NEWS & NOTES

NagaCorp, the Hong Kong-listed operator of NagaWorld, Cambodia’s largest casino, says it has commissioned a review of its internal controls with a view to strengthening its anti-money laundering practices. The review is designed to ensure compliance with the global Financial Action Task Force, which has expressed concerns over deficiencies in the country’s policies for combating money-laundering and the potential for financing terrorism. Naga also said it has hired another advisory group “to assess the investment risks in Cambodia.”  •  The municipal council of the English city of Southampton has cleared seven applications from five casino operators to enter the final phase of bidding for a 30-table, 150-slot casino. The bidders are Aspers, Genting, Grosvenor, Global Gaming Ventures and Kymeira Casino. The winner is expected to be announced next June.  •  The European Court of Justice is set to deliver a decision on September 26 on whether Denmark’s online taxation regime discriminates against the country’s land-based operators. Denmark liberalized its market for online gambling in 2012, imposing a 20 percent revenue tax on entrants, while retail betting and casino operators pay as much as 70 percent. The case was brought by a syndicate of operators led by Royal Scandinavian Casino.   •  A mobile casino founded by former Ladbrokes executives Edward Andrewes and Mick D’Ancona has stopped accepting wagers. Locus Gaming, the Isle of Man-licensed operating company for Jack Gold mobile casino, which launched last year, gave no reason for the shutdown. The company said players have until October 10 to close out their accounts.  •  Procedural disputes are holding up the appointment of three nominees to Saipan’s new Commonwealth Casino Commission. The legislature governing the island, the largest of the U.S. Pacific territory, was scheduled to confirm the appointments but it was halted by disagreement over whether public hearings should be held. The island authorized its first casino earlier this year and awarded the license to a Hong Kong investment group.  •  Data released by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute show smaller and less likely destinations are growing in importance for Chinese leisure travelers. The share of destinations outside the current Top 10 will grow from 19 percent to 24 percent in the year ahead, the private Germany-based consulting firm said. COTRI also noted that outbound travel from mainland China grew an average of 17.8 percent from the third quarter of 2013 through the second quarter of this year, reflecting an increase from 106.3 million to 125.4 million border crossings.  •  Hot-tempered celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay will open a restaurant at Caesars Atlantic City.Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill will occupy the former Mia’s space in the resort’s hotel lobby. The 250-seat pub will offer traditional English fare like bangers and mash, fish and chips, and 30 beers on tap. The venue will mirror a similar location at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.  ?  If you drink from a glass bottle while strolling the Vegas Strip, better bag the bottle. Clark County commissioners have unanimously approved a ban of glass containers and bottles on Strip sidewalks to cut down on litter and improve safety.Violations could result in to a $1,000 fine or a six-month jail term.  ?  A White Castle burger joint is set to open soon in the Casino Royale in Las Vegas. The famous chain will join a drugstore and a Denny’s restaurant; they are in set to open in January.  ?  Online travel agency Vegas.com has rebranded its website and logo and also added a new tagline: “Vegas From the Inside.” The rebrand includes a new rate-tracking feature called Drop Watch.  ?  The New York City Football Club, an American professional soccer league, is looking at the Aqueduct Racetrack as the possible site for a future stadium. Aqueduct, located on more than 200 acres in South Queens borough, is home of the Resorts World New York Casino.  •  Adam Krejcik, a gaming analyst with Eilers Research, has estimated that social gaming revenues will reach $2.7 billion this year, with more casinos taking the lead of Station Casinos, which recently partnered with the myVegas social gaming company. The myVegas social site also is use by MGM Resorts International to run its social gaming arm. Station is offering rewards through myVegas that can be redeemed for room nights, restaurant discounts and entertainment at Station properties.  •  U.K. bookmaker Gala Coral is launching its new Bet-In-Play Terminals from OpenBet, the sports book and online gaming software provider. The tablet-based application gives shop customers the same instantaneous betting opportunities that have so far only been available online. BIP Terminal is a software-only solution delivered using the SiteBuilder platform. Designed for running on a self-service touch-screen tablet device, BIP enables cashless wagering on a range of betting opportunities available within the Coral retail shops.  •  New Jersey’s Meadowlands racetrack announced the addition of a new wager to its wagering menu. It is a Super High-Five Jackpot that will be offered with a 20 cent minimum on the last race of each racing program. The wager will offer an industry-low takeout rate of 8 percent, and the pool will be seeded with $10,000 on its first night being offered, Friday November 14th. “The W.E.G. circuit implemented this wager this past year and it has had great success,” said Director of Racing Operations Darin Zoccali.  “The jackpot wager has really caught on throughout North America, and we will take it a step further by implementing an industry-low takeout rate.”  •  Scientific Games Corporation announced that it has signed a new contract with TIPOS to provide instant games and consulting services to the National Lottery of Slovakia. The contract, which was awarded through a competitive procurement process, continues the successful relationship that Scientific Games has had with TIPOS since 2005. The four-year contract began on January 1, 2014.  •  The head of the gaming agency in Maryland says the state may drop its player option of a self-imposed lifetime ban, calling it excessive and redundant. “We’re probably going to change the program in the next couple of months, said Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, according to the Baltimore Sun. “I think what we will probably get to is removing the lifetime option.” Gamblers will still be able to apply for two-year self-exclusion, after which the state law requires them to undergo an assessment if they want to be re moved from the list.  •  The Ohio Casino Control Commission has approved the use of pre-shuffled stacks of multiple decks of cards at blac
kjack and mini-baccarat tables in the state’s casinos. Ohio casinos had requested permission to use the pre-shuffled stacks last year, but the commission only approved their use as a time-saver after a thorough study. In addition to saving time, the pre-shuffled decks are more secure—they are shuffled so thoroughly and randomly that there’s no way for dealers or players to know what card will come up next. The cards will be supplied by United States Playing Card.  •  Philadelphia’s SugarHouse Casino is suing to recoup more than $520,000 from 63 gamblers who have failed to repay markers in the last four years. Four-fifths of the cases—those involving $12,000 or less—are in Small Claims Court in Philadelphia, with initial hearings scheduled for this week. The larger claims, including one for $90,000 and five between $20,000 and $30,000, were filed in Common Pleas Court. SugarHouse said these claims represented less than 1 percent of markers issued since the casino opened in 2010.  • The Ohio Casino Control Commission has decided to allow the use preshuffled cards at blackjack and mini baccarat tables as a way to save time (and money). The commission is approving something that is already used extensively at many casinos in the country. According to Tosha Tousant, director of table games at the Horseshoe Cleveland casino, quoted by the Columbus Dispatch, “It can take 30 minutes to get the first table going and up to 90 minutes to get all six tables going,” in a game using six decks of cards. Tousant’s casino goes through 20,000 decks a month. •  Ohio-based Max & Erma’s Restaurants plan to open a branch of their eatery chain at the Trop Casino Greenville in Mississippi. This will be their second casino restaurant. They already operate a Max & Erma’s at the Tropicana Casino Evansville in Indiana. The Trop currently only has a snack bar. The restaurant chain is doing so well at the Evansville location that they contacted Tropicana about expanding. Monty Whitehurse, vice president of franchise development for the chain, said it is looking for other similar arrangements with casinos. • The Latvian Department of Supervision of Lotteries and Games has blacklisted 20 online gaming operators that are serving residents of the Baltic country without a license. They include Poker Stars, William Hill, and 888. The Latvian government announced that it plans to expand the list of offshore operators. It is working concert with other Eastern European nations, such as the Russian Federation and Bulgaria to deny these entities from transferring cash through financial institutions.  •  The Nevada Gaming Control Board has approved a restricted gaming license for four Irish-themed taverns acquired by Golden Gaming. The taverns will assume the company’s new brand, Sean Patrick’s. Golden Gaming owns dozens of taverns including PT’s and Sierra Gold locations. The company bought Molly Malones, Sean Patrick’s, Morrissey’s and Kavanaugh’s for a total price of $2 million. The taverns will be closed until October 1 while the properties change hands.The Gaming Commission must also approve the change.