The possible legalization of online gambling is back on the table In Pennsylvania as the state’s legislature is considering several different plans to allow online gambling. That includes allowing online casino gaming, iPoker and online lotteries, which would make the state the first to legalize all three. But questions about a high tax rate and who would run and regulate iGaming— Senator Joe Scarnati (l.) favors the state lottery—is causing concern.
The ongoing campaign by the American Gaming Association to change attitudes about sports betting has apparently borne some fruit. The group released a survey last week demonstrating that fans of all sports support legal sports betting. And the AGA board has outlined a series of four public policy suggestions that will govern legalization in the casino industry. AGA President and CEO Geoff Freeman (l.) says the first push come before the end of President Trump’s first term.
For 10 years California legislators have tried to pass a bill that would legalize online poker in the Golden State. For 10 years, including this one, they have failed miserably. Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (l.) blamed the defeat on the same issue that derailed the other efforts—lack of consensus among the state’s gaming tribes.
A Florida House-Senate conference committee is negotiating landmark gambling legislation ahead of the May 5 session deadline, according the state Senator Bill Galvano (l.). At stake is the Seminole compact that could bring the state $3 billion over seven years in exchange for blackjack exclusivity plus roulette and craps. Past and pending lawsuits also could have an impact, however.
Citizens of Thailand may not gamble in neighboring Cambodia, according to a mandate just handed down by the Thai government. Cambodia has set several casinos along the border to draw foreign players. The opening of the Saitaku Resort and Casino (l.) near Poipet was the apparent flash point that started the border conflict.
Baha Mar is finally open, but not without yet another controversy. Reports from the Bahamas say that Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald (l.) once lobbied the original developer for contracts for a family company. He didn’t get them. The developer eventually was forced out. Observers are now wondering why.
Cyprus will see the opening of its first new land-based casino in October, according to reports. A temporary betting hall from the team of Melco International and Hard Rock will begin operations in Limassol.
The $335 million sale of Margaritaville Resort-Casino (l.) in Shreveport, Louisiana to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians has been cancelled. Bossier Casino Venture, the casino operating company of the Poarch Band, was ordered by an arbitration panel to pay $10 million, or two years of minimum license fees, to Margaritaville Holdings LLC., which ends the company’s obligation to pay for the Margaritaville brand.
The Pojoaque Pueblo of New Mexico, which operates the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino (l.) near Santa Fe, has lost big in its duel with the state of New Mexico. The tribe has refused to sign a gaming compact with the state for two years. Now a federal court of appeals has ruled against the tribe in its efforts to get a compact it likes forced on New Mexico by the federal government.
Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn are the unquestioned kings of the hill in gaming. Their vision and entrepreneurialism has created profits for their shareholders and iconic resorts for their guests. But how long can that continue?
This week, the GGB Podcast features the leaders of the National Indian Gaming Commission, Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri, and Vice Chairwoman Kathryn Isom-Clause, about how their agency is changing as a result of a new president.
Wynn Palace and Wynn Macau have posted US$293 million in property EBITDA for the first quarter of 2017, 16 percent above analyst expectations. Steve Wynn (l.) credits the end of a “corrective move” to quash VIP revenues.
Paradise City casino resort in Incheon, South Korea has opened its doors. Phase I of the 339,000-square-meter (3.6 million-square-foot) property near Incheon International Airport cost 1.3 trillion won (US$1.14 billion).
Belle Corp., a local partner in the City of Dreams Manila resort in the Philippines capital, has reiterated its intention to expand the resort and also develop a new casino outside the Metro Manila area.
Macau junket runner Jack Lam Yin Lok (l.) has sold a 65.05 percent stake in Jimei International Entertainment Group Ltd., unloading his full share of the Hong Kong-listed junket operator.
Philippines gaming company Bloomberry Resorts Corp. will begin development of a hotel casino project in Quezon City in early 2018. The complex must wait until “informal settlers” are relocated. Bloomberry Chairman Enrique Razon Jr. (l.) says construction will begin after “informal settlers” are moved out.
The UK government will not release the results of a study of the stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals (l.) until the fall, according to local media. The study was originally scheduled for release in the spring.
The Swedish government has proposed that the country’s regulated gaming companies be allowed to offer online gambling to better compete with international operators that serve the market.
The UK government has confirmed that a new 10 percent tax on profits derived from horse racing went into effect last week. There is a £500,000 (US$645,200) threshold on the levy charge for licensed operators.
Crown Resorts has denied speculation that it’s planning to run a casino at the ASF Group’s proposed AU$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) casino resort (l.) on Australia’s Gold Coast.
The Kenyan Premier League is appealing to the government to reevaluate a recent budgetary proposal that would introduce a flat 50 percent tax on betting, lottery and gaming activities.
Woodbine Racetrack (l.), a racino near Toronto, Canada, could be expanded into a “city within a city,” if Woodbine Entertainment Group gets its way. WEG unveiled the master plan for the proposal last week.
A proposal to ban gambling advertisements during sports telecasts such as Australian Rules Football (l.) is drawing opposition from many of the country’s sports bodies, which feel the ban will hurt smaller teams. The country’s bookmakers, however, largely support the ban.
French casino operator Group Barrière is preparing to open a new gaming hall called the Golden Elephant at the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan on the Ivory Coast in West Africa.
Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz (l.)—a major sponsor of the Restore America’s Wire Act, which would ban online gambling—has announced he will not seek re-election or run for any other office in 2018. The RAWA bill has gained little support since it was first introduced and it was a 2015 hearing on the bill held by Chaffetz that exposed deep opposition to the bill.
A report from PlayUSA has identified seven potential growth areas for online gambling in the U.S. including online lottery sales, skill gaming such as eSports and traditional sports betting. The report notes, however, that changing gambling policy in U.S. states can be a long and difficult process.
The head of Italy’s online gaming regulator says the country is making progress towards a shared online poker player deal with other European markets. The country reportedly could present a regulatory framework for player sharing this month.
The "Fantasy Sports Act" legalizing daily fantasy sports as a game of skill, not chance, recently passed the Alabama House in a 48-43 vote. It proposes a 6 percent tax on DFS operators' gross revenues from Alabama players for the preceding 12 months, or about $216,000 for the state's General Fund.
FoxwoodsONLINE posted an impressive 300 percent increase in database growth, 45 percent increase in gross revenue, double digit increases in daily and monthly active users in the last year. FoxwoodsONLINE uses Novomatic’s Greentube Pro to power its social casino.
Intralot's Polish bookmaking business Totolotek has launched virtual sports betting games in Poland in a partnership with Betradar. Poland recently introduced new gambling regulations, which allow for virtual sports betting along with as online bingo, poker and casino games. Totolotek is the first to introduce virtual games in the market.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority has rejected requests made by online gaming companies to locate offices in Manila. The authority rejected attempts to locate the businesses in specific authority zones.
The only gambling-related legislation that seems to be moving forward in Texas would legalize daily fantasy sports as a game of skill. Last year state Attorney General Ken Paxton (l.) last year issued a nonbinding ruling stating that online fantasy sports is illegal betting. Other measures allowing casino gambling and electronic gambling machines.
The new casino bill introduced by New Hampshire state Senator Lou D’Allesandro (l.) that would authorize two casinos in the Granite State is undergoing fire reminiscent of the landing at Omaha Beach. This is the senator’s 19th attempt to get such a bill through the House.
Three Kansas racinos offering live racing could reopen under legislation introduced by state Rep. John Barker. The bill would lower racetrack's 40 percent tax rate to 22 percent, as paid by state-owned casinos. Barker said Wichita native and billionaire Phil Ruffin (l.) would post $100 million to open a horse racetrack in Wichita.
Strong betting in state sportsbooks on the NCAA basketball tournament combined with robust overall table game results to drive the state’s casinos to total win for the month just shy of $1 billion. Machine gaming didn’t fare badly either, up more than $38 million over the same month last year.
Once one of the premier steel towns in the U.S.A., Bethlehem Pennsylvania stands to benefit from the sale of its Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (l.) to MGM Resorts International. How much taxes the sale could generate remains to be calculated, but it will be a lot.
Billionaire Carl Icahn has appealed his tax bills on his Atlantic City casinos dating back to 2014. The appeals, if successful, could cost the city millions in refund payments as it continues to try and get out from under a crushing debt—most of which comes from previous successful tax appeals by casinos. The exact amount Icahn is seeking was not disclosed, but the appeals cover the Tropicana (l.), Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal casinos.
U.S. casinos don’t just pay benefits to the companies and tribes that operate them. They also drive small business growth, helping to support 350,000 jobs. So says a report just released by the American Gaming Association.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred (l.) says he considers Las Vegas a “viable” market for a franchise. In the meantime, he says, he’ll be looking closely at developments surrounding the city’s new major league hockey and football teams.
Two Republican candidates for New Jersey governor, including Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (l.), expressed support for expanding casino gaming in the state to northern New Jersey at a recent forum. However, both acknowledged that last year’s public referendum on the issue—which was overwhelmingly defeated—was too ambiguous and couldn’t be supported.
Although no one has yet requested that alcohol be served until 4 a.m. in Massachusetts’s casinos, a House bill would allow that to happen. It would give the Massachusetts Gaming Commission the authority to extend hours when drinks are sold.
In less than a month of operation, Kansas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg, Kansas posted $556,000 in revenue, the Kansas Lottery reported. Crawford County Convention and Visitor's Bureau Executive Director B.J. Harris said the casino, which opened March 29, should benefit from more tourism this summer.
The Trump administration is seeking $120 million to revive Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump, a plan the American Gaming Association fears could seriously hurt Las Vegas tourism. The D.C.-based trade group alerted the Trump transition team to its opposition back in December. Now it’s turning to Congress to voice its concerns.
Since 2001, gaming and admission taxes have totaled nearly $1 billion at Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa in Michigan City, Indiana, said Vice President and General Manager Lief Erickson. The property, which attracts 2.3 million visitors annually, also provides 1,000 jobs and gives $750,000 to support regional nonprofits.
Plans to build a waterpark at the former Atlantic Club casino hotel in Atlantic City fell through last week when the developer couldn’t raise the money to complete it.
WalletHub ranks the state the second most gambling-addicted in the nation, behind only Nevada, based on criteria like the number of gaming venues as a percentage of population and the availability of problem gambling treatment. Third place went to Montana in the personal finance site’s survey, fourth place to West Virginia.
Police calls have increased slightly at the Wild Rose Casino in Jefferson, Iowa since its August 2015 opening. It also gave the city police and county sheriff's office a six-figure grant. In Scott County, the Isle of Capri Bettendorf and Rhythm City Casino in Davenport posted revenue increases since moving ashore last year.
Designed by Nory Hazaveh of SOSH in New York City, a $25 million, 7-story parking lot recently opened at Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in D'Iberville, Mississippi. The garage will feature bright LED lights and have more security cameras than any other South Mississippi casino parking facility.
What’s the fastest-growing game in Nevada’s casinos? Nope, it’s roulette. Something like $2 billion was wagered on the classic wheel game in the year that ended in February. Revenue was up 13 percent to top $361 million.
The Ho-Chunk Nation recently said the Stockbridge-Munsee's lawsuit attempting to stop the Ho-Chunk's Wittenberg, Wisconsin $33 million expansion has "damaged inter-tribal relations and tribal solidarity." The Stockbridge-Munsee claim the Ho-Chunk project will lead to a $22 million annual loss at its nearby casino. The administration of Governor Scott Walker (l.) has supported the Ho-Chunk expansion.
The Wilton Rancheria, which thought it had gotten a decision from the federal government to put 36 acres in Elk Grove, California into trust, may be forced to say ‘Not so fast!’ The Trump administration appears to be reviewing the 11th hour decision by the Obama administration to make a casino possible on that land, a unfinished and abandoned mall (l.).
The state of Massachusetts, the town of Aquinnah and the Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association have petitioned the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit its decision that would allow the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to go forward with a Class II casino. They are asking for a hearing of the full appeals court. Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais (l.) said the tribe is “disappointed.”
The ilani Casino near La Center, Washington, opened to an immense flood of human traffic last week. The cars were so numerous they created an eight-mile traffic jam along Interstate 5 and jammed the casino’s parking lot (l.).
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that an employee of a tribal casino isn’t necessarily protected by the tribe’s sovereign immunity from being sued if the employee causes a tort during the course of carrying out his or her job. The court last week ruled in Lewis v. Clarke that the limonene driver working for the Mohegan tribe could be sued independently of tribal immunity if performing that job off the reservation.
The Mishewal Wappo Tribe of the Alexander Valley has lost its case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 345-member tribe sued the Department of the Interior to force it to recognize it, which could have led to a casino in California’s wine country.
The voters of a Connecticut town have forced the Board of Selectmen to schedule a vote on a casino proposed by the Mohegan and Pequot tribes. A petition presented by signers opposed to the casino forced them to schedule a town meeting to examine an agreement between the town and the tribes.
A Montana state senator has introduced a bill designed to attract more tourists to the state’s Indian tribes. The bill, by Senator Lee Whitford, would also benefit the casinos that the tribes operate.
Michael Chen, called the “architect” of Crown Resorts’ failed marketing strategy in Mainland China, has exited the organization. The move comes in the aftermath of the detention of 18 Crown staffers on the mainland.
It was a very good year for MGM Resorts International and Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. The company handily beat its own EBITDA target for 2016, and that translated to a big raise for the boss, whose total compensation soared 25 percent to $16.6 million.
Slot giant IGT has promoted Fabio Celadon to senior vice president, Gaming Portfolio. The 15-year industry assumes the post after heading up IGT’s Greater China and International operations.
Rui Cunha, longtime lawyer and advisor to gaming titan Stanley Ho, will step down from the board of Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd. He is likely to be replaced in the role by Ho’s daughter, Daisy Ho (l.).
The Tulalip Tribes of Washington state, which operate the Quil Ceda Creek Casino and Tulalip Resort Casino, has elected its first woman tribal chairman. Marie Zackuse faces a challenging set of circumstances as she takes office
Patrick Cottingham has joined the team at Gaming Laboratories International as a client service representative. Cottingham was previously a test engineer at the testing lab.
Roger Withers will retire as Sportech plc's chairman of the company and the board on May 24. Withers has led the London-based racing technology and systems provider since 2011. He also has served as a director at Playtech Plc and Arena Racing Richard McGuire will be named chairman.
Gateway Casinos & Entertainment in British Columbia recently named gaming compliance and risk expert Terry McInally as chief compliance and risk officer. Previously McInally was partner and national gaming practice leader at Richter Advisory Group, the National Gaming Practice Leader for PwC and an executive at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
A year after Konami Gaming’s Concerto video slot cabinet was deployed in the casinos of Peru, operators are remarking about how successful the launch has been and adding more machines each day
Gaming Laboratories International has just completed a series of training sessions for Argentina’s the Loteria Nacional Sociedad del Estado, one of Argentina’s gaming regulatory entities.
Playtech Plc has inked a “significant extension” of its Rank Group contract for system provisions of the company’s Grosvenor casinos in the UK, the FTSE-listed company has announced.
Leading bill validator provider JCM Global will be helping its casino operator partners to succeed by demonstrating their projects at trade shows in different parts of the world, FADJA in South America and G2E Asia in Macau.
Members of the Greenberg Traurig international law firm will play key roles in next month’s Japan Gaming Congress, held May 10-11 at the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo.
The Southern Gaming Summit will be held in Biloxi, Mississippi on May 2-4. IGT last week announced the products it would display at the trade show, including their newest video and mechanical reel games. IGT will be the only slot manufacturer exhibiting at SGS.
