NEWS & NOTES

The newly certified version of Casino Technology’s Elephant remote game server is now available on the Romanian market. This is a mobile version with a convenient and user-friendly interface. Elephant can be used independently and integrated to all types of platform via its API. It is designed to fully satisfy the need for a wide variety of premium slot games content. The system offers over 100 HTML5 games and has been integrated with dozens of online platforms and aggregators, offering a convenient tool for distribution of genuine and third-party game content to all existing gaming channels.  •  Genesis Casino announced that its new site offering a “plethora of gaming in a unique space, style and atmosphere” will be available soon. Genesis partnered with top software providers to offer unique promotions and banking methods. As well as 1,300 titles from which to choose. The new online casino will be available via mobile device or desktop PC.  •  Singapore’s National Council on Problem Gambling reports that 52 percent of the city-state’s adult residents participated in some form of gambling in 2017, up from 44 percent three years ago. The council’s finding is based on a survey of some 3,000 people conducted every three years.  •  Macau gaming operator Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, or SJM, has announced that it is raising employee salaries from 2.5 percent for those earning MOP16,000 or more to 8.3 percent for those earning MOP600 or more. The raises are effective April 1. SJM is also announced it seeks to fill 10,000 vacancies at its Grand Lisboa Palace resort, now under construction in Cotai.  •  Central Oregon’s first new truck stop, the Plateau Travel Plaza, will soon be opened by the Indian Head Casino along U.S. Highway 26. The facility, owned by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, will have 70 truck spots, showers and laundry along with a convenience store. Nearly 10,000 vehicles a day travel along this stretch of highway, and the numbers are rising.  •  The Jack Cleveland Casino has introduced “Synergy Tables Games” targeting the younger generation with an arena of 28 high tech play stations with 27-inch screens. Players can interact with live dealers as they play roulette, craps, blackjack and other traditional table games while the sights and sounds of high energy DJ music throb around them. The tables/machines are produced by Interblock.  •  More than 1,300 workers at Caesars Windsor voted 98.3 percent last week to go on strike. Local 444 3rd vice-president Doug Boughner commented “It should show the company that the members are serious. The members will withdraw their labor if we’re not able to get a good deal for them.” The union, which represents about 2,300 employees has been in negotiations with the casino since February.  •  The lengthy licensing process for hotel restaurants in Macau will be simplified, says Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes of the Macao Government Tourism Office. The MGTO will revise the law to include one-year temporary licenses for applicants who have completed construction and been approved by the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau.  ●  The National Labor Relations Board has certified the Culinary Union as the bargaining agent for Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Nevada. The board rejected Station Casino’s objections to the election where employees voted 78 percent to unionize. NLRB Regional Director Paula Sawyer wrote “I overrule the objections, and I shall certify the Petitioner as the representative of the appropriate bargaining unit.” The Culinary Union urged Station Casinos to recognize the vote and begin contract negotiations ASAP. The employees voted to unionize last November.  •  Chinese visitors to Macau increased 15 percent year-on-year to 4.2 million during January and February 2018, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. Chinese visitors represented 73 percent of the total arrivals at 5.8 million, up 8 percent from a year earlier.  ●  Since the end of March, inspectors in Macau have found more than 360 people smoking unlawfully in casinos in violation of amended no-smoking laws. According to the figures from the Macau Health Bureau, the profile of offenders is largely male—94.2 percent—and 86.2 percent were tourists.  ●  Melco Resorts & Entertainment welcomed more than 60 local small and medium-sized enterprises to tour operations at Studio City in Macau. The SMEs, from industries such as marketing, maintenance, equipment supplies and entertainment, were then invited to present vendor proposals to the operator.