A bankruptcy judge has again approved a sale of Atlantic City’s closed Revel casino to Florida-developer Glenn Straub (l.). The sale comes without the condition that Straub can buy the property free of leases from tenants at the casino—a sticking point that derailed a previous deal. Straub immediately began announcing the Phoenix Project, a $500 million investment in the area that also includes his purchase of the also-closed Showboat casino.
The consolidation in the slot industry continues. When Amaya put Cadillac Jack on the auction block, there were many tire-kickers, but it took almost a full year to get the deal done. Amaya announced last week it would see the Class II expert to AGS for $379 million, marking the second major acquisition for AGS and continuing change for Amaya.
MGM Resorts International held the official groundbreaking for the MGM National Harbor mega-resort on the Potomac River across from Washington, D.C. The project is just one of several for MGM Resorts over the next few year, including Springfield, Massachusetts; MGM Cotai in Macau; and the AEG arena in Las Vegas.
The planned April 3 soft opening of a $3.5 billion hotel casino in the Bahamas was delayed due to a dispute with the lead contractor. Baha Mar has announced that it is not ready to debut the 1,000-acre resort, and blames its Chinese partners, including a 4,100-member workforce.
The French government reportedly is reconsidering its ban on casinos in the capital city of Paris. Presently, casinos cannot be developed within 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the City of Lights, though some private gambling clubs are legal.
The casino industry in Macau has posted its 10th consecutive monthly decline since President Xi Jinping (l.) tightened the reins last summer. Gaming revenues plummeted 39 percent in March, the second worst monthly decline on record.
US Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)—in what appears to be direct opposition to efforts to ban online gambling in Congress through the Restoration of America’s Wire Act—says he will introduce a bill to regulate online poker at the federal level. Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R. South Carolina, says he is open to amending his Senate version of RAWA to exclude online lotteries.
Indian Gaming 2015 coincided this year with the 30th anniversary of the organization and if attendance and exhibitors were any indication, the National Indian Gaming Association is more successful than ever. Chairman Ernie Stevens is joined by former NBA star Bill Walton, hoop dancers, celebrities and tribal leaders at the ribbon cutting.
This week, the GGB Podcast talks to Seth Palansky, the vice president of corporate communications and editor-in-chief for Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. about his role at the iGaming North America Conference coming up in a couple of weeks in Las Vegas.
A bill to legalize casino gaming in Japan has been delayed, dashing hopes by supporters that the country can get resorts up and running in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics. There is still a chance that the bill could be reintroduced this month.
Landing International, a Mainland China-based real estate developer with two casino investments in South Korea, has ended negotiations to acquire the foreigners-only Alpensia Casino (l.) in Jeju. The firm partnered with Genting to buy one existing casino and build another.
Three new casinos will open in Cambodia along the Vietnamese border. The gaming halls are expected to draw mostly Vietnamese gamblers, who in most cases are not legally permitted to play at casinos in their homeland.
A study says the world’s premier gaming market can comfortably host up to 33.7 million visitors per year, or about 90,000 tourists per day. But that’s the limit, according to the Institute for Tourism Studies. Some residents have complained that too many tourists are crowding the city.
Imperial Pacific, which has industry observers puzzling over its plans to build a $7 billion casino resort on the island of Saipan, has reported significant losses for 2014, due in part to its partnership with Macau junket operator the Hengsheng Group.
After a number of delays, the $4 billion casino resort in Nam Hoi, Vietnam is apparently back on track. Officials in central Quang Nam Province has approved licensure to a joint venture team that includes VinaCapital, Chow Tai Fook and Sun City.
The government of Macau is developing new safety regulations for construction sites in the wake of several on-the-job deaths. Macau is in the midst of a building boom on the Cotai Strip, even as its gaming revenues continue to plummet.
Casino services firm Macau Legend Development Ltd. has reported profits of HKD478.9 million (US$61.8 million) for 2014. That’s a 6.1 percent decrease from the previous year. The company attributes the loss to pre-opening expenses of its Harbourview Hotel (l.) in Macau.
The founder of a Chinese transaction firm touted virtual currency such as the Bitcoin as a way for Macau’s gambling industry to handle foreign currency exchange. Bobby Lee, founder of BTC China, made the remarks during a France Macau Business Association breakfast.
A spokesperson for the Association of British Bookmakers says a £160 million figure cited in a report about Scots betting on fixed-odds betting terminals reflects the turnover on FOBTs and not the total losses. But a gaming watchdog group says the initial figure was correct.
One gaming company in British Columbia, Canada is claiming the B.C. Lottery Corporation has been taking money unjustly over the past five years, after an agreement where they were supposed to cease the siphoning.
A lawsuit seeking to recover player’s losses to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker has been dismissed in Illinois. Two state residents were trying to recoup losses under a state law that allows players to recover losses to illegal gambling operations. The court ruled that the websites were not to actual winners in the games.
Morgan Stanley has reduced its estimate for the U.S. online gambling market by nearly half. The investment firm now believes online gambling will bring in $2.7 billion in revenue by 2020, down from its earlier estimate of $5 Billion.
Quebec is considering a legislative amendment which would require ISP providers to block illegal online gambling websites. The move aims to protect the province’s own gambling website Espacejeux (l.). However, the move has also set off a debate on web neutrality and whether the province can restrict the web to protect its own business interests.
A report commissioned by New Jersey found that “responsible gambling” features used on the state’s online gambling sites were little used. Only 1.3 percent of online accountholders put limits on the amount of money they could deposit into their accounts.
Online gaming software provider GameAccount has launched EZ Baccarat on its simulated Gaming Platform. The company is seeking approval for the game in New Jersey.
Paul Bell, a director of 666Bet and linked to former soccer manager Harry Redknapp and two Premier League football clubs has been arrested over a £21m fraud probe. Six other people were arrested. The investigation by UK officials into money laundering also saw 13 properties raided and £1m in cash seized.
Online slot game supplier GECO has signed an agreement to supply content to the internet casinos of operator William Hill through the GECO remote game server.
Scientific Games Corporation has signed an agreement with Fantasy Springs Resort to launch a branded Play4Fun Network social casino linked to the property.
Austria will use geo-blocking to keep its citizens from accessing online gambling sites that do not have a legal Austrian license. Currently, only Casinos Austria is licensed to offer gaming in the country.
Developer Bart Blatstein has revealed his plan to transform his recently purchased Pier Shops at Caesars mall into a live-entertainment and dining center called “The Playground.”
Two residents of New Bedford, Massachusetts fear that the state Gaming Commission is getting set to pass their region by for a casino license. The residents, both attorneys, have sent the panel a letter reminding members that state law is clear that all three state regions will get a casino.
Three southern states that currently lack gaming are considering legalization. Georgia lawmakers left the capital without voting on a measure to allow casino and horseracing gambling. But state Rep. Ron Stephens' legislation also provided for a study committee to review the proposed constitutional amendment. Tennessee state Rep. Jason Powell's proposed constitutional amendment that would allow casinos in the state. And while the end of a legislative session that saw no movement on bills to expand gaming, the speaker of the Kentucky House has pledged to push the issue in 2016.
Billionaire Carl Icahn is already a hated man in Atlantic City as he struggles through a difficult bankruptcy acquisition of the Trump Taj Mahal, but now he’s also getting the brunt of the blame for the Taj’s opposition to the building of a college campus at the adjacent and closed Showboat casino. After already being the target of protest rallies from casino workers, he now can add protests by angry college students to the list.
If, on April 15, the Kansas Lottery Commission awards contracts to the three investors competing for a gaming license in the state's southeast gaming zone, commissioners will visit the proposed casino sites on April 21. A seven-member panel will make the final decision. The Lottery also hired consultants Union Gaming, led by former Wall Street analyst Bill Lerner (l.), for $477,965.
Penn National Gaming is withdrawing from its management deal for a planned racino in Western Pennsylvania, citing market saturation and a soft economy.
In Florida, House subcommittee is considering state Rep. Dana Young's (l.) expansive bill to allow two destination casinos and lower the parimutuel tax rate, among other provisions. The Senate is negotiating with the Seminole Tribe before the expiration of the banked-card provision of its gaming compact, which has earned the state $1 billion.
As a plan in the New Jersey state legislature to have Atlantic City casinos pay a set payment in lieu of taxes for 15 years continues to stall, the city’s casinos have begun filing tax appeals to lower their assessments. Casinos such as Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa—the city’s market leader—filed the appeals to meet a state deadline, even though casino officials would rather see the payment program in effect.
Because Ohio’s casinos did not turn out to be as profitable as advertised, a state senator, Bill Coley, has introduced a bill to tax promotional credits to get some of the taxes back that he feels should have been collected.
The Indiana House recently passed legislation allowing land-based casinos and live dealers at racinos. The Senate version also would allow live racino dealers—but not until 2021. Lawmakers said the delay gives smaller casinos a chance to prepare for the coming competition. State Rep. Terri Austin said called that "unreasonable and unwarranted."
With all sorts of numbers to gauge success by, how does one exactly do that for such a diverse industry as gaming? With each passing year, numbers are tied less to gaming, and more to non-gaming, as traditional gaming properties transition towards the future.
With the Blackstone Group now at the helm of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, they are looking to build off of a great quarter, and year at the hotel-resort.
The two leaders of a key state Senate committee say they will review the suggestions proposed by casino owners to revamp Pennsylvania casino rules to maintain competitiveness.
In Texas, only the state lottery and charitable bingo are legal. But the Texas Lottery Commission said up to 150,000 illegal slots that award cash payouts are operating in the state, making $1.9 billion annually. Housed in fake or abandoned businesses, the games are affecting charitable bingo donations.
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The convention game is a competitive, at times cutthroat, business. After missing out on over 20 conventions last year due to lack of sufficient space, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority looks forward to the $2.3 billion expansion and creation of the Global Business District.
With March Madness drawing in huge numbers to Las Vegas as usual, the importance of mobile sports wagering has become as obvious as ever. And some of the biggest properties have come up lacking.
Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who strongly urged last year that a “third party veto” provision be included in proposed rules for recognizing Indian tribes, now thinks that veto won’t survive constitutional scrutiny by the courts.
A law designed to stop the Tohono O’odham nation’s Glendale casino in its tracks has passed the first hurdle in the House of Representatives and has been sent to the floor of the House for debate.
The Oklahoma-based Fort Sill Apache Tribe's petition to force New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez to sign a gambling compact was denied by the New Mexico Supreme Court. The tribe owns trust land near Deming but it's not federally recognized for gambling, which Martinez said is required for a compact.
Awaiting the U.S. Department of Interior's approval of the Ho-Chunk Nation's casino application, the city council of Beloit, Wisconsin extended the intergovernmental agreement between the city, county and tribe another three years. Under its state compact, the tribe can build another casino in addition to the six it already operates.
Two California gaming enforcement commissioners, including commission Chairman Richard Lopes (l.), are stepping aside from deciding if Robert Lytle, the man they once worked for when he was the Golden State’s top gaming enforcer should have his license renewed. Lytle is accused of obtaining confidential information for a card club client after he left government service.
The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to have the final word on whether or not the Kialegee Tribal Town can open a casino in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. State Attorney General Scott Pruitt (l.) originally sued to stop the casino in 2012 and the controversial issue has been heard in federal and appeals court since then.
The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians filed a motion in U.S. District Court to dismiss Michigan's lawsuit against individual tribal officials involved in the tribe's efforts to open a casino in Lansing. The District Court has scheduled a hearing on June 17.
The Fort Peck Tribe's proposed $33 million Buffalo River Casino in Fort Kipp, Montana, is on hold following the results of a straw poll held by the tribal executive board. Tribal officials now will consider a smaller casino and commission a more complete feasibility study.
The board of directors at Cherokee Nation Businesses has unanimously approved a three-phase, $6.9 million renovation project at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, Oklahoma. The project will expand the hotel lobby, add a luxury spa and create an upscale pool complex. Work will begin in May.
The public will have a chance to comment on the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians' proposed $480 million casino in South Bend, Indiana on April 14. The draft environmental impact statement said only traffic will be affected—but existing northwest Indiana casinos strongly disagree.
The city of Duluth recently lost another round its six-year battle against the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. A federal judge said the National Indian Gaming Commission was right in 2011 to require the tribe to stop making $6 million annual payments to Duluth. Officials said an appeal is possible.
The Suquamish Tribe will lease to Kitsap Transit 96 parking stalls at the tribe's Clearwater Casino parking lot in Suquamish, Washington for $96 a year for 20 years. The arrangement makes it unnecessary for the state to have to build a new park-and-ride garage.
New Jersey is lowering its 2015 revenue projections for its state lottery. Two years after being privatized, revenue for the lottery continues to fall.
According to a study that matches bankruptcy and marriage and divorce records against lists of those who have won large and not so large lottery prizes, the winners haven’t lived lives that much different than anyone else.
Lottery sales in China have risen by 36 percent over last year; just as the Chinese government has ordered a crackdown on lottery sales because it thinks some operators aren’t reporting all their sales.
Singapore’s two casinos, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, closed their doors on Sunday, March 29 to honor late prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, who died at 91 last month. A national day of mourning was held for Lee, who once vehemently opposed casinos in the land.
Interblock Gaming has named former WMS Gaming executive Rob Bone as president of the company’s North America division, with responsibility for the U.S. and Canada.
Tom Gresham of Indianola, Jerry L. Griffith Sr. of Gulfport and Al Hopkins of Gulfport, all nominated by Governor Phil Bryant, recently were confirmed by the Mississippi Senate to serve on the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
IGT has partnered with Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino to launch the world’s first interstate wide-area progressive video poker game, Super Times Pay Poker Mega Progressive.
UNLV’s International Gaming Institute is hiring an executive director who will be a senior administration and a good background in the gaming industry.
