Getting the bingo hall back again? Gambling law reform, economic regeneration and the gendered limits of "casino capitalism"

This article explores the gendered nature of gambling promotion as a modality of economic regeneration in the aftermath of the Gambling Act 2005. Using an exploratory case study of a district council licensing board, I examine how the gambling forms that reflect women?s gambling cultures are faring under the current legal environment, focusing on the apparent contrast between casino promotion and bingo neglect. I ask what this reveals about the intertwining of legal reform, gender, and perceptions of worthwhile risk-taking in attempts to promote local development. In particular I probe the discrepancy between the state?s legal regime (more restrictive of casinos than bingo halls) and local actors? regeneration ambitions (centred on casinos). In this way I examine what local legal actors ?see? as being legally and economically necessary or possible as they encounter a new legislative landscape around gambling.