dimanche 6 janvier 2008

UK Casino Workers Back Strike Call In Pay Row

UK Casino Workers Back Strike Call In Pay Row


Around 200 Glasgow casino workers are backing strike action after a landmark ballot in their pay battle.

Staff at the city branch of Stanley Casinos in Sauchiehall Street were among 2000 employees to vote for action in Britain's first consultative strike ballot of casino workers.

Negotiations between casino bosses and GMB union officials have failed to find a deal, with the company's 3.2% "final offer" being rejected.

Union officials claim the first round of talks lasted barely 15 minutes. And that sparked the ballot, which resulted in 77% of GMB members backing action.

Union spokesman Richard Leonard said: "This certainly is a mandate for industrial action."

The Stanley group, which has 41 casinos, generated £26million profits last year.

Pay talks are expected to re-open on Monday.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Stanley is committed to finding an acceptable solution.

"We are still in discussions with the GMB to try to resolve this dispute." AROUND 200 Glasgow casino workers are backing strike action after a landmark ballot in their pay battle.

Staff at the city branch of Stanley Casinos in Sauchiehall Street were among 2000 employees to vote for action in Britain's first consultative strike ballot of casino workers.

Negotiations between casino bosses and GMB union officials have failed to find a deal, with the company's 3.2% "final offer" being rejected.

Union officials claim the first round of talks lasted barely 15 minutes. And that sparked the ballot, which resulted in 77% of GMB members backing action.

Union spokesman Richard Leonard said: "This certainly is a mandate for industrial action."

The Stanley group, which has 41 casinos, generated £26million profits last year.

Pay talks are expected to re-open on Monday.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Stanley is committed to finding an acceptable solution.

"We are still in discussions with the GMB to try to resolve this dispute." AROUND 200 Glasgow casino workers are backing strike action after a landmark ballot in their pay battle.

Staff at the city branch of Stanley Casinos in Sauchiehall Street were among 2000 employees to vote for action in Britain's first consultative strike ballot of casino workers.

Negotiations between casino bosses and GMB union officials have failed to find a deal, with the company's 3.2% "final offer" being rejected.

Union officials claim the first round of talks lasted barely 15 minutes. And that sparked the ballot, which resulted in 77% of GMB members backing action.

Union spokesman Richard Leonard said: "This certainly is a mandate for industrial action."

The Stanley group, which has 41 casinos, generated £26million profits last year.

Pay talks are expected to re-open on Monday.bonus slots to play free

A spokeswoman for the company said: "Stanley is committed to finding an acceptable solution.

"We are still in discussions with the GMB to try to resolve this dispute."

Party Gaming Flotation

Party Gaming Flotation 'Fully Subscribed'



The initial public offering for PartyGaming, the world's biggest oline poker company, has been fully subscribed, the bank running the listing said last night, insisting that it had 'no plans' to cut the price.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said it was sticking to its price spectrum of 111p-127p, despite City bookmakers suggesting that the shares may have to be discounted below the bottom of that range.

Cantor Index was yesterday quoting 109p-114p but will settle its grey market in PartyGaming at the closing share price on July 1.

If pricing is agreed at between 111p-127p, PartyGaming will raise between £996m-£1.139bn and value it at between £4.4bn-£5.1bn, making it the biggest online company to float since Dimension Data in 2000. It should automatically gain entry to the FTSE 100 index. Trading is expected to start next Monday.

Adrian Darley at Gartmore Investment Management believes PartyGaming should be seen as a normal business, despite its 'dotcom' connotations. He said: "PartyGaming is profitable and offers a significant dividend yield. Despite being involved in internet it is a normal business. There are risks attached which will make it incredibly attractive to some investors and put more conservative fund managers off the stock."what iis good about internet gambling

Getting the PartyGaming flotation away will be a feather in the cap for Deutsche Kleinwort Wasserstein, which is leading a group of underwriting banks - Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, Calyon, Commerzbank, Enskilda Securities, ING and Mediobanca-Banca di Credito Finanziario.

Last week it emerged that DKW and the seven other European banks handling the float could scoop an estimated £54m in fees. The float has been boycotted by American investment banks on the grounds that internet gambling is illegal in the US.

The selling shareholders - the company is raising no new money through the flotation - have agreed an underwriting scale that gives the banks a higher fee the better they do with the issue. The main sellers are founders Anurag Dikshit and Ruth Parasol, her husband Russ DeLeon and marketing director Vikrant Bhargava. Others are Nitin Jain and Bonita Ventures.

The underwriting banks will receive 2.5% basic commission but can earn a further 'non-discretionary incentive fee' of up to 0.8% if certain 'criteria as to valuation, timing and after-market performance' are met. There is also a 'discretionary incentive fee' of 0.5% that can be paid by the sellers if they so decide.

That takes the potential maximum underwriting fee up to 3.8% of the issue. With a minimum of 782m shares being offered, the underwriters should make £37.7m if they hit the top end of their targets. They would pick a further £5.6m if the whole of the over-allotment option of 115m shares is also successfully got away.

Golden Reef UK Casino




Golden Reef UK Casino have today announced the release of a brand new competition.

Starting this Thursday, the competition - called Thursday Thunder - is open to players who play the Thunderstruck progressive slot game. Any player who plays Thunderstruck on a Thursday is automatically entered into the competition.

Players will have a chance to share in £1500 in prizes. The top 10 players with the highest score will share the prize pool of £1500.

In addition, the first player to contact Golden Reef's customer support once they have spun up 5 MIGHTY THOR HAMMERS in a row (not on the free spin feature), will instantly receive £200. If the prize is not claimed, it will jackpot the next week.

Last week's debut competition from Golden Reef was reportedly well received by players and they are said to be adding more.

For more information on this new competition, players should Visit Golden Reef and head to the 'Competitions' section on the site. Alternatively, see the 'Casino Action' section once you have logged

Mobile phone casinos

Gamble As You Go On Your Mobile Phone




Mobile phone casinos are likely to be a $4.5bn business by 2009, according to experts, and the UK is one of the world leaders. Grab a piece of the action with our online guide.

Stuck on a railway platform waiting for the train that time forgot? No problem - just pull out your phone and keep boredom at bay by dialling up a mobile phone casino or poker room.

Only a few years ago it was impossible to imagine playing anything much more complicated than noughts and crosses on a mobile, but advances in phone technology have changed all that. Now, wherever you are, you can download full-colour, all-action versions of casino classics such as poker, roulete, blakjack and slots to play for cash.

Mobile gaming providers have been careful to build security into their games - a PIN number protects your casino account from being plundered if your phone is stolen, and multiple checks prevent children signing up to mobile casinos. At least one major provider of mobile gaming software guarantees that, if your identity is ever stolen and used to set up an account, any winnings will be paid to you and not the thief.

You don't even need to worry what happens when you hit a reception dead area or you train goes through a tunnel - the game software is intelligent enough to cope with a sudden disruption like that and save your game.

Depositing funds is at least as easy as in a regular UK online casino - in some cases easier, as you can often pay in straight from your phone once you've made your first deposit through a secure banking system to establish your credentials. Pay-out can be less convenient, with some mobile casinos only prepared to send your winnings through the post by cheque. Some are more flexible - mobile casinos using MobVision's international software specify the use of Neteller, a handy online wallet that allows instant withdrawal of winnings.

This combination of flexibility and convenience has led to a boom in mobile gaming across the world - but casinos do not make up the biggest slice of the action, mainly because legal restrictions in some countries have restricted their growth. The biggest market in mobile gambling is for lotteries, followed by betting - casinos come in third, with a projected quarter of the market by 2009. But it's a big market - business analysts Juniper Research estimate mobile gambling will be worth $19.3bn by the end of the decade.

Dr Windsor Holden, author of the Juniper report, Mobile gambling: casinos, lotteries and betting, says: "Governments are generally less censorious about lotteries than other forms of gambling, with the result that mobile lotteries are likely to become established fairly quickly in a greater number of markets."

He says the market would be larger still if regulations on mobile casinos and betting are loosened or abolished: "These forecasts are based on the premise that a number of countries - most notably the US and China - will remain strongly opposed to the introduction of most mobile gambling services in the short and medium term. Should this situation change, then quite clearly the figures would be revised upwards to reflect this."

The American hostility to mobile gambling has handed market leadership to Europe and the Far East, with the UK right up there as one of the world leaders.

Speaking in April 2004, Peter French, communications director at Casino Phone Technologies - one of the pioneers in Java-based gambling games for phones - said: "Our lawyers have told us that the technology is pretty much ahead of international regulatory systems and so there are a lot of grey areas. One great plus, however, is the lead the UK is taking with regards to this issue. They really get it and understand that by passing comprehensive and user-friendly gaming legislation they will reap the considerable financial benefits, and also become the European centre of development for the mobile-gaming industry."

Those looking to play now at a mobile phone casino are recommended to give 7WIN7 a try.

7WIN7 is a Mobile Phone Casino - a real-play, Java based casino for UK mobile phones.

New players need to register at 7WIN7's website before downloading the casino to your phone.

Casino impact study

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Casino impact study: An analysis of the impacts of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe's proposed economic enterprises in Ledyardwhat are thee safest online casinos?Connecticutwgen did internet gambling begin?on land use and ... the southeastern Connecticut planning region

Cards On Table Over Sheffield Casino Scheme




The Yorkshire Grey pub will need to be demolished to make way for the scheme which includes cafes, shops and an office block.

Plans for a new casino in the heart of Sheffield have been approved by councillors as part of the Charles Street redevelopment in the city.

A multi-storey car park with 520 spaces catering for shoppers and visitors to the city is also envisaged.

Building work on the project is expected to start in the spring.

Councillor Tim Rippon, cabinet member for economic regeneration, culture and planning said: "This shows continued economic regeneration, and that there's confidence in the city. There's strong demand for prestigious office space in Sheffield."

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Chairman of the planning board, Alan Law said: "These buildings continue to show increasingly high quality design, so I'm pleased to support these proposals. The car park will provide parking spaces just where they're needed, and the building's design is very innovative. There will also be a new public square, St Paul's Square, which will run through to Charles Street. The materials will complement those used in the Peace Gardens."

Super Casino At Dome Site

First Step To Super Casino At Dome Site




The odds of a regional UK casino being developed at the Dome have improved after planners agreed to consider one at the Greenwich site.

The council's cabinet have decided to express an interest in having a super casino in the borough.

By giving the idea a cautious welcome, it has kept itself in the running by meeting the Government's Friday deadline for interested boroughs.

The decision was important because applications from prospective operators will only be considered if the local authority is willing to issue licences for such operations.

Anschutz Entertainment Group has drawn up plans with South African gambling giants Kerzner to have a casino in what is now known as The O2 - alongside its 26,000 entertainment arena.

The developer says the casino is a vital part of its vision to create a world-class leisure destination on the Greenwich Peninsula.

A National Audit Office report also argues that the casino is essential to make the scheme financially viable.

A council spokesman said: "We agreed to express an interest but will wait and see what proposals AEG come up with. We are not proactively welcoming a casino but we are also not ruling it out."

The Department of Culture Media and Sport's casino advisory panel will recommend by the end of 2006 where the eight large gambling venues should be based.

Legislation under the Gambling Act 2005 state that they must be in areas in need of regeneration and be linked to tourism.

Initially there will be only be one casino in London and the O2 application would compete against bids for Wembley, Rainham, Olympia, White City, West Ham Football Club and East Croydon.

In March, a London Assembly scrutiny committee reported that Greenwich's enthusiasm for a casino was more measured, compared with strong support from other boroughs.

AEG said the casino would provide 1,117 jobs with an average salary of £24,120.

It would also build a luxury 300-room hotel designed by architect Richard Rogers.


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