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.

Estelle Busch, from Minneapolis, is a 72-year-old retiree who gambles 60 hours a week on average. She calls it her “business” and argues that she usually researches slot machines on the Internet.

During the years, she won $1.5 million and lost $1.7 million and she appeared before the Supreme Court of Minnesota contending that she should be allowed to deduct $200,000 in gambling losses from her taxes. The Department of Revenue answered that slots are a game of chance and they require no skills or research.

Foxwoods Resort Casino has opened a new slot room with 650 machines, including penny slots and progressive games linked to other American Indian casinos. Foxwoods aims to attract new players and obtain a larger share of the slot market.

According to Foxwoods executive director of slots, Alex Rodriguez, Mohegan Sun, the closest competitor of the Resort Casino, regularly shows more profits in slot reports with fewer machines. "Mohegan Sun has a bigger piece of the pie. What I'm trying to do is equalize it", Rodriguez said.

Estelle Busch, from Minneapolis, is a 72-year-old retiree who gambles 60 hours a week on average. She calls it her “business” and argues that she usually researches slot machines on the Internet.

During the years, she won $1.5 million and lost $1.7 million and she appeared before the Supreme Court of Minnesota contending that she should be allowed to deduct $200,000 in gambling losses from her taxes.

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.

Although e-mails with sexual offers and pornography were the most common kind of Spam that were sent during the first quarter of 2006, representing 24% of total Spam, there have been other growths in the number of e-mails announcing false awards in gambling games such as lottery.

The total number of Spam sent in the first three months of the current year increased 18%, compared to last year’s statistics.

A recent report revealed that Michigan has already lost about $337 million dollars in the generation of Native American casino revenues.

The enormous loss occurred due to the agreement between the state and seven local Indian tribes, which allows them not to pay an established share of their gaining if they fail to maintain their slots monopoly in Michigan. The monopoly came to an end when legislators allowed casino gambling to some other tribes, about 7 years ago.

About 25 slot machines that were functioning illegally downtown Lima were closed recently by the Municipality of Lima, said Treasury Manager Mario Vargas. He added that also 60 Chinese machines were confiscated, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce.

Vargas pointed out that action against illegal functioning of casinos and other gaming revenues will harden and intensify in order to protect the public, victim of unscrupulous casino operators.

The project that sanctions the use and tenancy of slot machines outside casinos had a wide acceptance In the Senate. Its approval counted with 28 votes in favor and the abstention of an independent senator.

Now the project will return to the Constitution Commission for its discussion in particular, that will take place on May 16th, according to the date the High Chamber chose.