A park developed by Sands China Ltd. will open soon next to the Sheraton Grand Macao Hotel following approval from authorities. The park in the Cotai area is free and open to the public opposite Sands Parisian’s Eiffel Tower replica. ? The Macau government may turn the Macau Yat Yuen Canidrome greyhound track into a cultural, leisure, sports and education facility, reports local media. In July 2016, the government ordered the facility to either relocate or shut down its race track within two years. Profits at the Canidrome dropped 82 percent to MOP 4.8 million (US$600,600) in 2015. ? The consortium behind a proposed casino resort in Brisbane has redrafted its plans for a bridge that connects South Bank to the gaming. Plans for the AU$100 million Neville Bonner Bridge were rejected after it was revealed that it led close to an entrance of the casino’s gaming floor. The complex is a joint venture of the Star, Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium. ? Sands China President Wilfred Wong says the operator will install up to 30 new smoking rooms at its casino resorts in Macau as the city reconsiders a 100 percent smoking ban. ? Pousada de São Tiago, a five-star hotel converted from a 17th century Macau fortress, will close March 31 and remain closed until the Barra Transport Complex is completed. The complex will include the peninsula’s light rail transit link with the LRT section in Taipa and Coloane slated to open in 2019. The hotel’s 44 employees will be transferred to other hotels owned by SJM Holdings. ? UK bookmaker Ladbrokes must pay £70 million in tax charges for exploiting a loophole in the tax code. In 2008, Lads and its auditor Deloitte minimized the bookie’s full-year tax bill by shifting some revenue to subsidiaries Ladbrokes International and Travel Document Services. ? Caesars Entertainment has raised its daily Las Vegas resort fees by $3 to $35 at Caesars Palace, The Cromwell, Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood, and by $1 to $30 at Bally’s, Flamingo Las Vegas, Harrah’s, the Linq and the Rio. • Washington state’s Yakama Nation has opened a new 200-room hotel at its Legends Casino near the town of Toppenish. The hotel is part of a $90 million expansion strategy designed to ensure the 19-year-old property stays competitive with its tribally owned competition in the Pacific Northwest. • The Nebraska Senate has voted 24-9 to kill a bill that would have let bar patrons play keno with debit and prepaid cards. The bill also would have reduced the mandatory wait time between keno sessions from five minutes to four and would have allowed operators to provide electronic tickets instead of paper tickets. • Norsk Tipping has awarded Scientific Games Corporation two new three-year contracts to provide interactive casino and eInstant games. The deals, which Scientific Games won following a competitive procurement process, may be extended for one additional year. The company’s digital content will be offered to Norwegian players via a single point of delivery through Scientific Games’ secure remote gaming server platform. Scientific Games also provides Norsk Tipping with lottery instant games as well as lottery gaming systems and retail technology. • Inspired Entertainment, Inc. has entered into a tri-party agreement with the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery and platform supplier Pollard Banknote Limited to supply its Virtual Events lottery products online to the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery. Inspired is a global games technology company, supplying Virtual Sports, mobile gaming and server-based gaming systems with associated terminals and digital content to regulated betting and gaming operators around the world. • The National Tour Association and its magazine Courier Magazine has given the Gold Award to the Mohegan Sun at the NTA Distinguished Dozen Service Convention in St. Louis. The award recognizes quality of product, level of customer service and dedication to relationship building. • The Idaho Lottery has signed a contract with Intralot Group to providing lottery gaming system services for the next ten years for $60 million. Intralot has provided these services since 2007. Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson commented: “We are very pleased to initiate a new era of cooperation with Intralot following a competitive selection process. Our aim is to work together with our partner to further modernize the Idaho Lottery and improve our ability to serve our players and our beneficiaries, Idaho Public Schools and the Permanent Building Fund.” • Pechanga Resort & Casino in California, owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians is introducing a new logo. The design is the letter “P” with the stem turning into a feather at the base. This is the first new logo since the casino opened in 2002. Edith Atwood, president of the Pechanga Development Corporation, said “Because we’re heading in a new direction, it really felt like it was time to refresh our logo and make it something memorable.” The slender logo will work well in the era of iPhones, and will be easy to digitize she said. It will be introduced as a billboard to motorists traveling along the freeway near Baker. • The Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians last week held a groundbreaking for its new 83,500 square-foot Soboba Casino near San Jacinto, California. The casino will have 2,000 slots, 24 gaming tables, cafes, bars, a sports lounge and a high roller area. A 200-room hotel will be built near the casino, says the tribe. It will replace the existing casino, which opened in 1995. • The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a temporary injunction to the Pueblo of Pojoaque preventing the State of New Mexico Gaming Control Board from threatening or punishing vendors or others doing business with the Cities of Gold Casino since the tribe’s compact expired in 2015 and a new one has not been negotiated. The injunction will remain in place while the appeal of an earlier ruling upholding the state’s right to punish the vendors proceeds.
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