NEWS & NOTES

MGM Macau is celebrating its 10th anniversary and the pending debut of MGM Cotai with the art exhibition “A Golden Way of Life—Très’Ors.” The exhibit showcases some 250 gold creations and artifacts, some dating to the 17th century.  ?  In the past year, the Macau government issued 71 “verbal cautions” to casino patrons who used telephones at the city’s gaming tables. A ban on tableside phone calls and proxy betting took effect in May 2016.  ?  Landing International Development Ltd. has opened a new resort condominium Somerset Jeju Shinhwa World on Jeju Island in South Korea.The property, to be managed by hospitality operator the Ascott Ltd., is part of the company’s Jeju Shinhwa World planned $2.4 billion integrated resort there.  ?  According to a report from Master Card, Singapore is tops among Asia Pacific destinations for international tourist spend.The city-state reaped US$15.4 billion in 2016, followed by Bangkok at US$12.7 billion and US$11.1 billion in Tokyo.China is again the top source of tourists to Asia Pacific, increasing its share to 16.2 percent in 2016.  ?  A year-round Fremont Street Experience attraction based on the “Fear the Walking Dead” TV show is expected to open on the Downtown Las Vegas pedestrian district in July. The attraction, created by Montreal-based Triotech, is based on a companion program to AMC Networks’ popular The Walking Dead series. It will be housed at the current site of a tavern and a Walgreens.  •  Red Rock Resorts founders Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta have launched an investment company called Fertitta Capital. The private entity, seeded with $500 million and headed by Nakisa Bidarian, who ran the brothers’ Ultimate Fighting Championship, will focus on technology, media and entertainment.  •  The Federal Aviation Administration has approved limited flying of drones over the Las Vegas Strip. Operations applying for and receiving a go-ahead will be limited to flying within a quarter-mile radius of their approved location and below 200 feet altitude.  •  The world’s largest Hooters restaurant, located at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, is going out of business after less than two years. The 15,200-square-foot eatery plans to close the doors in mid-May. The Palms was recently bought by Station Casinos (Red Rock Resorts).   •  New York’s Vernon Downs harness track opened for a new season on May 5 after a delay of several weeks. The financially troubled facility is seeking tax relief from New York to offset the impact of competition from the state’s new del Lago and Rivers commercial casinos and the Oneida Indian tribe’s Yellow Brick Road casino.  •  James Murren and Heather Hay Murren have been selected to receive the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in a May 10 ceremony in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The award is given to “executives who, by their individual examples and their business practices, have shown a deep concern for the common good beyond the bottom line,” the center said.  •  The Venetian Las Vegas has launched a direct hotel booking channel on Facebook Messenger. The channel was developed in partnership with Let’s Rally, a Las Vegas digital marketing agency, and utilizes Microsoft Cognitive Services, which includes the LUIS natural language processing engine.   •  The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has renewed the contract of Kimberly Van Amburg as CEO of the tribe’s Tucson, Ariz.-based Casino Del Sol corporation, which includes two casinos, a golf course and other businesses. Van  Amburg’s tenure will last three more years while the tribe prepares a member of the Pascua Yaqui to succeed her.  •  The Native American Finance Officers Association has presented New York’s Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe with its “Deal of the Year” award for the tribe’s successful refinancing of debt associated with the 2012 expansion of its Class III casino. The refinancing turned outstanding taxable debt into tax-exempt debt under the Tribal Economic Development Bonds program, resulting in an interest rate reduction of approximately 51 percent, the tribe said.  •  Gordon Ramsay has chosen Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as the location for his first Hell’s Kitchen, a restaurant concept based on the celebrity chef’s hit TV show.  •  Patrons of Soboba Casino in Southern California last week broke the Guinness world record for the world’s largest rubber chicken toss. The 2,000 who took part threw 2,000 rubber chickens at a target to beat the previous record of 999 chickens set in 2011.  •  The California Horse Racing Board has adopted rules that allow racetracks to use geolocating technology to identify wagers placed ontrack using mobile platforms and telephones.  In the past they weren’t able to identify such bets as being made on the track, which results in more revenue. Instead they were listed as off-track betting. At the end of 2017 the board will report what effect this has on racetrack revenues overall, including the purse sizes. The Golden State has had account wagering since 2002.  •  The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe near Cass Lake, Minnesota, operators of the Palace Casino and Hotel, will vote May 16 on whether to build new casino resort for up to $50 million. The tribe will vote by mail-in ballots. The vote was called by the Leech Lake Tribal Council, which feels that the existing building, done in the 1980s, needs many repairs—so many that a new structure would be more economical. The tribe operates three casinos total, including the White Oak Casino and the Northern Lights Casino.  •  This week the Premier Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort near Flagstaff, Arizona, will turn four.  The AAA Four Diamond resort and casino recent opened a new buffet and truckers lounge. During the spring and summer the resort will hold fireworks, special events, gaming promotions and beverage specials. On the anniversary itself, the tribe will hold an Arts and Crafts fair.