NEWS & NOTES

Pennsylvania’s Parx Casino is promoting its recent $50 million expansion and makeover with a new marketing campaign titled “What A Night.” Developed in partnership with New York-based advertising agency Barker, the campaign features TV, digital and print messages highlighting new amenities, along with billboards calling to New Yorkers to come and visit Parx, since the expansion, according to the casino, has increased out-of-market visitation by around 61 percent.  •  A regulatory crackdown against online gambling in Malaysia has continued to weigh on technology provider Playtech, following its profit warning less than three months ago, according to the telegraph.co.uk website. The Isle of Man-based company, founded by billionaire Teddy Sagi, said customer numbers had not recovered in the Asian nation, where leaders last year announced a major clampdown on gambling companies operating there. The move forced Playtech to issue a profit warning in November. Now the company says it has almost no business in Malaysia, which accounted for 5 percent of its revenues in 2016.  •  The professional baseball association in Japan is talking to its baseball teams in consideration of a new baseball-themed lottery product. Japanese media reported that a meeting was held last week between the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization (NPB) and the representatives of the league’s 12 pro teams regarding the launch of a new baseball-themed lottery product. At present, Japan’s Sports Promotion Lottery is limited to a football-based product, which generated sales of nearly ¥112b (US$1b) in fiscal 2016. The football lottery involves a pools-style set-up in which either the lottery player selects his or her favored teams, or the Toto-Big version, which relies on a computer to randomly select teams to emerge as winners.  •  The Star Casino in Sydney, Australia is trying to retrieve $7 million from a high roller after it accidentally destroyed two checks he had used as security. A former employee of Star City admitted in the New South Wales Supreme Court that the checks had “probably” been shredded by accident because he thought that Macau-based Wai Chong Wong had repaid his debt to the casino. He has not. Wong wrote the checks to the casino in October 2016 to draw AU$7 million ($5.5 million) in chips to gamble at the VIP baccarat tables. According to Australian Gambling law, casinos cannot offer credit to their customers. Instead, they must they must establish special cash deposit accounts, which customers can credit with cash or checks.  •  The new Merkur casino in Halle, Germany, will open in August of this year under the Merkur Spielbanken Sachsen-Anhalt partnership, a joint venture between the Gauselmann Group and Stadtcasino Baden in Switzerland. The location is the former casino in Franckestrasse, Halle. There will be 800 meters of floor space with just less than half of that for gaming. There will be 85 slots and 20 new jobs will be created. It will be the third in the joint venture’s chain of casinos. The partnership holds six licenses in Saxony-Anhalt, awarded in December 2014 with a life-span of 15 years.  •  One parking facility at the border checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will have a capacity of 3,000 spaces for Macau-bound drivers of Hong Kong-registered cars, according to the Official Gazette. Under a quota announced by the Macau government, 300 three-year permits will be issued for Hong Kong-registered cars to enter Macau via the so-called Delta Bridge.  ●  Cotai Water Jet and Cathay Pacific have signed a codeshare agreement that will make it easier to book ferry tickets to Macau for passengers flying into Hong Kong.Cathay Pacific’s “CX” code on Water Jet services will mean convenient baggage checks and a choice of six daily direct Cotai Water Jet departures from the SkyPier at HKIA. Cotai Water Jet is wholly-owned by Sands China Ltd. and offers direct high-speed ferry service between Macau, Taipa, Hong Kong, Kowloon and Hong Kong International Airport.  ●  WildAid, a California-based environmental organization, is calling on Macau gaming operators to remove shark fin dishes from the menus at their restaurants.Shark fin is an Asian delicacy often served at traditional Chinese restaurants.  ●  The average hotel room rate in Macau recorded a 5.9 percent increase during Chinese New Year compared with the same period in 2017, according to the Macao Government Tourism Office.ADR for a hotel room during the period from February 15 to 21 was MOP1,951.8 (US$242.20).Occupancy during the holiday was unchanged at 94.5 percent year-on-year. Macau currently offers more than 39,000 hotel rooms.  ●  Melco Resorts & Entertainment has launched a month-long recruitment campaign to fill nearly 500 positions at its satellite casinos in Cyprus, due to open this year.Positions are available in finance, construction, IT, security and casino operations. A temporary casino will be located in Limassol until the casino resort in Zakaki is completed. The four satellite casinos will be located in Nicosia, Larnaca, Famagusta and Paphos.  ●  The Macau government has extended the horse racing concession of Macau Horse Race Company Ltd., operator of the Macau Jockey Club, for another 24 years. MJC has pledged to invest MOP$1.5 billion to upgrade facilities, adding non-gaming attractions to attract more families.  ●  The New Jersey Casino Control Commission, partnering with the American Legion and State Parole Board will hold a job fair April 19 to find jobs for veterans in the gaming industry. The state says there are at least 1,500 casino jobs available, with others waiting in the wings as two more casinos will open later this year. “We want to encourage our casinos to bet on a vet,” said Bob Looby, Veterans Affairs Coordinator. The Parole Board seeks to help parolees who served in the military.  •  The hotel at Las Vegas’ Lucky Dragon will stay in business at least until a March 27 hearing before a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge. The off-Strip resort, which has struggled since it opened in December 2016, closed its casino and restaurants in January and filed for Chapter 11 protection last month just days before it was slated to be sold at a foreclosure auction to satisfy an unpaid loan and other obligations.  •  Ground has broken in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin on a new ballpark for the Las Vegas 51s, the city’s professional baseball club. Howard Hughes Corp., owner of 50 percent of the Pacific Coast League team, is sponsoring the 10,000-seat, $150 million facility, which is expected to prove crucial to maintaining the 51s’ affiliation with a Major League team when its current agreement with the New York Mets expires after the 2018 season. Thirty-four-year-old Cashman Field in Downtown Las Vegas, the team’s current home, is the oldest stadium in the PCL and is considered outdated.  •  Caesars Entertainment is renaming the 7,000-seat AXIS arena at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino the Zappos Theater under a multi-
year partnership between the gaming giant and the online retailer.  •  Las Vegas police are searching for a man who attempted to rob the off-Strip Ellis Island Casino on February 24. The failed holdup follows a successful robbery of Ellis Island in January and is the fourth attempt in or around the Strip this year. In January, a gunman got away with cash at New York-New York. Last month, two suspects were arrested in a heist at South Point Casino.