NEWS & NOTES

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance is overhauling the rules and regulations that must be followed by business interests including lottery, casinos and betting companies. According to multiple media reports, the ministry will cut 51.4 percent of the total number of business investment conditions that fall under its governance and will also amend or add to 16 decrees. In addition to gaming, the sectors include insurance, customs, accounting and securities, the report said. No details were forthcoming. • A man wielding a handgun robbed the casino cage at Circus Circus on the Las Vegas Strip early last Wednesday morning and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police said the thief, described as wearing a red hoodie, black pants, red shoes and a blue baseball cap, was last seen immediately after the robbery in the passenger seat of a light-colored SUV/crossover-style vehicle heading south on Las Vegas Boulevard. No injuries were reported. • MGM Resorts International has expanded its board of directors from 12 to 13 with the addition of Paul Salem, an executive with Providence Equity Partners, a global asset management firm specializing in media and the communications, education and information industries. • Former casino owner Bill Paulos has acquired longtime Las Vegas-based media outlet GamingToday. Paulos, co-founder of Cannery Resorts, paid an undisclosed sum for GamingToday’s weekly print and web platforms. The purchase was made through Engaged Nation, an online gamification system he owns. •   Nearly 900 employees of MGM China Holdings have graduated from training programs in management and labor affairs, the company announced. A graduation ceremony was held August 16 at MGM Cotai. ● The Macau government’s Social Welfare Bureau has established 16 disaster refuge centers as part of its upgraded emergency preparedness plans. The shelters can house almost 25,000 people for a short period in the event of a catastrophic storm like Typhoon Hato in August 2017. ● Beijing will allow Chinese residents of Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan to apply for mainland residence permits, the government has announced. The new regulation will take effect on September 1. ● The Goto Islands in Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture have seen a dramatic growth in tourism. The Abe administration has made a point of subsidizing development on Japan’s outlying islands, fearing that Asian neighbors might someday try to claim them. ● Police in the China’s Jiangsu Province have disrupted a “family-run” online gaming ring that generated as much as CNY500 million (US$73 million). The ring illegally used brand names including “Grand Lisboa” and “Venetian” to mislead users. Sixty-three suspects were arrested in the sting. • The city council of Ridgecrest, California, voted 3-2 to support an updated agreement to support the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe’s proposal to put 26.5 acres into trust for a casino. The update includes a prohibition against commercial cannabis development. The tribe’s off-reservation application to put land into trust for a casino is still pending after two years before the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe’s home reservation is in Death Valley National Park, 130 miles from Ridgecrest.   • Sports betting won’t come to Ohio this year said Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof last week. The shell bill filed earlier this year will be fully explored after the midterm elections, he said. Obhof asserts the legislature can’t authorize sports betting without a vote of the people. An amendment to the state constitution is required, he says. Obhof says he would probably vote against the bill anyway, since he opposes any expansion of gaming in the state. • San Manuel Casino in Southern California has introduced a first of its kind Blazing 7’s Blackjack Arena, with an advanced progressive betting option. The arena is on the second floor’s Rockin’ Casino. General Manager Loren Gill said, “This new Blazing 7’s Blackjack Arena creates a unique, social atmosphere while delivering a thrilling and interactive experience.” Players take part in the progressive wager by making side bets on how many 7’s the player will get in their first two cards. • Gila River Hotels & Casinos and Arizona State have signed a five-year agreement to promote ASU sports. This makes the casino a primary Sun Devil athletic sponsor, along with Coke and MidFirst Bank. As a result ASU’s southeast plaza outside of its stadium will be sponsored by the tribe. Details of the sponsorship have yet to be worked out. Gila River CEO Kenneth Manuel declared “We have an amazing track record of partnering with Arizona’s best sports teams, and we are thrilled to have an amazing force in collegiate sports like Arizona State University as one of our valued partners.