Binion’s Gambling Hall in Downtown Las Vegas has reopened 81 rooms at the property’s boutique Hotel Apache on Fremont Street. Named for the original hotel that opened at the site in 1932, the Apache is in the midst of a remodeling and expansion that will see its remaining 269 rooms returned to service in the months ahead. • Macau casino executive Dominic Laubach has joined the sales team of Japan-based gaming machine manufacturer Sega Sammy Creations as a senior advisor. A seven-year veteran of Galaxy Entertainment, most recently as assistant vice president for electronic games at StarWorld hotel casino, Laubach was at one time director of slot operations for Sands Macao and held management positions at casinos in Las Vegas prior to relocating to Macau in 2007. • Hard Rock Hotels has been ranked No. 1 among “Upper Upscale Hotel Chains” in J.D. Power’s 2019 “North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study”. It was the first time Hard Rock qualified for the rankings, which are based on analyses of thousands of consumer responses in areas such as guest satisfaction, advocacy and loyalty across 85 hospitality brands. • Derek Tadashi Morishita has joined the Sahara Las Vegas Hotel & Casino as director of restaurants. He most recently served as general manager of Hakkasan Las Vegas at the MGM Grand and prior to that was involved in operations oversight at LAVO Italian Restaurant & Lounge at The Palazzo Las Vegas and at MGM Grand at Michael Mina’s Seablue and The Grand Wok and Sushi Bar. • Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip will celebrate the reopening of The Colosseum with back-to-back performances September 6 and 7 by country music star Keith Urban. • Japan’s first eSports tournament for the disabled will be held in the Gunma eSports Festival Takasaki on August 31. Four five-member teams will battle it out in multiplayer online game called League of Legends, vying for a grand prize of 1 million yen ($9,300), according to the eSports association of Gunma Prefecture, which is organizing the event. “We want to tell people who have given up on gaming due to a disability that there are opportunities for them to become professional gamers,” the company said. ● Maybank Investment Bank Bhd is lifting a 10 percent discount it had ascribed to the target price of shares in Genting Malaysia Bhd. based on news that the outdoor theme park at Resorts World Genting complex outside Kuala Lumpur “could be opening… a lot earlier than we expected.” The brokerage had estimated that in its first full year, the park would attract 2.5 million visitors at an average ticket price of MYR100 (US$25). Genting originally partnered with 21st Century Fox on the park until Fox was bought by Disney. Disney is known to be opposed to gaming and bowed out of the licensing deal; last year, Genting filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the merged companies for exiting the project. ● Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. is part of a plan to open a port for cruise ships by the third quarter of 2021. The port, to be located near the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila, will be able to handle large cruise ships, including the Oasis class operated by the Royal Caribbean International and the Global class operated by Dream Cruises brand of Genting Hong Kong Ltd. Both ships can accommodate more than 5,000 passengers. • California Coast Commission this month will consider whether a five-story 100-room hotel proposed for the bluffs above a scenic drive next to Cher-Ae Heights Casino by the Trinidad Rancheria in Northern California meets coastal protection regulations. Last month the commission split 6-3 and contested the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ finding that the project met regulations. The commission is worried that the project’s water is not yet guaranteed by the City of Trinidad. The tribe says it needs the project to spur economic growth and address high unemployment. • The Wyoming legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation and Cultural Resources Committee, which originally voted down creating a state gaming commission earlier this year, has injected new life into the idea. Currently the Pari-Mutuel Commission has jurisdiction over all gaming, although it only regulates horse racing. Last week Senator Ogden Driskill moved to form a task force to study expanding the commission’s portfolio. Driskill said gambling is unregulated and consumers are not protected. • The Rhode Island Republican Party has filed an ethics complaint against Democratic Governor Gina Raimondo over a proposed deal she has submitted the legislature that would put International Game Technology (IGT) in charge of the state’s lottery for 20 years (until 2043) without a competitive bid. The governor called the action a “partisan attack.” The legislature will take up this issue in the fall. • The Maryland Jockey Club opened its eighth off-track betting facility last week at Long Shot’s sports bar in the Clarion Inn Frederick Event Center. The opening of Long Shot’s comes 10 months after the MJC expanded its network of off-track betting sites to the MGM National Harbor casino. Other facilities include Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, Greenmount Station in Hampstead, Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, GBoone’s Events Center in Boonsboro and Hollywood Casino in Perryville, as well as the Riverboat Restaurant in Colonial Beach, Virginia.
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