NEWS & NOTES

Golden Entertainment (Nasdaq: GDEN) has successfully syndicated the financing for its planned acquisition of American Casino & Entertainment Properties. The facilities consist of a seven-year $800 million first-lien term loan and an eight-year $200 million second-lien term loan They also will provide for a $100 million unfunded revolver to support future growth opportunities. JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Macquarie Capital and Morgan Stanley acted as lead arrangers. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter.  •  The restaurant credited with sparking the Las Vegas restaurant renaissance is moving. Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, a fixture of the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace since 1992, is closing next year and reopening at Bellagio in a redesigned setting on the Via Bellagio retail promenade.  •  The Palazzo on the Las Vegas Strip has earmarked $15 million to refurbish and expand parts of the casino floor. The project includes new carpeting, painting, lighting and walkways, the addition of a new bar and moving and/or remodeling other bar areas.  •  The Rampart Casino in suburban Las Vegas has opened a 6,000-square-foot, 126-seat race and sports book. Features include a bar and lounge, a 50-foot customizable LED screen, nine 60-inch monitors and 80 HD televisions.  •  MGM Resorts International has expanded its M Life customer loyalty program with a customized Military & Veterans Program, or MVP, targeting military members, veterans and their spouses. MVP card holders are automatically upgraded to M Life “Pearl” status with complimentary self-parking, discounts on entertainment, dining, attractions, spa treatments and rooms at all MGM properties nationwide.  •  The Cromwell on the Las Vegas Strip has unveiled a new 50-seat sports book featuring a 32-foot-long LED video wall and a nine-foot LED odds wall. The casino also has rejiggered its gambling offering in a bid to drive visitation, offering single “0” roulette, EZ Baccarat, 3-to-2 odds on blackjack, 100 times odds on craps and lower bet minimums across the floor.   •  An interactive attraction based on the popular Walking Dead TV series has opened on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas. “Fear the Walking Dead: Survival,” as the 20-minute show is called, located on the site of Hennessey’s Tavern, features live actors as zombies. Admission is $30.  •  The Ohio Casino Control Commission has levied a $200,000 fine on Jack Entertainment for lax security that allowed minors into its casinos and allowing unauthorized access to its computer management software. Jack operates casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland. Jack acknowledged the lapses and Jack CEO Matt Cullen said it has taken steps to “ensure ongoing compliance.” Jack took over the casinos in 2016 from Caesars Entertainment Corp.  The commission noted 13 instances of underage person entering the casinos between June and November of last year.  •  Klamoya Casino, owned by the Klamath Tribe of Oregon, held a groundbreaking last week for a new 76-room $6.5 million motel. “After 20 years with our casino, we now have a hotel to compliment it, our Travel Center, all in one area,” said tribal council member Kathleen Hatcher-Mitchell. Construction is expected to take about a year. The hotel is expected to expand the casino’s tourist appeal. The casino is already the second-biggest attraction in Klamath County, behind Crater Lake National Park.  •  The Desert Diamond West Valley Casino near Glendale, Arizona, now serves alcohol. The casino, owned by the Tohono O’odham tribe, opened in late 2015 without a Class III license or a license to sell beer or other spirits. On August 11, it received the needed alcohol license. It is working on a Class III casino expected to open by the end of this year.  The changes are part of the settlement of a long legal battle between the tribe and state stretching back to 2009. Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise CEO Andy Asselin declared, “Alcohol service has been a top request of our guests since we opened, and we are excited to now offer this amenity.”  •  Pennsylvania is running out of money to pay its bills amid a seven-week-old budget stalemate in which lawmakers were unable to agree on a package to expand gaming in the state. According to a report in the Associated Press, the situation ins reaching a critical stage in which Governor Tom Wolf may have to begin deciding soon which bills get paid and which are postponed. The problem is the $32 billion budget bill approved the day before the current fiscal year began, which does not adequately address a deficit of more than $2 billion. Gaming expansion would only have addressed $250 million of that total. The AP reported that the state’s main bank account is expected to fall below zero by the end of the month.  •  The New Hampshire Planning Board has announced final approval for a charitable gaming casino for Salem, Cheers Casino and Poker Rooms. The casino, the first to take advantage of a recent state law allowing charitable gaming, will be able to seat 300 people and will have 25 poker tables and 10 carnival game tables. It is owned by Dan Dandreo.  •  The Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Flintstone, Maryland, has set a record for contributing to an Allegany County fund, the Rocky Gap Fund, that benefits education and other services. It contributed nearly $3 million, the most since it opened in 2014. The largest beneficiary will be a community college, Allegany College of Maryland, which was awarded $1.1 million. County officials say the funds have had a “huge impact” on the county. By the end of 2018 it is estimated that the casino’s contributions to the fund will reach $6.4 million.  •  The Ohio Lottery Commission has extended its primary instant games contract with Scientific Games for two more years.  The company recently introduced SalesMaker—a lottery retail development and training program—in Ohio.  Next month the Lottery will launch Scientific Games’ Willy Wonka Golden Ticket, an instant linked game. Scientific Games has partnered with the Ohio Lottery for 16 years. •  Sands China Ltd. will revamp the VIP gaming areas of some of its Cotai properties, the firm has announced. The refurbishment works of the VIP areas at the Venetian Macao and Plaza Macao are expected to be complete next year, the company stated. The Sands China will also be refurbishing the VIP gaming areas at the Plaza Macao, creating “new entrances to the property and private gaming salons” for its VIP guests. The project is scheduled to begin later this year and to be completed in February 2018. In the half-year report, Sands China additionally said it would make private smoking rooms available to its VIP guests at the firm’s properties.  ?  A Lionsgate-themed amusement park will open in South Korea in 2019, according to Hong Kong-listed investment firm Landing International Development Ltd. Landing has partnered with Hollywood media group Lions Gate Entertainment Inc
. to develop the attraction at Landing’s new casino resort in Jeju. Lionsgate Movie World will span approximately 122,000 square meters (1.3 million square feet) and is the company’s first branded outdoor theme park.  ?  Officials in Taiwan’s Kinmen Island have delayed a popular annual music festival to ensure that the public will come out for an October 28 casino referendum. The Kinmen Tunnel Music Festival, reportedly the largest tourist attraction on the island, will be rescheduled.  ?  Galaxy Entertainment Group last week sponsored the Galaxy Macau CEC 2017 China E-sports Carnival at the Broadway Theater. The three-day tournament featured cosplayers representing various game characters and booths featuring virtual reality and robotics displays.