NEWS & NOTES

James Packer’s Crown Resorts has acquired co-owner Betfair Group’s 50 per cent stake in Betfair Australasia for $10 million and taken over full ownership of company. UK-based Betfair Group will continue to provide technology and support services to the unit. Betfair Australasia was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Crown and Betfair Group.  •  Operators of the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati have petitioned the state of Ohio to allow for outdoor gaming that would accommodate smokers who are generally forced out-of-doors by their habit when they are in the state’s four casino resorts. The casino’s proposal is to create a bar with slot machines on the outside smoking patio.  Ohio does not allow indoor smoking at public facilities.  •  New Zealand-based SkyCity Entertainment plans to build a new hotel and pedestrian complex of bars, restaurants and boutique shopping in central Auckland. The entertainment precinct and five-star, 300-room hotel will be part of the city’s New Zealand International Convention Centre complex and will be linked by an elevated walkway to SkyCity’s existing casino.  •  Cambodia’s Roxy Casino in Bavet City near the Vietnamese border reported a “modest profit” since its soft opening on May 26, parent company Cell Aquaculture said in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange. It did not provide figures, but attributed the profit to sports betting during the FIFA World Cup 2014, which ended in early July. The casino has 23 live table games, eight tables it describes as “online” stations and machine games in addition to the sports book.  •  The UK Gambling Commission has set September 16 as the deadline for license applications international online operators that intend to market to British players. They have until Sep. 16 to submit their application.  •  Sonco Gaming New Brunswick, operator of Canada’s Casino New Brunswick, has entered into an agreement with the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation to run the tribe’s new Grey Rock Entertainment Centre in the northwestern city of Edmundston. The venue would be permitted up to 200 electronic table games pending approval from the New Brunswick Lotteries and Gaming Corp. and is expected to provide 150 full-time jobs and generate first-year revenues in the range of C$8 million, Sonco said.  •  The Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians of Oregon are building a 15,000 square foot Class II casino, the Three Rivers Casino Coos Bay. The scheduled opening is next May, according to tribal sources. It’s the tribe’s second casino and it will have 250 bingo type slot machines. Its designer is Thalden Boyd Emery Architects. The tribe’s first casino, Three Rivers Casino & Hotel in Florence, is a Class III facility and required a state tribal gaming compact. Class II facilities do not require a gaming compact with the state. • A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that the Martha’s Vineyard town of Town of Aquinnah and the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association have legal standing to be part of a lawsuit brought by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick challenging the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe’s right to build a small Class II casino on its reservation. The state argues that the tribe in 1983 signed away its rights to build a casino when it agreed to a land settlement.  •  The city council of Lodi, California voted 4-1 to permit the Wine Country Cardroom and Restaurant to add two card tables, for a total of 15, and to call itself a “casino” in its signage. The casino is the only cardroom in the city. Some critics object to the description, saying that it amounts to false advertising since it does not have slot machines or other gaming accouterments.  •  As the end of the 2014 California legislative calendar nears the Senate has taken no action on the state tribal gaming compact with the Karuk Tribe. The bill to ratify the compact was introduced by Senator Lou Correa in February. The tribe wants to build a casino with 500 slot machines and 120-seat restaurant, and eventually a hotel and more gaming area in the second phase. The compact has been read three times so far without action.  •  The High Sierra Brewing Company of Carson City, Nevada has begun construction on a brewery at Baldini’s Casino in Sparks. The brewery will provide 30 new local jobs. The brewery measures about 7,000 square feet, including the brewing operation itself and a 180-seat restaurant, an 18-seat bar and four gaming machines.