Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The stalled Revel project gets funding and will resume construction, while Trump Marina is bought by Landry’s, which plans to transform the building into the Golden Nugget Atlantic City (l.), returning a beloved brand to the seaside gaming destination.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Mojito Pointe project of former Pinnacle executive Dan Lee (l.) and his group wins the 15th and final gaming license in Louisiana for a $400 million project in Lake Charles.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The recently published 189-page British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 provides enough information to support the arguments of both the pro-gaming and the anti-gaming crowd. The conclusion from the Gambling Commission is that yes, more people are gambling, and yes, there is a “small, but probably growing” number of problem gamblers.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The long-awaited Gun Lake Casino in Wayland, Michigan, opened early to accommodate the crowds. Some waited several hours to be the first to see the dazzling new $165 million casino, owned by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The time for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (l.) to either sign or veto a bill that legalizes online gaming inside of the state’s borders is rapidly running out, with little indication which way he’s leaning. But one thing is certain. He will take action one way or another.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
With an estimate of more than $600 million in tax revenues from four casinos each year, Ohio voters two years ago approved the facilities. Now, with fewer gaming seats envisioned for the actual properties, including the embattled Cincinnati Horseshoe (l.), the real number is much lower.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Despite the Penghu “no” vote on casinos in 2009, the Taiwan government has not given up on the idea of establishing an integrated resort in one of its offshore island groups, possibly Kinmen Island (l.). Rather, the government is determined to have an IR up and running somewhere by the end of 2013.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The massive Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas represents the largest project outside of China for China State Construction and the Exim Bank.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Minnesota legislature is looking at racinos, including one at Canterbury Park (l.), video lottery terminals and other forms of gambling to help raise revenues. Opponents say expanding gambling is not the solution.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Speculation that the Macau government rejected the Las Vegas Sands control of sites 7 and 8 on the Cotai Strip was motivated by a desire to have a Chinese company control those sites has been rejected by the Stephen Young (l.), the U.S. envoy in Hong Kong.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The changes going on in Atlantic City are demonstrating how a depressed market, combined with a supportive government can make a difference in developing a new image and direction.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
This week the Global Gaming Business Podcast features an interview with Jonathan Halkyard, chief financial officer for Caesars Entertainment on how his job has changed since the company went private in 2007.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The casino industry in Nepal was started over 40 years ago to attract Indian tourists. Now, the government seems prepared to close down the sector and is using the legitimate charge of nonpayment of taxes to accomplish the task.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
A new chairman apparently made the difference as the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corp. made a comeback in 2011 by posting increased revenues. And a new casino proposed for the Fairways and Bluewater Resort of Boracay is running into opposition.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Marina Bay Sands is seeking recourse through the Singapore courts to recover from a player an alleged credit extension. Now MBS is requesting the court seal documents related to the case to keep it out of the media.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Chinese New Year is always a good time for casinos around the world, but the Macau casinos are the focal point. And this year, one day was especially good for them.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
French criminals appear to have decided the only way to beat the house is with a gun. The sixth and seventh armed casino robberies took place in northern France within 24 hours of each other.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The casino industry in the Netherlands is facing a lot of potential changes in the not too distant future. Now, some in the government want to extend the mandatory identification requirement for entry to casinos to the slot arcade market as well.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Russian prosecutors are being accused of a scheme in which they allegedly are protecting illegal casinos operating in the Moscow region.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The merger of casino operators Tsogo Sun and Gold Reef has been approved by South Africa’s Competition Tribunal. The deal, announced in February 2010, will see Tsogo Sun Investment Holdings and SAB Miller S.A. holding 41.3 percent and 39.7 of the new entity, respectively. One of the premier properties is Gold Reef City (l.) near Johannesburg.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The continued existence of Syria’s Ocean Club casino is in doubt. However, there are rumors that as many as three new casinos may open elsewhere in Damascus soon.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
As hearings on the pre-commitment system for slot machines wind down, the Australian Hotels Association is concerned that moving too quickly could turn out to be costly and for naught. The AHA is pushing for a test period to make sure everything is as advertised.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Canadian province will replace thousands of machines in the next few years. They want the new ones to be fun, flashy, and more profitable.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Biloxi Planning Commission unanimously approved plans for Jimmy Buffett’s $48 million Margaritaville Casino and Restaurant. The development will feature a Volcano Bar featuring a volcano that erupts and spills margaritas into giant blenders. And work is set to begin on the CanCan Casino Resort (l.), a $450 million project in D’Iberville on the Back Bay of Biloxi.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
A Florida Senate panel recently passed two gambling bills: one that would allow video slot machines at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track, and another that would add roulette and craps at the Seminole Casino in Immokalee.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Bills to create a tourism zone and reduce regulatory costs are confusing some officials since the exact details were not set out in the legislation. Questions of funding and procedures are still being asked. Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo (l.) Langford is critical of the process.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Massachusetts legislature is ready to start discussing bills that would allow casino resorts in the state and lawmakers seem unlikely to let a companion bill that would require a cost benefit analysis to get in the way.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Hawaiian Affairs Committee approves a bill that would permit bingo at one location in the state. Eighty percent of general excise taxes on gross bingo receipts would go to a trust fund.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Maryland developer David Cordish (l.) claims the Maryland Jockey Club conducted a libelous smear campaign leading up to November’s ballot question challenging the Cordish Anne Arundel project.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Bills aimed at strengthening license investigations and improving the integrity of gaming regulation in Pennsylvania have cleared the state House.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The cost-cutting measure would save millions for New York state, but leave host communities hurting. Only Yonkers Raceway (l.) is exempt under the governor’s plan.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Former Wichita resident Phil Ruffin, Sr., (l.) owner of the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, recently purchased a six-month option to buy the Woodlands in Kansas City, Kansas. Opening the track depends on whether the Kansas legislature approves giving additional slot revenue to track owners.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
A bill to bring casino-type gaming to Savannah, Jekyll Island and Lake Lanier is in the works. But will the conservatives in the legislature go along to benefit the state’s college scholarships.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The owner of Ravella at Lake Las Vegas (l.) says the hotel’s reopening can help the whole area. Even the competitors are rooting for the renovated property.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Delays in choosing the right casino boats hold up North Charleston project.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Michael Moldenhauer is in a fix, with no racing license and a tenuous hold on a gaming license for his proposed La Mesa Racino at Raton, New Mexico. A tent on a concrete slab marks the spot where a temporary facility was supposed to have been completed last May.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The $120 million Grand Falls Casino near the South Dakota border will open May 26 instead of July 4—but possibly not at all if Iowa Governor Terry Branstad raises taxes on casino revenues from 22 percent to 36 percent.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Forget the oft-touted big revenues. A Niagara University professor says completing the permanent Buffalo Creek Casino would kill local industry.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
An Arizona tribe has challenged a state law that would preempt the tribe’s effort to put land into trust by allowing the city of Glendale to annex 54 acres that the tribe owns.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Alabama casino owners hoped the new governor would be more receptive to electronic games. Now new Attorney General Luther Strange (l.) is ordering bingo out of Indian casinos too.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Oregon’s Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs may exercise its option to open a temporary casino at Warm Springs since the federal government is delaying dealing with its request to put land along the Columbia River Gorge into trust.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The New York tribe says the Wisconsin nation planning a Sullivan County mega-casino never actually lived in the Empire State.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel in North Carolina has continued to expand since the day it opened in 1997. The newest offerings include 532 more guest rooms and Paula Deen’s Kitchen restaurant.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
A new form of casino gaming, iSino, brings gaming to the generation of iPad users. It has been introduced by a California gaming tribe.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Jani Cummings recently was named assistant general manager at Downstream Casino near Joplin, Missouri. She had been director of human resources since 2009.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, has hired Terri Lutz as director of retail marketing and Frank Burga as director of bus marketing. The property also promoted James Fair to vice president of security and transportation and William Mason to director of poker.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The new Aristocrat slot “Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle” is now available for sale in all GLI jurisdictions.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
American Gaming Systems will offer the 10-coin Pay It Again video poker game exclusively on its installed base of proprietary machines.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Applied Management Strategies, a consulting firm that helps gaming companies new and existing identify opportunities and address critical challenges, has launched a new website designed to focus on its expertise.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Diamond Beach Casino in Curacao, in the Dutch Antilles, has selected Table Trac, Inc. to provide its table game management system to the new property.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The regulatory consultant and information source Gambling Compliance announced the opening of its first South American office in Argentina.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
The Foxwoods Resort plans to extend its agreement with TransAct Technologies to install the Epicentral Print System on slot machines throughout the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Casino.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Hard Rock Casino Biloxi recently was named Hotel and Casino of the Year at the Hard Rock 2011 Leadership Conference at Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The management team led by General Manager Duncan McKenzie (2nd from l.) accepted the award. The casino also won in 2010.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Celine Dion returns to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with a new show and two new children.
Fri, Feb 18, 2011
Illegal Chinese immigrant is arrested by Homeland Security for defrauding banks and cashing out at two state casinos.
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