The final session of the year for the New Jersey legislature included several items that will impact heavily on the future of Atlantic City. The percentage of taxation that would be allocated to Atlantic City, varies. There are also differences in possible ownership of the casinos. Meanwhile, a bill to financially aid the city of Atlantic City passed the Assembly but failed to get a vote in the Senate, and further complicates the dire fiscal shape of the city.
Despite government officials' appeals, including Governor Greg Abbott (l.), to repeal historical racing rules, the Texas Racing Commission voted again to publish them, following testimony from horse racing industry representatives, leaving the slot-like games operating in the state. Meanwhile Commission Chairman Rolando Pablos told staffers to prepare a plan for shutting down the agency since it's unlikely lawmakers will re-fund it.
A bill authored by Senator Ciro Nogueira (l.) that would legalize casino gaming in Brazil has cleared a senate committee and now heads to the full senate. If passed, the bill could lead to almost three dozen casinos in the country, which has banned the gaming halls since 1946.
Five bidders are in the final race to win a casino license on the Greek island of Cyprus. They include NagaCorp; Philippine operator Bloomberry Resorts; U.S.-based Hard Rock; Bouygues of France; and Russia’s Absolute. The only U.S. company to bid was Hard Rock International, led by CEO Jim Allen (l.).
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc., the REIT spun off by Penn National Gaming, has acquired the Meadows Racetrack and Casino outside of Pittsburgh for $440 million from Cannery Casino Resorts principals Bill Wortman and Bill Paulos (l.). The deal was held up by a lawsuit between the parties that was settled in the final buy.
The state House committee chairman sponsoring comprehensive online gaming legislation in Pennsylvania says the bill will not be voted on this session. Sponsor John Payne (l.) says he’ll bring it back next spring, and expects to gain more traction then.
Macau casino shares took a dive earlier this month on news that Mainland China will take a closer look at the illegal use of bank debit cards, especially the ubiquitous UnionPay cards. Some gamblers access cash via transactions at pawnshops, which record the withdrawals as purchases.
The first three casinos that were chosen by the New York Gaming Commission are likely to get their licenses next week at a meeting of the commission. Empire Resorts’ Montreign in the Catskills, Rush Street Gaming’s Rivers Casino and Resort at Mohawk Harbor (l.) in Schenectady, and Lago Resort and Casino in the Finger Lakes town of Tyre.
Since Governor Rick Scott announced the proposed compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe, the pro and con sides have been busy solidifying their positions. The proposed compact would bring $3 billion to the state by allowing the Seminoles exclusive rights offer blackjack plus roulette and craps at all seven Florida casinos, including Seminole Coconut Creek (l.).
The GGB '25 People to Watch" is out. The annual list appears in the January edition of the magazine, which also features an interview with IGT CEO Marco Sala.
The answer is stronger regulation. Would someone please ask the question? Richard Schuetz, a former member of the California Gambling Commission, gives his views on what went wrong in the state’s card room industry and how it can be fixed.
This week the GGB Podcast features a group interview with the principals of Global Market Advisors, Andrew Klebanow, Steve Gallaway and Bill Bryson, talking about the issues that their company has addressed in 2015, and will continue to examine in 2016.
The grand new Wynn Palace (l.) on Macau’s Cotai Strip will open 90 days later than originally planned, June 25 instead of March 25. The builder lost out on a multimillion-dollar bonus due to the delay, and stands to lose more.
The Tinian Dynasty Casino in the Northern Mariana Islands has reopened while undergoing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Parent company Hong Kong Entertainment Investments owed more than $258 million in debts, including $75 million in fines to the U.S. government, but has settled its fine via a forfeiture and will continue operating while undergoing reorganization.
Is South Korea’s casino industry growing too fast to be self-sustaining? Maybe not, says a professor of economics at Seoul National University. Two casinos are now planned for the country.
Landing International has acquired the exclusive Les Ambassadeurs Club (l.) in London for GBP137 million (US$208 million), the company reports. The upscale gambling club in the Mayfair section currently has 45 gaming tables.
Caesars UK has been fined $9.5 million for shoddy anti-money laundering practices at its Playboy Club London and London Clubs LSQ, including not assessing the risks of dealing with certain customers and not conducting sufficiently rigorous due diligence. Caesars UK admitted the lapses and agreed to an external investigation of its anti-money laundering practices and processes.
Borough Council members in the historic town of Hartlespool, England have joined a chorus of concern about fixed-odds betting terminals, gambling machines that allow players to bet up to £100 (US$149) a spin.
One hundred people are being recruited to fill jobs at the $6 million Casino 36 (l.) in Wolverhampton, U.K. The casino will be the result of the Rubicon Casino in Temple Street expanding into the former Dorchester/Beach nightclub, which currently is empty.
Crown Resorts has taken a beating in recent months, in part because of the historic recession in Macau, where the Australian billionaire James Packer (l.) is heavily invested. Now Packer may be considering taking some shares private.
Tasmania’s Federal Group showed its hand last week and how it would use $70 million to renovate the Wrest Point casino complex (l.) there. Other improvements would be added to other facilities the company owns. Now the casino wants assurances it will retain its license beyond 2018.
Following an $11 million renovation, the former 40-year old Fraser Downs Racetrack Casino has reopened as Elements Casino in Surrey, British Columbia. The enhanced property features additional table games, a live performance space, new dining options and special lighting effects. Director of Operations Michael Kim said the name reflects "so many new elements in here."
Starting in February, SkyCity’s Adelaide Casino will begin a long-deferred major expansion. The $300 million project, which will add a hotel, restaurants and VIP suites, should be completed by the end of 2018. However, a court has ruled that SkyCity must turn over VIP information in a suit brought by a patron.
Operators of four smaller casinos in Sri Lanka are considering closing since President Maithripala Sirisena’s (l.) government imposed a new $7 million annual fee plus, doubled the annual casino levy and charged a 25 percent surtax on profits. One operator already converted his casino to an art gallery.
Woodbine Entertainment Group, owner of Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario, Canada has plans to expand the racetrack into a casino. Last summer, another Woodbine track in Toronto was approved for a similar expansion.
While their legal battle plays out in New York, representatives for the two biggest daily fantasy sports companies told California legislators they want to work with the state to pass regulations that will keep them operating and legitimize their sites. California held a public hearing on a bill to license daily fantasy sports operators and Assemblyman Adam Gray (l.) has introduced a bill to legalize and regulate the games.
Tabcorp is partnering with billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to launch a new online gaming business in the U.K. and Irish markets. Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough (l.) says it’s a logical and meaningful partnership.
Atlantic City’s eight casinos saw a slight bump in revenue for November, fueled by a 51 percent increase in online gambling revenue over November 2014. The amount of revenue won by the casinos brick and mortar operations was actually down 1.4 percent.
Golden Nugget Atlantic City has completed a revamping of its online gambling site in conjunction with NYX Gaming Group. The site has already seen an increase in play, officials said.
Games Marketing has licensed its popular Perfect Pairs and 21+3 blackjack side bet games to Realistic Games. Both games are available in land-based and online casinos worldwide, and accessible through bet365, BetVictor, Boylesports, Stan James, NYX, Paddy Power, Bede, Pocket Fruity and Spin Genie.
Ladbrokes Australia has reactivated its in-play live betting feature, ‘LivePlay’, after a challenge to a ruling against the service by the Australian Communication Agency by bookmaker William Hill.
Electronic Arts has created an eSports division called the EA Competitive Gaming Division. The division will make classic EA Games available to global eSports competitions.
Technology security firm Akamai released a report warning that online gambling sites are at the greatest risk of distributed denial of service attacks by computer hackers. Online gaming sites saw 50 percent of all such attacks in the third quarter of 2015.
Betcade has launched early access to an Android-based online gambling app store. The company is moving into an area vacated by Google, which doesn’t allow real-money gambling apps in its Google Play store.
Inspired Gaming Group has announced that it has reached an agreement with Betfred to supply the company with its first collection of Mike Tyson gaming products.
In Georgia, instead of offering specific recommendations about expanded gambling, a joint House and Senate study committee will offer a report ahead of the January 11 session. Lawmakers will consider a measure calling for six casinos and parimutuel betting to help the beleaguered Hope Scholarship program. A voter referendum would be required. Governor Nathan Deal (l.) says a high tax rate is necessary to get his approval.
A raid involving hundreds of state and federal agents aimed at an operation spanning three nations but based in San Diego, California, shut down two card rooms that were at the center of the operation that combined money laundering and prostitution. The operation centered on a bookmaker known as “Fat Dave” Stroj (l.).
Retiring Senator Harry Reid has dropped his bid to attach a repeal of the Trust Indenture Act to muss-pass legislation. The rider would have helped Caesars in its bankruptcy proceedings.
Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville was the first Massachusetts casino to open. The slots-only facility has failed to perform up to expectations, however, as the state has cut its estimated take from the casino revenue by 40 percent. At the same time, Suffolk Downs is back looking for a racino after it failed to win the bid for the Boston-area casino.
VictoryLand Casino in Macon County, Alabama will reopen soon, announced owner Milton McGregor (l.). The casino closed after a 2013 raid in which 1,600 electronic bingo machines were seized. McGregor wants them back but the state Supreme Court ruled they are illegal. Meanwhile Governor Robert Bentley transferred gambling enforcement from the state to local authorities.
Decreased Asian gaming revenues and increased debt are causing the principal investor in the Alon Las Vegas project to seek new investors and lower its stake in the project, but current economic conditions might make that difficult. Australia-based Crown Resorts wants to reduce its 74 percent stake in the project by more than $400 million by selling some of its equity in the proposed casino resort. Former Wynn Resorts executive Andrew Pascal (l.) is CEO and an investor as well.
A dispute over riverboat gambling revenue has ended between Switzerland and Jefferson counties, Indiana. Switzerland County will deliver to Jefferson County $50,000 in economic development funds it has been holding. In turn, Jefferson County will dismiss a lawsuit it filed against Switzerland County in July.
The Sands Bethlehem Casino (hotel at l.) in Pennsylvania proved to be the only one to generate positive cash flow growth for Las Vegas Sands through the first three months of the 2015 fiscal year, as its overseas gambling operations saw losses of up to 37 percent. The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore generated more than $1 billion in cash flow, but its Macau casinos lost up to 37 percent of their gaming revenues.
The $700 million Golden Nugget Casino (l.) opened in Lake Charles, Louisiana a year ago, siphoning players from L'Auberge Casino and Isle of Capri, but also drawing more to the area. In the past year, the three casinos won a total of $732 million, up 46 percent over the previous year when Lake Charles only had two casinos.
A new 5-year contract covering nearly 6,000 union workers at Greektown Casino, MotorCity and MGM Grand Detroit recently was ratified, much to the relief of casino and Detroit officials. The new contract replaces one that expired October 16, and includes the same rates for existing health plans, raises and signing bonuses.
Atlantic City’s Borgata casino is still charging that poker pro Phil Ivey cheated at the casino in a court case involving Ivey’s use of “edge-sorting” at a Borgata baccarat table. Ivey has filed for a dismissal of the case, and the casino says it will challenge that filing.
The Belle of Sioux City, former parent company of the Argosy Sioux City, asked the state Supreme Court to overturn a three-judge panel's ruling upholding the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission's decision that led the Argosy to close in 2014. The high court moved the case to the state Court of Appeals.
A bill to fund training programs for Atlantic City casino workers who have lost their jobs to casino closings is advancing in the New Jersey Legislature.
With an average hold of 9.37 percent, Iowa slots pay out one-third less than 10 years ago, placing them among the tightest in the nation, according to a study by the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers of 16 states with casinos. Prairie Meadows racino in Altoona offers the highest slots payouts.
The Nevada Gaming Commission in November approved an employee stock ownership program for the Eureka Casino in Mesquite, which the Lee family says gives casino employees a partial stake in the casino, while acting as a retirement plan that doesn’t require workers to invest their own money each paycheck. It also reduces the casino’s annual tax bill, thereby freeing up more capital for casino improvements.
The Atlantic City Council has approved a lease agreement which would see the city’s former municipal airport, Bader Field, used for a sports complex. However, the owner of the city’s former Revel Casino may try to block the move.
California electric automaker Faraday Future announced it will open a $1 billion automotive plant in North Las Vegas, Nevada, after the city won over bids from locations in Georgia and Illinois. Faraday Future said North Las Vegas offered the best business environment, and state lawmakers provided more than $200 million in tax incentives to secure the factory and its 4,500 direct and 9,000 indirect full-time jobs.
The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority will fund an $11 million project to install 230 surveillance cameras on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. The project is being called the first of its kind for a New Jersey boardwalk.
The historic Plaza Las Vegas casino’s renewed emphasis on details and improving the customer experience has proven successful, its CEO says. The casino was the only Downtown Las Vegas operation to post an increase in revenues in October, and it’s the only downtown casino that offers bingo as well as traditional gaming, and a redesigned layout and gaming options have made it a more inviting casino for visitors to the Fremont Street Experience.
A bill in the Pennsylvania Senate would channel money from casino revenues to a nearly empty fund that supports drug-testing and other compliance costs for horse racing.
Las Vegas could find itself able to host NCAA regional tournament events once again, with NCAA President Mark Emmert saying the organization’s current ban is hypocritical and should be rethought. Emmert said lifting the ban on NCAA-sanctioned events in Las Vegas might be discussed during the January NCAA Convention, which could lead to Las Vegas hosting its first NCAA regional since the 1991 women’s basketball tournament.
A Washington tribe that had fallen behind in payments to lenders who financed its casino renovation has now closed the facility. The Nooksack Tribe of Washington last week shut down the Nooksack River Casino (l.) in Deming.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (l.) on December 9 filed a federal complaint to stop the Tigua Tribe of El Paso from reopening its Speaking Rock casino, which is located on reservation land but offers some types of gaming Texas officials say are illegal. Paxton says a 1987 act gives the state the authority to regulate some types of tribal gaming, but federal regulators disagree.
The Desert Diamond West Casino (l.) near Glendale, Arizona, is preparing to open on December 20 with a Class II operation. The casino will open with 1,089 slot machines.
MMCT, the entity created by Connecticut’s gaming tribes, the Pequot and Mohegan tribes to determine a site for a satellite casino, has postponed the decision. The original deadline was December 15. The final deadline has not been announced.
Washington’s Cowlitz Indian Tribe last week revealed more details for its $510 million casino (l.) that began construction recently in La Center. The controversial casino is anticipating a spring of 2017 opening.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians recently voted for sweeping changes to tribal leadership and opened a second tribal casino and an $82 million hospital to promote wellness and tribal self-determination. New Principal Chief Patrick Lambert (l.) made changes to improve the tribe’s service to its members, while also dealing with financial matters remaining from the prior administration.
The 2,660 Santee Sioux members who live off the Knox County, Nebraska reservation want the same voting rights as the 800 who live there. Petitions are circulating to hold an election to change the tribe's constitution and let all members vote. The tribe operates the Ohiya Casino & Resort in Nibrara.
A new Gray Wolf Casino near Evaro, Montana, will open by the end of 2016, but without a 70-room hotel, RV park, and convenience store, officials for the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribes announced. Tribal officials scaled back their construction plans after elders cited concerns that the 5.2-acre site is culturally significant.
A Massachusetts tribe that wants to open a Class II casino on Martha Vineyard is not taking no for an answer from a federal judge. The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) is taking steps to appeal the decision.
Along the Oklahoma border, five tribal casinos lure Arkansas gamblers with Las Vegas-style properties and attractive hotels. One of the newest tribal-casino hotels, located just minutes from Fort Smith, Arkansas, is the 170,000 square foot, six-story Cherokee Casino & Hotel Roland, featuring 120 rooms and Cherokee artwork.
The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are moving forward with construction of a proposed 70,000-square-foot casino in Fort Hall, Idaho, and are meeting with three architectural firms to choose a design and begin work on the casino as soon as possible. An ad-hoc committee of tribal members will choose an architectural firm in January for the casino that will expand the Shoshone-Bannock Hotel & Events Center.
Opponents of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians plans to renovate the Chumash Casino Resort have discovered a new weapon: a court decision more than a century old that they claim prevents the tribe from using local water.
The long-simmering battle between the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe and the city of Snoqualmie, Washington has boiled over to a discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court by the tribe against the city. The lawsuit follows the city council's move to discontinue sewer, police and fire services to the tribe’s Snoqualmie Casino (l.).
Four development projects totaling $107 million recently were announced by Ho-Chunk Incorporated, the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Plans include the $75 million Flatwater Crossing mixed-use planned community; the $24 million Virginia Square historic rehab; the $7.5 million 303 Dakota master planned community; and the $1.2 million Pearl Street historic rehab.
Washington’s Kalispel Tribe recently closed the purchase of the state’s oldest golf course, the Spokane Country Club (l.) for $3 million. It has renamed it the Kalispel Golf and Country Club and promises millions of dollars of upgrades.
The Fort Sill Apache Tribe broke ground on a new event center at its Apache Casino Hotel in Lawton, Oklahoma. The $27 million, 50,000 square foot center, opening in 2017, will hold 1,200 concert guests and 500 for banquets, and include a remodeled cashier's cage, a new café and room for 100 additional slots.
Southern California’s Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians is beginning to hint at its plans for a new hotel and expansion of its Spa Resort Casino in Palm Springs. But details won’t be available until a draft environmental report is released next spring.
California Nations Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) announced the election of Steve Stallings (l.) as chairman and Damon Sandoval as vice chairman. Stallings and Sandoval are council members of the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians and Morongo Band of Mission Indians respectively. Dennis Hendricks, council member of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, was reelected as treasurer.
U.K. bookmaker Ladbrokes has named Richard Snow to the role of acting chief financial officer, though he will not step into the position until February 2016. That’s when current CFO Ian Bull leaves the company.
Wynn Encore in Las Vegas opened its millennials-targeted Encore Players Club on December 19 as part of its effort to attract younger bettors and appeal to their specialized needs. The 5,000-square-foot club offers and interactive gaming environment as well as a place to relax and interact with others during the day or evening, as the casino works to develop more gaming options for younger adults.
TCSJohnHuxley recently provided the new 5-star Croc's Resort & Casino in Jaco, Costa Rica with live table games equipment, including roulette, blackjack and baccarat tables, plus custom pit podiums and custom Italian-made seating. Casino Cosmopol is implementing 30 of the company’s e-FX Portrait winning-number displays on roulette tables in the operator’s casinos across Sweden.
Success Dragon International (formerly CY Foundation Group) announced deals to manage electronic gaming machines at casinos in two five-star hotels in Vietnam.
Tabcorp subsidiary Sky Racing World has partnered with Codere to bring its horse-racing content to Brazil via the advance deposit wagering brand Suaposta.
