The bid to open the UK's first super casino in the Millennium Dome is not a "done deal" and been confirmed, the head of the panel advising ministers about opening the venues said today. Stephen Crow, chairman of the Casino Advisory Panel (CAP), said that despite reports to the contrary, no decision had yet been made about the site.

He was speaking after it emerged at the beginning of last month that the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, had stayed at the ranch of Philip Anschutz, whose Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) bought the dome in 2002 and wants to open the first of the new casinos there.

"Is Greenwich a done deal for the regional casino? The answer to that question is no. I do not know how I can spell it out. It is no we have made no such decision. "In fact, we have made no decision at all until we have considered everything, including those proceedings, over the rest of the week and those next week, and any other questions we think to ask afterwards."

The public hearing into the merits of the bid is the first of a series discussing the venues that have been shortlisted as potential sites for super casinos. Hearings will be held in Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester and Blackpool over the next fortnight.