NEWS & NOTES

Caesars Entertainment’s Jan Jones Blackhurst has been re-elected to a second two-year term as chair of the Nevada Resort Association. Blackhurst, who heads government relations for Caesars, officially resumed her duties at the state’s principal gaming industry lobbyist on January 1. Red Rock Resorts Chief Legal Officer Jeffrey Welch was re-elected vice chair and treasurer. Dawn Christensen was named vice president of communications and corporate responsibility. NRA President Virginia Valentine will continue as board secretary. • Longtime Wynn Resorts director Alvin Shoemaker is resigning his seat on the board of the Las Vegas-based gaming giant effective December 31. With the departure of the veteran financier the company said the number of directors will be reduced to nine, completing a shakeup that began with Steve Wynn’s resignation as chairman and CEO last February following allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. Since then, six new members and a new chairman in former Harrah’s Entertainment Chairman Phil Satre have been put in place. The board now includes four women, up from one a year ago. • New York’s Oneida Indian Nation has contracted with Caesars Entertainment to operate its sports books once sports betting is legalized in the state. The Oneidas’ Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona in central New York is one of the state’s largest and most lucrative gaming operations. The tribe also owns two smaller casinos in the region. • The Nevada Gaming Commission has signed off on the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s previous approval of Golden Entertainment’s acquisition of Laughlin’s Colorado Belle and Edgewater casino hotels from Marnell Gaming. The $190 million deal gives Las Vegas-based Golden three casinos in the Colorado River town in the far south of the state, where Golden also owns the Aquarius Casino Resort. Golden said it expects the purchase to close this month. • The 50th Annual World Series of Poker returns to Las Vegas’ off-Strip Rio casino hotel on May 28 and will run through July 16, tournament management said in a late December press release. WSOP said a full schedule of events is still being finalized. • The abandoned west Las Vegas site where the city’s historic Moulin Rouge casino hotel once stood is back on the market after a prospective developer failed to meet terms for closing on a $9.5 million purchase. The 15-acre Bonanza Road property has been in receivership for several years while a number of plans to revive it for various uses have failed to come to fruition. The Moulin Rouge enjoyed a brief heyday in 1955 as the city’s only racially integrated gambling house. It closed the same year and never reopened. • SLS Las Vegas and Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort have filed with the Nevada Public Utility Commission to leave NV Energy and buy their power from another private supplier beginning in October. They join eight other Nevada companies that applied to leave NV Energy in 2018 and bring to 10 the number of casino operators exiting the supplier since 2015. • Two new truck stops in Pennsylvania have applied for licenses to offer five video gaming terminals (VGTs) under the state’s new gaming expansion law. Snow Shoe Travel Plaza in Snow Shoe and TravelCenters of America in Millesburg have submitted applications to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. Pennsylvania VGTs carry a maximum bet of $5 for a single play and a maximum payout of $1,000. • The Mexican gaming operator Caliente.mx has rolled out titles by Red Tiger Gaming, a premium supplier of slots and jackpots, marking that company’s entry into Latin America. “We’re thrilled to have entered another regulated market with an operator of the caliber of Caliente.mx and are excited about providing their players with our games,” said Red Tiger CEO Gavin Hamilton. • Swedish-based Casino Cosmopol has been certified by the European Casino Association‘s Responsible Gambling Framework after an independent third party audit. This means the state-run organization is deemed to act within the latest standards for responsible gaming. Casino Cosmopol CEO Per Jaidung commented “Our mandate is to promote a healthy and safe gaming market, in which our customers can enjoy the great offer we provide across our four casinos.” This certification of responsible gaming helps in this endeavor, he said.