NEWS & NOTES

Crown Casino has been fined $300,000 by Victoria’s gambling regulator over the gambling giant’s tampering with poker machines. The action followed a trial run at the casino for three and a half weeks during March and April 2017, when certain buttons were hidden on 17 gaming machines so that only minimum and maximum betting options were available. In a statement on Friday, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation said the actions varied certain gaming machines and therefore the move had required its approval. “Crown’s failure to obtain approval means it has contravened the Gambling Regulation Act 2003,” it said. “This is the largest fine the commission has issued to Crown, and reflects the seriousness with which it considers the matter.” • Scientific Games Corporation announced that the Kentucky Lottery Corporation has extended the company’s instant games contract for eight years. As part of the contract extension, Scientific Games was also selected to incorporate its Cooperative Services Program (CSP) for full category management of instant games to the Kentucky Lottery and its network of nearly 3,000 retailers. “We have strategically chosen to extend our instant games contract with Scientific Games due to their track record of providing quality games, support and strategic planning for our instant game portfolio,” said Tom Delacenserie, president of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation. “The addition of the Cooperative Services Program allows us to build on the success of our instant games.” • Pennsylvania’s Greenwood Gaming, owner of the Parx Casino in Bensalem and licensee for one of the new mini-casinos under the law, is trying to get Carlisle, a city just outside Harrisburg to rescind its op-out resolution, passed early this year to ban any of the 750-slot facilities in the city. Greenwood officials went before Carlisle Borough Council last week to try to get the officials to change their minds and allow a mini-casino in Carlisle. The company gave the lawmakers a presentation showing the potential benefits of one of the satellite facilities in the city. There was no indication immediately as to how the presentation was received. • New York’s Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino is launching extensive renovations to the property’s exterior, entryway and lobby areas. The $40 million Seneca Arrival Experience, as it’s called, will include a new landscaped access road, sculptures, a covered entryway, a new glass façade and a remodeled lobby. Plans call for the project to be completed before fall 2019. • Qualified Nevada employees of MGM Resorts International will be able to enroll in distance education programs at any of the state’s seven public colleges and universities with most costs covered by the company’s new MGM College Opportunity Program. Slated to begin in fall 2019, the program also calls for the Nevada System of Higher Education to work with MGM to develop additional online degree and certificate programs aligned with workforce needs. • Sandra Douglass Morgan, director of external affairs for AT&T in Las Vegas and a member of the Nevada Athletic Commission, has been named to the Nevada Gaming Commission. A Las Vegas native and the first African-American woman to join the commission, Morgan has served as attorney for the city of North Las Vegas and was as a litigation attorney for MGM Mirage (now MGM Resorts International). • Macau casino hotel Ponte 16 has become the first property whose smoking lounge was OK’d by the city government under a new, enhanced set of technical guidelines. Four other casinos—MGM Macau, MGM Cotai, Studio City and City of Dreams Macau—have also applied to have smoking lounges approved under the new rules. ● The number of pachinko parlors in Japan has declined markedly in the 20 years, down from 18,000 in 1995 to 10,258 in 2017. Pachinko turnover hit a high of 33 trillion yen in 2005 (US$309 billion at the time) and has decreased by one-third since. Even so, pachinko revenues still represent 4 percent of Japan’s GDP. ● Macau junket operator Meg-Star International has opened its sixth VIP club at Nüwa at City of Dreams, a Melco Resorts & Entertainment resort. It is Meg-Star’s sixth VIP club in Macau following the opening of the company’s Lian Sheng VIP Club at Wynn Macau in December. • Washington’s Spokane Tribe has announced it will not reopen its seasonal Two Rivers Casino near Lake Roosevelt. It plans to transition the gaming resort into a non-gaming Two Rivers Resort. Many of the recreational options will continue to be offered, such as RV and tent camping and a marina. They will also rent cabins, houseboats and facilities for special events. • North Dakota Attorney General is asking the legislature’s Administrative Rules Committee to limit the number of electronic pull tab machines a business may operate to five. The legislature approved of the machines last year. The AG is proposing rules for their operation. He wants to avoid businesses “basically operating like casinos.” The legislation’s author, Rep. Andy Maragos, says prefers an upper limit of ten. • The new Monroe Market food hall inside Greektown Casino-Hotel will offer “from wood-smoked meats to bottles of pineapple Jarritos to gut-busting bacon cheeseburgers on a doughnut bun” according to the Detroit Free Press. It replaces the old Market District food court. The chefs were “treated like artists,” and given full rein to develop their visions of the venue. • The Mohegan Sun has announced multiple partnerships with several regional destinations, including Six Flags New England, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Ocean House in Westerly and the RI & Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. These arrangements add to the casino’s Momentum loyalty program by allowing discounts and other benefits for members. The Sun recently announced naming rights and benefits partnership with the largest indoor multi-level racing track in the world, which is now known as Supercharged Powered by Mohegan Sun.