Macau’s largest junket operator, Suncity Group, could start sending VIP players to NagaCorp’s NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh by December, according to a report by Union Gaming Research Macau. NagaWorld, which holds a monopoly in the Cambodian capital, is expanding its operations and amenities with a particular focus on high rollers from China. NagaCorp earlier had announced plans by the casino to sign up seven or eight junket operators with exposure to Macau. • Canadian gaming provider Amaya Gaming has hailed the “immediate” impact of its takeover of Rational Group, the operator of online poker brands PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, after posting a huge year-on-year increase in quarterly revenue. Amaya, which completed its US$4.9 billion (€3.6 billion) takeover of Rational in August, said that revenue had rocketed year-on-year from C$39 million (€27.5 million/$34.3 million) in the third quarter of 2013 to $239 million in the three months through to the end of September 2014. “The acquisition of PokerStars has transformed Amaya and delivered immediate value to our shareholders while setting the stage for additional future growth,” Amaya chairman and chief executive officer David Baazov said. • The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts says it never invited the controversial Nation of Islam to visit the tribe’s government center and museum in Mashpee during the Thanksgiving weekend. Tribal leaders were somewhat stunned to see the flyer distributed through social media that the Boston branch of Nation of Islam had been invited to Mashpee for a private tour, a cultural presentation and traditional meal on November 22, the day the tribe celebrates its own Thanksgiving. The Nation of Islam’s basic tenets are those of black superiority and separatism. A spokesman for the tribe says the visit was planned in error. • The first of three new hotels at Macau’s Fisherman’s Wharf theme park is set to open next month. The US$200 million four-star Harbourview Hotel, part of a revamp of the privately owned complex on the city’s Outer Harbour, will have no gaming but will be connected by a skywalk to an adjacent slot parlor to be called the Flamingo Casino. • A unit of Scientific Games Corporation sold $2.2 billion of senior unsecured bonds at the U.S. market’s biggest discount from face value in 2014 to help fund its acquisition of Bally Technologies Inc., according to a report in Bloomberg News. SGMS Escrow Corp. sold the notes maturing in December 2022 at 89.865 cents on the dollar to yield 12 percent, according to the report, which cited an unnamed source with knowledge of the transaction. The banks underwriting Scientific Games’ $5.1 billion purchase of Bally committed to provide financing for the deal. The company agreed to pay interest rates on its new debt of no more than 9.75 percent, according to Bloomberg. • Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania opened its new Elixir Bistro Bar on November 19. Located in the hotel lobby, Elixir Bistro Bar offers Starbucks coffee, grab-and-go breakfast items, fresh salads, sandwiches and pizza. Elixir Bistro Bar is owned and operated by Metz Culinary Management, which also operates Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Wolfgang Puck Express within the casino. “We’re really excited for this new addition to our property and we’re positive that Elixir Bistro Bar will add an excellent new dining and cocktail experience for our guests,” said Mike Bean, president and CEO of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. • Glasgow’s first poker club is for sale. The Cincinnati in the Tradeston section of Scotland’s largest city attracted dozens of players when it opened in 2005 but was raided by police a year later because it did not have a license and was alleged to be operating illegally. The club eventually closed several months ago after a casino opened nearby. • A court in Macau has given casino operator Greek Mythology (Macau) Entertainment Group 60 days to show its books for the last year to junket operator and part-owner Amax International Holdings. Amax is suing Greek Mythology, alleging for holding back the accounts. Amax owns 24.8 percent of the company, which runs a casino at the site, formerly the Greek Mythology and now called Imperial Palace. • VSR Industries, a Las Vegas-based manufacturer of gaming-industry locks, broke ground last week on a plant expansion. The company is adding 28,000 square feet of lock-production space to its existing factory at 1743 Whitney Mesa Drive. It will be the third building on the company’s Henderson campus, and it will bring VSR’s total plant space to 150,000 square feet. The contractor on the project is TWC Construction. • Las Vegas-based Station Casinos is planning to sell a 101-acre parcel of land in south Reno to an unidentified buyer. The land, which is designated for nongaming uses, was acquired for $2 million. ? UK bookmaking giant Ladbrokes is re-launching its online bingo offering on a platform powered by Playtech. Ladbrokes completed the transfer of its gaming products to Playtech in April, and its bingo players now have access to a market with more than 70,000 players and up to 20,000 concurrent users. In its most recent half-year results, Ladbrokes Bingo generated net revenues of US$8.1 million, down 13.3 percent on the previous year. • Finland’s Finnplay has signed a deal to integrate NYX Gaming’s slot and casino content platform, NYX OGS, into its online operation. • Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority has fined Marina Bay Sands S$197,500 (US$151,800) and Resorts World Sentosa S$20,000 ($15,400), for various breaches of the Casino Control Act for failing to prevent Singapore citizens and permanent residents who didn’t pay required entry fees from entering or remaining in their casinos. They also failed to bar minors from entering. In addition, RWS was given two letters of censure. • DJ Pauly D of “Jersey Shore” fame will continue his popular residency at the Pool After Dark at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City’s Marina District with a series of appearances scheduled for 2015. Paul DelVecchio has made the club his home since 2011. ? The University of British Columbia has opened a Centre for Gambling Research to study addiction and problem gambling. The research center, which relocated from the University of Cambridge to UBC last year, has received $2 million in funding from the British Columbia government and the B.C. Lottery Corp. ? The MGM Resorts Foundation is donating $250,000 to the Nevada Military Support Alliance to help create the first Fisher Home in Nevada. The Fisher House provides housing for military families whose relatives are in the hospital. Between its inception in 2002 and the end of 2013, the foundation has distributed more than $54 million to good causes. ? New York-New York in Las Vegas will add two new restaurants: Tom’s Urban and Shake Shack. The eateries, part of an MGM Resorts International move to generate more business outdoors, are expected to open by the end of the year.
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Small Nuggets of News
