NEWS & NOTES

Bloomberg reported that entertainer Mariah Carey and Australian casino billionaire James Packer are engaged, quoting “a person familiar with the situation.” Packer, who controls casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd., gave the Grammy Award-winning singer a 35-carat diamond ring to seal the romance, E! News reported earlier. The couple, who had been dating less than a year, are yet to set a wedding date, according to E! News.  •  Genesis Gaming announced the release of its newest video slot, Clash Of Queens, on the Quickfire Network in Flash and HTML5. Clash Of Queens presents a unique bonus experience where the Red Queen and White Queen battle on a chessboard to award enhanced features. This themed game features Wonderland fairy-tale characters Humpty Dumpty, Tweedle Brothers, the Red Queen and the White Queen. When three scatters trigger the bonus, players travel through the looking glass and into the castle where the Red Queen and White Queen face off.  •  Melco Crown Entertainment is offering a “one-month discretionary bonus” for its non-management staff before the Chinese New Year. Melco Crown is the fourth Macau casino operator to announce a bonus for staff this year; the other are SJM Holdings Ltd., Wynn Macau Ltd and MGM China Holdings Ltd. Each company said it would pay a special bonus equivalent to one month’s salary.  • The Skokomish tribe of Washington state has signed a state tribal gaming compact for Class III gaming, amending an existing compact and putting the tribe on equal footing with other 26 gaming tribes in the state whose compacts were approved last year. Chris Stearns, chairman of the state gambling commission commented, “Tribal gaming will continue to benefit tribal citizens, as well as the people of Washington, under this agreement.” The agreement is subject to ratification by the legislature and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  •  The Mohegan Tribe, which operates the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, will be opening a new Smashburger franchise in Warwick, Rhode Island. Smashburger, which specializes in handcrafted burgers with fresh Angus beef, operates 340 restaurants around the country. The tribe has an agreement to open franchises at 16 locations in New England.  •  The Hippodrome London, the largest casino in the UK, plans to sponsor professional poker players Chris Gordon and Kelly Saxby under the Team PokerStars Live banner. They will represent the casino in a series of tournaments and tours. The Hippodrome’s Head of Poker Kerryjane Craigie said, “Never before has an individual casino been represented by sponsored poker players. Chris and Kelly are the kind of players that we appeal to here at the Hippodrome. Anyone can come and play here; these guys did and now they are playing regularly and successfully.”  •  New Hampshire’s House has voted to allow the New Hampshire Lottery Commission to offer Keno where alcohol is served, but not at convenience stores or service stations. Supporters say the bill would pump as much as $9 million into the state budget each year. Granite State residents are known to cross state lines to play Keno, say lottery officials. Opponents, however, call Keno the “crack cocaine” of lottery games. The Senate still needs to vote before the bill can become law.  •  Albertans in 2015 spent $1.9 billion on video lottery, casino gaming terminals, and electronic bingo, up from $1.8 billion in 2014, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission reported.  •   Guests at the Aria Las Vegas now can use complementary tablets in all of the resort’s 4,004 rooms to adjust room controls, order food, read the news, or contact housekeeping during their stay.  •   The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation in January made a $5.5 million quarterly revenue-sharing payment to Niagara Falls for hosting two casinos, bringing the city’s total to $61.2 million in non-tax gaming revenue since 1996.  •   The Kansas Lottery asked state lawmakers to sell lottery tickets from vending machines, and the legislature is considering enabling legislation.  •   More than 1,600 workers at Casino Rama agreed to a three-year labor deal that helped to establish wage parity by removing a two-tier wage system.  •   The Culinary Workers Union announced it will not endorse a presidential candidate until after the primaries have concluded and parties have chosen their respective candidates. And the union complained about workers for Democrat candidate Bernie Sanders who were caught sneaking into employee cafeterias to eat on the Las Vegas Strip last week. Sanders apologized.  •   The InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino in Puerto Rico announced it has closed after 15 years, effective January 25, making it the ninth casino to close in Puerto Rico in five years.