The circle was closed last week when William Hill bought what was left of CG Technology (formerly Cantor Gaming), bringing to an end the tortured history of an early entry in the U.S. sports betting market. The deal strengthens the hold William Hill has on the Las Vegas sports books since it brings sports books at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Venetian and the Palazzo, the Palms, the Tropicana and Silverton, as well as providing a betting platform and risk management consulting to the Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
Joe Asher, the CEO of William Hill US, worked for Cantor Gaming at one time and was the subject of a lawsuit when, after leaving Cantor and forming a sports betting company called Brandywine Bookmaking. William Hill purchased the company and named Asher CEO of its U.S. division, prompting the lawsuit, which was later dismissed.
Asher said the deal to acquire CG Technology was good for William Hill.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement,” said Asher. “This will allow us to expand our Las Vegas footprint to several marquee resorts. We look forward to working with our new casino partners and transitioning CG Technology’s retail and mobile customers to our award-winning offering.”
William Hill operates 113 race and sports books in Nevada. The company also operates sports betting operations for casinos and racetracks in 10 of the 13 states where sports betting is legal.
More importantly, William Hill has a deal with Eldorado Resorts to operate sports books in all its U.S. properties, which will soon include all the Caesars Entertainment casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and elsewhere once the deal to acquire that company is closed.
The story of Cantor Gaming and CG Technology is long and convoluted. The company was founded out of the tragedy that was 9/11, when hundreds of employees of the investment back Cantor Fitzgerald perished in the attack on the World Trade Center. Lee Amaitis, who joined the firm in 1985, and worked in London at the time, was head of the company’s technology division. He realized that the trading platform used to predict stock prices has an application in sports betting, and along with his mentor Howard Lutnik, decided to form Cantor Gaming.
A brash New Yorker, who earned the nickname of “Brooklyn Basher,” Amaitis was a bull in a china shop. When a Cantor trader, Michael Colbert, who directed the sports betting activity at M Resort, a Cantor client, was “charged with enterprise corruption; fourth-, third-, and first-degree money laundering; and fifth-degree conspiracy,” according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the Cantor reaction was inadequate for the board.
No connection was established between either Cantor officials or M Resort owners (prior to today’s ownership of Penn National Gaming), Cantor took the brunt of the punishment. With some of the wagers being placed at M Resort, CG agreed to a settlement of $22.5 million to the U.S. Department of Justice to avoid prosecution for money laundering.
Nevada regulators fined CG another $5.5 million, at the time the largest fine ever assessed to a Nevada gaming company, only surpassed earlier this year with a $20 million fine to Wynn Resorts for the alleged foils of founder and chairman, Steve Wynn.
In 2016 and 2018, Nevada regulators again assessed a total $2 million fine for a variety of issues, including out-of-state wagers, over or under paying bets, miscalculating odds and failing to set up a satellite betting station correctly. In one of the settlements, Amaitis was forced to resign.
Now CEO Parikshat Khanna, said the company was “happy to reach an agreement for the sale of the race and sports book assets of CG Technology to William Hill and looks forward to a seamless transition for our loyal casino partners and customers.”
As for Asher, it solidifies William Hill’s position as the leading sports betting operators in Nevada. William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said the cost of the acquisition was “not significant” and the deal was pending approval of regulators in all the pending jurisdiction. William Hill expects it to close in the first half of 2020.
