Britain's minister in charge of modernising 40-year-old casino laws rebuffed accusations that the planned reforms are biased against British operators.
Minister for Gambling Regulation Andrew McIntosh also signalled the government might be flexible on controversial new caps on casino expansion.
The draft gambling bill, which would regulate internet gambling and allow new Las Vegas-style super-casinos, has angered newspaper commentators, anti-addiction campaigners and casino operators alike. Current laws limit gambling to small, members-only clubs.
Industry critics argue the playing field has been tilted in favour of foreign corporations, which at one time had $5 billion earmarked for investing in UK casinos.
"I insist there has been no discrimination against the British casino industry," McIntosh told Reuters.
Waning industry support turned to outright hostility in December when the government announced stringent new caps on their expansion plans - wiping over £300 million off their combined market value in just a few hours.
Worst hit was London Clubs International, which saw its shares dive by over 25 per cent after the government announced plans to cap the number of new casinos at 24 - eight new small casinos, eight large and eight regional super-casinos.
Critics say the caps on small and large casinos - dubbed the 888 rule by the industry - should be relaxed or scrapped.
"There's nothing magical about the number eight," said Mr McIntosh. "We'll listen carefully to everything they say, and we're considering a number of submissions from the British casino industry ... We'll argue our case with an open mind."
Another victim of the reforms was privately owned Gala, which this month was forced to scrap a joint casino venture with US operator Harrah's Entertainment as a result of the bill.
Mr McIntosh said small and large casinos were capped to prevent gambling addiction from spreading unchecked.
"Our predilection is for destination gambling," he said, referring to the regional super-casinos that gamblers would have to travel to. "We know it to be less dangerous from a problem gambling point of view."
He said that once the super-casinos had been capped, it had then become necessary to cap the small and large casinos to redress the balance.