Tropicana owner Carl Icahn is reportedly interested in taking over the troubled Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City through its bankruptcy, but only if he gets the same union concessions Trump Entertainment is seeking, according to reports. Union officials have so far rejected the concessions. Meanwhile, another city casino in bankruptcy—the Revel casino—saw its auction delayed for a week. A Florida-based developer seeking to acquire the property for $90 million criticized the delay.
Just a week after he won the license for the Boston area, Steve Wynn is backing down from his harsh position against big payments to the city of Boston. Meanwhile, Repeal the Casino Deal’s David vs. Goliath contest was highlighted this week by figures for how much each side is raising in the Question 3 campaign. Voters will decide the issue in November.
The largest edition of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in years launched on Monday with more exhibitors and attendees registered since 2007. The highlights of the show will be keynote presentations by gaming visionaries Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts, and Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands.
Major operators PokerStars and Mansion could be the first of an exodus of offshore operators unwilling to submit to the UK’s new licensing regime and new 15 percent tax. Gibraltar’s operators, meanwhile, are challenging the regulations in court. PokerStars denies, however, that is withdrawing from the UK.
Hong Kong tycoon Tony Fung (l.) has cleared the last federal hurdle in his purchase of the Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns in the Australian state of Queensland. The deal is key to Fung’s plans to develop a multibillion-dollar gaming resort near the Great Barrier Reef.
Travellers International, the company behind plans for a fourth gaming super-resort at Manila’s Entertainment City, says construction on it will start this year. The $1.1 billion Bayshore City Resorts World (l.) will feature luxury Okura and Westin hotels and private residences among its attractions.
Codere SA has reached an agreement with creditors to restructure $1.4 billion in debt, staving off possible insolvency proceedings. Jose Antonio Martinez Sampedro (l.) will remain as chairman and CEO.
With the recent mergers and acquisitions on the supply side, we’re unlikely to hear anything interesting at G2E because not all of them are complete. But the products? They speak for themselves.
While the government of Vietnam considers whether to end its longstanding ban on a domestic casino market, the principal investor in the country’s largest gaming resort, the Grand Ho Tram (l.), has raised his bet by $50 million.
Contrary to Chairman Steve Wynn’s recent statements, Macau authorities say they’re still investigating a $50 million payment Wynn Resorts made to third parties obtain its Cotai land rights where the Wynn Palace is under construction (l.). Wynn insisted the transaction is “crystal clear and clean.”
The investment group behind the first casino in Russia’s Far East says “unforeseen obstacles” will prevent the resort, located near Vladivostok, from opening as planned at the end of the year. The Oriental Regent, as it’s called, is being redesigned and will debut in the spring. The imprisonment of previous investor, Oleg Drozdov (l.), is part of the complication.
Deutsche Bank warns that revenue growth in Macau’s vaunted mass market could be following the sharp declines witnessed in VIP over the last several months. September’s growth may not surpass single digits, and October could be flat, says a new report.
Five union leaders in Macau have been charged with civil disobedience after months of public protests by casino workers culminated in the threat of a strike during the busy Golden Week holiday. The five deny the charge and say they’re being intimidated for their activism.
Cyprus’ newly authorized casino will be no small affair. Details released by the government include a casino of at least 100 table games and 1,000 slot machines and a five-star hotel of at least 500 rooms.
The Council of Europe Convention against the Manipulation of Sports Competition recently was signed by the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers. Twenty-seven member state of the European Union and the European Commission plus non-EU participating states agreed to the Convention's definition of illegal sports betting. Only Malta did not sign off.
Following an alleged attack on a customer by security staff, Aspers Casino in the London area lost its alcohol license until the Newham borough council holds a review hearing. Two weeks earlier, the council issued a ban on glass after a series of drunken attacks.
Crimea could be open for resort-scale gaming investment by next year, says the territory’s new leader. Premier Sergei Aksenov (l.) says the government is consulting with experts from around the world, he says, on structuring the nascent market, which will be located near Yalta on the Black Sea.
An investment group based in Macau has proposed a $300 million resort casino for the island of Tinian in the U.S. territory of the Northern Marianas in the western Pacific. There is also Taiwanese money in the venture, which would be Tinian’s second casino.
Proposed legislation that would have legalized sports bets in Canada remains stalled in the Senate. It’s been two years since the law was OK’d in the House of Commons; it would give each province the ability to allow single-game betting. Recently Conservative Senator Bob Runciman (l.) revived the bill.
With practically every major development in the Bahamas, including the multibillion Baha Mar casino complex (l.), financed in whole or part by the Chinese, local institutions, service providers and laborers are being squeezed out, said Kenwood Kerr, head of Bahamas-based Providence Advisors.
The Problem Gambling Foundation claims the New Zealand Health Ministry wants to take away its state-funded counseling contract and give it to the Salvation Army because of the PGF's outspoken criticism of the gambling industry. The nation's High Court will hear arguments in the case.
Preliminary site preparation has been allowed to go forward at Paragon Gaming's $535 million casino/hotel complex (l.) next to B. C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia. The controversial casino was conditionally approved last December and should be completed in 2016. Paragon officials said the work will not disrupt events planned at the stadium.
Casino resorts could be allowed in Cancun and Puerto Penasco as part of an update of Mexico's gaming laws, which originated in the first half of the last century. Subsequent revisions have led to confusion regarding casino licensing and equipment, deterring major operators and suppliers from entering the Mexican market, despite its huge potential.
Breakout Poker—a planned online gambling site that will accept crypto-currency—has picked up some endorsements from pro poker players including Johnny Chan (l.) and Huck Seed.
British bookmaker Ladbrokes has announced it is pulling out of the Canadian iGaming and sports-betting markets. The company is no longer accepting wagers from Canadian players. According to Ladbrokes, the move was made due to Canada’s rules against overseas gambling sites.
Though online poker hasn’t lived up to expectations in Nevada, Caesars Interactive says its WSOP.com site leads the state in online play and the company is taking a long term approach to online gaming. Caesars’ New Jersey online site is second in its market.
Online gaming operator 888 has launched a new live-streaming sports-betting service in the UK and Ireland. The service can be accessed by computer or mobile device.
French regulators faced with declining online gambling revenue say the online poker fad is over. Critics, however, say the country’s taxes and online laws are causing the decline.
A German administrative court has ordered a delay in the issuing of online gambling site licenses in Germany while complaints about the country’s new gambling laws are investigated.
The excitement is growing in New York State, where a casino siting board is set to award up to four Class III gaming licenses. The operative words could be “up to”: the board chairman has hinted that fewer than four development teams could win licenses to build upstate. And New Jersey legislators are objecting to Genting’s Sterling Forest proposal (l.) that they believe will harm drinking water in the state.
Clay Point Property, owner of the land on which the shuttered Margaritaville Casino Biloxi stands, rejected a cash offer of $13 million—the amount the land had been appraised at—on September 15. Margaritaville operator MVB Holding LLC closed the casino that night and filed for bankruptcy the next day.
The Aurora city council remains split on the issue of Amendment 68, which would allow Arapahoe Park Race Track (l.) to offer 2,500 slots and 65 table games. Councilman Bob Broom's recent resolution opposing the amendment recently failed because the vote was not unanimous. The amendment will appear on the November ballot.
A subcommittee of the Davenport, Iowa Plan and Zoning Commission recently voted 4-2 to recommend that the full commission change the long-range use map to allow a $110 million land-based casino complex. The project would include a seven-story, 143-room hotel and a 1,500-seat event center. Previously nearby residents voiced their concerns at a public hearing.
In downtown Detroit, Dan Gilbert's Greektown Casino-Hotel is spending $1.25 million to widen an I-375 exit ramp near an entrance to its parking garage. Casino officials said the Michigan Department of Transportation approved the upgrade that will improve safety and traffic flow.
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (l.) recently replaced four of the five Missouri Lottery Commissioners in an effort to direct more funds to education. In the 2014 budget, lottery proceeds to education dropped to 23.1 percent from more than 25 percent annually for the past decade. Prizes and advertising have come under particular scrutiny.
Atlantic City will file a plan with the state to reduce its municipal employees by 300 through layoffs and attrition. The city will also reopen negotiations with its unions other than its police department. The city is trying to cope with falling casino tax assessments and the closing of four casinos this year. Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian (l.) says the layoffs are not a surprise.
New Jersey Assemblyman Chris Brown (l.) wants the state Casino Control Commission to have a public hearing on Caesars Entertainment’s restructuring. Brown has been a vocal critic of Caesars’ operations in New Jersey, and said he wants to assess the health of the company and its impact on Atlantic City.
Texas state Rep. Matt Krause tried but failed to stop historical racing in the state. Krause sued the state racing commission to block the machines but District Judge David Evans said Krause did not have the right to intervene. Meanwhile two dozen groups that benefit from charitable bingo filed a second suit.
Games of mini-baccarat played with unshuffled cards at an Atlantic City casino were legal, New Jersey gaming regulators have ruled. Players won $1.5 million during the games, played in 2012 at the Golden Nugget. The casino made a partial payout, then demanded a refund.
The first week of operation of the Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Austintown, Ohio was the most successful of any of the state’s seven racinos. Now the facility is looking ahead to begin offering horseracing in November.
Two lawmakers who voted against the expansion of casino gaming in the state of New Hampshire lost their reelection bids this month. That could change the outcome in the next session. The last vote was a squeaker, with the House voting 173-172 to defeat a casino bill.
Come November, residents of Newport, Rhode Island, will once again consider the wisdom of legalizing table games at the Newport Grand casino (l.). In 2012, local voters rejected the idea, though it was approved statewide.
More and more, Sin City is courting younger customers with entertainment options outside the casino. Millennials, the last generation born before the new millennium, prefer to mix up the party, nightclubbing, shopping and socializing indoors and out. Vegas has responded.
Blake Cordish will come to Sin City to drum up support for the Cordish Companies’ beleaguered soccer stadium project, proposed for Symphony Park. Much has been made of the pending deal, which would require public funds to develop the $200 million, 24,000-seat stadium.
Although he opposes gambling, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner (l.) recently said he would support video gambling if voters and municipalities want it. That likely was good news to Mike Gelatka, president of the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, which is honoring video gambling's two-year anniversary by promoting its local and statewide benefits.
U.S. Senator John McCain, who wrote the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, has co-sponsored a bill that would, he says, prevent violating the spirit of that law by allowing a tribe to build a casino next to a city. The city in question in Glendale, Arizona, where citizens will not get the chance to voice their opinion.
U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill recently denied a motion to suspend an injunction he imposed earlier this month on live poker games at the Coeur d'Alene Tribe's northern Idaho casino (l.). Previously the state Lottery Commission said live poker was illegal. The tribe will appeal Winmill's ruling.
The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled the Fair Employment Practices Code of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Michigan is in violation of the National Labor Relations Act and that the tribe " has interfered with, restrained and coerced employees of the Little River Casino Resort."
Two feuding factions of the Picayune Rancheria in Northern California are being kept separated by overworked Madera County Sheriff’s deputies, while the Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino continues to operate unabated.
For the first time ever, voters in the Golden State will be able to vote on the issue of whether a tribe can build a casino on land located a considerable distance from its aboriginal homeland. The compact between the North Fork Tribe of Mono Indians and California is the subject of Proposition 48.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (l.) is being urged to begin preliminary compact talks with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians as the state faces a projected $200 million deficit. The tribe operates three profitable Class II casinos and pays nothing to the state in gaming revenues.
The Potawatomi Tribe still has not handed over its $25 million annual gaming-revenue payment to Wisconsin. Tribal officials said they're waiting to see if Governor Scott Walker will approve the Menominee Tribe's $808 million off-reservation casino in Kenosha. Walker has until February 2015 to announce his decision.
Tim Wilmott recently was named to Penn National Gaming's board of directors. Wilmott served as an executive with Harrah's Entertainment, now Caesar's Entertainment, since 1987, joining Penn National as president and chief operating officer in February 2008. He became chief executive officer last November.
Former MGM Resorts International executive Bill McBeath has been named managing director of Illinois-based Z Capital Partners, the largest shareholder of casino operator Affinity Gaming. McBeath was once in charge of the Aria resort at CityCenter in Las Vegas.
Metric Gaming announced the appointment of former Chairman of the Board Peter Bertilsson as the new president and CEO, and Louis Castle (l.) as the company’s new board chairman.
Foxwoods CEO Scott Butera, who was pivotal in restructuring the casino’s $2 billion debt, has accepted a new position in an all-new industry. Butera will leave the Connecticut gaming company to become the seventh commissioner of the Arena Football League.
A search has begun to find a replacement for Jenny Williams, chief executive of the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Williams' second five-year term will end next year but she will continue to oversee the debut of the U.K.'s new online gambling framework.
The former president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, Frank Fahrenkopf, will lecture on bipartisanship at the Harvard Institute of Politics. Fahrenkopf led the AGA from 1995 to 2013, and also is a former chair of the Republican National Committee.
Konami Gaming has expanded its installation at Belgium’s Casino Dinant, in recognition of good performance by the first bank of Konami games at the casino.
JCM Global has completed the installation of its iVizion bill validators, PayCheck 4 thermal printers and Nano Curve displays in Minnesota’s Seven Clans Casino.
Global Cash Access has signed a five-year contract renewal with Foxwoods Resort Casino, and will begin deploying new cash-to-floor kiosks at the casino.
Real Gaming of Las Vegas, formerly South Point Poker, has expanded its online poker games in Nevada by enabling players to deposit cash from convenience stores and dollar stores throughout the state. Real Gaming was one of the first operators to offer online poker in the Silver State.
With the release last week of its new sports wagering application, B Connected Sports, Boyd Gaming Corp. has joined other operators who are making it easier for its customers in Nevada to bet on college and professional sports. The app is available on iOS and Android devices.
GameAccount Network will extend its partnership with and launch its SENSE3 mobile casino real-money on-site gaming system at a major U.S. casino operator, to be disclosed following regulatory approvals. The GameSTACK internet gaming system deployed on the operator's property will deliver nationwide simulated gaming and real-money on-property mobile casino gaming.
WMS Gaming has previewed its product lineup for this week’s Global Gaming Expo, highlighting a commitment to help engage core players and attract newcomers.
International Game Technology will launch the first two games in a slot series based on the talk show of comedian Ellen DeGeneres at G2E, and a new stepper platform.
Inspired Gaming Group announced that it will be launching new premium VLT and virtual sports games for Britain’s betting shops at the Bookmakers Trade Fair.
