Blair limits UK mega casinos to just one

April 3

Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, agreed to cut the number of Las Vegas-style mega casinos permitted in the country's gambling bill from eight to one, in order to get the measure passed before the May 5 general election.

The one and only casino will be the one place in the UK where gamblers will be able to play no-limits slot machines. In fact, up to as many as 1,250 slots will be allowed in the future mega casino.

After the massive cut-back for mega casinos, smaller sized casinos will now be permitted to have 20 slot machines considered to be Category B machines. This is better that the previously agreed 10. The maximum prize on those machines will be doubled from 2,000 pounds to 4,000 pounds.

Blair has four days to pass all remaining legislation before Parliament is dissolved for the campaign for the election, which the prime minister announced this morning. Any outstanding bills will be dropped Friday night.

Companies based in the US including Caesars Entertainment Inc. and MGM Mirage operate the type of provincial casinos that will get the green light if the bill does pass. They will now have to compete for the single license to build the only huge casino allowed.

Back on Jan. 2, Caesars stated it was moving ahead with building a 320 million-pound casino in Wembley, next to England's new national soccer stadium. This is said to be a perfect spot for wagering and a mega casino.