Chicago Tribune – Illinois regulators are looking at tightening rules on the lucrative video poker market after revelations that those without a license can cash in on the business. A Tribune investigation this month revealed how some have been able to make money as middlemen in the industry even after being denied licenses or admitting to illegal gambling, despite the state setting up strict vetting requirements. So far, regulators have been tight-lipped about what changes are under consideration. Illinois Gaming Board members did not address the issue during their public meeting Thursday. Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe told the Tribune afterward:…

Business Week – Japanese lawmakers began to flesh out a plan to legalize casinos, with an outline of proposed legislation allowing gambling resorts to be developed not only in big cities but also in regional areas. The document includes a proposal that inspectors be appointed to monitor casinos for illegal activities, according to a copy obtained by Bloomberg News from a person who attended a panel meeting where the proposal was presented. While betting on horse, boat and bicycle races is allowed in Asia’s second-largest economy, casinos are currently banned and a lawmakers’ group is planning to submit a separate…

Press Release – When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) was signed into law on Oct. 17, 1988, many tribal leaders strongly opposed the federal policy as an infringement on the sovereignty of Indian Country to operate casino-style gaming facilities on tribal lands. In retrospect, however, IGRA, while limiting, has proven to be one of the most progressive economic tools for many tribes, particularly in California, forever changing the face of gaming in this country and making IGRA’s 25th anniversary one worth recognizing. “It’s the one federal Indian policy – amidst a host of failed policies that the federal government…

Have there been slot machines banned in Mexico? Well, the government there has issued a decree banning slot machines, and limiting the ability of casino permit holders to rent out or cede their permits to other operators. Slot machines are known in Mexico as “tragamonedas,” Spanish for “coin swallowers.” A new gambling legislation is in the process of being created in Mexico by the gambling regulatory body of Mexico the NM Gaming Control Board. The gambling legislation of Mexico was last amended in 2004 and doesn’t address internet gambling at all. Slots have proliferated in recent years to such an…

iGaming Business – The UK’s four largest retail bookmakers – William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred – have agreed a deal to make voluntary contributions of £4.5 million (€5.3 million/$7.3 million) per year into British horseracing’s Levy Scheme. The four-year deal, from 2014 to 2017, was announced a week before the deadline for a new agreement. The bookmakers will make the contributions into the newly-created Incentive Fund in addition to their statutory Levy contributions. Following the agreement, the Levy yield for 2014-15 is expected to be £80.2 million – including a contribution of £7.8 million from Betfair. Philip Freedman, the…

Scientific American – Forget the simple nickel slots of yesteryear. Today’s digital slot machines and poker screens in casinos and at online gambling sites are capable of amassing a wealth of behavioral data on individual players, and they are on the verge of altering game play on the fly. As the software becomes increasingly capable of “thinking” like the gamblers themselves, experts in the gambling research community are working to create machines that will identify and assist problem gamblers, rather than simply pushing players deeper into a financial hole. Researchers at the University of Brescia and other institutions in Italy…

Herald Review – A law allowing online wagering on races at Illinois horse tracks is set to expire Jan. 31. Without an extension and an agreement to pony up more funds, racing dates would be either eliminated or deeply slashed at tracks. Illinois lawmakers could take up the issue when they convene for the fall veto session next week, or discussions could be rolled into a debate over a larger gambling expansion package that has languished in the General Assembly for years. A hearing on a gambling expansion plan, which would add five new casinos and allow slot machines at…

Centre Daily Times – A bill that could allow several thousand bars in Pennsylvania to profit from gambling contests called small games of chance won approval from the state Senate Wednesday but fell off the fast track amid last-minute objections from Gov. Tom Corbett and House Democrats. Its passage would represent the state’s largest expansion of legal gambling in nearly four years. The bill passed the Senate 39-11 without debate and senators had initially expected a speedy vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a signature by Corbett. But that changed several hours after the Senate vote. House Democrats…