NEWS & NOTES

The board of directors of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings has yet to decide whether staff will receive a pay raise in 2017. Managing Director and Chief Administrative Officer Angela Leong said the decision is usually made after the fourth quarter.  ?  Members of the Macau House Painters Union are calling on the government to reduce the number of imported construction workers. They are supported in their campaign by lawmaker Ella Lei Cheng I.  ?  The Macau Health Bureau says it has prosecuted 536 cases of illegal smoking inside local casinos for the first 10 months of the year. Almost 80 percent of the violations were committed by tourists.  ? Macau casinos are most in need of mid-level management staff, says the latest survey conducted by the city’s Talents Development Committee. In-demand staff include card room supervisors, assistant managers and senior department managers.  ?  Mecca Bingo is arguing that the classic game should be declared an Olympic sport in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. The company is appealing to the International Olympic Committee for inclusion.  ?  The gambling research center at Flinders University in Australia says it may close when a government contract is handed over to a private provider. The contract for the government-funded Statewide Gambling Therapy Service has been put out to tender and reduced from $1.3 million to $1 million.  ?  Discount carrier Norwegian Air is suspending flights from Las Vegas to four European cities because the desert heat is creating mechanical difficulties for the company’s aircraft, forcing the delay of scheduled take-offs from McCarran International Airport. The suspensions will begin next March and last to November, when flights will be resumed, the company said. The affected cities are London, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo.  •  Creditors of Nevada Gaming Partners were scheduled to meet last week to discuss the bankruptcy filing of the company, which recently reopened the Klondike Sunset Casino in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in October less than three months after owner Bruce Familian was licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission and two months after the renovated Klondike reopened after a shutdown lasting two years. Creditors include International Game Technology, Aristocrat Technologies, US Foods, State Restaurant Equipment Co. and the law firm of Reisman Sorokac   •  A new 86-room hotel casino has been proposed for the city of Tullamore in central Ireland. Patrick Leneghan, developer of the Bridge House Hotel Spa and Leisure Club in Tullamore, said last week he intends to submit a formal application with the Offaly County Council, according to local news sources. Plans call for a conference center, a restaurant and bar and a retail shopping component in addition to a casino.  •  Snoqualmie Casino, near Seattle, Washington, has announced a new steakhouse, Vista, which will serve steaks and seafood. Casino CEO and President Jon Jenkins commented. “We are thrilled to introduce Vista to our guests as we kick off our eighth anniversary celebration. Vista will be the destination for anyone looking for an incredible entertainment experience full of delicious food, excitement and gaming all under one roof.”  •  The four-story hotel portion of the Point Casino & Hotel in Kingston, Washington, will open November 25. The hotel will have 85 rooms and nine suites, a café, an outdoor gathering space and multipurpose room. It is owned by the Port Gamble S’Klallam tribe.  Tribal traditional art will be featured in the hotel including totem poles near the courtyard, and an exterior with a wooden appearance, to blend in with the nearby forest. The casino is also getting an upgrade and 60 more slot machines.  •  A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last week that the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not err in 2014 when it put 13,004 into trust for the Oneida Indian Nation in New York. The land in question was purchased by the tribe and includes the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona. Upstate Citizens for Equality, Inc., which challenged the land into trust action, has promised to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. They claim that the action violated the state’s rights, although the state did not oppose it.  • The Spokane Tribe of Indians has broken ground near Airway Heights, Washington for a $40 million off-reservation casino that will be operated by Hard Rock Hotel. The $40 million is for the first phase of what will be a $400 million result that will be built over the next ten years. The casino is controversial. One opponent is the Kalispel Tribe’s Northern Quest Casino, which is also located in Airway Heights.  •  UK-based gaming software development company Playtech PLC has agreed to purchase a majority interest (70 percent) in Consolidated Financial Holdings, a brokerage service, for no more than $120 million. According to a release from Playtech, “The agreement will back Playtech’s target of creating a business-to-business financial software offering and will provide a significant growth opportunity for CFH by providing it access to Playtech’s greater scale and financial strength.”  •  Metric Gaming, a Las Vegas manufacturer of sports betting technology and software has teamed up with Sun Bets, a UK-based online betting website to provide a one-stop golf pricing solution. Metric’s Commercial Director, Conall McSorley, commented, “Sun Bets is a compelling new player in the UK online betting landscape, and a very welcome addition to Metric’s growing network.” Sunbet’s Sportsbook Director, Kevin Beard, added: “As a newcomer to the marketplace we are focused on differentiation through technology. Metric Gaming provides innovative and exciting ways for our customers to engage with our sportsbook.”  •  Nevada-based Marketing Results, Inc., a gaming marketing and communications company, has partnered Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) to build a mobile app that helps members of the Sioux community to stay in touch with it.  The app will provide news stories, events and other opportunities to members of the Sioux tribe. The app is now available on iTunes.  •  UK-based gaming tech provider GAN has gone live with its Simulated Gaming product at three Ohio casinos operated by Jack Entertainment. The casinos are Jack Entertainment casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati and Jack Thistledown Racino near Cleveland. This gives players access to more than 200 slot and table games offered on social media. According to GAN CEO Dermot Smurfit: “Casino patrons are increasingly engaged in playing social casinos online. The highest-spending social casino players are patrons of land-based casinos. Casino operators can offer more value to their patrons than a typical social casino.  •  A bill that would legalize and regulate on
line gaming in the Netherlands is being held up, despite being approved in the Dutch Lower House. Questions that remain to be answered before the Dutch Senate approves the bill include whether Dutch players will use approved online websites instead of offshore sites even though the bill proposed would have higher taxes and the authorities won’t be able to block IP addresses of offshore sites. Some also question why the bill doesn’t include online lotteries. Supporters hope to see action before new parliamentary elections next March.  •  Casino ship operator and gaming investor Genting Hong Kong Ltd. has signed a “master agreement” with a connected company to buy electronic equipment and devices for electronic games for the cruise lines operated by the group. Genting Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd., is buying the equipment from FreeStyle Gaming Ltd. FreeStyle Gaming is a subsidiary of Singapore-based Resorts World Inc. Pte. Ltd., a company controlled in equal proportion by Genting Bhd. and by the group’s chairman Lim Kok Thay. The agreement has an aggregate cap of US$9.9 million and is valid until December 31, 2018, Genting Hong Kong said in a filing.  The agreement states an annual cap of US$4.2 million for 2016, including transactions that took place prior to the agreement becoming effective on November 8. The annual caps for 2017 and 2018 were set at US$3.6 million and US$2.1 million, respectively.  •  After publicly endorsing Hillary Clinton in August, MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren said the presidency of Donald Trump could hurt American casino interests in East Asia. Murren, a self-avowed “lifelong Republican,” said  during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal that Trump’s controversial rhetoric on foreign countries could alienate key casino business interests in lucrative markets such as China and Japan. “There’s no doubt that China and America disagree on many, many topics but there’s been a degree of respect,” Murren, who also serves as chairman for the American Gaming Association, told the newspaper.  •  Rye Park Gaming announced the first installation of one of it newest-model gaming table, the Elite II, at Boston Billiard Club & Casino in New Hampshire, a charity-gaming facility offering poker, roulette and blackjack. The table offers quick-change play surface inserts. With this model, games can be switched on the fly and layouts can be switched in just minutes.