New York Times – Sheldon G. Adelson, the billionaire casino magnate, on Friday abandoned his plans to build a $30 billion gambling and leisure resort on the outskirts of Madrid after failing to win financial concessions and other favors from the Spanish government. The decision by Mr. Adelson’s company, Las Vegas Sands, to drop its EuroVegas resort project is an economic blow not just for Madrid but for Spain as a whole. The country has been pining for foreign investment to help revive its economy and cut its 26 percent unemployment rate. Although Spain recently emerged from a two-year recession,…

iGaming Business – Dutch gambling monopoly Holland Casino has announced that senior executive Ron Goudsmit is to leave the company following a first round of redundancies at the company. According to the Casino.nl website, Goudsmit will exit Holland Casino by the end of the year. Last month, iGaming Business reported that Holland Casino was to cut a third of its jobs in its head office as part of a strategy to decentralise operations that has been put in place in response to financial problems. Goudsmit, who will be amongst the first of those to leave the company under the strategy,…

Wall Street Journal – OUTSIDE HONG KONG’S HISTORIC Peninsula Hotel one recent weekday afternoon, two men compare their Bentleys. A gun-metal gray edition with the license plate “Iron Man” looks positively understated next to a fiery-red model whose gold paint flecks and hood ornament coated in 100 carats of diamonds sparkle in the sun. That vehicle, worth around US $1 million, is part of a nine-car luxury fleet that belongs to Stephen Hung, one of Hong Kong’s most ostentatious dealmakers. Hung, dressed in black pants and a T-shirt emblazoned with bright flowers and geometric shapes —both very tight and very…

Press of Atlantic City – Legislation that would allow gamblers to bet on pre-recorded horse races could revitalize New Jersey’s slumping horse racing industry while bringing an unexpected boost to Atlantic City. Known as “instant racing” in a proposal being floated in Trenton, the state’s horse racing industry wants to offer gaming that would allow players to bet from terminals on previously run horse races with identifying information removed from the jockeys and horses. The bets would have to flow through Atlantic City casinos to avoid any challenges to the state’s constitution, much like the state’s Internet gambling industry, lawmakers…

USA Today – American Indian tribes have 460 gaming facilities in 28 states, but none offers online gambling—at least not yet. Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware are the only states that have legal Internet gambling, but it is spreading internationally. Worldwide, online betting generates almost $30 billion of revenue a year, with Americans spending $4 billion, according to estimates from the American Gaming Association. Some of the 240 Indian tribes in the U.S. are eager for a piece of that market. It’s unclear how much revenue online gambling will bring to U.S. tribes or states. In New Jersey, for example,…

Australian gambling laws were adjusted during the Gillard administration to include warnings on video poker machines about the dangers of over indulgence in the activity. With the Abbott government now in power it has decided to overturn pre-commitment laws brought in by the Labor government only one year ago. The mandatory technology in the ACT, where punters have to select how much they were prepared to lose before the start of play will not be implemented. Another restriction on gamblers included a nationwide prohibition on withdrawing more than $250 at automated teller machines in gambling areas other than those in…