Gordon Ramsay BurGR at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino celebrated its one millionth last month with a champagne toast and a surprise visit from the celebrity chef and TV personality. Since its opening in December of 2012, BurGR has served almost 48,000 orders of roasted jalapeno poppers, more than 228,000 Hell’s Kitchen burgers and 447,000 sides of fries. ? The Downtown Project’s second annual Life is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas drew an estimated 60,000 attendees in October. The three-day event featured Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Outkast, the Flaming Lips and Lionel Richie. ? Casino operator Macau Legend Development says the government has approved the company’s request for 35 new table games as part of a request for 45 tables filed by SJM, which holds the gaming license for Macau Legend, one of 14 SJM “satellite” operators. Macau Legend said the tables will be deployed at the company’s Fisherman’s Wharf leisure complex under redevelopment on Macau’s Outer Harbour. The company currently operates 150 tables at its Babylon casino at Fisherman’s Wharf and at the Pharoah’s Palace casino at the company’s Landmark Hotel. • The City Council of Glasgow has backed Scottish government proposals that will require bookmakers to seek local approvals to open new betting shops. The legislation is slated for presentation to the UK Parliament next month. • Hard Rock International has proposed development of a casino hotel in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, in partnership with Latin American Gaming Group. Plans call for 250 rooms, 500 slot machines and 30 table games. • The European Court of Justice has issued a ruling declaring Italy’s tax on money won by Italians in foreign casinos to be discriminatory under EU law and detrimental to Common Market “freedom of services” guarantees. The court ruled against the tax because it is not imposed on winnings at casinos within Italy. • New data from Macau’s Statistics and Census Service shows one in five of the territory’s workers is employed in the gaming industry. Accounting for 81,500 employees through the third quarter, the industry is by far Macau’s largest employer. Constructions ranks a distant second at 56,000. The city’s employed population totaled 392,100 in the three months ended September 30. The unemployment rate of 1.7 percent marked an all-time low. • The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is considering an incentive program to encourage visitors to the Bay State’s as yet un-built casinos to voluntarily set a limit for how much they will lose. In return patrons will receive loyalty points that can be applied to future play. If the plan is adopted it would be the first such “play management” program in the U.S. It would be voluntary and the player wouldn’t be forced to live up to his own limit, however he would lose his loyalty points if he didn’t call it quits when he said he would. • The Horseshoe Southern Indiana riverboat casino says it won’t be adding a “smokers patio” because it already allows smoking on three of its decks, according to a spokesman. One of the four decks is non-smoking. The question arose because two casinos in Ohio’s Cincinnati area, Belterra Park and the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, have added special smoking sections. “There’s nothing that you would be missing out on if you chose not to visit one of the smoking floors,” said the spokesman. Ohio law forbids smoking inside of a casino. • Video game giant Atari announced plans to launch a new social casino, Atari Jackpots, next month in both desktop and iOS-Android mobile versions. The new casino, which has been developed in partnership with FlowPlay, will feature a mix of casino games and more general video gaming favorites from the company’s inventory. Atari will launch the casino on both Facebook and a standalone website, the company said. • Novomatic Group has signed a seven-year contract with Mifal Hapais, the Israeli national lottery, for the provision of its video lottery system. Novomatic expects to generate around €23 million in revenue over the initial period. The system includes a central system, 150 retailer terminals and 500 of its newest-generation video lottery terminals. Novomatic will also provide customized games, together with maintenance and support services for the entire duration of the contract. • Penn National Gaming announced the start of its second annual Marquee Millionaire slot tournament series. The series kicked off at Hollywood Casinos Aurora and Joliet, Illinois on October 18, and will culminate with the million-dollar, grand-prize championship event, held in May 2015 at the M Resort Spa & Casino in Las Vegas. Between October and April, 20 Penn properties, across seven brands in North America, will host qualifying events for slot players to win cash prizes and a seat in the million-dollar final event. • OEM supplier Suzo-Happ announced the theme for next year’s celebration of the company’s 60th anniversary. “Celebrating the past, looking to the future” is the theme for the coming year, according to Harald Wagemaker, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the company’s gaming division. “We are so proud to be celebrating our 60th anniversary next year,” Wagemaker said. “As for celebrating, our first opportunity will be at the ICE casino show in February.” • Camasino, an Isle of Man-based online gaming operator, has announced the launch of an affiliate program for the company’s webcam poker and online casino brand Camasino, in partnership with Income Access, an iGaming technology and digital marketing solutions provider. The Camasino affiliate program will be powered by Income Access’ award-winning platform and will be managed by the company’s in-house team of affiliate managers. • GTECH Corporation has been awarded a new 10-year contract by the Washington Lottery to provide a wide array of lottery products including a new central system, draw-based terminals, self-service machines, in-store multimedia technology and ongoing support services. The contract is expected to commence on July 1, 2016, and includes the opportunity for an extension of an additional 10 years. Washington’s lottery has been a GTECH customer since 1995 and GTECH expects to receive revenues of approximately $150 million over the 10-year base contract.
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