Sat, Nov 19, 2011
After years of debate and consideration, a gaming expansion bill that would authorize three casino resorts and one slot parlor in Massachusetts is heading to Governor Deval Patrick’s desk. Now the race begins to see who can land the licenses.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
As Florida ponders a big dive into big gaming, pundits ask if the Sunshine State—home to seven Seminole casinos and a number of parimutuels—can handle the upgrade. But some of the revenue estimates for the market vary so much, it’s hard to tell what is reality, and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado (l.) is reconsidering his early support of the Genting plan.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Two hearings in Congress last week presented contradictory information, further muddying the waters for lawmakers who are coming down to the wire to decide whether an online gaming bill will pass this year or wait until 2013 at the earliest. NIGA’s Ernie Stevens (l.) says tribes want to be included or they vow to stop any bill.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The world’s largest casino company, now privately held, announces plans for a $50 million IPO. The company cancelled plans last year for a $500 million IPO, so is the recent announcement just testing the waters?
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The recent presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan did nothing to alter the anti-casino movement there. If anything, allegations brought forth during the campaign only served to heighten the image of casinos as places of illegal activity.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
French billionaire Bernard Tapie (l.) finalized a deal with the Department of Justice to buy Full Tilt Poker, may return the deposits of its players and eventually to reopen one of online poker’s most successful sites.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The European Parliament recently adopted the report on online gaming prepared by Jurgen Creutzmann. The step paves the way for continued action on the subject at the European level. Oddly, associations representing both sides of the argument announced their pleasure with the adoption of the report, including the head of the European Casino Association, Ron Goudsmit (l.).
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has officially approved Hard Rock International for one of the two “boutique casino” licenses in Atlantic City. According to Hard Rock CEO Jim Allen (l.), the $465 million project expects to begin next summer and complete its first phase by 2014.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
What happens when gas prices go up? Customers stay closer to home and don’t go as often to casinos, compounding the problems casinos face during this economic dive.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
This week the Global Gaming Business Podcast features an interview with Don Marrandino, the president of the eastern division for Caesars Entertainment. For 20 years in Las Vegas, Marrandino concentrated on creating new revenue. Now he’s returned home to do the same in Atlantic City.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Genting’s Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore has relinquished its lead over rival Marina Bay Sands as the tightening of credit in Mainland China and the world economic crisis has a big impact on the property.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Bill Weidner (l.), Brad Stone and Garry Saunders have joined with Bloombury Hotels and Resorts Inc. to run the Solaire Manila integrated resort at PAGCOR’s Entertainment City. The property could open in early 2013.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Northern Marianas House has passed its latest casino bill, but the Senate has given no indication they are ready to follow suit, preferring instead a referendum on the issue.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Sri Lanka’s efforts to grow tourism and regulate its already existing casino industry are being criticized by some opposition politicians. A recent newspaper editorial raised the specter of increased prostitution the recently legalized casino industry will bring.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Australia’s two main operators of casino resorts have been putting a lot of money and effort into similar upgrades. The question of Crown Limited attempting to acquire newly spun-off rival Echo Entertainment, led by Larry Mullin (l.), appears to have entered the “not if but when” zone.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
New Zealand’s SkyCity Entertainment Group is off to a good start in FY 2012. The first four months were characterized by increases in revenue at a number of the operator’s properties, both in New Zealand and Australia.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
New York-based Carlton Group has teamed with MGM to become equity and debt capital advisers on the New Delhi MGM Grand. It is MGM’s first casino project in India.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Storm International has had its share of ups and downs in recent years. The company’s continuing operations will soon be joined by an online casino in Thailand, a land-based casino in the nation of Georgia and new slot halls in Germany.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Colombian gaming industry is getting a new regulatory agency come January. “Coljuegos” will replace the troubled “Etesa” in a reorganizational move that will put gaming under the ministry of finance rather than the ministry of health.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A popular duty-free shopping town in Uruguay has a new attraction for casino-starved Brazilians. The Rivera Casino & Resort might not be of Singapore magnitude, but its 18 tables and 130 slots are expected to pull additional visitors to the busy border town.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli (l.) announced last week that it would begin to accept applications for online gaming licenses. Gaming companies already licensed in Nevada have the inside track.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Groups that oppose gaming expansion in California are finding that they don’t have much clout anymore with the questions not being whether it will be expanded, but by how much.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Online gaming has attained a level of respectability that now allows it to be advertised on Facebook where legal. Either that, or the social networking site is tired of passing up all those advertising dollars. Facebook has more than 800 million active users—or 11.5 percent of the world’s population.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
U.K. gaming and betting operator Ladbrokes has agreed to use Microgaming software for its casino and poker operations in the newly opening online gaming markets of Spain and Denmark.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Caesars Entertainment is proposing a two-story casino in Baltimore near the city’s baseball and football stadiums with 3,750 slot machines, which would make it the second-largest casino in the state.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Although an attempt to pass a compromise gaming expansion bill that would meet the objections of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (l.) failed to get enough votes in the House, don’t expect the issue to go away. It could resurface as soon as November 29 when lawmakers return to work.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
An appellate court in Pennsylvania has upheld the Gaming Control Board’s December 2010 revocation of the gaming license of Foxwoods Philadelphia (original rendering at left).
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The first of the four casinos authorized by Ohio voters in 2009, the Hollywood Casino Toledo, could open as early as April of next year.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
New Jersey’s Casino Control Commission has approved a deal to keep open the financially troubled ACH casino, formerly known as the Atlantic City Hilton. The deal will generate $24.3 million in new funds, with money coming from owner Colony Capital and the lenders. The ACH will re-brand itself with a new name and focus its marketing strategy on local customers.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Voters in Shreveport-Bossier will decide if a $195 million project will float. Developers of the Margaritaville-themed casino and hotel, to be mounted on a barge along the Red River, claim it will expand the existing gaming market, while competitors argue it will erode a saturated market.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Prince Georges County, where Penn National wants slots approved, declined to vote on a bill that would have banned the machines, and is instead seeking a voter referendum.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Arkansas attorney general has approved a ballot request for a statewide vote on amending the state constitution to allow full-blown casinos.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas was honored last week by Fodor’s travel guide as one of the best hotels in the world. Ironically, the same week, the hotel’s third quarter revenue figures show it lost almost $60 million.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Strong bookings and positive forecasts have officials looking to jumpstart a long-deferred expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Maine legislators are tired of leaving the fate of gaming in the state to the voters and some want to pass a bill that would create a framework for developing casino in the future.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
As mentioned in the latest earnings report, Pinnacle completed the sale of its only Nevada property, Boomtown Hotel and Casino outside of Reno. Buyers are a small Nevada gaming company.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Governor John Lynch (l.) of New Hampshire has promised to veto any gaming expansion bill that comes out of the legislature, frustrating businesses that want to keep pace with surrounding states.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Western has been in business 41 years. All may not be lost; hotel’s owner, which also owns the Plaza and Las Vegas Club, is betting heavily on the Downtown renaissance.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A venerable racetrack in Northern California could end up closing or relocating, the victim of development.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Following the approval of sports betting in New Jersey, state legislators are pushing to make it a reality. State Senator Raymond Lesniak and Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (l.) each have put forth a bill that would force the federal government to reconsider the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. But will it be enough to pass in Congress?
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Phase I of an ambitious three-pronged renovation is under way at the small Royal House casino in Las Vegas. Total costs of the year-long project will exceed $100 million.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
John Palmieri (l.) , the new executive director of Atlantic City’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, has laid out his plans for the future of the agency, as the board negotiates the purchase of new office space from Trump Entertainment.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A vote of tribal council to oust Robert Odawi Porter (l.) as CEO was declared void, as what Porter calls a political power struggle within the New York tribe continues.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are in negotiations with Governor Beverly Perdue (l.) to expand their compact from solely video gaming to include live table games.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan has begun a $410 million expansion project of its Four Winds casino that will include a Hard Rock café.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A tribal casino begun four years ago in New Mexico remains unfinished although the Fort Sill Apache haven’t given up on opening it for business.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Joe Domenico, the general manager of both Bally's Atlantic City and the Showboat Casino Hotel, has parted ways with Caesars Entertainment. The 31-year casino veteran leaves a large hole in the management structure of Atlantic City’s top gaming giant.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Maryland Live! Casino has appointed Jody Madigan, a 10-year casino veteran, as the new chief financial officer.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Donna Brolick and Gerrard Cook have been hired to management positions at Pearl River Resort. They follow the October appointment of Bryce Warren as president and chief executive officer.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The former CFO for Resorts World New York takes the helm in South Florida as the company prepares to take over Miami.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Mike Sloan is named VP of government relations. It’s an interesting move by a company that has long waged war with the Culinary Union.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Foxwoods Resort Casino has named Jens Baake as the new vice president of food and beverage.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
nternational Game Technology has installed its sbX server-based gaming system at the Fantastic Casino Albrook in Panama.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Gaming Partners International Corporation has announced a special cash dividend of $0.1825 per share.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
TransAct Technologies’ Epic 950 printer has been chosen as the exclusive ticket-printer for slots at Genting’s Resorts World New York City.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A summary judgment by a California court has ruled in favor of Nanoptix, Inc. in a patent-infringement case filed against the company by rival thermal printing supplier FutureLogic.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Regulatory authorities in Slovenia have granted approval of Aristocrat’s new Viridian WS (wide-screen) format and all the games on the new platform; and the company has entered the Canadian VLT market in Alberta.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
The Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore has authorized Gaming Laboratories International to provide testing services for gaming machines and systems.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Bally Technologies announced an agreement with the Peermont Group to provide systems solutions at Peermont’s 14 properties in South Africa.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
Gaming Support’s “Bonus Box” slot machine prize cylinders, which allow casinos to choose and display slot prizes, are undergoing a field trial at Red Rock in Las Vegas.
Sat, Nov 19, 2011
A recent study has shown that compulsive gamblers focus on short-term gain rather than long-term reward. The finding could have implications in the steps that are taken to combat the malady.
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