IN all families there are rivalries and jealousies and the sister industries of coin-op and casino are no exception.

MANY thanks to all those who have sent their best wishes, emails and texts. This month I had two deadlines - one to produce the magazine you have before you and the other at the hospital to be induced to give birth to my first child. Unfortunately, the two were uncomfortably close. Now as I type these words 8.5lbs of gorgeous baby boy is sharing lap space with my computer. Joseph arrived during the Preview show and is the reason I was unable to attend that exhibition, or the ones in Rome and Prague last month.

THE new UK Gaming Act comes into effect from the first of this month but what will it really mean for the industry?

News that the EFTA has criticised the Norwegian government for its lottery and sports betting monopoly has brought back memories this month. Norway once had a thriving AWP market and a small show held around the Hotel Bristol in Oslo. The Norwegian situation was one of my first experiences of how the AWP sector can suffer in just a matter of months from the vagaries of legislation.

Smoking is under attack from all sides, with national smoking bans in public places popping up all over Europe. This summer England and France will be the latest to ban smoking in public places. Where do you stand on this issue? Is it a blow to the freedom of the individual to smoke, or a victory for the majority not to have to breathe in the smoke of the individual?

Does this industry target the poor and underprivileged, or is this demographic simply more interested in playing our games? Swedish state-owned operator Svenska Spel was last month accused of exploiting the poor following a survey that was commissioned by a Moderate member of parliament called Tomas Tobe.

The European Court of Justice ruled on the Placanica case last month involving the Italian state monopoly and Stanley International Betting and has found in favour of the private sector.

Success at last for the organisers of the ATEI and the IMA shows. Of course, not everyone will agree with me but as a magazine editor, I should know that it is impossible to please everybody all of the time!

A new era for ATEI and for the industry as a whole. Many column inches have been devoted to the changes planned for this year’s show and what they could mean. Speculation is now over, stands are up and visitors thronging the aisles. Is it a great success or not?

The European Parliament and the laws it comes up with are often rightly mocked within the pages of our national press. Only cheese from Greece has the right to be named Feta, andbananas must have the right kind of curve. It’s easy to laugh at the edicts coming from Brussels until they have a direct effect on your own livelihood and then the joke is not so funny.