NEWS & NOTES

Louis XIII Holdings Ltd. has officially changed its name to the 13 Holdings Ltd., the firm has announced. The rebrand was first announced in February, when a new corporate logo was also introduced. The company also changed the name of its new Macau hotel from Louis XIII to the 13. It is set to open on the Cotai-Coloane border in late summer, according to company filings. The ultra-luxury, all-villa hotel will come in at an estimated cost of US$1.4 billion, or an average construction cost of more than US$7 million per room.  •   After turning away 450,000 guests a year, the Mohegan Sun last year began a project to expand the number of hotel rooms. Its new $130 million hotel tower, called the Earth Tower, will have 13 stories and 400 rooms. The Earth Tower is modeled after the existing and much larger Sky Tower. The new hotel’s offers will be less expensive and the rooms will be smaller. The tower, due to open in the fall, will begin taking reservations in July.  •  California’s Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians will open its expanded Chumash Casino Resort on May 20. The $160 million expansion includes 75,000 square feet of additional gaming space, 584 additional parking spaces and a new pool deck. The expanded facility plans to add 200 more staffers, mainly in the hospitality area. The casino, near Santa Ynez, has 2,000 slot machines.  •  Arizona tribal casino revenues fell 5.1 percent during the last quarter from the year before according to the Arizona Department of Gaming.  The department’s director Daniel Bergin says he believes the decline is an aberration. Although the state’s gaming tribes don’t publish their profits, they pay a percentage to the state, which publishes an aggregate amount. For the first quarter, gaming tribes contributed $23.9 million to the state.  •  The Graton Resort and Casino in Rohnert Park last week celebrated the halfway mark for completion of the $175 million 200-room hotel and convention space. Five hundred supporters and builders were on hand as a crane lifted the last steel beam to the top of the six-story hotel. The hotel is expected to open this fall. The new building will also include convention space and space for 2,000 concertgoers. The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria owns the casino, which is operated by Station Casinos. The casino opened in 2013. General Manager Joe Hasson says his goal is to obtain a four-star rating for the hotel.  •  The state of Connecticut has asked a federal court to squash a lawsuit filed by the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN) which is suing to overturn Special Act 15-7, which it claims prevents it from trying to operate a casino. The law, passed a year ago, authorizes the state’s two gaming tribes, the Mohegans and the Pequots, to identify a location for a third satellite casino near Hartford. The state asserts that act “has no impact on STN’s ability to take whatever steps it chooses to take and is capable of taking toward developing a casino in Connecticut.”  •  Organizers of a November ballot proposal to repeal the Nevada commerce tax on businesses generating more than $4 million a year in state revenue say they are confident they will obtain the 55,000 signatures needed and pass a judicial review.  •  The Nevada Gaming Commission might take up a measure that would enable mobile wagering from Nevada casinos outside of state lines, opening the possibility of legal sports and online gaming across the country. The action has been proposed by CG Technologies.  •  Online gaming supplier Zynga announced the launch of Spin It Rich! Slots, the company’s latest social slots offering. The free-to-play game is now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play, Facebook and the Amazon Appstore for Kindle devices. “Since launching in 2014, Hit It Rich! Slots has delighted millions of players, giving them an immersive way to interact with their favorite entertainment brands,” said Joe Kaminkow, chief game designer and senior vice president of slots for Zynga. “Spin It Rich! Slots builds on this beloved free-to-play experience by combining exciting mobile slots game play with the glitz and glamour found in casinos around the world.”  •  Betcade has officially opened submissions for gambling operators. Launching first in the U.K., Betcade is purpose-built for real-money gaming, and is set to help operators reach a much wider audience by providing industry-leading discovery, download management and payment solutions for real money gaming apps on Android devices. Operators who submit their apps will be featured in the Betcade store when it launches to consumers this summer. Betcade’s store features, submissions process and business terms are all tailored to meet the unique needs of gambling operators. Operators can submit their apps at Betcade’s website.