After a wait of more than a year, Amaya Inc. has finally been cleared in New Jersey to offer online gambling through their PokerStars and Full Tilt brands. This brings the largest online poker platforms into the already crowded New Jersey market. Officials did not say when the sites would launch in the state. David Baazov (l.), chairman of the parent company, Amaya Gaming, thanked regulators for the “thorough and fair review.”
Global Gaming Expo (G2E) concluded last week in Las Vegas bringing to a close one of the most dynamic events in its 14-year history. Highlights included a controversial keynote, deep dives into skill games, eSports and fantasy sports, the induction of the 2015 class into the AGA Hall of Fame (above) and an exhibit floor jammed from beginning to end. And the launch of the non-gaming Integrated Resort Experience only added to the credibility of gaming’s most important trade show and conference.
An appeals court in Florida last week reversed a decision by a lower court that could have permitted all state parimutuel facilities to install slot machines. The 1st District Court said slots could not be installed at Creek Entertainment Gretna, near Tallahassee, which also offers poker (l.) and off-track betting. Meanwhile, horseracing officials are concerned that lawmakers may decouple gaming from horse as well as dog racing.
The Nevada Gaming Commission has approved regulations that divide the state’s approvals into three categories, adding skill-based and hybrid games to games of chance. Last week’s G2E gave some context of what the rules would entail, including a skill pinball game from IGT.
Sarkis Izmirlian met with Prime Minister Perry Christie (l.) and the attorney general of the Bahamas in a last-ditch effort to save his Baha Mar resort project. The nearly completed project is almost a year overdue in opening, and the prime minister considers it essential to the nation’s economy.
With federal approval for the one tribal casino envisioned in the southeastern region of Massachusetts now a reality, questions are being asked about how the bid to build a commercial casino in the region will proceed. The only company remaining, with a plan to build a commercial casino in Brockton, is Rush Street Gaming, owned by billionaire Neil Bluhm (l.).
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' new $110 million Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel opened September 28 Murphy, North Carolina. Thousands of visitors poured through the lavish lobby of the property, which created 900 jobs and features 50,000 square feet of gaming with 1,000 slots and 70 table games, plus a food court and hotel.
China’s State Administration for Foreign Exchange has introduced new limits on UnionPay cash withdrawals by cardholders outside China. The move is further indication the Mainland government is concerned about money leaving the country.
Caesars Entertainment Chairman and former CEO Gary Loveman (l.) is joining the Aetna insurance company to head a new health services division. Loveman still has the responsibility of overseeing Caesars’ escape from bankruptcy, however.
This week, the GGB Podcast features a discussion with Mark Giannantonio, the president of Resorts Atlantic City on his property and how it has continued to thrive in a tough, competitive environment.
Macau junket runner Neptune Group Ltd. says a 33 percent year-on-year decline in its gaming revenues may cause it to shut down its VIP rooms at the Venetian Macao, Sands Macao and Grand Lisboa (l.). The figures dropped 38.2 percent, 32.3 percent and 25.2 percent respectively.
Melco Crown reportedly may buy out its hedge fund partners at Studio City (l.) in Macau in order to own the resort outright. The deal with its U.S.-based investment partners includes a clause stating the new resort must have 400 table games. It is not likely to be granted more than 150.
Vietnam’s seven foreigners-only casinos posted combined revenues of VND1.379 trillion (US$61.3 million) last year, according to newly released industry figures. Of that, the government took VND339 billion (US$15 million). Meanwhile, illegal betting is a big game.
All that glitters was not gold as the Chinese Republic’s Golden Week holiday got under way last week. Retailers saw disappointing returns on the first day of the seven-day celebration, and SJM officer Angela Leong On Kei said casinos likely will not see a bump in business.
The planned 2016 debut of a new ferry terminal with helipad on Macau’s Cotai Strip is being hailed as a “game changer” for the vicinity that will enable elite gamblers to come more often and stay longer.
This time, they put it in writing: the Macau Health Bureau acknowledges a full smoking ban in the city’s casinos will cause the leading economic engine to sputter even more. In a letter, the body estimated the ban would mean a 2.7 to 4.6 percent slide in gross gaming revenue.
Melco Crown Entertainment managers and supervisors who have worked for the Macau company at least five years may earn a bachelors degree in casino management in-house. Called MCE YOU-niversity, the program is offered in conjunction with Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.
Investors in Macau junket operator Dore Entertainment continue to cry foul in the aftermath of a multimillion-dollar rip-off at the company’s Wynn Macau VIP rooms. They have even taken to the streets, staging a demonstration at government headquarters.
Starting in November, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute will handle promotions for the city’s meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions business. IPIM will take over from Macau Economic Services.
The Association of British Bookmakers and ABB Chief Executive Malcolm George (l.) will introduce improved betting shop standards in November through a new “Responsible Gambling Code.” It includes a ban on the advertising of gaming machines in shop windows, a national self-exclusion list and a ban on TV ads touting free bets as a sign-up incentive before 9pm.
According to Italian news reports, Lottomatica has started talks for a potential acquisition of Italian betting operator Sisal Italia. The merger would create Italy’s biggest gambling operator.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (l.) ordered ministers to prepare a study of the likely socioeconomic impacts of legalizing gaming in Israel and opening a proposed casino in Eilat, along the Red Sea.
Tourism from China is suddenly a big business in New Zealand and Australia, who are scrambling to attract all kinds of visitors from new economic powerhouse, including visitors to casinos. Echo CEO Matt Bekier (l.) says Australia needs to encourage repeat visits.
Fitch Ratings says Crown Resorts Ltd. and Echo Entertainment, Australia’s top gaming companies and ongoing rivals, are holding steady credit-wise despite weaker economies and expansion plans that were made in more robust times.
Christian Porter, newly Social Services minister in Australia, says the country’s planned review of the gaming structure and regulations is on track to be complete in December. The review will “investigate methods for strengthening protections against illegal online wagering operators.”
The U.S. Attorney for California and the State of California are suing the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel to shut down its efforts to operate a for-money online poker site. They’ve already shuttered the tribe’s DesertRose.com bingo site (l.).
Four Winds Casinos has signed a deal with Scientific Games’ SG Interactive division to launch the SG Universe Play4Fun social casino at its three properties.
NetEnt is making its first foray into the U.S. online gaming market by partnering with Borgata online in New Jersey to offer games. The company received a transactional waiver to operate in the state last month.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has warned its players, team staffs and media partners about participating in daily fantasy sports, saying it could lead to suspension. Several NCAA conferences have also asked DFS sites to stop offering games on college athletics.
Evolution Gaming announced a partnership agreement with online casino software developer Microgaming that will provide Microgaming’s Europe-oriented customers with Evolution’s Live Casino product. Live Casino will first be introduced through Microgaming’s Betway brand.
Metric Gaming has entered into a strategic partnership with data and trading services provider Sporting Solutions for the mutual distribution of each other’s market leading sports wagering products, the companies announced. CEO Peter Bertilsson (l.) says the purchase will upgrade the company’s technology.
Betgenius has launched a pre-match and in-play eSports betting product. The product will betting operators to fully automate their pre-match betting and offer hundreds of betting-friendly market types on thousands of live events each year, the company said.
A group proposing casino-style gambling at six Nebraska horse racetracks filed three petitions—two state law changes and one constitutional amendment—with the state secretary of state, hoping they'll appear on the November 2016 ballot. The group, Keep the Money in Nebraska, includes Ho-Chunk (Chairman Lance Morgan at left), racetrack owners and trainers.
Bronco Billy's Casino and Hotel (l.)—a mainstay of the "casino strip" in Cripple Creek, Colorado—has been purchased by Full House Resorts of Nevada for $30 million. With 830 slots and 13 table games, plus a hotel, dining options and outdoor amphitheater, Bronco Billy's will be Full House's fifth casino in a fourth market.
Though banned under federal law, Pennsylvania state Senator Nick Kotik (l.) plans to introduce a bill to legalize sports betting at Pennsylvania casinos. The bill could be an attempt to be ready should neighboring New Jersey win its federal case to allow sports betting.
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce is mum on a proposed constitutional amendment to allow six casinos statewide. Chamber Chief Executive Chris Clark said the group will await recommendations from the legislative study committee, expected later this year. MGM Resorts International and Las Vegas Sands are interested in building a destination casino in downtown Atlanta if the legislation succeeds.
To aid the beleaguered racing industry, the Illinois Racing Board announced a plan consolidating Chicago-area racing at Arlington International (l.) and Hawthorne racetracks in 2016. The deal ends harness racing at Balmoral and Maywood Parks and allows Arlington and Hawthorne to split all live racing revenue and dark-day simulcast income.
A report compiled by Virginia Commonwealth University and released by the American Gaming Association, shows strong ties between illegal gaming operations and violent organized crime, and illustrates the benefits of legalized gaming versus the social costs of illegal operations.
Casinos in Ohio, while profitable, are not as profitable as comparable casinos in neighboring states. In fact the Buckeye state’s racinos and casinos are at the bottom of a regional heap.
After 20 years with no casino built in Diamondhead, Mississippi, frustrated stockholders of the Diamondhead Casino Corporation recently petitioned to have the company placed in Chapter 7. Bankruptcy Court Judge Laurie S. Silverstein said she'll rule on the issue in early December.
Despite negotiating since August, management at Mardi Gras Casino (l.) in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, and the United Steelworkers Union Local 14614-F9 could not come to terms over health insurance. As a result, more than 200 RSW members voted to strike rather than see their health insurance premiums rise by $1,100 a year.
Concerns over “muted stock performance,” development spending, and other financial matters caused MGM Resorts International investor Land and Buildings Management to question the company’s future plans and suggest selling off assets, particularly CityCenter in Las Vegas (l.).
Due to the enthusiastic response, Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D'Iberville, Mississippi cancelled a second job fair to fill more than 1,000 positions. The $300 million property will feature a 60,000 square foot gaming floor with 1,350 slots, 45 table games and a poker room, plus a 14-story hotel and championship mini-golf.
Eleven Caesars Entertainment properties in Nevada won special tax incentives for their measures to boost energy, water, and environmental efficiency at their casinos. And Caesars is just one of many Nevada casinos that are doing their best to save water and energy in the drought-stricken state, as Lake Mead (l.) is at the lowest levels in decades.
A groundbreaking ceremony kicked off the $45 million expansion at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino and Hotel in Vinton, Louisiana. The project, to be completed at the end of 2016, will add 167 new hotel rooms to the existing 200, which will be renovated. A pool, restaurant and events center also will be added.
A proposed mini-casino with 1,000 gaming machines in Medford, New York, met with strong opposition during a planned protest on September 26. Protestors say the casino will increase local crime and gambling addiction rates and cause traffic problems.
State and local smoking bans increasingly are a concern for the casino industry. Currently, smoking is allowed in Iowa casinos, which offer non-smoking areas. But Iowa state Senator Fro Ames has introduced a measure to ban smoking completely in casinos. In West Virginia, Mountaineer Casino solved Hancock County's smoking ban by constructing a special smoking pavilion.
Connecticut has asked a U.S. District Court to throw out a lawsuit filed against it by MGM Resorts, which is challenging the state’s law that allows its two gaming tribes to find a sit to build a satellite casino.
The Downtown Grand Casino in Las Vegas has reworked its gaming floor, opened a new sports book, and launched several special incentives and promotions, including a $250,000 slot tournament for qualifying guests. CEO Jim Simms (l.) says the hotel is the most competitive in Downtown Las Vegas.
The Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority held its first meeting in Las Vegas in late September but did not meet a deadline to name a franchisee by October 1.
Atlantic City’s Fire Chief told the Press of Atlantic City that the resort may start fining the owners of the closed Revel Casino for not properly staffing the site’s fire suppression system. Glen Straub, owner of the site, reportedly fired a team of engineers that over=saw the building, including the fire system.
Maryland Live! Casino has received county approval for a $150 million expansion that will add a 300-suite hotel and additional dining amenities to the property.
Las Vegas officials want a bigger and better stadium located closer to the Las Vegas Strip than is Sam Boyd Stadium (l.) to attract larger events and more tourists. They are also working out details on handling parking and traffic for the under-construction Las Vegas Arena that is slated to open in spring.
A pair of craps dealers at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and two of their accomplices are accused of stealing $1.5 million by paying off imaginary wagers laid by two accomplices at the casino.
The Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians in northern California has enlisted former National Indian Gaming Commission chairman Phil Hogen (l.) help it to navigate federal regulations so that it can reopen its Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino. The casino was closed by order of the federal and state governments about a year ago.
The Tohono O’odham Nation continues to move forward with its casino in Glendale, Arizona, despite opposition. But it may have to operate a Class II casino at first.
The largest hotel in Tulsa is halfway complete as work progresses on the $365 million Margaritaville casino development underway in Tulsa and owned by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Its support of the $25 billion U.S. tribal gaming market has paid off very well for the Och-Ziff Real Estate Fund, which arranged financing for tribal casino projects.
The California Supreme Court, after much lobbying by various tribes in the state, has agreed to de-publish a decision that could leave gaming commissioners vulnerable to lawsuits, even though the tribes themselves have sovereign immunity.
Washington’s Cowlitz tribe has begun site work on its proposed $510 million casino near La Center. The Mohegan tribe is assisting Cowlitz to open and operate.
Pojoaque Pueblo in New Mexico will present arguments Monday, October 5 in federal appeals court, regarding claims that Governor Susana Martinez's (l.) administration did not negotiate a new compact in good faith and violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The tribe wants to negotiate a new compact with the U.S. Interior Department, not the state.
California’s Enterprise Rancheria has announced that it will build a scaled down version of its original casino proposal for Yuba County—and that it will be a Class II rather than Class III casino.
Much to the alarm of several residents around Star Lake in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, the White Earth Nation announced it will build a third Shooting Star casino in the area, offering a gaming floor, hotel, RV park, dining, retail and entertainment facilities. The development would be completed in 2017.
Citizens can voice their opinions regarding the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians' proposed $180 million casino development in Fruitport Township, Michigan at an October 15 hearing, sponsored by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribe's seven-year casino push has strong official support and little opposition.
Last year Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (l.)—who recently ended his presidential campaign—denied the Menominee Nation's proposal for an $800 million off-reservation Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Tribal officials and members felt Walker put presidential politics first, especially after influential Republicans denounced expanded gambling in Wisconsin.
Depending on where the buffalo graze, golfers can see them (behind a fence) at the new Tatanka Golf Club at the Santee Sioux Nation's Ohiya Casino Resort in Niobrara, Nebraska. The first casino in Nebraska, developed 17 years ago, Ohiya offers an extensive gaming floor, bingo, restaurants, hotel, events and entertainment--and golf.
West Virginia Lottery sales fell 2.5 percent from July and 9 percent from August 2014 according to recent official tabulations. Total lottery revenues dropped $300 million from a peak of $1.56 billion in 2006-07, mainly due to new competing casinos and video slots facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Golden Entertainment 's executive management team—following the merger of Golden Gaming and Lake Entertainment—includes Blake L. Sartini (l.), chairman, president and chief executive officer; Matthew Flandermeyer, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Stephen A. Arcana, executive vice president and chief operating officer; and Blake L. Sartini II, senior vice president of restricted gaming.
Vietnam’s Ho Tram Resort has appointed Michael Kelly as executive chairman of the investing side and chairman of the asset side, say company officials. Kelly will oversee existing operations and new developments.
Aristocrat Technologies announced two major deals last week. Caesars will lease 200 machines from the company, while Station Casinos has launched the giant new Buffalo Grand (l.), on the Arc Double cabinet, at its nine properties in the Las Vegas Valley.
Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and New Jersey-based Dynamic Gaming Systems have launched a new hybrid table/slot game at Parx Casino in Pennsylvania.
Euro Games Technology announced it is expanding its presence in Puerto Rico and Florida via its partnership with Reel Games and its Egypt Quest jackpot system. In addition, casinos in the Caribbean and South America are increasingly choosing EGT's P-24/24 Up and P-24/24 St Slim slot cabinets.
