The new Roosevelt Hotel Macau, under construction near the Macau Jockey Club, will open in mid-March. The boutique hotel will include 368 rooms, with decor inspired by the Hollywood Roosevelt in the United States. The hotel will employ more than 100 people when it opens and eventually expand its team to more than 300, said managers. ? Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism is launching the Cambodian Overseas Tourism Promotion Board to lure more visitors to the country. About 5 million people traveled to Cambodia in 2016, according to official data. The new tourism board aims to increase arrivals to 7 million per year by 2020. ? A surge in offshore gaming firms is likely to drive up office rental prices in Metro Manila, says property consultant Colliers International. Colliers says a spike of up to 6 percent is likely to occur in the next 12 months “as the surge of offshore gaming firms redefines the market.” In 2016, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. issued 35 offshore gaming licenses, and another 25 licenses may be issued in the future. ? The Macau government will grant 15 new-to-market gaming tables to the Legend Palace Hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf, a Macau Legend Development property. The venue will also be allowed to have 91 slot machines. ? The government of Macau has launched a two-month public consultation period on the future Light Rail Transit system, hoping to complete a draft bill on the matter by the end of 2017. The public can offer feedback until April 13. The LRT bill will have to be submitted to the legislature for debate and vote for it to become law. The Taipa segment of the rail line is scheduled to be operational in 2019. ? Community groups in Tasmania, citing a 2012 study that suggested 27 percent of problem gamblers contemplated suicide, is pushing for $1 maximum bets and a system that would require gamblers to set enforceable limits on their losses. ? Hard Rock Hotels has announced that its first hotel in China, Hard Rock Hotel Shenzhen, will open this summer. The hotel in the Guangdong region will feature 258 rooms and suites, a Hard Rock Cafe, a rooftop restaurant and pool bar and more than 1,000 square meters (10,760 square feet) of event and meeting facilities, as well as Hard Rock’s signature music memorabilia. ? The massive Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge linking Hong Kong and Macau is expected to be completed this year. It will span a 31-mile section of the Pearl River Delta. Estimated to cost at least $10.6 billion, the bridge was originally due to open last year but was delayed due to a “shortage of labor, constraints in environmental protection requirements and slower than expected consolidation performance of reclamation works,” said officials in Hong Kong. ? The English woman who won £1 million at age 17 with her first-ever ticket the Euromillions lottery is reportedly considering legal action against the lottery for permitting her to gamble at such a young age. According to London’s Daily Record, Jane Park says the lottery windfall made her life “10 times worse,” saying, “At times, it feels like winning the lottery has ruined by life.” She says the money caused problems in her life because she was too young to handle it. “I feel like I’m a 40-year-old,” she told the newspaper.” • California’s Soboba Casino announced that it is offering a $10,000 reward in free slot play to anyone who returns New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s missing jersey, which disappeared after he wore it in the Patriots’ comeback victory in Super Bowl LI. The casino is guaranteeing anonymity for the safe surrender on the casino property of the missing No. 12 jersey. The rewarded free slot play will be credited in full to the individual who delivers the jersey to the casino once the jersey has been examined and officially authenticated—after which it will be returned to Brady, the Kraft Family and the New England Patriots organization. • The Missouri Lottery has extended its current instant games contract with Scientific Games Corporation for three additional years. The supplier will continue to provide instant games for Missouri players, along with a new full-loyalty website for My Lottery Players Club, which has 228,000 members. May Scheve Reardon, executive director of the Missouri Lottery, said, “Our lottery generates funds to provide educational opportunities for Missouri students, support Missouri businesses, and entertain millions. The instant games created by Scientific Games help us ensure continued growth in profits to the state of Missouri.” • Pop star Britney Spears’ three-year residency at Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip has been extended into the fall. Planet Hollywood owner Caesars Entertainment told Billboard the “Piece of Me” show has grossed more than $100 million over 250 performances dating back to December 2013. • Nevada eSports advocates have formed a non-profit called the Nevada eSports Alliance to advance the interest of the state’s newly legalized skills-based gambling market. Founding directors include: Seth Schorr, CEO of Fifth Street Gaming and chairman of the Downtown Grand; Brett Abarbanel of UNLV’s International Gaming Institute; Chris Grove of Narus Advisors and Eilers & Krejcik Gaming; and Jennifer Roberts of UNLV’s International Center for Gaming Regulation. • Las Vegas’ new Lucky Dragon casino says plans are under way to add more high-roller gambling space to the Asian-themed property. The addition will come at the expense of a street-market style food outlet, which is closing to make way for a noodle bar and the relocation of a second-floor restaurant. Management says the new VIP tables will move into the vacated restaurant space.
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