Five of Real Madrid’s star players are set to take legal action against seven online betting companies for using their images without consent, the club said.
David Beckham, Raul Gonzalez, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo “have consulted lawyer Jean-Luis Dupont,” said Real media chief Antonio Garcia Ferreras.

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa has told cocktail servers if they pack on too many pounds, they'll get an unpaid suspension to lose the weight — or be fired.

The policy will apply to anyone gaining more than 7 percent of their body weight; weight gain related to pregnancy or a medical condition will be exempt, casino officials said. The company will pay to put the offender through a weight-loss program during the up-to-90-day suspension.

Pennsylvania is becoming the next hot spot for land-based casino investment. Major corporations, such as Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Caesars Entertainment Inc. are scrambling to apply for slot-machine operators' licenses so they can build major gaming halls across the state. They do have one complaint, however. Gambling companies claim that considering the 48 percent share they may possess according to law, in addition to the $50 million licensing fee, may prevent them from building their gaming halls on the big and glitzy scale for which the big operators are famous.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced today that the Sands Macao, the first western-operated casino in Asia, has opened the luxurious Pearl Room, a new themed gaming room bedecked with sparkling pearl chandeliers situated adjacent to the main lobby of the Sands Macao.
The new Pearl Room features 17,000 sq. feet of space hosting 40 gaming tables, including baccarat, fan tan, Caribbean stud poker, three card baccarat, blackjack, big and small, and roulette, in addition to 180 slot machines specially designed for the Asian market.

The Route 66 Casino is opening a new poker room on February.
World Series of Poker champion Jennifer Harman will be on hand to sign autographs and play poker with Route 66 guests.
One guest will be picked randomly each hour to play a few hands with Harman. She will sign autographs between noon and 1 p.m.
Visitors will also be given, while supplies last, a Route 66 Casino poker room T-shirt.

Donald Trump's casino company is in serious financial straits, and it's uncertain if -- or when -- he'll be able to deliver on a promised $108 million casino for French Lick.
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and New Jersey bankruptcy court underscore the concerns of Gov. Mitch Daniels and some Republican lawmakers about whether the state's 11th casino should have been awarded to a company that ended up filing for bankruptcy protection.

A recently dormant group in the fight against expanded gambling in Minnesota recharged its campaign Tuesday, saying it would press its anti-casino case in churches and through mass mailings.

The adoption of a more aggressive strategy by Citizens Against Gambling Expansion - which has membership ranging from the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition to the Taxpayers League of Minnesota - comes as proposals to introduce new casinos to Minnesota gain steam.

A key Republican lawmaker will propose his own financial deal to help keep the Indianapolis Colts in town by adding 5,000 slot machines -- all at the state's two horse tracks, but none Downtown.

The proposal -- made Tuesday as this year's Indiana General Assembly got under way -- would give Indianapolis a cut of the money, but one that falls $16 million a year short of Mayor Bart Peterson's request to finance a new stadium.

In a separate release, Washington rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. (XMSR) said it outstripped its target of 3.1 million subscribers by the end of 2004, also helped by a holiday rush.

In a press release Monday, New York satellite radio company Sirius, which scored a coup earlier this year by signing "shock jock" Howard Stern to start in January 2006, said sales of its branded radios such as the "Sportster" helped the subscriber increases.

In a recent marketing stunt, Stern handed out free Sirius boom boxes in Union Square, New York.

The transaction - negotiated to 26.50 dollars by action it was approved by the advice of administration of the two companies and would have to be concluded at the beginning of January, indicates Oracle in the announcement.

The purchase will make of Oracle/Peoplesoft world-wide number two of software destined to the management of companies, a sector dominated by German SAP. Oracle had made a supply of purchase in June of 2003, rejected by the advice of administration of Peoplesoft that judged it insufficient, considering its then value in more than 9,000 million dollars. The supply of 26.50 dollars is the best one offered by the group of Larry Ellison.