Fifty-eight years ago today, on August 13, 1951, the Kingston police ‘Two-Two’ squad raided several gambling dens, clubs and brothels. At 63 Luke Lane, eight persons are arrested; seven face the charge of common gambling in a house and another for having peakapeow tickets.

Jamaica’s Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act is being amended in order to enable the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission to regulate the gaming sector more effectively, as well as to better protect stakeholders and consumers. Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw, recently tabled a Bill to amend the Act in the House [...]

At a town hall meeting at the Montego Bay Civic Centre yesterday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding stated that the debate in Parliament on the casino gambling legislation will begin next month. “We spent a long time working on the draft, probably longer than we had hoped, but on Tuesday, Audley Shaw, the finance minister gave [...]

Just over a year since Prime Minister Bruce Golding announced that legislation to introduce casino gambling will be brought to Jamaica’s Parliament within months, this is still to happen, and now questions are being raised about one of the two expected investors. Celebration Jamaica, which reportedly had plans to develop a 65-acre property in Rose [...]

A bit of gambling (lottery) history for you. On May 8, 1972 (37 years ago), then Prime Minister Michael Manley announced in the House of Representatives, that Jamaica’s national lottery (which had been in operation for more than three years), is to be abolished. He said the lottery had “adverse effects upon the youths of [...]

Today’s Jamaica Observer newspaper features a casino editorial which speaks about ‘Preparing Jamaica for casino gambling’. An excerpt: “There is no doubt in our minds that as the Government contemplates plugging the deep hole in the budget, the introduction of casino gaming will become an increasingly attractive option. We, for our part, don’t pretend to [...]

A proposal by the Government and tourism interests to give all Jamaicans access to the large-scale casino gambling that is to be introduced in western Jamaica soon, has been blasted by University of the West Indies (UWI) academics who said the decision was not informed by the best interests of the country. The heated difference [...]

How’s this for a bit of the history of gambling in Jamaica. On March 20, 1944, Phillip Wong of a Duke Street address in Kingston, pleaded guilty in court to a breach of the Gambling Law (namely – selling peaka pow tickets). He was fined £20 or three months in prison. Wong was arrested during [...]

A critical step in the process of establishing casino gaming in Jamaica was taken yesterday with the tabling of a ministry paper (Ministry Paper number 3/2009) on the proposed gambling legislation in Parliament. This newly tabled ministry paper has introduced the basis for the gambling legislation – the new Casino Gaming Act – with provisions [...]

Dennis Constanzo, president of local developers, Palmyra Resort and Spa, is reportedly frustrated by delays in receiving his resort’s casino license. Prime Minister Bruce Golding had announced the award of licenses to Palmyra and Harmonisation Limited and the Palmyra earlier this year. Palmyra’s development is set to become the island’s first casino hotel, and will [...]