The Government of New South Wales in Australia has announced a series of measures to be taken in response to the growing number of critics that claim the lack of support received by the racing industry during the equine flu crisis.

Among the measures to be taken, the Government has announced that it will provide 7.5 million dollars of direct assistance. Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said: “this assistance package will help alleviate some of the damage caused by the horse flu outbreak while also investing in the long term future of racing in NSW”.

Margaret Shearer, a regular bingo player from Glasgow, was the lucky winner of a £1 million Bingo Jackpot during a lunchtime bingo game held at the Mecca Bingo Club in Glasgow. Margaret, who was playing with her mother and regular bingo partner, lost her job at the McVitie’s factory only three weeks ago.

“It’s such an enormous amount that it’s difficult to grasp what it really means”, Margaret said. “I experienced hot flushes just before I started playing the bingo session, which I took as a sign that something was going to happen!” What happened was a life-changing prize that came a few weeks after laws were changed to allow such big prizes in bingo clubs.

Gateshead, a town located in North-East England on the southern bank of the River Tyne has been designated as the luckiest bingo town in the past year.

The last proof of this gambling magic attributed to the city comes with the story of a woman who won the incredible prize of £50,000 at the National bingo game. She won this amazing prize playing at her local Gala Bingo Club in the Metro Center of which she has been a member for the past 15 years.

The British gambling industry agreed on new restrictions on gambling promos. Children football shirts –replicating those wore by famous players- radio and TV broadcasted advertisements will be the most affected. The restrictions are aimed to protect children.

Children shirts will not include logos or any branding that is gambling related. The decision is not beneficial for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Blackburn or Sunderland; all of which have signed shirt-sponsorship lucrative deals with online gambling companies.

Challenge’s popular TV show is definitely one of the hits of the season. The name of the show is “Cash Cab” and the main star is a taxicab where people are surprised by the driver/host and offered the possibility to make some money answering questions. The cab travels around the major cities of the United Kingdom.

The show was created by British producer Adam Wood and is based on a regular looking taxi cab on the outside with the surprise that once people tell the driver their destination, colored lights flash across the taxi's ceiling and driver/host John Moody tells them that they're on a game show.

As an original attempt to attract people to bingo, a UK bingo hall company has announced that they will organize a photo contest that will integrate all their venues in a very unique tournament.

The organizers of the tournament have said that in order to be admitted, the pictures should have a summery spirit and that the best pictures will be awarded with a 50 euros prize.

A project to install Keno machines at the T.F. Green Airport in the city of Warnick, Rhode Island, is now under study. The plan has raised a big controversy on whether or not airports are suitable to have this kind of games.

The project was developed by the Rhode Island Lottery, arguing that putting keno machines in the airport’s shops and restaurants will help to increase gambling revenue collected by the state. However, the directors of the airport have not yet decided if they will finally accept the idea.

The Brazilian national soccer team has found an original way to relax between America Cup games. Americo Faria, one of the team’s supervisors, organizes bingo games for the group, which allows them to release some pressure and have fun while having the chance to win interesting prizes.

Bingo cards are green, yellow, red and blue and numbers are marked with black pens. Mr. Faria is in charge of giving the cards to the players and calling the bingo numbers. This quite uncommon bingo game has become a ritual for Brazilian players who reunite every night around a table to play.

Following the introduction of the smoking ban in the UK, NetPlay TV announced this week that it will launch a live, interactive bingo TV game. The game is aimed to smokers who might want to stay at home and play and save themselves a trip to smoke-free bingo halls.

The show, called Big Box Bingo, will air once a week on Tuesday evenings and will consist of six bingo games per night. Bingo cards will cost £1.50 and players will be able to purchase them via mail, newspaper inserts and online. By getting a full house in 35 balls or less, players will win a house jackpot of £100,000.

Members of the bingo industry have called bingo fans to save Irish clubs, which have been severely affected by the smoking ban. The plea to save bingo halls was launched at Holyrood and it included the consequences of the new Gambling Act and the Vat and gambling taxes imposed on the activities of bingo operators.

Besides, the most important bingo operators in Ireland have addressed the petitions committee and urged MSPs to request the Executive a discussion of their case with Westminster. They want the tax on bingo clubs to be brought into line with the rest of the gaming industry.