The Nevada Gambling Commission has approved new regulations for multi-state jackpots, which will allow slot machines makers and keno companies to widen prize pools and offer larger jackpots across US state lines. According to the RGJ.com website, the new rules will enable companies to compete with interstate lotteries by offering greater jackpots and prizes. Attorney Dan Reaser sought the rule on behalf of gaming products designer and manufacturer International Game Technology (IGT), and online casino games and solutions company Bally Technologies. Reaser said that the idea behind the new multi-state jackpots regulations was to expand slot network games currently offered…

Casino City Times – A federal commission studying U.S. relations with China recommended closer examination of gaming in Macau, saying weak financial controls in the district pose “significant risk” of money laundering and terrorist financing. The report issued Wednesday by the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission stopped short of saying U.S. security interests might be at stake. But commission Chairman William Reinsch said what it found “was disturbing and raises the question that possibility is out there.” The 12-member panel, composed of experts in trade, intelligence, defense and international affairs, said it “did not seek nor did it find evidence…

Nevada gambling regulators are being asked to let manufacturers offer slot prizes in the form of pools by offering mega-lottery sized jackpots across state lines. The proposal up for approval Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Commission could propel games offered by slot giants like Bally Technologies and IGT into what one analyst called “life-changing jackpot range.” UNLV Center for Gaming Research chief David Schwartz says the companies are approaching the idea as a way to compete with interstate lotteries like the multi-million dollar Powerball. A lawyer representing the companies says Nevada casinos already have Megabucks jackpots, and tribal casinos in…

Bloomberg – A draft of a bill legalizing casinos was approved by a panel of lawmakers from Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party today, in a step toward allowing gambling resorts to be built in Japan. “We are now able to move forward,” said Ryosei Akazawa, head of the party’s transport panel, who said he had now been placed in charge of shepherding the legislation through the approval process. The next step will be to take the bill to the party’s policy panel for official backing. A cross-party group of lawmakers headed by LDP deputy Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda has said…

Las Vegas Review Journal – A federal commission studying U.S. relations with China recommended closer examination of gaming in Macau, saying weak financial controls in the district pose “significant risk” of money laundering and terrorist financing. The report issued Wednesday by the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission stopped short of saying U.S. security interests might be at stake. But commission Chairman William Reinsch said what it found “was disturbing and raises the question that possibility is out there.” The 12-member panel, composed of experts in trade, intelligence, defense and international affairs, said it “did not seek nor did it find…

Macau Business Daily – Macau could need as many as 7,000 new gaming machines each year until 2017 to cater for the next wave of Cotai casino openings, says a new report commissioned from Macau Polytechnic Institute. The document ‘Research Report on Macao Gaming Industry’ was launched at the Macao Gaming Summit conference held during the Macao Gaming Show last week. The 7,000 new-to-market estimate is likely to be a gross increase rather than a net increase. Underperforming machines regularly get pulled from the highly competitive Macau casino floors. The attrition rate last year was as high as 20 percent…