acau casino mogul and billionaire Stanley Ho bid a staggering $330,000 for a giant white truffle at auction Saturday, beating the offers of U. K. -based artist Damien Hirst and Sheik Mansoor Bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. The truffle, weighing 1. 5 kilograms, is now considered the world's biggest besting the 1. 29-kg truffle found in Croatia in 1999, which holds the Guinness World Record.

Banned from his local casino for allegedly swearing and shouting too loud, a Romanian went on hunger strike for three days in protest. Ioan Seutiut, 49, sat down on a chair in front of the casino in Deva, Hunedoara county, with a note reading: "Roulette hunger strike," saying he will not eat or accept medical attention until he is allowed to play roulette in the casino again.

Chicago City Colleges will train students for jobs in the casino industry if the plan to introduce casinos in the state gets approved. Chancellor Wayne Watson made the announcement after Alderman Tom Tunney (44th), owner of Ann Sather's Restaurants, suggested offering casino training if the casino plan gets Legislative approval.

A 60-year-old slot machine player at Caesars Indiana casino complained that he sat in a chair soaked with urine. Floyd Kibiloski of Fern Creek, Kentucky recounted his experience with the Indiana Gaming Commission saying that a woman who had just exited urinated in a chair at the southern Indiana casino.

A slot machine installed at a video lottery terminal at Twin River casino in Rhode Island was a dream come true for gamblers. It gave out twice the amount of money as they had inserted. The malfunctioning machine, supplied by the company Gtech, paid out a whooping $450,115 during two months since its installation in May. A faulty feature allowed patrons to get credit for double the amount of money they put in, with a maximum of a $100 credit for a $50 bill.