NEWS & NOTES

The Chukchansi Economic Development Authority, which operates the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Northern California, has announced a debt restructuring with the Western Alliance Bank that will reduce the casino’s debt by almost 70 percent. The settlement reduced the tribe’s debt from $350 million (including principal and interest) to about $110 million. • Flutter Entertainment is exploring the sale of Oddschecker and has hired New York Investment Bank Moelis & Company for advice. The sale could net Flutter about £150 million (US$207.6 million). Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson seeks a sale to concentrate on expansion of its main businesses of sportsbooks and iGaming. ● Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa has announced live entertainment will return to its 850-seat Anthem concert hall this summer. Tickets bought for previously canceled events will be honored as shows reschedule. Hard Rock will encourage attendees to wear masks, wash their hands and stay home if they are not feeling well. ● Elon Musk’s Boring Company has proposed sample fares for its Vegas Loop underground transit system that will link the valley’s resorts with the Las Vegas Convention Center, McCarran Airport, Allegiant Stadium and Downtown Las Vegas. Suggested prices ranged from $10 from the convention center to the airport, and $5 to go Downtown. Under the proposal, the system would use Tesla vehicles that travel underground. ● Two more Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos have reopened the buffets that were forced to close during the pandemic. The Golden Nugget and Beau Rivage in Biloxi join five other casino buffets that have already returned, some with alternatives to self-service. The buffets remain closed at Boomtown Biloxi, Hard Rock Biloxi, Harrah’s Gulf Coast, IP Casino Biloxi and Scarlet Pearl Casino. ● Genting Hong Kong has boosted its stake in Dream Cruises as part of a US$307 million deal aimed at keeping the global cruise operator afloat. Dream Cruises operates three cruise ships, Genting Dream, World Dream and Explorer Dream, and is currently building two more, Global Dream and Global II, at Genting Hong Kong’s MV Werften shipyards in Germany. ● New York’s fast-casual Shake Shack chain has opened at the Londoner Macao in the city’s Cotai district. It’s the first Shake Shack in Macau and the 330th location worldwide. The restaurant is operated under a partnership with Hong Kong-based Maxim’s Caterers, half of which is owned by Dairy Farm International. ● Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp Ltd. may lay off employees at its NagaWorld gaming resort in Phnom Penh. A source told GGRAsia that there are “discussions and negotiations ongoing” at NagaWorld that involve “possible voluntary separation arrangements as well as potential lay-offs.” A Cambodian labor group representative said more than 1,300 jobs are at risk. ● As of April 19, travelers entering Macau from India, Pakistan and the Philippines will have to spend four weeks in quarantine rather than the standard three weeks. The measures came “due to the latest developments of these countries’ Covid-19 epidemic situations,” officials said. ● Quang Nam Province in Vietnam will host international tourists who provide vaccine passports and negative coronavirus tests. As part of the plan, arrivals at Chu Lai Airport will stay at assigned resorts for five to 10 days as part of an innovative “safe tourism” program.