American Gaming Association (AGA) Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Sara Rayme issued the following statement after the California Supreme Court ruled that Internet sweepstakes cafes are illegal: “Today’s ruling affirms what we already knew: Internet sweepstakes cafes are illegal entities that should be shut down. In stark contrast to the legal, highly regulated casino gaming industry – a $240 billion industry that supports 1.7 million jobs and generates $38 billion in taxes across 40 states – illegal gambling operations, such as Internet sweepstakes cafes, fund violent crimes and drug and human trafficking, prey on consumers and don’t pay a penny…

With proposals to expand casino gambling to other parts of New Jersey gaining momentum, Atlantic City is faced with an existential choice: fight to the end to try to keep it from happening, or accept it as inevitable and extract the most concessions it can from new, in-state competitors. It’s a question the city and its political and business supporters need to answer soon. Two bills that would ask voters whether to amend the state constitution and expand gambling beyond Atlantic City have been proposed, and lawmakers are touting casino projects in the Bergen County Meadowlands, Jersey City, Newark and…

On June 21st 2015, it was reported that in Subang Jaya, police detained 33 gamblers. These gamblers included college students from Singapore, Italy and Iran. The raid came in the early morning after a tip off from the public on the 20th. It has been said by the Oriental Daily that the police seized a total of RM29 000 in chips, cash and gambling tools. The police also confiscated the student cards that belonged to the foreign students. The illegal casino that was being operated on the top floor of the building was stormed by a police team of 18 that…

The $240 billion U.S. gambling industry is looking to bolster its political influence with a national effort to mobilize workers behind its policy agenda heading into the 2016 elections. The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group representing mainly casinos and lotteries, boasts a growing membership covering 40 states, and the trade group’s leadership vowed Wednesday to increase its clout in Washington, despite the loss of retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), an influential congressional ally. “We’re going to be more active in political discussion,” MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren told reporters Wednesday at the AGA’s shiny new D.C. digs….

States that draw revenue from casinos should regulate online gambling, as online has a complementary, not cannibalistic, effect on land-based gambling. That’s one takeaway from a recently published study entitled “Consumer spending in the gaming industry: evidence of complementary demand in casino and online venues” penned by gambling experts Kahlil S. Philander, Brett Abarbanel and Toni Repetti for International Gambling Studies. The authors advise that “US operators should recognize the positive value that online gambling can have with relation to their online operations,” suggesting that operators are best served integrating online gambling as part of their overall offering, as opposed…

Gov. Chris Christie says he’d be in favor of approving partnerships of the kind soon to be announced between the Florida-based Hard Rock gaming company and the Meadowlands Racetrack for a casino in north Jersey — as long as tax revenues from such ventures would help pay to revitalize ailing Atlantic City. Speaking on his monthly radio show, Christie said that while no one had presented the proposal to him, he had heard “rumblings” that the state Legislature planned to place the idea on the November ballot for a statewide referendum on expanding gaming to the northern part of the…