Powerbucks,” a multistate wide-area progressive jackpot link, will be deployed at Caesars Entertainment properties in approved jurisdictions, starting with the states of New Jersey and Nevada. In other words, the games will be linked between the Silver State and the Garden State, leading to potentially bigger prizes. Recent changes to Nevada gaming regulations allowed for this. “We’re excited to transform the jackpot experience,” IGT said in a statement. “With Powerbucks, IGT re-imagines casino gaming thrills by creating more winners, more often, across multiple states. We all win when players engage…

Poker News – Last week, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City filed a lawsuit against Phil Ivey seeking reimbursement of $9.626 million in winnings he won at the baccarat table during four sessions back in 2012. The nearly 60-page complaint, which PokerNews recently obtained in full, alleges that Ivey used “edge sorting” — a technique where in which he was able to spot tiny variations in the pattern printed on the backs of the cards. The suit also names card manufacturer Gemaco Inc., which designed the cards, as well as Ivey’s partner, Cheng Yin Sun, who reportedly accompanied…