The Motley Fool – When you take a step back and look at the gaming industry, you can see that there’s been an incredible shift in power over the past two decades. When Steve Wynn built The Mirage in Las Vegas he was taking a massive risk and had to rely on junk bonds from Wall Street to finance his project. But today, gaming companies not only have better balance sheets, they have the scale and cash flow to pick and choose expansion opportunities, both versus smaller competitors as well as in relation to markets where they operate. That shift…

WKBN Ohio – Casino gambling is about to pay off for some area college students. About 2,500 students statewide will get paid internships and co-ops through a program funded by casino license fees. The Ohio Board of Regents reported that $11 million of those fees is going to 10 community colleges, 15 universities and 11 technical centers over the next two years. Locally, $660,000 is available to Youngstown State University, Eastern Gateway Community College, and career centers in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties. Schools will use the money to create new or expand existing co-op and internship programs in fields…

Boston.com – There is statewide support for expanded casino gambling and for a contentious power line transmission proposal, a survey conducted for the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce shows. Chamber President Chris Williams said Monday that the poll taken by the University of New Hampshire found 58 percent of people surveyed wanted to expand gambling. Most — 43 percent — said a casino should be located in the southern part of the state, according to the survey that was taken in February, before last week’s House vote against expanding casino gambling. Williams acknowledged that legislative hurdle has been persistent and…

USA Today – Some call it the Lucky Country, but Australia is not so fortunate when it comes to wagers. Eighty percent of its citizens engage in some kind of gambling — the highest rate of any country in the world — and they lose more than anyone else, to the tune of some $21.5 billion a year. Gambling comes in various forms, including lotteries, bingo and sport betting, but the main drivers behind Australia’s epidemic are the electronic gaming machines known as “pokies.” There’s one poker machine for every 108 people — only tiny Monaco can compete — and…

The Press Democrat – Revenues at California Indian casinos increased slightly in 2012, but still not as robustly as pre-recession years, according to a report being released Wednesday. California’s 68 tribal casinos raked in $6.96 billion in 2012, the most recent year available, according to Casino City’s Indian Gaming Industry Report. That was nearly a 1 percent increase over the $6.91 billion they collected in 2011. It was the second year of positive growth for California tribal casinos after experiencing three consecutive years of decline, according to the author, Alan Meister, an economist with Nathan Associates Inc. The 2012 growth…

Bloomberg – Russian officials are weighing a proposal to create a gambling zone with casinos and hotels in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed from Ukraine, according to four people with direct knowledge of the planning. Officials discussed the option at a March 21 meeting led by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Russia’s ministries of economy, finance and regional development have an April 15 deadline to present a plan for the gambling project with spending and revenue estimates, the people said. Russia is seeking to make Crimea…