James Packer’s Crown Resorts Ltd. has sold an $800 million stake in Melco Crown, the company’s Macau venture, following a two-year recession in the world’s most profitable gaming jurisdiction and a lackluster debut of the company’s latest Cotai property, Studio City (l.). Crown is a partner in Macau with Lawrence Ho and Melco. Rumor has it the Aussie billionaire may buy back some assets in Australia.
A comment by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (l.) that he has “evolved” on gambling drew renewed calls from the American Gaming Association for legalized sports betting. Goodell’s insistence on “game integrity” was actually used as an argument to promote the legalization of sports betting by the AGA.
A planned vote in the New Jersey Assembly on an aid package for Atlantic City was cancelled leaving the resort no closer to solving its financial crisis as a bitter political battle continues to play out in the Statehouse, which apparently involves South Jersey power broker George Norcross (l.). The plan expected to be voted on in the Assembly is one of two competing plans in the legislature and lawmakers seem no closer to compromising on a bill.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill that will close the Azov-City gaming zone in the Krasnodar Territory by January 2019, including the Oracle casino (l.). The shutdown will allow gaming operations to continue in Sochi, where the government has invested more heavily.
Red Rock Resorts netted $531.4 million on the first day of its initial public offering, making it the nation’s largest single-day IPO total so far this year. Most of the money will go toward buying Fertitta Entertainment for $460 million, giving Red Rock Resorts ownership of the company that operates its 19 casinos in Southern Nevada but still do business as Station Casinos, including the flagship, Red Rock (l.).
With the elimination of a possible casino in Brockton by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission last week, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has nothing but a pesky federal lawsuit standing in the way of casino mastery of the southeastern part of the state. The tribe has already broken ground on its $1 billion casino resort. Chairman Cedric Cromwell (l.) says his tribe has beaten all the odds.
The Michigan Regulatory Reform Committee held a hearing to discuss two online gambling bills introduced to the state Senate, but no action was taken. State Senator Mike Kowall (l.) says there needs to be more support from his constituents to bet movement on the bill.
The American Gaming Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman (l.) held a roundtable discussion in Detroit, where MGM Grand Casino, MotorCity and Greektown together provide $174.3 million, or 16 percent, of the city's overall tax revenue. Participants also discussed the gaming industry's support of education, veterans, employee growth, sustainability, the arts and more.
Bookmakers in Britain are re-examining their policy on longshots after Leicester City, a 5,000-to-1 long shot at the start of the season, won the Premier League title.
This week, the GGB Podcast sits down with Grant Eve, a partner with Joseph Eve and Associates, on the increasing importance of audits, AML and KYC programs in the casino industry
Even as the government of Goa tries to evict four casino cruise ships in the Mandovi River, embattled United Breweries Chairman Vijay Mallya (l.) is surprised that his bid to launch another offshore gambling boat went down in defeat.
Gross gaming revenues in Macau for April dropped less than analysts predicted. GGR was down 9.5 percent to 17.3 billion patacas (US$2.2 billion) versus the median estimated drop of 13.5 percent forecast by Bloomberg. SJM’s Angela Leong (l.) says all six concessionaires have to unite in attracting more mass market customers.
Singapore’s casino regulator has approved a three-year gaming license renewal for Las Vegas Sands Corp.’s Marina Bay Sands resort (l.), which has operated in the city-state since 2007. The renewal took effect April 26.
A $4 billion integrated casino resort planned for South Hoi An, Vietnam will include three hotels in Phase I alone. The property is a joint venture of Vietnamese asset management firm VinaCapital, Macau-based SunCity, and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.
Best Sunshine International, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Imperial Pacific, is seeking $550 million to fund what it claims will be the largest private infrastructure development project ever on Saipan. The Grand Mariana will be located in Garapan, center of the island tourism industry.
The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council has lodged a complaint against three top officers of Philrem Service Corp. for their alleged involvement in a recent money laundering case. An estimated $81 million was stolen and laundered in Philippine casinos.
Lawrence Ho’s Tigre de Cristal casino resort (l.) in Russia’s Primorye entertainment zone racked up VIP rolling chip volume in excess of HKD400 million (US$51.6 million) in March and April. The numbers have attracted junket operators, according to casino management.
The Australian government has banned online in-play betting, despite lobbying by international bookies to relax the rules on digital wagers made as sporting events are broadcast live. Supporters of in-play say the ban will not stop gamblers from wagering. Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough (l.) applauded the action
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has denied a request for up to 500 poker machines at Aquis Entertainment’s Casino Canberra (l.). Currently, poker machines are allowed only in the city’s clubs, which offer a collective 5,000 pokies.
A second casino in the Greater Victoria area would wreck the good that the first one, the View Royal casino (l.), does the local economy. So says the mayor of View Royal, British Columbia, Canada. The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) is looking into the viability of such a casino.
Great Canadian Gaming is going to expand and relocate its Shoreline Casino near Peterborough, but Cavan Monaghan Township and Peterborough officials haven’t agreed on a services expansion to make it happen. The township is home to the casino’s current site, but Great Canadian Gaming wants it closer to and possibly within Peterborough.
Canadians annually spend $4 billion on offshore sports betting, but the federal government hardly regulates it. Gambling traditionally has been overseen by each province, so the hundreds of offshore websites offering Canadians sports betting exist beyond their jurisdiction. Furthermore, Canada's criminal code regarding gambling has not been significantly updated since the 1960s.
World Poker Fund Holdings, the online and event-based social gaming platform, has signed an agreement with the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma to acquire 49 percent of the tribe's online gaming subsidiary Universal Entertainment Group. The transaction will make the Iowa tribe the first to run a legal iGaming operation in the U.S.
Amaya chairman David Baazov has pleaded not guilty to insider trading charges brought by Canadian security regulators. Baazov is charged with five counts of trying to influence the market price of Amaya stemming from Amaya’s $4.9 billion purchase of PokerStars. He has vowed to fight the charges.
Daily Fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel have agreed to stop accepting Idaho players after negotiations with the state’s attorney general. Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden (l.) has ruled that DFS games violate the state’s laws and announced the agreement after three months of negotiations.
The 2016 World Series of Poker will launch a new social media initiative designed to increase the event’s social media friendliness. The initiative includes a new social media tool for players and the creation of a “Twitter Czar.”
GAN reported that operating losses for fiscal 2015 doubled to £5.6 million as its CEO advises that the results are part of the company’s evolution as a supplier. CEO Dermot Smurfit (l.) says this has been a year of investment and results are in line with expectations.
Foxwoods Resort Casino has launched its online social casino, developed on the social casino marketing platform of Novomatic subsidiary Greentube. CEO Thomas Graf (l.) says the Foxwoods brand is the perfect foundation for Greentube.
The Isle of Man’s Gambling Supervision Commission and Treasury have approved the use of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin at online gambling sites licensed by the island. The currencies can be accepted as cash under the proposed changes to the isle’s regulations. Meanwhile, an Australian computer scientist has stepped forward as the possible creator of Bitcoin.
A recent study has found that the Euro is now the most common currency option at online casinos, replacing the U.S. Dollar. The Euro is now offered as an option at 78 percent of the world’s online casinos.
Konami Gaming, Inc. has partnered with online social casino developer Ruby Seven Studios to bring Konami video slot games to social casino channels. Konami’s best-of-breed remote gaming server will be integrated with Ruby Seven Studios in order to launch top-performing Konami games.
Paddy Power Betfair reported a good start to 2016 with a 16 percent increase in revenue for the first quarter. The rise came despite poor dividends from events such as Cheltenham 2016.
Pennsylvania casinos are protesting a plan by the state Department of Revenue to increase the assessment on gaming revenues that pays for regulation of the industry. The increase comes on the heels of a proposal by Governor Tom Wolf (l.) to tax free play. Meanwhile, state lawmakers gathered to discuss how to keep the industry viable in an increasingly more competitive market.
Cherokee County, Kansas commissioners approved spending $20,000 to appeal the latest ruling supporting Kansas Crossing Casino (l.), under construction in Crawford County. Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks said there was no basis to restart the casino selection process that chose Kansas Crossing over Castle Rock Casino, which would have been built in Cherokee County.
The CEO of Delaware’s Dover Downs racino, Denis McGlynn (l.), blamed the public parent company’s quarterly loss on the disproportionate cut of revenues taken by the state.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has given creditors an extra 15 days to evaluate and file objections to a reorganization plan submitted by Caesars Entertainment Operating Company.
Ohio’s Horseshoe Casino Cleveland is getting ready to change its brand and switch over to becoming the Jack Cleveland Casino with a 40-hour closing this week. It’s all part of a changeover from Caesars Entertainment to Jack Entertainment LLC.
2015 was a very good year for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi, said General Manager Todd Raziano (l.), with the addition of a new hotel tower, dining options and other amenities. The property is attracting millennials and booking top entertainment. Its motto, “Love All. Serve All,” guides every aspect of the operation, Raziano said.
Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal will reopen its poker room in a sign it is emerging from a long bankruptcy proceeding. The casino is now controlled by billionaire Carl Icahn, who has promised to reinvest in the property, though that investment may be on hold as New Jersey holds a voter referendum to expand casinos in the state.
The Clark County Commission voted to allow the Las Vegas Monorail Company to withdraw money from its $6 million investment earnings account and use it to extend its line to the Mandalay Bay casino. The account was created when the company was in bankruptcy during the Great Recession, but it emerged, the economy is improved, and the monorail has proven its value, the commission said.
The Normandie Casino, in Gardena California, the state’s oldest card room, has closed while the owners try to find a buyer. The Miller family, which has long owned the card room, is being forced to sell due to pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges.
Pinnacle Entertainment may sell the Ameristar Casino riverboat (l.) in East Chicago to a real estate investment trust and then lease it back, a Lake County District Court judge recently ruled, since the trust only owns the real estate assets. Unite Here Local 1, representing 200 Ameristar employees, said the sale violates state law.
All but one of New York’s nine licensed casinos posted revenue gains for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, with Resorts World Casino reporting the most at almost $846 million in Revenues. Batavia Downs posted the state’s largest increase percentage-wise, but its owner says a tax inequity with nearby casinos threatens its success.
Resorts Atlantic City announced a $20 million renovation of its Ocean Tower hotel rooms. The money comes from a mortgage on the property. The casino returned to profitability in 2014.
Penn National wants to buy more slot routes in Illinois, said President Tim Wilmott. The company purchased Prairie State Gaming there, operators of 1,100 terminals at 270 location. Wilmott said Penn is "aggressively talking to all the major operators. We’re going to get something done this year."
The Orlando-based group Voters in Charge has collected 100,000 of the 700,000 signed petitions required to place on the 2018 ballot a proposed constitutional amendment requiring statewide voter referendums for new casino projects. That milestone kicked of an assessment of the amendment's economic impact by legislative economists.
China approved its first direct route to Las Vegas from Beijing via Hainan Airlines, which want to start three weekly non-stop routes to McCarran International Airport in September. The route requires approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which is likely, and would carry up to 213 passengers per flight.
The former Saratoga Casino and Raceway now is named the Saratoga Casino Hotel, in advance the opening of its 117-room hotel expansion in the coming weeks. The name change is part of the racino’s rebranding effort, which is designed to emphasize its transformation into a modern destination with plentiful activities for virtually all visitors.
A bill to impose federal standards on drug use in horse racing was the topic at a hearing held by U.S. Reps. Andy Barr, Kentucky, and Paul Tonko, New York. Horse owner and celebrity chef Bobby Flay (l.) said “rampant drug use” in the U.S. was harming the international market for American horses.
A record betting handle on NCAA March Madness basketball tournament games helped Nevada sports book post a record $458 million betting handle in March. Some $422 million was bet on basketball, which is the most for any single sport in a single month, and bettors wagered about 70 percent of that on NCAA games
D'Iberville, Mississippi is set to become a tourism destination with its own brand, Discover D'Iberville. Director of Economic Development Jeff Taylor said the opening of the Scarlet Pearl Resort & Casino (l.) and new interstate access ramps made the transition possible. Social media, a website, mobile applications and more will promote the brand.
Wyoming Downs and Wyoming Horse Racing were shut down last October after their historic racing machines were declared non-compliant. Both reopened with new machines in December but Wyoming Downs recently closed four of its eight venues after customers stayed away from law-abiding machines that didn't offer bonus rounds.
The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians has put 62 acres into trust in Sonoma County, California, where it hopes to build a $320 million casino (rendering at left).
In a final plea to be allowed to move its Ojibwa Casino in Chocolay Township to the former Marquette County Airport (l.) property—which has been approved by the Interior Department—the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community appealed to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who rejected the plan like he did in 2013.
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe, owners of the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, Louisiana, signed a consulting and management contract with the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, operators of Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Tribal Chairman Joey P. Barbry (l.) said the deal would allow the casino to “exceed expectations” for its guests.
Several California members of Congress, including Rep. Doug LaMalfa (l.), are pushing a bill that would make it illegal for the Bureau of Indian Affairs—or the courts—to force an off-reservation casino on the Golden State if the voters or the legislature oppose it. The bill is aimed at the North Fork Mono Indians who want to build a casino near Madera, California.
A Texas jury has held the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma liable in a 2013 crash of a casino charter bus that killed two elderly passengers. The jury awarded nearly $11 million to the family of Alice Stanley, 83, and Paula Hahn, 69, who died in the crash. The tribe promises to appeal.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will take into trust the Carter Hotel property, owned by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and located next to its Fond-du-Luth casino. The city of Duluth will appeal the BIA's ruling. The tribe said it will demolish the rundown building but revealed no other plans.
The late Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Chair Stanley Crooks' (l.) philosophy of planning seven generations ahead continues to drive the tribe, owners of Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Success also comes from strategic alliances, favorable location, small membership and a casino operation generating annual revenue of $1 billion.
The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, based near Death Valley, seek an off-reservation site for a casino they would like to build near the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. They are trying to get the support of the town of Ridgecrest for their proposal.
Major renovations, from gaming floors to buffets, are about to begin at the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's Grand Casinos in Onamia (l.), which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and in Hinckley, Minnesota. The tribe has diversified into hotel ownership and management and other hospitality businesses.
Keeping it local will be the name of the game when the Cowlitz Tribe of Washington opens its $510 million Cowlitz Casino Project in La Center, Washington sometime next spring. Tribal members will get first dibs on jobs, but most will be filled from the surrounding region, say officials.
There may be a link between casinos and golf courses in Southern California. Tribes in the state’s sunniest region have discovered that golf and gaming mix very well. This is especially true for snowbird, senior citizen visitors from colder climates.
An online site called Lotto Spring illegally is targeting Australian bettors with promises of “seven ways to win” based on global lotteries outcomes, but at least one participant says Lotto Spring is a scam and removed money from her account without permission. Australian regulators say Lotto Spring is unlicensed and illegal.
An Australian man, Craig Wright, surfaced last week claiming to be the inventor of Bitcoin, an online currency that he says he created in 2009. He claims he is the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. His claims are being greeted with agreement by some—and skepticism.
Rodney Ferguson, who served as chief financial officer at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino from 2013 to 2015 before moving out of state, is returning to the property as chief operating officer. He brings to his new position more than 30 years of experience in the casino and other industries.
Wynn Resorts opened and the Hakkasan Group prepares to “intimate” nightclub venues that are smaller and more interactive than the pervasive big-box nightclubs located along the Las Vegas Strip. The Intrigue in the Wynn Las Vegas opened April 28, while the Hakkasan Group plans a May 19 opening of the Jewel nightclub in the Aria.
A study conducted by Stockton University’s Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism found that 37 percent of middle- and high-school students have gambled.
The gambling regulator of Romania has licensed Gaming Laboratories International and NMi as the nation’s first two licensed gaming certification bodies. Competing testing lab BMM has also said it will enter the Romanian market.
Michigan’s Odawa Casino Resort will implement the hospitality solution software suite of Agilysys, including Visual One PMS, InfoGenesis POS and rGuest Pay
The Hasinai Gaming Enterprise and Caddo Nation have selected the Casino Trac casino management system for the Bison Ridge Casino and Caddo Travel Plaza.
The Midori Clark Hotel Casino in Clark Freeport, the Philippines is now open to the public following a soft opening April 27. The resort is a project of BB International Leisure and Resort, which operates the property, and has a casino floor stocked with Aristocrat games.
Affinity Gaming on April 28 contributed to its $100,000 goal of funding local efforts to battle Alzheimer’s in the communities in which it does business, with a $5,000 donation to the Alzheimer’s Association’s Desert Southwest Chapter during the 13th annual Alzheimer’s Association Education Conference at the Henderson Convention Center in Nevada.
Alfastreet’s display of electronic table game products at the G2E Asia trade show in May will highlight the company’s new arcade-style horse race game Royal Derby.
