The Atlantic Lottery Corp. hope to get in on bringing the popular lottery game to North American players, the report explained.

Geosweep is considered a game that would attract what’s described as the “Facebook” generation, younger players familiar with technology and social media, the CBC news reported.

The increase was thanks in part to Grand Falls Casino Resort which opened last month and enjoyed a healthy start, the report said.

Iowa experienced some tough times in the recent economic recession and casino executives expressed alarm at Gov. Terry Branstad’s proposed 50 percent hike in casino taxes, which has, as yet, not been approved, the DesMoines Register said.

Itechsoft Game, the owner of the online poker site, signed the agreement this week, which will enable to it to expand its offering with a free-play sports betting product, positioning it for further developments in the French market. Launch of the new product could be achieved before the end of April, a company spokesman revealed.

France Pari will additionally assist Itechsoft in its preparations to achieve licensing status in the liberated market from the French regulator, Arjel (Autorite De Regulation Des Jeux En Ligne).

The deal is the first in moves to expand the activities of France Pari, says chief executive Herve Schlosser, pointing out that this sort of activity enables it to participate in the business-to-business market in addition to its existing business-to-consumer action, thus increasing overall profitability.

France Pari gets around the current constraints of French law by offering a free-to-play service in which players are offered virtual tokens that can be used to bet on a variety of sports for the chance to win prizes. The firm, which has been active for the past two years, recently signed a two and a half year sponsorship deal with soccer club RC Lens.

To celebrate, the US-friendly site is giving two players the chance to win their seat to the event on November 6 and 13 from ten o’clock in the evening New York time alongside a two-week free trial.

The Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night will take place at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles benefiting The Decision Education Foundation and will feature a top prize of a seat to play in one of the most exclusive televised tournaments on the poker circuit, the 2010 World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational scheduled for February 20 and 21.

In addition, the top ten finishers at the land-based event will receive prizes courtesy World Series Of Poker Academy, Rockwell Time, Crown Royal, Commerce Casino, Team UltimateBet, Cartwright Entertainment, AMA Supercross Anaheim and Hardcore Elegance.

Additional prizes will be awarded for the ‘last woman standing’ and ‘out on the bubble’ alongside the competitor with ‘cracked aces’. Bounty prizes will be awarded to players eliminating selected poker pros and celebrities while one lucky winner will receive a complimentary annual membership to ClubWPT.com, which awards over $100,000 in cash and prizes each month.

The law, which legalized video poker at bars and veterans halls to help raise money for statewide construction projects, would allow the machines to be placed at trucking facilities under certain conditions.

The games could bring in a windfall of cash for cities such as Effingham, Mount Vernon and Troy, all of which have a high concentration of truck stops because they are at the crossroads of major interstate highways.

But the new law is causing confusion.

Some, such as Mount Vernon Mayor Mary Jane Chesley, believe it only applies to truck stops that serve alcohol.

The new law states that it applies to all truck stops that are at least three acres, have a convenience store and offer a separate island for fueling diesel trucks.

In cities with truck stops, having a grasp on exactly what the law allows could mean the difference between a windfall of cash from the machines or nothing. Although the bulk of the money from taxing video gambling will go to the state construction program, local communities also receive a cut of the profits.

In Effingham, Mayor John Lange said there’s been no discussion specifically related to having legalized gambling at the truck stops in his community, located at the busy crossroads of interstates 57 and 70. But he acknowledged that he and his staff have talked about the financial benefit of having the machines in town, especially during an economic downturn.

“We look at it in a more positive way, as far as the revenue they would bring in,” Lange said.

Truck-stop companies also are reviewing the new law.

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores has five locations in Illinois: Williamsville, Ina, Utica, Roscoe and LeRoy. In a company statement, Love’s spokeswoman Christina Dukeman said, “If there are new laws regarding video gambling in Illinois, Love’s will determine interest level, if any, in offering that option at those locations and will conduct any research and applicable licensing requirements at that time.”

The Dixie Travel Plaza in McLean, which serves truckers hauling up and down I-55, is among scores of truck stops that already offer the machines as entertainment for their customers.

Dixie Manager Tina Kletz, however, said she’s just now researching the law to see how it might affect her business.

“It could mean added revenue,” Kletz said.

Officials at the Illinois Municipal League, which lobbies state lawmakers on behalf of cities and towns, say the placement of gambling terminals in truck stops is not clear under the law.

“It raises questions that will have to be addressed,” Municipal League counsel Roger Huebner said.

Those questions could be addressed by the Illinois Gaming Board, which has said it could take a year to set up a system to monitor video gambling.

In the meantime, local governments are scrambling to decide whether to allow the machines within their borders.

Already, a handful of local officials have banned video gambling in areas they control. The largest thus far is DuPage County, in the western suburbs of Chicago.

In Mount Vernon, the city council has not yet taken up the issue. The mayor, however, said it is something that will be discussed.

“We’re looking into it,” Chesley said.

Huebner said he expects the gaming board and legislature to clarify the law before truck stops begin legally offering payouts on the games.

He lost his good-paying job as a truck driver, his small farm in Derry and faced financial ruin as he and wife were left homeless for periods, sleeping at times in their car at highway rest areas.

“I’m a walking, talking example of the need for serious health care reform,” said Pelletier, who now lives with his wife in a Hampton motel.

Dover resident Melissa Cortes said every day is choice of “robbing Peter to pay Paul” as she, her husband, and two children struggle with health care choices that cost between $2,000 to $3,000 each month. Both have had to confront serious medical problems during the past few years that required paying for surgery, medication, office visits and blood tests out of their own pockets. Though they both work, Cortes said neither the restaurant where her husband works full-time nor the grocery store where she works part-time offer health insurance coverage.

“He has major medical coverage, but that’s all they offer,” she said. “Thank God the children have Healthy Kids (a state program providing health care coverage for children) because otherwise we would be in worse shape. As it is now, we live paycheck to paycheck.”

When President Barack Obama visited Portsmouth High School Aug. 11 to hold a town hall-style meeting on health insurance reform, he emphasized, as he does in most appearances, the need to control medical costs and drive down insurance premium prices while broadening access to cover the estimated 46 million to 48 million Americans without health insurance.

“Right now, we have a system that works well for the insurance industry, but that doesn’t always work well for you,” Obama said in his radio address recently. “What we need, and what we will have when we pass health insurance reform, are consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and that insurance companies are held accountable.”

In the midst of a fierce public debate, Obama is trying to rally necessary public support among the majority of Americans who have insurance and who are concerned about what reform may mean for them. He warns that the current health care system will eventually bankrupt the country and more people will lose insurance coverage as companies find it cost-prohibitive to offer coverage as a benefit.

According to one recent study, only 48 percent of small businesses in New Hampshire offer health insurance and more than three-quarters of those are finding it difficult to afford rising premium costs.

Pelletier, 55, and Cortes, 26, are among the 11 percent of New Hampshire residents who do not have health insurance, some by choice, but most not. According to Pelletier, he gave up his company-sponsored coverage because the premiums had reached a breaking point.

“We couldn’t afford to pay premiums and live any type of life,” said Pelletier, whose health is on the rebound (he recently stopped smoking and received help from a local health clinic, Families First, that works with uninsured). He said he had done it more than once, but believed his family could handle a crisis.

“I knew it was important to have, and we were raising seven children,” Pelletier said. “But even when I was working, it was not necessarily affordable, and we watched every dollar and cent.

“We dropped it (coverage) three to four times and we played Russian roulette,” he said.

Cortes said it has been impossible to find affordable insurance coverage, but her family has had to pay for costly procedures such as her husband’s hernia operation and treatment for her hyperthyroid condition.

“I think there’s something wrong with the system we have,” said Cortes, whose father died of cancer.

He was diagnosed late, got very sick and lost his job and health care coverage after he became too ill to work. Cortes said when he died, her mother was left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from medical bills.

“We give billions in bailouts to rich bankers and corporations, but we can’t provide health care coverage to middle class people who work hard?” she said.

Cortes said she sympathizes with the tens of thousands of American families who face bankruptcy because of medical bills, but is optimistic her family will be able to make it.

“I would ask President Obama what he would do to lower premium costs for everyone?” she said.

Pelletier said he would tell the president to do everything he could to make sure reform happens and includes meaningful proposals like an increase in primary care physicians.

“I support the president, but this isn’t just for me; it’s for all the others like my daughter and son-in-law who work, but can’t afford coverage,” Pelletier said. “What we have is big money interests who are interested in profits. They don’t care whether we can afford coverage or if we get sick.”