NEWS & NOTES

IGT’s PlayCasino game MegaJackpots Siberian Storm awarded a Sky Vegas online slot player more than £1.7 million on April 3. The equivalent of $2.3 million, it’s the largest jackpot ever awarded on IGT’s MegaJackpots online progressive link in the UK. ● On April 30, after 76 years of operation, the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada closed its doors. The property, which once hosted members of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack clan, will soon become a modern resort and residential project known as Boulder Bay. ● Resorts World Manila has opened a new luxury hotel. The 190-room Hotel Okura, which opened April 26, is the first Okura Nikko Hotels property in the Philippines. The hotel originally was planned to open in 2018 but faced a series of delays, including those as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. ● The Live! Casino Pittsburgh will kick off a summer of special events with its upcoming Pro “Bulls & Barrels” Rodeo and Concert to be held June 4-5. The event will conclude with a live concert on Saturday night. ● The Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) extension to Hengqin has entered the tunnel construction stage, which is expected to take three years. The Hengqin line will connect Macau to the neighboring island by a four-carriage train. It will be able to transport more than 8000 people per hour, on average. ● Philadelphia’s indoor mask mandate for all indoor public places including casinos is officially history. Less than a week after imposing the mandate, the health agency dropped the requirement, citing a significant drop in Covid cases. Patrons of the city’s two casinos, Rivers Casino and Live! Philadelphia, are now free to go maskless once again. • The Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has started taking action to control illegal online economic activities. The NTA has shut down websites and apps including online virtual currency (cryptocurrency), Bitcoin, hyper networking and online gambling. The NTA has decided to shut down the website and apps after finding that many Nepalis living in the country and abroad are involved in illegal transactions such as crypto, hyper-fund and networking. • Netherlands gaming regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has begun a probe of gaming advertising alleged to have targeted minors and young people between 18 and 24. Ads that promote bonus offers to young people are illegal. KSA is recruiting the cooperation of social media in reporting examples of gambling ads aimed at young people. ● Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada has reached a collective bargaining agreement with Unifor Local 109- under which workers will get “significant” wage increases. The union said employees would get a 3 percent increase in years one and two of the agreement and a 3.5 percent increase in the third year. • The Governing Council of Madrid is taking action to control licensing of casinos to desaturate their numbers in the Spanish capital. The council issued a “Community Degree” overriding existing law. It requires gaming businesses to maintain 300 meter distances between each other and minimum distances from schools, universities and other youth recreational centers. There are an estimated 685 gaming venues in Madrid. • The South Dakota Commission on Gaming reports that in-person sports betting in the state’s casino town of Deadwood was nearly $1 million in March. That’s the highest number since the state’s six casinos have been able to offer sportsbooks. However, despite more actual bets, the gaming handle for 2022 was down 6.5 percent compared to the year before. ● U.S. financial services company Moody’s predicted that gaming will be among the top performers in the hospitality sector over the next 12 to 18 months, behind lodging and cruises. Growth is expected to be primarily driven by Asian markets, despite the fact that countries like China are still under heavy Covid restrictions. The firm expects gaming in the region to increase by about a third this year, and return to pre-pandemic averages by the end of next year. ● Caesars Entertainment has broken ground on a solar project to power its three Atlantic City properties: Caesars, Harrah’s and Tropicana. Over the course of a year, the system will prevent 8,144 tons of carbon dioxide. Caesars’ hopes to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.