Las Vegas Sands Corp. was awarded a license to build the first casino in Singapore. Last year, the country eliminated the ban on casino gambling and decided to award two licenses to operate casino resorts at Marina Bay and on the island of Sentosa.

Las Vegas Sands, which already runs the Sands Macao in Macau, China, obtained permission to open a casino at Marina Bay. According to Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, the complex will be built on a 509-acre site and will cost more than $3.16 billion.

Next year, Valencia will have its first casino run by Cirsa group, the giant gambling operator that owns the Monte Picayo de Puçol Casino in the Comunitat Valenciana and the gaming hall opened last year in Gandia.

Cirsa together with their business partners, Gesfesa and two other local companies, are considering to locate the casino next to the Palacio de Congresos. However, this was not the first location thought by Manuel Lao, who owns Cirsa.

In casinos everything is designed to encourage players to stay gambling as much as possible. The objective, according to psychiatrists, is to create a state of trance in the players. If you’ve been to a casino in Las Vegas, you have surely seen it: the lights, the music, the absence of clocks, the position of slot machines or roulettes.

“The tricks casinos use are numerous and almost imperceptible”, assured to BBC the psychiatrist Angels González Ibáñez, responsible for the Program of Pathologic Gambling in the Mataró Hospital (Spain).

Spanish online gambling companies achieved 80 million euros in incomes, which is 162% more than bets registered in 2004. Online purchases generated a total of 1547 million euros during 2005, which means 74% more than the previous year, according to the last study on online commerce by the Telecommunications Marketing Commission (CMT).

This number confirms the trend for this kind of online commercial transactions, as it duplicates the 890 million euros registered in 2004.

Pinnacle Entertainment recently announced the opening of the first and only casino located on the beautiful island of Great Exuma. The casino is next to the Four Seasons Resort Great Exuma.

Daniel R. Lee, CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment, said that the casino adds an air of excitement to the resort experience on the island. "Guests travel to Great Exuma from around the world and this will create yet another reason for them to visit more often and stay longer."

Operators in Malaysia said that the country would not allow to build any other new casinos, after having received a proposal for a new hall in the northern island of Penang. “Our policy is based on not allowing any other new casinos in the country and not providing any new licenses”, said vice president Najib Razak.

The idea of settling a second casino in Malaysia was suggested last October by Lim Chong Eu, former Prime Minister of Penang, who said this could help the development of tourism industry on the islands.

G. Christo, FUN TV director, said that this new channel is going to be accessible for subscribers of SITI Channel and Tricandrum Cable Network. He also mentioned that cable operators from every state are thrilled to get the channel.

The viewers will be able to select films for a day by voting in the programs through phone calls. Games, video on demand, movie on demand, SMS chatting and also lucky contest in which people will be able to participate in live programs to be aired.

Trump Entertainment Resorts’ CEO described a renovation plan for their three old casinos. Last week, the executive declared in a press conference in Las Vegas that the company will try to capitalize the different styles of each of them in order to attract a great number of players and bring their trademarks back lo life.

“We all know that Trump casinos have suffered through the years”, said James B. Perry, a veteran gambling executive who became President and CEO of the enterprise last July.

Next June Singapore will announce the winner consortium to build the first casino resort in the country, assured the minister of Industry and Commerce, Lim Hng Kiang.

Lim, one of the five ministers who will choose the winner among the four offers presented in March, said the evaluation process to choose the company that will build the casino (probably one of the most expensive in the world) was developing rather well.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has announced that it would support the creation of a special commission in the United States congress to evaluate whether Internet gambling should be prohibited or not in the country, according to Frank Fahrenkopf Jr, president and CEO of the Association.

“Many nations, including Great Britain, are in the process of legalizing, regulating and taxing online gaming”, said Fahrenkopf.