NEWS & NOTES

Melco Resorts & Entertainment has sponsored a public service video to reinforce responsible gaming to be shown on Macau TV. The spots are the brainchild of Melco’s Responsible Gaming Steering Committee, established in 2007 and led by Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho. ● A Singaporean national has won a jackpot of 884.8 million won (US$800,000) at Paradise City, a foreigners-only casino in Incheon, South Korea. The winner, who has not been identified, is the seventh mega-jackpot winner at Paradise casinos, officials of the company noted. In March, a winner claimed 988 million won at Paradise’s casino inside a Seoul hotel. ● Macau gaming operator SJM Holdings has opened the Macau Gaming History Gallery at the Hotel Lisboa. The exhibit includes displays about antique baccarat, blackjack, sic bo and roulette as well as examples of once popular local games and a variety of other items such as photos and casino chips. ●   The Clark County Commission has approved plans submitted by Caesars Entertainment for a $375 million convention center located just east of the company’s High Roller observation wheel on the Las Vegas Strip. Caesars Forum Meeting Center, as it’s called, will encompass 550,797 square feet on 29 acres with a 107,000-square-foot outdoor plaza. Ground is scheduled to be broken this month with completion planned in 2020. • Las Vegas Sands informed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it is increasing one of its term loans by around $1.35 billion to fund a share buy-back program that is being increased from $1.56 billion to $2.5 billion with an extended expiration date. • Wynn Resorts will become the first major Las Vegas Strip operator to stop charging overnight guests for parking. The charge will be rescinded effective July 1, the company said. Non-hotel guests at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore also will be able to park for free if they spend at least $50 anywhere on the properties. • California-based mobile and social games developer PlayStudios has entered the Canadian market with the addition of Gateway Casinos & Entertainment to its player rewards program. The program, which includes dining, entertainment and other perks, currently is available at Gateway’s Grand Villa casinos in Edmonton, Alberta, and Burnaby in British Columbia, with plans to extend the program later this year to 20 properties across British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. • An advisory panel for the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has recommended the commission approve a light rail line on Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas starting at McCarran International Airport and extending north through Downtown and ending at University Medical Center in the northwest of the city. If approved, the 8.7-mile, $750 million line, funded with federal, state and local money, could be operational by 2025. • North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians in Northern California won a major court victory in a decision upholding the restoration of its homeland. Last week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request for a rehearing by opponents of the 2012 land into trust action by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Now the tribe will be able to build a casino on its 305 acre reservation. Opponents claimed it was illegitimate and not eligible for land into trust. This prompted the judge in the case, David S. Tatel to write, “Enough is enough!” in his ruling. • An environmental impact report reveals that the tribe that operates Table Mountain Casino will be building a new casino, hotel and entertainment center. It will nearly double its gaming floor to 110,000 square feet, and add a 14-story, 151-room hotel, plus a 1,500 seat special event center. The original casino was built in 1987. Tribal spokesman Dan Casas commented, “We wanted to build something that will be able to sustain the tribal community for future generations. And we also want to stay within the confines of our promise to keep this on our own land.” Construction is expected to begin next spring and be finished by 2020-2021. • The village trustees of Wheeling, Illinois approved of a new gaming café three months after lifting the moratorium on such facilities. The approval will allow May’s Lounge to open a gaming café in a shopping mall. It will join three other gaming cafes called Stella’s Place. • The House of Seven Brothers will replace the casino buffet and the former Totem Grill at the 7 Cedars Casino, operated by the S’Klallam tribe in Washington. “We needed something to match our hotel experience,” said CEO Jerry Allen. The menu will reflect the tribe’s connection to local waterways. General Manager Glenn Smithson added, “We were ready for a change. A venue worthy of the hotel.” He added, “The House of Seven Brothers speaks volumes in that it brings history and culture together today in the form of this beautiful restaurant venue.”