Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Nevada was the center of the online gaming world last week. Wynn Resorts announced that it had reached an agreement with the online gaming site, PokerStars, to offer internet poker if the activity is legalized in the United States. A bill that would legalize intrastate online poker was considered in Carson City, and Caesars’ deal with 888.com was approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The islands of Matsu is considering holding a referendum that would permit casinos to be built on the islands, very close to the Chinese mainland. Kinmen Island, also near the mainland, is also considering a casino vote.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The deal to develop and brand a Shangri-La hotel at the Cotai site owned by Las Vegas Sands is over by mutual agreement. Parcels 5 and 6 are under construction and the company insists they will open by the end of the year, albeit in a phased manner.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Australia’s Tabcorp is on track for a demerger of its casino business from the rest of its gaming and wagering activities. If all goes as planned, a new company called Echo Entertainment Group Ltd will be operating the four formerly Tabcorp casinos, including Jupiters on the Gold Coast, by this coming summer.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
One of the biggest public projects in the world will now get started because a consortium of banks have agreed to begin funding a bridge that will connect Macau with Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Zhuhai. The Macau terminus at left.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The European Union is finally getting serious about finding an answer to the online gaming question. As more E.U. member states devise their own unique legislation to govern the sector, and more challenges end up in the European Court, the move is being welcomed but warily by the industry.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
There are some 70 proposals for casinos sitting inside closed file drawers in Ireland. One such that has come to light involves a €300 million investment in Dublin at Spencer Dock, where the Irish Convention Center is located (l.). A potential hiccup: the company that proposed the plan has almost a billion euro in bad debts with the government’s bailout agency.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The highly anticipated racino at the Aqueduct racetrack, Resorts World operated by Genting New York, will open months later than first planned, but with 900 more video lottery machines.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Las Vegas gaming company Gaughan Gaming, led by gaming legend Michael Gaughan (l.), is suing the Tonkawa Indians of Oklahoma for cancelling its contract to operate the tribe’s two casinos last year.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Questions about the company’s actions in light of the firing of Sands China CEO Steve Jacobs last year have impacted the share price. Is it low enough to buy now?
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Leisure & Resorts World Corporation is raising about $70 million to invest in its project at Entertainment City, the integrated resort development on the shores of Manila Bay (parcel at right, adjacent to the Mall of Asia), and will open negotiations with Hard Rock for branding purposes.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Stephen Young (l.), the U.S. Consul for Hong Kong and Macau, expresses the frustration of American companies operating in Macau about the difficulties with hiring foreign workers to build and operate their casino complexes there.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The approval of the first casino in the Philippine resort island of Boracay has raised the possibility that there will be more, all administered by PAGCOR. La Carmela de Boracay (l.) is one of the resorts that has applied for a casino.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
James Packer believes that success for his company’s City of Dreams in Macau is just a matter of time. He also includes brand-recognition among his criteria for that success.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Before the two integrated resorts opened, Singaporeans had two choices for reasonably local, legal casino gaming. They could either make the long journey to Genting Highlands, or they could take a ferry to one of several casino ships operating in international waters. Some still prefer the latter.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
One of Europe’s most steadfast proponents of the strict monopoly model of gaming has signaled a u-turn. The Netherlands is embarking on a course that will create a competitive market for all forms of legal gaming and establish an online gaming sector.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Jersey is the last of the U.K. Channel Islands to become an online gaming center. With more European countries enacting their own licensing regimes, the island hopes to attract businesses with its unique tax advantage.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
As Singapore uses its casino-based integrated resorts to attract record numbers of international visitors, James Packer (l.) is trying to get Australia to make a move in the same direction. Some in the government appear to be coming around to the concept.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
When laws hurt tourism, government coffers suffer. That reality is currently being addressed by Chile, in the cruise ship sector, with a bill that would allow ships to operate their casinos inside national waters.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A former longtime city planner says the sprawling hotel-casino complex will overwhelm Vancouver. Nathan Edelson also says the resort company is too politically connected.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The OLG Slot parlor has a new program to help problem gamblers that cuts down the stigma many gamblers feel.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Poker would be defined as a game of skill, not chance, to be exempted from current Hawaii law banning all forms of gambling. Video poker and other games played on a computer or in a casino would not be allowed.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
California Republican Congressman John Campbell has vowed that the online gaming bill that he and Democrat Barney Frank (l.) have introduced will get a hearing in committee.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Although a bipartisan group of Iowa state senators recently advanced an online poker bill, it was abruptly removed from the House Ways and Means Committee's list of bills scheduled for a vote. The bill would create an online poker hub through which state-regulated casinos could offer poker games.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
There is no identifiable pattern in how different countries are handling the ever more pressing issue of online gaming. Some, like the United States, seem on the verge of opening the online floodgates. Others, like China, are fighting any kind of gaming except at specific enclaves.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Two bills in the Illinois House would affect gaming. One would allow slot machines at the state’s racetracks. The other would allow casinos to set aside designated smoking rooms. The town of Arlington Park is divided about whether it wants a casino at its racetrack (l.).
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The bill introduced by Pete Schwartzkopf (l.), the Delaware House speaker, would create two new casinos in the state, but it went down in a 6-5 vote of the House gaming committee. He’s planning to get a full vote in the House somehow.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The second of Kansas’s four state-owned casinos reached an important milestone last week when the topmost girder was placed at the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, a ceremony called a topping off.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A recruitment campaign for the Revel casino in Atlantic City began last week, which looks to hire entry level to senior management positions. Also, Revel strikes a deal with three unions, while Local 54 sues to stop the casino’s tax break.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The Indiana Gaming Commission has granted a license to Full House Resorts. The company will acquire the Grand Victoria Casino & Resort for $51 million.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Landry’s Inc. will assume ownership of Trump Marina and keep a majority of the employees, although they will technically be fired and rehired.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The Maryland legislature has added Frederick County to the list of possible new areas in which to legalize slot parlors, in a proposal that would compete for customers now going to West Virginia.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Greenetrack bingo casino, which closed along with other commercial casinos after raids last year, has introduced new computerized games—and it says they’re legal.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Pennsylvania could overtake New Jersey as the largest gaming market on the East Coast, though Atlantic City still retains the competitive edge as a destination resort.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Sometimes you have to sing to make your point, something that Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick did last week to emphasize that his position has not changed on gaming legislation for the Bay State.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Who owns unclaimed casino vouchers? There are three answers, depending on who’s talking: the casino, the player or the state. A Nevada lawmaker is lobbying for the third choice.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The Iowa House of Representatives has officially received Governor Terry Branstad’s (l.) proposed gaming tax increase bill, which would raise taxes on the state's casinos from 22 percent 24 percent to a flat 36 percent. The tax hike would help pay for deep corporate tax cuts.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Governor Chris Christie’s bill to deregulate New Jersey casinos, which was signed into law in February, has resulted in some accounting concerns, particularly which agency will report the gaming figures the state compiles each month.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A recent study indicated raising taxes on Mississippi casinos would risk jobs and reduce investment in the state. The study was commissioned by the Gulf Coast Business Council last November to help determine if gaming revenues could help lower the state's budget deficit.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
An Iowa state senator introduced an amendment that would extend the state’s workplace smoking ban to its 18 state-licensed casinos. Iowa state Senator Matt McCoy said the bill would end the “double standard” that has allowed casinos to remain exempt from Iowa's Clean Air Act.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Gaming analyst Justin Sebastiano told investors gaming bills recently introduced in the Texas legislature are not likely to become law. The various proposals call for constitutional amendments, which require a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the State Senate plus a statewide referendum.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
“Kiss and make up because we need the jobs” unions in Columbus. Ohio, are, in effect, urging the city of Columbus and Penn National Gaming. Also last week, Governor John Kasich (l.) pulled a $2.5 million payment to Penn to help clean up its Columbus site.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
In a dispute over a bill, the utility company that supplies Resorts Atlantic City shut down cooling and heating services for two hours. The dispute stems from the buy-out settlement between current owner Dennis Gomes and former owner RAC Atlantic City Holdings LLC. The case is set to go to court on April 1.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Some tavern owners want to redefine the term, saying a too-loose definition has enabled some venues to get around the regulations.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency cancelled its March meeting, deferring a vote on the long-delayed Boulder Bay project until next month.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
South Dakota passed a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and casinos last November. Since then, video gambling machine income has dropped 16.6 percent.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Mark Hackel, executive of Macomb County, Michigan, said a new, privately owned marina-casino at Lake St. Clair could significantly impact the regional economy. Michigan voters would have to approve the project.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A threat by Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to shut down the state’s tribal casinos has been quashed now that the National Indian Gaming Commission has spoken. So the Wind Creek (l.) casino in Atmore will remain open.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
The Bay Mills tribe said it can build casinos anywhere it wants on tribal lands, including its soon-to-be-expanded casino in Vanderbilt, Michigan. The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the state of Michigan disagree and sued the Bay Mills tribe in federal court.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A group of tribes are working together to try to get legislation passed that would “fix” the problems created by a Supreme Court decision that limits the ability of tribes to take land into trust.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
South Florida Tea Partiers join Indians in their opposition to Las Vegas-style casinos. Conservative activists say the proposed mega-resorts would come at a high cost.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Robert Odawi Porter, the new president of the New York State Indian nation says he realizes the tribe can no longer rely on gaming or tobacco sales as business mainstays.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Due to “outstanding visitation,” Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan, plans to hire more employees. The casino hired 700 when it opened one month ago.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Senior marketing VP’s resignation follows installation of new COO. The situation parallels one at Foxwoods, where marketing chief Robert Victoria just resigned.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Michael Puggi, a 30-year veteran of the gaming industry, has been offered the chief executive officer position by Greektown Superholdings, Inc., following a far-reaching national search. The Michigan Gaming Control Board and the city of Detroit must approve the offer.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Carl Pollard will retire this summer as chairman of the board at Churchill Downs, Inc., with CEO Bob Evans adding the chairman title.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee promoted Laurette Pettibone to assistant general manager of Marketing and Hospitality. Winslow Mexico was promoted to assistant general manager of Gaming Operations.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
Reality show catches MGM Grand boss in an uncomfortable position.
Sat, Mar 26, 2011
A comment by casino mogul Donald Trump about the Panama Canal caused him to be declared persona non grata by Panama City officials, and subsequently caused bonds to be downgraded for his Trump Tower project there.
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