NEWS & NOTES

The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass, Texas will reopen its doors at 25 percent capacity on October 1. The hotel at the facility will open at full capacity with most dining options open. It will be non-smoking indoors with designated smoking areas outside. A number of safety precautions will be in place, including a face mask requirement and temperature checks at the door. ● The Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg, northern Michigan, has opened the state’s first sportsbook. Former Detroit Pistons player Rick Mahorn was on hand to mark the occasion. The sportsbook will eventually add mobile sports betting. ● Just as it celebrated its reopening, the off-Strip Oyo Las Vegas notified Nevada authorities that it will lay off some employees on November 12. The continuing Covid-19 pandemic “is creating unprecedented challenges for the hospitality industry,” the company wrote. “It is causing our hotel to suffer an enormous loss of business, which has resulted in the loss of work opportunities, including layoffs.” ● By unanimous vote of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s board of regents, former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval has been named the 17th president of the University of Nevada, Reno. The UNR alumnus and two-term former governor was president of global gaming development at MGM Resorts before resigning in April to pursue the position. He will be paid $500,000 a year, and get other perks including an $8,000 car allowance, a housing allowance of $18,000 per year and a $5,000 host contract. ● The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians is diversifying its business portfolio beyond gaming with the acquisition of a Florida-based specialty firearms components manufacturer. Azimuth Technology LLC “is primed for continued rapid growth,” said Santa Ynez CEO John Elliott. The tribe’s economic development ventures include Chumash Casino Resort in California’s Santa Ynez Valley. ● The Tropicana Las Vegas reopened September 17 with the same health and safety protocols that are in place at other hotel-casinos including a maximum of half capacity on the casino floor. Employees and vendors will wear masks and undergo temperature checks before their shifts. All guests must wear masks in public areas unless they’re eating, drinking or asked by casino staff to prove their identity. Guests who don’t comply may be asked to leave. ● Crews continue to clean up the site of the former Trump Plaza casino hotel on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk. Trump Plaza closed in 2014 and has been vacant since. Carl Icahn has agreed to demolish the property, most likely in January. The parking garage and the portion of the former casino hotel that contains the Rainforest Cafe will remain. ● The Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia is celebrating 20 years of providing treatment to individuals in the state. About one in 50 West Virginians suffers from a gambling disorder, according to the organization. In 2000, the state legislature enacted the Gamblers Treatment Fund that created the 1-800-GAMBLER program. Since then, the program has treated about 500 to 1,200 individuals annually. ● Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein wants to construct a beach bar in front of his Showboat Hotel, a former casino resort, in Atlantic City. The city planning board will discuss the proposal at its next meeting on October 6. The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority also will have to approve the plan since the state agency has land-use and zoning authority in the Tourism District. ● Suncity Group is supporting recovery efforts for Macau’s live entertainment industry as title sponsor of a series of performances throughout the month. The first event of the series, held at the Venetian Macao, was described as a “shot in the arm” for Macau’s cultural industry which has been heavily impacted by the pandemic. ● Hong Kong-listed International Entertainment Corp. announced on September 18 that it has won a provisional license to build an integrated resort in Manila. The license will be held by the firm’s Philippine subsidiary Marina Square Properties, Inc. International Entertainment operates the New Coast Hotel Manila, a 32-floor hotel with 370 guest rooms and a gaming facility. ● Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. has been named as an “Honored Company” by global business publication Institutional Investor. The companies chosen this year were rated on core areas including accessibility of senior executives, execution of strategy, and business and market knowledge. Alvin Chau, Suncity CEO, said 2020 has been “a year of turmoil, but this has not stopped the group from believing in the long-term… strategically expanding our blue print, and managing our expenses to ensure that every dollar invested is well-spent, delivering return for investment for our shareholders.” ● HatchAsia has signed and executed a deed to take control of Australia-listed Silver Heritage Group to acquire 92 percent of the struggling operator. The takeover requires shareholder approval. Silver Heritage announced in May that it was going into voluntary liquidation after the Covid-19 crisis forced the closure of its Tiger Palace property in Nepal. HatchAsia is involved in projects ranging from strategic consulting, software development, land-based deployment and back office processing. ● Actor Jamie Foxx will star in an advertising campaign for the BetMGM that will include traditional and social media ads for the joint venture between MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings. Foxx will appear in “The King of Sportsbooks” featuring the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas as the backdrop. The BetMGM sports betting app is available in seven states. ● The Morongo Band of Mission Indians of California have broken on a second Morongo Travel Center with a 32-pump discount gas station, dog park, car wash, slot machines, convenience store and other amenities. The project is the latest addition to Morongo’s master-planned development of retail, hospitality and service offerings along Interstate 10 in Cabazon. ● The Macau Health Bureau has confirmed that the SAR government will purchase 1.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines when they are available, to cover the city’s whole population. Each person will need two shots in order for the vaccine to be effective. According to official statistics, Macau had a population of 685,400 at the end of the second quarter. ● FanDuel has been named as the exclusive sports betting and fantasy partner for the Payne’s Valley Cup, a team charity golf match which will raise funds to support the Payne Stewart Family Foundation. Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas will compete against Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. FanDuel will also offer a $25,000 free-to-play fantasy contest for golf fans. ● Lotte Tour Development willmove its headquarters from Seoul to the soon-to-be opened Jeju Dream Tower on Jeju Island in South Korea. The US$1.4 billion project will open with a casino offering 140 gaming tables, 190 slot machines and 70 electronic gaming machines. ● South Korea’s National Pension Service has been reducing its stake in Grand Korea Leisure, a movement attributed to concerns that Covid-19 will exercise a long-term impact on GKL’s ability to generate profits. Since April, public disclosures revealed that the NPS stake in GKL had been reduced from 13.05 percent to 9.93 percent as of September 4. In 2020H1, GKL saw its income reduced by over 40 percent year-on-year. ● A citizens group formed to combat a Pamunkey Indian casino in Norfolk, Virginia, is encouraging voters to vote down the referendum the project needs to survive. The group called “Informed Norfolk” says it is not “anti-casino,” but “pro-information and pro-transparency.” • Betway has extended its partnership with former England international cricketer Kevin Pietersen until 2023. The retired batsman will continue in his role as official global cricket and brand ambassador for the operator. The role will include Pietersen sharing his insight and opinion on world cricket through content on Betway’s insider blog, as well as behind-the-scenes access. Initially, Pietersen, who last played for England in 2014 and is currently the country’s fifth leading all-time test match run scorer, will focus on providing weekly updates and predictions on the Indian Premier League (IPL), which began on September 19. •. Twin River World Holdings has announced that its two Rhode Island casinos, Twin River Casino Hotel and Tiverton Casino Hotel will expand their weekend hours later in September. Both will be open until 3 a.m. on Sundays and be open 24 hours on Sundays before a three-day holiday. This moves the casinos one step closer to business as usual, noted Marc Crisafulli, president of Twin River’s operations in the state. • The tribal council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, owners of the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, voted unanimously to spend $3.4 million to buy land in the Painttown Community adjacent to the casino. They have been leasing the land for the tribal gaming commission office and for a parking lot. • Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut has been voted the best casino outside of Las Vegas by USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Nominees are selected by a panel of judges in the hospitality and tourism industry and submitted to the readers of the paper to vote on. • Rivers Casino and BetRivers.com have signed an exclusive multi-year contract to become Official Casino and Sportsbook of the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will allow Penguins fans to place bets using an app while they watch games at the PPG Paints Arena. Included in the arrangement is a branded BetRivers sportsbook lounge. • Wynn Resorts said it plans to reopen its poker room on September 30, leaving the rooms at The Mirage and the Caesars Entertainment properties (except Caesars Palace and Bally’s) as the last on the Las Vegas Strip still shuttered. The Wynn venue, located at Wynn Encore, will operate with four fewer tables to maintain social distancing. Players will be separated by plastic dividers similar to those in place at most of the rooms currently open. Face coverings also will be mandatory, the company said.