The sharp suits and American accents did not work. Instead of being ushered into the gaming lounge of the Gala casino in Piccadilly, the businessmen were given application forms to fill in. When they finished, they rubbed their hands at the prospect of the roulette wheel, only to be told that they would be unable to play in the next 24 hours.

Gala is one of the leading gaming operators in the UK but it cannot bend the rules: you have to be a member (or the guest of one) to bet in a British casino. The 1968 Gaming Act, which governs the industry, is full of such oddities that are regarded as an impediment to free market. Casino owners believe that, if they did away with membership, for example, their tables would be heaving with people.

The government has responded by proposing a new Gaming Bill. It will modernise all legislation governing gambling in Great Britain. The changes will affect all forms of gambling, from bingo to rapidly burgeoning online betting, bookmakers, and the high-rolling tables of London?s West End.

?When gambling technology is developing so quickly, simply maintaining the status quo is not an option. Reform is vital if we are to continue to keep out crime and protect the vulnerable, particularly children,? said Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport.

Nice spin but the steamrolling of the new law is mostly motivated by the Treasury?s insatiable appetite for a slice of the gambling action. The gambling sector is worth Rs 400 billion and contributes Rs 25 billion annually to the Exchequer.

Deregulation would allow this most profitable corner of the leisure industry to inflate swiftly, pouring more money into government coffers. Changing the country?s gambling laws may boost Britain?s annual gambling revenue to Rs 60 billion, Lehman Brothers analysts estimate. The industry is expected to grow by as much as Rs 50 billion each year.

The big names in global gaming are already circling over Britain. MGM Mirage, the third biggest US casino company, bid Rs 15 billion for Wembley Plc last week. The aim is to lay hands on Wembley?s dog tracks in London, Birmingham and Manchester, sites the company may expand into casinos when the UK relaxes gambling regulations. Several US multinationals have already signed deals to build entertainment complexes in towns such as Newcastle, Sheffield, Northampton and Blackpool.

Reform happens to suit an alliance of interests: the casinos will fill up as deregulation will relax membership rules and allow punters to bet around the clock; the government will cash in while using gambling as an instrument of economic regeneration in decaying beach resorts such as Blackpool.

Not that the state has much choice about reforms: new technologies and market forces require Britain to update its gambling laws or see gamblers, their tax revenues and regulatory protection float offshore. ?Gambling is getting away from us. Online gambling, particularly when offshore, is uncontrollable, unless we can bring it back onshore and regulate and tax it,? said Lord McIntosh, nicknamed ?the gambling minister?.

Thinking the new Ga-ming Bill is a perfect solution would be wearing thick rose-tinted glasses. Critics argue the reforms are far too free-market. Last week, a parliamentary committee vindicated them by putting the squeeze on the most liberal proposals. It urged the government to limit the number of highly lucrative slot machines allowed in any one casino. A cap of 1,000 machi-nes - some of which can generate up to Rs 2 m a year in profits - has been suggested for Las Vegas style ?resort casinos?. Progressive games linking games on a casino floor or between casinos will be barred.

This report has slowed down the looming invasion from US gambling conglomerates. The committee has made clear that the reforms do not equal ?a licence to print money? and that the industry should provide a counterbalance to the deregulated regime by being more responsible.

Mark Griffiths, professor of gambling studies at Not-tingham Trent University, has warned that the bill could lead to a threefold increase in the number of ?problem? gamblers in the UK, to around one million. However, Gamcare, a charity involved in the social impact of gambling, believes the bill should go ahead.

Peter Cox, its executive director, said: ?Whilst the indications are that more people could run into problems because of increased gambling opportunities, the bill should go forward. If not, the current enthusiasm for financial aid to support services like ours will lessen while less well regulated future gambling opportunities might prosper?. And what does the great British public think of it all? A NOP survey for the government revealed lotteries and bingo are the only forms of gambling regarded favourably. It asked for attitudes towards gambling - a pastime enjoyed by two-thirds of people in Britain last year. Fruit machines, Internet gambling and betting exchanges received the most negative response. By and large, people do not want gambling control to be eased.

Another poll for the Salvation Army showed 93% of Britons believed there were enough gambling opportunities in the UK. Their big fear is the transformation of some cities into replicas of Las Vegas: sleazy gambling havens where crime would rule while people lose the family home at poker. Then again, the antiquated laws are not as strict as some say.

Earlier, the American businessmen had found it so easy to have a flutter on the Grand National. They had barely set foot in Britain when they saw a Ladbrokes betting shop next to the Heathrow Express platform at Paddington Station. They walked in and placed a bet, no questions asked. Such a shop would be unthinkably illegal on Union Station in Washington, Gare du Nord in Paris or even Sydney Central. All these countries operate various degrees of dour governmental betting monopolies.

The die has been cast. The Gaming Bill is here to stay. The government might be gambling with voters? feelings but it is sure to hit the jackpot as Britain turns into a betting haven.

<B>by Ryan Coopamah</B> <I>Outlook correspondent in London E-mail: [email protected]</I>