NEWS & NOTES

The Virgin Islands Casino Control Commission reduced its budget while intending to generate more revenue during the 2017 fiscal year. The commission approved a total budget of $2.6 million, with $1 million coming from the General Fund and the rest from the Casino Control Account and the Casino Revenue Fund. Money from the General Fund pays Casino Commission worker salaries and benefits, while licensing fees and assessments cover the rest of the commission’s expenses.  •  The government of Thailand is considering authorizing an online lottery. Sources close to the issue said a draft bill will be up for consideration in September within the cabinet. Lottery sellers will have to apply for a license, and 23 percent of the revenues they generate will go to the government, 60 percent will be returned to players and the balance to management and administrative fees.  •  Christopher Benak has stepped down as chief financial officer of DEQ Systems to pursue other opportunities, the company announced.  •  Core Gaming has signed a distribution agreement with the UK’s Rank Group for an initial launch of nine of game titles for desktop and mobile, including Beehive Bedlam, Reactors, Colossus Fracpot and Scratch 4.  •  Danish private equity firm Erhvervsinvest Management is acquiring a majority stake in Gaming A/S, a leading manufacturer of machine games in Denmark and the country’s second-largest provider of online casino games.  •  The UK’s Pariplay and Jumpman Gaming are partnering to bring the latter’s portfolio of bingo brands to Pariplay’s FUSION content aggregator network, providing Jumpman with access to a range of online bingo, keno and casino games developed by Pariplay and other software providers. Pariplay is slated to release its Atari Star Raiders slot and a number of other casino and bingo titles in the third quarter.  •  Cashmaster International has granted Suzo-Happ subsidiary Scan Coin exclusive rights to distribute the former’s Cashmaster One coin-counter series in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.  •  A district court judge on July 8 is slated to rule on a pending sale of land on West Bonanza Road in Las Vegas to Moulin Rouge Holdings LLC, which wants to reopen the famous off-strip casino on the site.   •  A new $5 instant game called Gold Castle will available for users of smartphones and other mobile technology, the New York Lottery announced.  It will be sold through traditional lottery retailers and plays like a normal instant game.  • A malware attack targeted the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and guests who stayed there from October 27, 2015, through March 21, 2016,, and used their credit or debit cards are vulnerable, the casino announced.  •  The Siegel Group has hired contractors to remove the façade of The Virginian in Reno, which is being converted into a dedicated housing for international students at the University of Nevada-Reno.  •  Hong Kong-listed casino investor Success Universe Group Ltd. is planning Phase III of Ponte 16, its flagship Macau casino and hotel. The planned extension will have cover approximately 40,000 square meters (430,556 square feet) and consist of “a shopping arcade, an entertainment and recreation complex, dining destinations as well as gaming zones,” according to a report.  ?  The Legend Palace Hotel at Macau’s Fisherman’s Wharf is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2016. Macau Legend Development Ltd. plans up to 120 gaming tables at the new luxury hotel.  •  Washington Department of Transportation road crews are widening three quarters of a mile of Highway 510 near the Nasqually Red Wind Casino, owned by the Nisqually Indian Tribe of Washington state. The tribe is paying for the $3.3 million project, which includes installation of a new traffic light to help direct traffic to the casino’s newly expanded parking garage.  •  For the fourth year in a row the Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort, operated by the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, has been awarded AAA’s Four Diamond Award. The award recognizes the casino’s architecture, customer satisfaction, and the inclusion of Navajo culture into the casino’s amenities and décor. The resort, located near Flagstaff, Arizona, recently added 110 rooms.  •  California Governor Jerry Brown has signed an amended tribal state gaming compact with Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, who want to build a casino on 67 acres in Amador County. It’s a two-fer for the tribe, which also won a ruling from a federal judge striking down a lawsuit by Amador County, which contended that the land wasn’t a legal reservation.  The compact allows for 2,000 slots, instead of the 900 called for in the original compact.