Nevada’s gaming watchdogs are considering severing the business relationships between the state's casinos and operators of non-gambling sites.

When the two newest members of the Nevada Gaming Commission take their seats at the end of April, four of the five members will be attorneys.

Las Vegas-based Herbst Gaming announced this week it will be the first casino operator caught up in the current global economic crisis to be forced into a bankruptcy reorganization of its debt.

California gaming regulators have uncovered a blackjack card counting program that could turn the popular iPhone into a cheating device. Now the Nevada casino industry is on the lookout for gamblers using the device after being warned about the program by the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

The effectiveness of Nevada’s gaming regulatory process could be called into question if state lawmakers approve a 15 percent reduction in the agency’s operating budget that has been proposed by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has struck out in its bid to set aside a $58.6m judgment won by a Hong Kong businessman. The next step in the case, that has been weaving its way through the court system for more than four years, will be a date with the Nevada Supreme Court sometime in 2009.

The casino industry and the wider business community have long disagreed on how to subsidize Nevada's multi-billion-dollar biennial budget. Gaming leaders, whose casinos provide almost half of the state's general fund revenues, want non-gaming businesses to share the burden through a period of deep recession, either through an increase in the modified business tax or the implementation of a gross receipts tax.

A leading Macau casino operator has announced plans to offer in-flight gambling to its high rolling guests as they travel in private luxury from Hong Kong to Las Vegas. While the move has so far not encountered any regulatory objections, it raises unusual questions about tax, safety and sky-high jurisdiction.