NEWS & NOTES

The East Windsor, Connecticut Board of Selectmen have scheduled an October 24 town referendum to decide who will administer the Casino Impact Fund that will be created when and if Connecticut’s Indian tribes begin operating the state’s third casino there. If voters approve, the fund, estimated to be at least $8.5 million annually, will be distributed by the First Selectman. Some, including one member of the Board of Selectmen, has criticized this as “unusual” for having no checks and balances on that official’s discretion. • The Massachusetts State Lottery shattered all records in its 48-year history, making its largest net profit ever last year: $1.104 billion. The previous record was $1.039 billion in 2017. Bay State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, who chairs the State Lottery Commission, said in a statement: “Lottery profits provide critical unrestricted aid for all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. I am proud of our Lottery team and our dedicated retail partners. Over the last three years, together, they have produced more than $3 billion that directly supports our local communities.” • The 49 acres that host Boyd Gaming’s Suncoast Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas are for sale for $87 million, according to a listing on LoopNet cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The sale by private investors will not affect ownership or operations at the 427-room casino hotel, the report said. •. Suncity Group’s Poker King Club has teamed with South Korea’s Paradise Co. to open a poker room in the operator’s casino in Busan. The new poker room will feature Short Deck format and No Limit Hold’em games at different levels. Suncity Group in February announced it was in talks with Paradise Co. about a possible cooperation at the Busan casino as part of its plans to diversify across the region. • Betfred Gibraltar trading subsidiary ‘Petfre’ must pay £322,000 as part of a regulatory settlement, having been found to have “shortcomings in the application of its AML controls and its policies and procedures.” The Gibraltar unit is due to make the payment in lieu of a financial penalty following an investigation by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). The probe found that Betfred “failed to carry out adequate source-of-funds checks on a customer who deposited £210,000 and lost £140,000 of stolen money in a 12-day period in November 2017.” • Tasmania is set to become the sixth state in Australia to introduce a point-of-consumption (POC) tax aimed at gaming operators. Treasurer Peter Gutwein, said the new tax will roll out on 1 January 2020, and will be at a rate of 15 percent of net wagering revenue. This has been considered by some as on the higher end of wagering taxes. In comparison, New South Wales and Victoria have a current rate of 10 and 8 percent respectively. Gutwein said the new tax measure is expected to generate A$5 million (US$3.4 million) a year. • SkyCity Entertainment Group says it has turned off the external lights of Auckland’s Sky Tower as part of its green initiatives after the company’s three New Zealand casino-resorts were this week certified carbon-neutral by Enviro-Mark Solutions. The external lights on one of Auckland’s most recognizable landmarks will remain off until mid-December before being replaced with LED bulbs, reducing their energy consumption by 10 percent.