NEWS & NOTES

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board declined to comment on a fine issued by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement against Rush Street Gaming, the owner of Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino and Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino, for underage online gambling on the company’s New Jersey site, PlaySugarHouseNJ.com. Doug Harbach, spokesman for gaming board, told the PlayPennsylvania news site, “It would be presumptuous for us to comment on any violation out of our jurisdiction and its effect on an iGaming license (in Pennsylvania), particularly since we have yet to launch interactive games. The record is clear, however, of how serious the PA Gaming Control Board takes violations of underage gambling when you look at our mature market, casinos. To date, the Board has approved consent agreements encompassing 237 incidents resulting in fines totaling $2,896,500 against casinos that have permitted underage individuals to gain access to the gaming floor and, in most instances, gamble.” • NASCAR has banned its drivers and team members from betting on its races. The prohibition is part of new guidelines in this season’s rule book. In addition to the wagering ban, NASCAR employees are prohibited from disclosing confidential information or requesting insider information for “their own gain or the gain or others.” NASCAR partnered with Sportradar Integrity Services to develop a comprehensive gambling policy. • Pennsylvania casinos turned in record revenues in 2018. According to a report released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Pennsylvania casinos returned gross revenue of $3.24 billion, the highest annual take since the state’s first casino opened 13 years ago. Overall slot revenue grew 1.8 percent last year, with half of the state’s casinos growing slot income. “We continue to see slots and table games produce significant revenue in this state,” PGCB spokesman Doug Harbach told Harrisburg CBS affiliate WHP. “We’re No. 2 in the United States in casino revenue, No. 1 in tax revenue. Legal gaming in Pennsylvania, from a financial standpoint, has been very, very successful.” • Pennsylvania’s Mohegan Sun Pocono has signed a five-year partnership with Kindred Group to manage land-based and online sports betting for the gaming resort under Kindred’s Unibet brand. Kindred also operates Unibet sports betting and online casino gaming in New Jersey in partnership with Evolution Gaming. • International Market Centers has broken ground on a new convention center in Downtown Las Vegas. Plans for the $90 million-plus Expo at World Market Center, which is being partially funded by the city of Las Vegas, call for 315,000 square feet of exhibit, event and meeting space and an opening in 2020. • Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has created an advisory panel to lay the groundwork for a new regulatory agency to oversee the state’s recreational marijuana industry. The seven-member panel will examine issues such as the creation of marijuana consumption lounges, banking, taxes and enforcement. • An ongoing $690 million overhaul of Las Vegas’ Palms Casino Resort, a Station Casinos property, will include a new party venue called KAOS. An April debut is set for the 29,000-square-foot nightclub and 73,000-square-foot day club, with highlights that include state-of-the-art audio, video and lighting and exclusive residencies by artists such as Cardi B, Kaskade, G-Eazy and DJ and producer Skrillex. • “Christina Aguilera: The Xperience” will be the next headlining show at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater on the Las Vegas Strip. The production opens May 31 and is slated to run through October 5 in rotation with a new show starring Gwen Stefani titled “Just a Girl.” • Marnell Gaming has set a June opening for a new 8,500-seat amphitheater across the street from the company’s Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nev. Country music star Toby Keith will be the venue’s opening act, said Marnell, which also announced August bookings for shows by Hank Williams Jr. and Lady Antebellum. • The Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada will host the Topgolf Swing Suite, a golf practice game that also encourages socialization. Topgolf will arrive in spring. It will include advanced golf and interactive multi-sport gaming simulators plus virtual games such as Zombie Dodgeball, Hockey Shots, Baseball Pitching and Carnival Classic. The newest amenity offers lounge seating, HDTVs, food and beverage and a bar. • The town of Oxford, Maine received $1.91 million from slots and table revenues at the Oxford Casino last year. That is $180,156 more than in 2017. The data comes from the Maine Gambling Control Board. The casino, which has 968 slots and 28 tables, pays 2 percent of its revenues. Oxford County gets 1 percent. The city and county can spend the money as they choose. The town uses the money for general budgetary items. The County uses it to lower property taxes and replace vehicles. • Morongo Gaming Agency, which oversees Morongo Casino & Spa in Southern California, contracted with Aztek Gaming Solutions LLC for its customized license management system. This provides one stop shopping for 2,500 casino employees to renew gaming licenses online, including from smartphones. “PermiTrak has enhanced our efficiency and transparency with its easy-to-use system that has streamlined our employee and vendor process management, while helping us to be more environmentally conscious by saving on paper usage,” said Oscar Schuyler, executive director of the Morongo Gaming Agency. • Sands Cotai Central in Macau has opened a new contemporary Portuguese restaurant, Chiado, under the direction of Executive Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa, whose Lisbon restaurant just won two Michelin stars. ● The world’s “first all-electric indoor theatrical stunt show” has opened at Studio City, a Melco Resorts property in Macau. The 75-minute show called Elēkron was developed with entertainment architect Stufish. It includes drivers in high-torque electric vehicles doing stunts “at super-close range to the audience.” ● The Four Seasons hotel brand will open a 120-room hotel on the island of Okinawa in partnership with Malaysian development group Berjaya. The $400 million beachfront project, which also includes 120 private residences and 40 villas, is on Okinawa’s west coast, 31 miles from Naha International airport. It is expected to take approximately four years to complete. ● Universal Entertainment and Chinese travel agency CTS Shanghai Zhongqiao will offer “sightseeing tour packages” to Okada Manila in the Philippines. Okada Manila plans to expand its gaming floor and add a VIP-only casino, but the tours will target the budget and mid-market travelers served by the China Travel Service network. ● Melco Resorts’ Morpheus property has unveiled a new unique retail space, Morpheus Boutique, offering more than 100 top brands including Thom Browne, Proenza Schouler and Calvin Klein. ● The Macau Sports Bureau has submitted plans to bring multiple new sports facilities to the city’s New Urban Zone A. The plan includes three football track and field stadiums, three swimming pools and three gymnasiums. ● Security measures including a Greater Bay police command center are already in development for the October visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Macau. Xi will come to mark the 20th anniversary of the SAR’s handover from Portuguese control. ● Melco Resorts & Entertainment, which will emphasize clean energy in its Japan IR proposal, is doing likewise in Macau. Melco is planning the SAR’s largest solar array with 18,000 panels covering the rooftops of its City of Dreams and Studio City resorts.