Flights between Atlantic City and Las Vegas are to begin on May 3. A new nonstop flight will connect the nation’s two main gambling hotspots, Spirit Airlines announced Thursday.The added flight is significant for Atlantic City International Airport, which is served by only two commercial carriers: Spirit and Delta Air Lines.

Joe Kelly, president of the Atlantic City Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the service to Las Vegas will be useful for casino executives. Several companies own properties in both cities and need their workers to travel between them frequently. The additional service also makes it easier for travelers all over the West to reach Atlantic City as the resort tries to expand its convention business. Associated Press

online gambling is going through a tough time but “offline” the business is booming. Are you looking for employment? Take a look at this.

The Meadows Racetrack & Casino has begun recruiting employees to fill some 400 new jobs at its temporary slots parlor, which is slated to open in May.

Starting Feb. 26, applicants can show up in person at the facility’s employment center in the Adios Room, next to the racetrack grandstand.

In the meantime, officials said yesterday, applications for cashiers, clerks, security workers, food and beverage staff and other positions are being taken via the Internet at www.meadowsgaming.com.

Mike Graninger, general manager of The Meadows, encouraged people to apply online “to avoid possible long wait times at the employment center.” The Meadows will also recruit possible employees at the NAACP Diversity Job Fair, to be held Feb. 22 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. post-gazette.com

We read an article on www.suntimes.com, and we think that could help someone with gambling problems.

DEAR ELLIE: I’ve been dating my boyfriend for several months and am greatly concerned about his gambling. Whether he’s online or at the casino, gambling consumes his time.
If I call him, he doesn’t answer because he’s playing poker. Or if he neglects to call me, it’s because he’s playing poker and has forgotten all about contacting me. Even if I go over to visit his house, he is playing online poker for money.

He’s disappointed and angry that he doesn’t have the money to buy things and do things. He feels money would solve all his problems, so he tries to win more money. He gambles almost every day! I tell him he should save the money he’s gambling away, since he’s not winning. But worse, he’s talking of becoming a professional gambler.

TROUBLED

DEAR TROUBLED: It’s too early in this relationship for you to accept his problems as your own. He has a gambling addiction, and it’s fueled by a whopping fantasy of changing his life overnight with the ever-elusive Big Win. Even in that unlikely event, you have seen that he’d only gamble it away.

The proof — and the likely source of his problem — lies in his anger. It prevents him from trying to achieve success through the normal, responsible routes of work, upgrading skills and setting realistic goals. He is already letting you down through neglect and anxieties at this beginning stage, when he should be trying hardest to woo you. The best you can do to show you care about him is to insist he join Gamblers’ Anonymous to find a support network and professional help to curb his obsession.

Meantime, I advise you to end the relationship, or at least take a break, since you can’t depend on him for companionship and can’t count on his pipe dreams for the future. Explain that unless he recognizes and confronts his gambling problem, there’s nothing to hold you two together.

Manchester was today selected as the location of Britain’s first super-casino, in a decision that has stunned rival bidders. An artist’s impression of the Manchester leisure complex where the super-casino will be built The city’s 5,000 square metre super-casino will have up to 1,250 unlimited jackpot gaming machines, as well as a multi-purpose arena, a swimming pool, an urban sports venue, restaurants, bars, a nightclub and a hotel. Sounds Good!

Blackpool and the Millennium Dome in Greenwich were considered hot favourites to be awarded the licence from the shortlist of seven.

Cllr Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said the decision was “fantastic news for Manchester and the region”. “Manchester has an unrivalled track record in the delivery of major regeneration schemes so we are confident we have the expertise to deliver a world-class venue,” he said. (telegraph.co.uk)

The British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson plans to build an entertainment complex encompassing three hotels and a casino in Macau, the Financial Times reported in its online edition. “We hope to get all the boxes ticked in the next couple of months and start developing the site soon afterwards” the FT quoted Branson as saying.

Branson expects the project to be completed in 2010 and to recoup his initial investment within 18 months of operation, according to the report. Virgin is believed to be in talks with one of six casino license holders to operate the casino complex.

As we reported yesterday Gaming revenue in Macau surged 22% in 2006 to surpass takings from the Las Vegas Strip - no wonder Branson is interested!

Working through its subsidiary Internet Opportunity Entertainment, Sportingbet took the Canadian company Zubee.com Networks before the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s Arbitration and Mediation Centre, claiming that the company had no legitimate interest in the domain Sportingbet.net and that it was acting in bad faith in registering and holding on to it.

In order to gain control of a domain name from someone else, a company has to prove that it is identical or confusingly similar to one of its trade marks, that it has rights or legitimate interests in the name and that the other party does not, and that the other party acted in bad faith in regard to the domain.

The WIPO panel found that Sportingbet had relevant trade marks and that they were identical or confusingly similar to Zubee’s domain names. (infopowa)

Las Vegas is experiencing a surge in population and new business opportunities, making it the nation’s hottest city for entrepreneurs who are flocking to Sin City to cash in on a safer bet — an influx of residents and a booming local economy that has generated a slew of new business opportunities.

As a result, the number of entertainment and tourism jobs has shot up 14.2 percent since 2002, growth is equally impressive in areas like financial and professional services. “The casino and tourism industry is still the big dog around here, but it’s amazing how many smaller businesses feed off that animal,” says Michael Graham of the Las Vegas Small Business Development Center.

Of the nearly 40 million visitors the city attracted in 2006, roughly 15 percent were business-meeting and convention attendees, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Those numbers are widely expected to rise in 2007 thanks to a surge in local and national industry events like the Consumer Electronics Show, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, and MAGIC Marketplace. Over $25 billion will be spent in development to boost the city’s hotels by more than 170,000 rooms by 2010.

Forget showgirls and slot machines. Vegas means business

Sir Richard Branson is another to fall prey to America’s rampant protectionism. The decision last week from Washington that his embryonic carrier, Virgin America, must remain grounded, forced a furious Branson to threaten to sell up and ship out.

The authorities have argued that some of the American investors in Virgin America are registered in the Cayman Islands and therefore should not qualify as US investors for the purposes of laws that state that domestic carriers should be majority owned by the country’s citizens. But these very same investors have huge stakes in other major American airlines.

Government adviser and former CBI boss Sir Digby Jones said the US government’s decision to block Virgin America was a “disgrace.” He said: “This is protectionism at its worst. The Americans should not fear competition, they should embrace it.” Jones said America may call itself the land of the free, but it was “sadly not the land of free trade.”

Well we know this too well, being involved in online gambling…

Canadian director, Matt Frame, broke the record for the world’s longest swim, while handcuffed. Matt broke the record to raise awareness for the Joe Bodia Foundation which raises money for underprivileged children in Cambodia. Matt made the brutal 5.8 kilometer (3.1 nautical miles) swim from Koh Kteah to Serendipity beach without the benefit of a wetsuit or any help. The Guinness people have officially confirmed this to be a record-breaking swim.

Why are we talking about this? Well just because Golden Palace is involved again, for the good reasons. “This is another great chance to help a worthy charity and get some publicity at the same time,” said Richard Rowe, GoldenPalace.com CEO. “Of course I am doing this for publicity,” said Matt. “We have tried conventional routes of fundraising but the results have been disappointing.”

Setting the standard in marketing creativity, GoldenPalace.com has devised some of the most exciting and outrageous advertising campaigns in the past few years. Items such as the Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Britney Spears’ Pregnancy Test, and William Shatner’s Kidney Stone have garnered extensive worldwide media attention for the casino. GoldenPalace.com has also used their items and marketing reach to raise awareness and over $1,000,000 for various charities worldwide.

Harrah’s Entertainment has entered into a definitive agreement for affiliates of Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Apollo Management to acquire Harrah’s, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately US$27.8 billion, including the assumption of approximately US$10.7 billion of debt.

“In Apollo and TPG, we will have owners who share our vision for Harrah’s, are fully supportive of our current strategy and are committed to helping us execute on it. This will be a change in ownership, not a change in direction,” said Gary Loveman, Harrah’s chairman, chief executive officer and president.

Under the merger agreement, Harrah’s may solicit superior proposals from third parties for a period of 25 days. The board of directors of Harrah’s, through its special committee and with assistance of its independent advisors, intends to solicit superior proposals during this period. The transaction is expected to be completed in approximately one year, and is subject to stockholder approval, regulatory approvals, and customary closing conditions.