NEWS & NOTES

Louis XIII Holding Ltd., now building a hotel on the Cotai Strip, has granted almost 41 million share options to its directors. Joint Chairman Stephen Hung and Peter Lee Coker Jr. each got 9.21 million, the same amount given to Deputy Chairman Tom Lau Ko Yuen and CEO Walter Craig Power.  ?  Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. has joined Edinburgh Napier University in the UK to launch its first in-house bachelor degree. The initiative, dubbed “MCE YOU-niversity” enables employees to study part-time and get credits for work experience. The curriculum  includes international marketing; accounting; casino management; and service management.  ?  Three Atlantic City casinos have been fined more than $14,000 for allowing 117 underage or self-excluded gamblers to place bets. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement reported fines against Resorts, the Borgata and the Tropicana. The violations took place between February and April of this year, according to the DGE.  •  Intralot announced that Chryssa Amanatidou, senior manager of public relations and CSR, has been awarded by publisher PGRI with the “Collaboration Award” together with her partners from Scientific Games and IGT, for their “vision, breakthrough initiatives and action in forging creative collaborations which have contributed to the great success of government lotteries, according to Paul Jason, CEO of PGRI. “Lotteries all around the world are striving to create new collaborations that promise to keep government-gaming in the leadership role and continue to drive increasing funds to good causes,” said Jason. “It’s about seeking out and creating new opportunities to work collaboratively in service to our industry.”  •  International Game Technology Plc. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary GTECH Corporation has signed a four-year extension agreement with the Nebraska Lottery, extending the current agreement to June 30, 2021. Under the terms of the extension, the company will provide additional lottery equipment to the Nebraska Lottery, including Altura GT1200 lottery terminals, AccuTherm Ultra printers and ES MultiMedia flat panel advertising monitors. Additionally, GTECH’s Ticket-Scan Plus self-service ticket checkers will be installed at all current lottery retail locations. In addition to being the lottery technology services provider, GTECH is the sole printer of instant tickets for the Nebraska Lottery.  •  Sports betting technology and services specialist Metric Gaming has announced an agreement with BoyleSports for the provision of live, in-game golf pricing feeds. The groundbreaking pricing feed package will include live markets on select two- and three-ball groupings, allowing punters to bet in-play on which golfer will have the best 18-hole round among his two- or three-ball group, all while odds update continuously throughout the day. The package will further include live in-play wagers on hole-by-hole markets, including player scores and hole winners, similar to Metric’s SuperLive golf offering.  •  Amaya has terminated the automatic share purchase plan, which it had entered into on June 1, 2015 for the purpose of facilitating repurchases of its common shares under its TSX-approved normal course issuer bid. Regardless of the termination of the APP, the NCIB remains in effect on the same terms and subject to the same TSX restrictions as previously announced and disclosed. Consistent with its previously announced plans to maximize shareholder value by facilitating the repayment of indebtedness and/or the repurchase and cancellation of common shares, Amaya may choose to use excess available cash to repurchase additional common shares under the NCIB at the times and in the amounts it determines in its discretion. The NCIB will remain effective until the earlier of February 17, 2016 or the date on which Amaya has purchased the maximum number of common shares permitted.  •  The interactive division of Bulgaria’s Euro Games Technology has successfully completed the integration of its games with Belgian casino website starcasino.be. It is part of the recently signed agreement between the company and one of the leading suppliers of online gaming services to the consumers in the country, Slots & Games NV, which will make available to the players not only its desktop content of more than 60 titles, some of them well-known from EGT slot machines, but also games specially adapted for mobile devices and for both iOS and Android operation systems.  •  A new law in Maryland lowers the minimum age for casino workers from 21 to 18. Currently, anyone younger than 21 is prohibited from being in any area designated for video lottery activities. The new law allows employees who are at least 18 to remain in those areas if they are working.  •  Sycuan Casino in San Diego County, California has teamed up with San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson in the $100,000 Football Challenge. Each week Tomlinson will submit his weekly picks. Guests will be able to compete by making their own picks. Those who beat his picks will be entered into a drawing to win Tomlinson football memorabilia. At the same time, the casinos has introduced a new marketing program: “Play. Win. Together.” The campaign revolves around telling the community about the more than 50 charities that the casino and its employees support. According to Marketing Director Dan Morales, “Throughout the campaign, these are real Sycuan Casino employees. They are veterans. They are volunteers. They are amazing people to interact with on the casino floor. It is so real, and we are so proud of that.”  •  The Mohegan Sun has grabbed the comedy act COMIX away from its rival Foxwoods. COMIX will begin performing at the Sun in October. Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority CEO Bobby Soper commented, “We are extremely excited to be partnering with COMIX, an alignment of two of the strongest names in the entertainment industry.”  •  The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and Western Canada Lottery Corporation are testing 20 instant ticket vending machines in eight locations comprised of five casinos, two pubs, and a motor hotel. The cash-only machines will operate for a year starting this month.  •  MGM Resorts International has donated $1 million to the under-construction National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. The money will help fund construction of the museum, which is scheduled to open in 2016.  •  Country singer George Strait agreed to perform shows next year on April 22-23 and September 9-10 at the $375 million Las Vegas Arena, which MGM Resorts International and AEG Live are building next to the Monte Carlo Casino.  •  The Ferrari dealership located inside Wynn Las Vegas announced it is closing the doors its 10,000-square-foot showroom by the end of the year. The dealership opened in 2005 and charges $10 to tour its showroom.  •  The NHL likely won’t render a decision on prospective Las Vegas franchise during league meetings next week, hopeful team owner Bill Foley told the Las Vegas Review Journal.  •  The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department in West Virginia is considering expanding its current smoking ban to include casinos, gaming parlors, and e-cigarettes.  •  Las Vegas-based Golden Entertainment announced a craft brewery will be among four new taverns it plans to open in 2016 with at least 15 gaming machines at each.  •  The former Silver Club Hotel and Casino located on Victorian Square in Sparks, Nevada, is being partly torn down and rebuilt into 100 loft-style apartments, retail stores, and office space.  •  Maryland’s Arundel County Council approved a $150 million expansion of the Maryland Live! Casino that would include a 300-suite hotel, restaurants, and a conference center.