Illinois' nine riverboat casinos collected more than $1.7 billion from gamblers in 2004 and paid more than $800 million in taxes to state and local governments. With the state facing another massive budget deficit, lawmakers are proposing ways to squeeze even more money out of the gambling industry.

Here is a look at some of those ideas...

State officials say the Iowa Lottery can't advertise its new video pull-tab games as slot machines. But some stores had been billing the games as casino games, leading the Iowa Lottery to adopt emergency rules to clarify the situation.

First introduced last year, the video pull-tab machines operate differently than slot machines, but still have many of the same bells and whistles that attract players.

Slot machine players at Delaware's three casinos will have chances to win even larger jackpots under an agreement between three states.

Delaware, Rhode Island and West Virginia are in the process of developing a program that would use revenue from the states' slot machines to form a large jackpot, said Richard S. Cordrey, Delaware's secretary of finance.

Gambling opponents failed in their attempt Thursday to brand campaign advertising in favor of slot machines as false and misleading because of its claims about more money for education and new jobs.

Broward County's Fair Campaign Practices Committee ruled that the gambling industry has not violated its ethical guidelines for electioneering. It was a major setback for opponents who have charged for weeks that the ad campaign was deceiving voters in the run-up to Tuesday's referendums in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The Maryland House of Delegates has rejected a series of amendments offered by gambling opponents, setting the stage for a final vote Feb. 25 on a bill to legalize 9,500 slot machines at four locations in the state.

While there were no roll call votes that provided a clear indication of whether supporters can muster the 71 votes needed for passage, most of the proposed amendments were rejected Feb. 24 by wide margins on voice votes.

Facing an uphill battle to amend the Texas Constitution to allow video slot machines, some Texas lawmakers are working on legislation to authorize the devices as an extension of the lottery.

Such a bill would only require a majority vote in the House and Senate and then the governor's signature. A proposed constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers and then a vote by the public.

Sony will launch an online gaming network in Europe in the spring for its PlayStation 2 game console, the company said Thursday.

Console makers such as Sony and Microsoft are making a big push into online gaming just as home penetration of high-speed broadband access has begun to hit a critical mass.

Three schoolgirls have received government praise for their damning gambling survey.

The Tong'an No 1 Middle School pupils in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, spent 11 months investigating Mark Six gambling in the city, a lottery which is often criticized for its addictive system.

You don't have to be a film buff to bet on the Oscars - especially if you have a British connection.

British bookies will take a bet on almost anything - whether it'll be a white Christmas, how long until a celebrity marriage hits the divorce courts, does the Loch Ness monster exist.
The Academy Awards are no exception. The leading British bookmaking companies had posted Oscar odds, even before the the nominations were revealed.

Three Taylorville residents have been arrested on gambling charges after state officials raided four Christian County taverns. The Illinois Department of Revenue and state attorney general's office on Friday identified those arrested as: Jinnie Etheridge, 25, Ramona "Mona" Foreman, 50, and David "Walt" Wingler, 53.