A new 20-year gambling compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe will bring the state $3 billion over seven years and allow the tribe to offer blackjack plus roulette and craps at its seven casinos, including Hard Rock Seminole in Hollywood. The legislature must ratify the proposal, which offers plenty to please, and anger everyone concerned. But the compact leaves open the possibility of a Miami casino and more racinos.
A hearing on the Restore America’s Wire Act held before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Chairman Jason Chaffetz (l.) is being heralded as a major win for proponents of online gambling and a setback for the Sheldon Adelson inspired bill. Reports on the hearing are focusing on several members of the committee disputing claims by witnesses who support the ban. Many expected the committee to simply rubber-stamp the bill.
Ukraine is poised to legalize and regulate gaming after a six-year prohibition (at left, a Kiev casino before the industry was shuttered in 2009). The Eastern European country reportedly plans to introduce online and land-based casino as well as sports betting. Experts question some of the conditions contained in the proposed law, however.
Hundreds of FBI agents smashed an illegal gambling ring is seven states last week, raiding two card rooms in Southern California, including the Seven Mile Casino in Chula Vista (l.), and seizing accounts. Allegations include money laundering, conspiracy and illegal gambling.
New Jersey lawmakers led by Senate President Steve Sweeney (l.) have reached an agreement on a proposal to put before voters that would allow two casinos to be built in Northern New Jersey, ending Atlantic City’s state monopoly on casino if approved. Exact locations for the casinos will likely not be named in the referendum.
A New York state Supreme Court Judge last week ruled that all daily fantasy sports activities would be shut down until further notice. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (l.) has sought to ban the two largest DFS sites from operating in the state saying they conduct gambling illegal under state law. DraftKings, which was still operating in the state, says it will immediately appeal.
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn is wrapping up a successful tenure at the Interior Department. He plans to return to teaching at the University of New Mexico. Taking over the position for the remainder of the term of the Obama administration will be the former general counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission, Larry Roberts.
China Harbour Engineering Company has provided $50 million in financing to bank-appointed receivers of the stalled Baha Mar Resort in the Bahamas. The money will be used to maintain and preserve the property while bankruptcy receivers search for a buyer.
What is at stake in the DFS trouble is nothing short of the credibility of gaming not just legality of daily fantasy sports. The integrity of gaming overall is at stake when you consider the investments made in DFS companies by major media conglomerates.
The American Gaming Association has been busy. Just last week the organization issued a questionnaire to Republican presidential candidates ahead of this week’s debate in Las Vegas, part of the AGA’s “Gaming Votes” initiative; developed strong new anti-money laundering guidelines, and lobbied for improvements in the U.S. visa waiver program.
Two recent cases where casino stocks took huge turns demonstrate how fickle investors can be. The fundamentals of the business in both instances changed not an iota, yet the stock prices took a wild ride. Find out why!
This week, the GGB podcast features a regulatory slant, sitting down the Christ Stearns, the chairman of the Washington State Gambling Commission on the unique structure in his state.
Marina Bay Sands (l.) and Resorts World Sentosa have contributed up to 2 percent to Singapore’s gross domestic product and created some 20,000 jobs, according to reports. But the government may not add more gaming halls when their licenses expire.
Analysts predict gross gaming revenue in Macau could see a year-on-year decline of up to 28 percent for the month of December. Hard to believe, but that’s actually good news for the world’s top gaming destination, now in the 18th month of a crushing downturn.
Gaming revenues at South Korean casino operator Paradise Co. Ltd. dropped 16 percent year-on-year for the month of November. Recent arrests in Mainland China may be partly responsible for the decline.
Imperial Pacific’s temporary casino on the island of Saipan generated $1.63 billion in its first full month of operations, the company has announced. The temporary casino opened at the end of July, but launched VIP gaming at the beginning of November.
The Tinian Dynasty Casino (l.) is set to reopen December 15, according to the Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission. The casino closed temporarily in August, due to the impact of Typhoon Soudelor.
U.K. bookmaker Ladbrokes has lost a £54 million (US$82 million) tax-dodge case. The bookie admits creating an artificial slump in one business to create a loss in another. Even so, the company says it will appeal the loss.
The owner of Betfred has publicly speculated the company is interested in buying U.K. betting shops that may be shed in the aftermath of the Ladbrokes-Gala Coral merger. Fred Done, founder of the bookie site could be interested in as many as 500 shops.
Queensland, Australian lawmakers have cleared the path for Genting Hong Kong to increase its stake in the Aussie casino operator, Star Entertainment Group, formerly Echo Entertainment.
Richard Schuetz (l.), executive director of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, said having an internationally known casino operator on Bermuda "would put this place on the map." He noted casino gambling is part of the "new model" that's growing worldwide. A call line and self-exclusion would be available for problem gamblers, he added.
According to new government figures, when it comes to gambling losses, Australians top the list. In 2015, every man, woman and child in the Land Down Under will lose the equivalent of AU$1,000.
While sports betting is skyrocketing in Nigeria, the government isn’t making any money on it because the agency in charge of regulating the practice says that it’s actually up to the states to do that.
A new report on the gaming outlook on the African continent finds that hotels, entertainment, retail and fine dining experiences are as important as gaming.
The potential for a new casino in Victoria, British Columbia, has many locals abuzz with anticipation of enhanced entertainment options, along with increased local revenues that would be used to help fund local social services improvements, emergency services, and other services and projects. But several assessments must be completed first, including finding a host community.
The Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing of New South Wales has warned the gaming industry it will not get away with advertising its products without facing stiff penalties. It has targeted a number of operators for what it says are illegal ads.
Pennsylvania lawmakers have placed their provision to legalize online gaming in the state budget plan for the coming calendar year, anticipating $120 million in revenue. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (l.) said the Senate would not support iGaming.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has opened three online gaming rules for public comment, one of the last steps towards finalizing the rules. The rules would allow for online sites to pit celebrity players against customers, locate computer servers in non-casino properties in Atlantic City and use online accounts to play social games.
A bill from Senator Bruce Tarr (l.) to allow online gambling through Massachusetts-based casinos has been introduced in the Massachusetts Senate. Online gambling would only be allowed through state licensed casinos. The bill has gained little traction in the state legislature, according to reports.
Australia’s New South Wales betting regulator, the Office of Liquor Gaming & Racing, has brought charges against some of the country’s biggest online gambling sites for illegal gambling ads and warned others that they will not tolerate any form of gambling promotion in the state.
PokerStars has received a one-year sports betting license from Danish online gaming regulator Spillemynddigheden. The license is a preliminary for a possible five-year license. PokerStars plans to go live with sports betting in Denmark in 2016. Denmark also signed an agreement with European Economic area gaming regulators to share common practices.
Portugal has announced that it will not allow online poker sites to pool players in other countries under its new online regulations. The move seems to follow a trend that has greatly decreased online poker play in Europe.
In an effort to integrate slots and horseracing, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation launched Fire Horse, a slots-like online game available on the OLG's newly created horseracing page, which also offers racing industry information and links to wagering websites. The OLG expects to offer more horse-related games in the future.
Lobbyists for the South African casino industry say online gaming contributed R17.2 billion (US$1.13 billion) to the nation’s gross domestic product in the 2014-15 fiscal year, an increase of 4.5 percent year-on-year.
International Game Technology will provide online gaming company Gamesys with intellectual property usage rights for signature game features. IGT’s Victor Duarte (l.) says the deal will help deliver better games to players.
Several horse racetrack owners and race operators across the county say Kentucky-based DerbyWars is an illegal racket that violates federal and state laws and deprive racetracks, race organizers, and horsemen groups from their share of profits derived from the real-world races upon which DerbyWars clients make selections and can win or lose money.
Evolution Gaming went live with the first Live Baccarat Squeeze online table game on William Hill’s new Macau-branded online casino, and with its Dual Play Roulette online and live in Malta.
The $290 million Scarlet Pearl Casino recently opened in D'Iberville, Mississippi--the city's first and the state's 12th casino, offering a gaming floor with 1,350 slots and 45 table games plus an 18-story, 300-room hotel, tropical swimming pool and dining options. The 36-hole Lava Links miniature golf course features an "active" volcano. CEO Luann Pappas (in red) welcomes dignitaries to the ceremony.
Philadelphia City Council voted to approve zoning bills for the $450 million Live! Casino. But a lawsuit brought by competitor SugarHouse will prevent construction from starting until it is resolved.
Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who is stepping down at the end of his term in 2016, is trying to amend the Trust Indenture Act of 1939 to allow out-of-court restructuring of corporate debt, to help home-state company Caesars.
MGM Resorts and the state of Connecticut have filed dueling motions over MGM’s attempt to get a law passed in June ruled unconstitutional. The law allows the state’s gaming tribes to pick a site to build a casino to compete with the MGM Springfield that is expected to open in 2018.
Boston has lost its lawsuit challenging the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s decision to award a license to Wynn Resorts to build a casino in Everett. Mayor Marty Walsh (l.) says the city, which has spent more than $1 million in legal fees so far, may appeal.
The new owner of the Lawrence Downs racino project in Western Pennsylvania has threatened to pull out of the project if the racing commission doesn’t rescind strict deadlines.
Although a study showed casinos at four Alabama racetracks could generate $400 million in annual tax revenue, state Senator Del Marsh (l.) said he will not pursue legislation allowing the casinos and a state lottery because the bill does not have legislative enough support. Marsh said he won't stop anyone else from promoting the issue.
Robert Schmidt declined a request by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (l.) to repeal historical racing rules and unexpectedly resigned as Texas Racing Commission chairman. He'll remain a commissioner. Rolando Pablos, appointed by Abbott last month, takes over as chairman. At its December 15 meeting commissioners could vote to repeal or republish the rules, or do nothing.
Idaho isn’t likely to take up any other measures enabling instant racing wagering on horse and dog races already run. Many tribal leaders opposed creating an Idaho gaming commission and say the state’s lottery commission already does a good job of regulating gaming, but Governor Butch Otter opposes instant racing and wants a gaming commission in place.
The Downtown Grand in Las Vegas is hosting a professional eSports team from Australia for two months starting in November. Visitors can watch the five-member team practice a first-person shooter game for their next big competition, while the casino continues exploring new entertainment options to attract a new generation of guests.
A strike has been averted and a new five-year contract has been negotiated between the Detroit Casino Council—a consortium of four labor unions—and Greektown Casino, MotorCity and MGM Grand Detroit. The two sides had been negotiating a new contract since August and disagreed over health care, raises and bonuses.
The Montreign Resort Casino at Adelaar is scheduled to open in 2017. The company is working with county officials to determine a revenue-sharing formula for local communities. Sullivan County will get 60 percent of money shared by the casino, with towns and villages left to split the rest.
A bill to eliminate deed restrictions on the former Showboat casino in Atlantic City was passed by the New Jersey State senate. The restrictions have blocked attempts to redevelop the site, but Caesars Entertainment, former owner of the casino and responsible for one of its deed restrictions, called the bill unconstitutional.
Artificial palm trees and other fake outdoor foliage are very flammable and contributed to the rapid spread of an outdoor pool fire that caused $2 million in damages to the Cosmopolitan casino on July 25, so the casino is removing all of its artificial palms and outdoor foliage by early 2016.
The Las Vegas Convention Center will grow by 1.4 million square feet with the addition of an $860 million hall, which will include meetings space and other amenities, and is to open in 2020. Work on the new hall is scheduled to being in early 2017, after completion of an outdoor exhibition area.
Trump Entertainment Resorts has paid more than $12 million in property taxes to Atlantic City. The company is still in bankruptcy proceedings, but said it wanted to avoid interest charges on the debt.
The $70 million Kansas Crossing Casino in Crawford County, Kansas, received a second 90-day extension to open its facility in Pittsburg, due to a lawsuit by Cherokee County and the $145 million Castle Rock Casino Resort alleging state regulators did not follow proper guidelines when granting Kansas Crossing a contract.
Clark County approved ride-hailing service Uber to pick up passengers at McCarran International Airport, after Uber officials agreed to share information with county officials and established a way to collect and distribute an airport pickup fee charged to all passengers arriving at McCarran and departing via taxi, limo, or Uber, which also reduced its passenger fares by 30 percent.
Nevada regulators approved allowing MGM Resorts International, Wynn Resorts, and Las Vegas Sands to stop buying energy from the state’s largest utility, NV Energy, to pursue more affordable and sustainable alternative energies, but they must pay $127 million to do so, in order to offset costs the utility says it would have to pass on to residential customers.
The Atlantic City area saw the largest drop in unemployment rate in the country according to a report by the U.S. Labor Department, but still ranks as having one of the highest rates in the U.S. The city saw four casinos close in 2014 putting about 8,000 workers out of a job.
Following complaints that convenience stores and other businesses were offering illegal gambling machines, the Colbert County, Alabama District Attorney's office sent hand-delivered letters to the businesses advising them to remove the games within seven days. Laws regarding electronic gambling machines vary from county to county in Alabama.
The 40-year-old California Hotel and Casino on Fremont Street in Downtown Las Vegas will undergo a multi-million dollar renovation of its 500 hotel rooms and casino, and add new dining and drinking options for patrons, owner Boyd Gaming announced. No cost estimate was provided, but Boyd Gaming said the project will be done by the end of 2016.
Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein (l.) has been cleared to buy 64,000 square feet of waterfront property in Atlantic City for $3.2 million. Blatstein also plans to buy the closed Showboat casino. The two properties are not connected. Meanwhile, another developer has bought land near the closed Atlantic Club casino, which may be used to develop a water park.
Los Angeles-based Hyperloop Technologies announced it will begin testing its new tube-based transportation concept at a new site in North Las Vegas in early 2016. Hyperloop will convert a 55-acre industrial site into its test facility, where it intends to develop a viable rapid transit system that could reach 750 mph.
Congress would have sole authority to recognize Indian tribes if the Tribal Recognition Act of 2015 passes first the House of Representatives and then the Senate. The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Rob Bishop (l.) who wants to take that authority away from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Members of the 3,000-member Spokane Tribe are hoping that Washington Governor Jay Inslee (l.) will approve of putting land into trust near Spokane that would allow the tribe to build a $400 million casino.
A Montana tribe, the Little Shell Chippewa, has been waiting for 37 years for the federal government to recognize it. It is the only tribe to have the Bureau of Indian Affairs first publish a favorable finding, and then withdraw it.
It appears that the Tohono O’odham Nation will be able to open its Desert Diamond West Valley Resort on December 20 on schedule without interference from a bill in Congress that would have prevented that. A move to push the bill onto the floor for a vote has failed.
The city of Madison, Wisconsin and the Ho-Chunk Nation have been holding monthly discussions about building a sports and entertainment complex on 48 acres next to the tribe's casino. The project would offer indoor and outdoor playing fields, a hotel, conference facilities and a cultural center, with phase one to be completed in 2018.
California’s Pechanga Indian Tribe and the city of Temecula have reached an intergovernmental agreement that pays the city $2 million each year in mitigation for the$285 million expansion of the Pechanga Resort & Casino. The tribe can’t move forward, however, without a similar agreement from Riverside County.
In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation held a grand opening for its new six-story, 120-room hotel at the Cherokee Hotel & Casino Roland (l.). In Braman, the Kaw Nation held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of phase two of its SouthWind Casinos' expansion.
The last defendant in the case of the 15-armed men who invaded the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino in Northern California in October of 2014 has settled his case of trespassing without entering a plea. Vernon King’s case will be dropped in six months if he does not commit other violations.
The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana's Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel in Charenton will undergo a $20 million renovation with a new high limit area, restaurants, gift shop and a swimming pool upgrades. Cypress Bayou Chief Executive Officer and General Manager Anthony Patrone said 70 percent of expenditures will remain in the region.
The Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association recently issued the results of an economic impact study on tribal gaming, indicating the industry has generated nearly $1 billion since the state and tribes negotiated a compact in 2004. At the time forecasts predicted $71 million in annual gaming revenue—far less than the study showed.
With gambling revenue to pay top fees plus radius and timing clauses, the Chickasaw Nation's Global Event Center (l.) at WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma is luring A-list stars away from Texas concert halls. Plus, stars like the kid-glove treatment they receive at WinStar, said Entertainment Manager Stephanie Callaway.
Tribal casinos generally detracted from local economies across the nation, while commercial casinos boosted them from 1987 to 2007, when the number of states legalizing gambling grew from two to 33, as construction of tribal and commercial casinos boomed across the nation, according to results of an economic study conducted by the University of Nevada-Reno.
Idaho must cover the legal costs of the Coeur d’Alene tribe, which sued to force recognition that the legislature lawfully passed a ban on “instant racing” at the state’s racetracks. Governor Butch Otter claimed he vetoed the bill, but the tribe showed that he didn’t submit his veto within the statutory time of five days.
The Cowlitz tribe of Washington has obtained financing through the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority to build a $550 million casino on 152 acres near La Center.
As part of a $70 million renovation, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians opened a bingo room in the Silver Star Casino at Pearl River Resort near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Former Vice President of Casino Operations William Johnson is serving as interim chief executive officer while the tribe seeks a new chief executive officer.
Guests at FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan now can shop for high-end crystal jewelry, accessories, ornaments and more at a new Swarovski store located in the property lobby. Earned points may be used toward purchases at the dazzling new store.
Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner (l.) signed Senate Bill 2039 which releases $3 billion to state agencies and local governments, including $1 billion to the Illinois Lottery, authorizing it to resume payouts to winners of $600 and more who were not paid the past few months due to the state budget impasse.
The addition of video lottery terminals has measurably increased revenues from the Oregon Lottery, according to state economists speaking before state lawmakers recently. They speculate that new machines attract more players and money.
John Kelly has been appointed chairman of the board of U.K. bookmaker Ladbrokes, effective immediately. The former CEO of Gala Coral replaces Peter Erskine, who left December 3 ahead of the Lads-Coral merger.
American Gaming Association Hall-of-Famer and entrepreneur Vic Salerno (l.) has applied to the Nevada Gaming Commission for an off-track, parimutuel Sports System Operator's license, in an effort to become the first licensed fantasy sports betting operation in Nevada. The license would enable Salerno’s company, US Fantasy, to offer a variety of fantasy sports contests.
Intralot Gaming Service on December 1 unveiled its first voluntary pre-commitment scheme, which is called “YourPlay,” for its 28,500 electronic gaming machines located across Victoria, including the Melbourne Casino. The voluntary scheme is designed to enhance responsible gaming and prevent problem gambling from affecting individuals, their families, and their communities.
A study commissioned by e-table manufacturer Interblock concludes that players of electronic table games play longer and more often than other players.
The Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas unveiled a new luxury Aria Tower Suites with special amenities and a renovated 300,000-suare-foot convention center, where Tower Suites guests might do business during the day. The convention center includes new customizable media walls and communications stations to keep convention attendees connected.
