The Fontainebleau (l.) wasn’t the only casualty of the financial crisis and recession that battered Las Vegas a decade ago. For sheer scale, though, it was the most garish. Now, eight years after the 68-story resort was abandoned unfinished, it’s landed a buyer that wants to complete and open it. The lead buyer, Steve Witkoff, considers it undervalued and “one of the best physical assets in the country.”
A typhoon and a hurricane impacted gaming in two distant gaming jurisdictions. In Macau, the cleanup after Typhoon Hato (l.) continued and gaming operations should be back to normal this week. In western Louisiana, Lake Charles and Bossier City/Shreveport dodged a bullet as Hurricane Harvey pummeled Houston for nearly a week.
As Japanese lawmakers prepare for the autumn parliamentary session, cities including Osaka, Wakayama (l.) and Hokkaido are pushing for their chance to host one of the country’s first integrated resort.
Typhoon Hato has once again proven that the fate of Macao is intricately entwined with its integrated resorts. Desmond Lam (l.), a professor at the University of Macao and a native of the city, explains why the typhoon brought out the good—and the bad—of some of the operators and why corporate social responsibility is crucial to both sides.
Caesars Entertainment executives will be in Missouri and Louisiana this month to sell regulators on the complexities of the restructuring of its main casino subsidiary out of bankruptcy. If all goes well, as it did recently in Nevada, the gaming giant will be rebuilt and fully back in business by October.
The Pokagon Band's Four Winds South Bend will be Indiana's first tribal casino, but probably not its last. The tribe owns three casinos in Michigan, which has three commercial casinos and 23 Native American operations owned by 11 tribes. The Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City is expected to take a big hit—again.
The tropical weather disturbances have been an annoyance to a couple of locations in the gaming industry. What is the impact and how long lasting will the effects be for the individual casinos and the regions as a whole? Meanwhile, Boyd Gaming grabs an edge.
This week, the GGB Podcast features an interview with Kevin Ortzman, the regional president of the Atlantic City properties for Caesars Entertainment, which includes Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Resort and Bally’s Atlantic City.
Universal Entertainment has received an investigative report on “potentially fraudulent acts” by former Chairman and Director Kazuo Okada (l.). But it has not disclosed the results of that investigation.
Imperial Pacific Holdings International, the sole casino operator on the U.S.-controlled island of Saipan, more than doubled its revenues at the resort in the first half of 2017, but also wrote off millions in VIP debts.
Casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd says it expects 2018-19 earning estimates to be cut back on news that a theme park at Resorts World Genting (l.) will not open until the second half of 2018.
Chinese real estate firm Landing International Development Ltd. may relocate its foreigners-only Jeju Island casino to a new integrated resort, Jeju Shinhwa World (l.), now in development on the same South Korea island.
Macau junket investor Neptune Group Ltd. will change its name to Rich Goldman Holdings Ltd. pending shareholder approval, the company announced in an August 24 filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Lotte Tour Development Co., promoter of the planned Jeju Dream Tower Casino Resort (l.) on Jeju Island, South Korea, has raised $35.4 million towards the project with a bond issue.
The Primorsky Krai Development Corp., which is in charge of casino development in Russia’s Primorye special economic zone, says multiple firms are interested in developable plots that may come up for auction.
The United Kingdom now has about 430,000 problem gamblers, an increase of about a third from three years ago. The statistic comes from a new report on gambling trends issued by the UK Gambling Commission.
The City of Ottawa, Canada, has begun a study of the ramifications of allowing Hard Rock to operate the Rideau Carleton Raceway. Hard Rock recently won the bidding for the casino from Ontario Lottery and Gaming.
Australia’s Star Entertainment Group is retooling and changing its marketing strategy to go more after “high end” tourists who want something more than simply gaming, according to CEO Matt Bekier (l.). It expects such customers to make up as much as a quarter of its future patrons.
An Australian Capital Territory lawmaker has proposed legislation that would allow Casino Canberra (l.) to add up to 200 slot machines along with 60 electronic table games.
New Hampshire is considering both an online gaming bill and a bill that would authorize two casino resorts. Some supporters think the bill supporters should join forces. Senator Lou D’Allesandro (l.) is back with his annual casino bill.
Michigan state Senator Mike Kowall (l.) has announced he plans to try again to gain momentum for his online gambling bill in the state this fall. The bill was first introduced in March, but did not progress in the Michigan Legislature. The bill has passed the state’s Senate Regulatory Reform Committee.
According to online reports, three unnamed U.S. Congressman are considering a bill to protect cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The goal of the bill would be to legitimize digital currencies and have them treated like the U.S. dollar.
The Mansion Group and Genesis Global Limited are the latest online gambling companies to announce they will stop taking bets from Australian players. The country has passed new gambling regulations that did not legalize online poker or casino games or allow sites offering the games to be licensed in the country. Gambling firms who have exited the market include PokerStars, 32Red, PartyPoker, 888Poker and Vera&John.
GVC, owners of bwin Casino, has announced a partnership deal with Pragmatic Play, which will add more than 80 game titles to the company’s online sites. The games based on HTML5 technology will be available across their online casino sites such as PartyCasino, bwin, and Gamebookers.
Playtech has reported strong metric growth performance for the first half of 12017 through June 30. The company reported a strong ‘cash generating’ performance recording growth throughout its core metrics combined with KPI gains across its product divisions. The company reported period group revenues of €421.6 million up 25 percent on H1 2016 of €337 million.
Live dealer specialist Authentic Gaming will supply its Authentic Roulette product to Scandinavian gaming operator BetHard. The Malta-based BetHard will have access to several live roulette games streamed from Authentic's land-based casino partners.
Bwin and Inter Milan football club have signed a betting partner agreement. Bwin will provide international content to the club as well as introducing pitch side led screens that will promote LIVE odds during matches.
Although Kentucky faces a projected budget shortfall and significant public pension debt, casino gambling remains a long shot. Rumors flew when a fantasy sports bill looked promising and after Churchill Downs announced a $50 million-$60 million historic racing facility (l.), but Republican state Senator Whitney Westerfield said any talk of legalizing casino gambling in Kentucky has quieted down.
Sports book directors up and down the Las Vegas Strip were blowing kisses at Floyd Mayweather last week after his expected victory over the UFC’s Colin McGregor. The fight was a bookmaker’s dream―massive volume and most of the bets on the defeated underdog.
As Wynn Boston Harbor rises above the former Monsanto Chemical site (l.), attention turns to making the site clean and green. Contaminated with chemicals deep into the earth, remediation efforts are complete, and officials at Wynn are now trying to restore the site to its original—pre-Monsanto—condition.
The Progress One campaign that seeks to authorize a casino in York County, Maine is running into increased opposition from the Maine Ethics Commission and the legislature’s Government Oversight Committee. They count on the public liking the proposal less and less the more light they shine on it.
The Sarasota Kennel Club (l.) and Pensacola Greyhound Racing recently received administrative complaints regarding designated player games in their cardrooms. The games violate the agreement between Governor Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe, giving the tribe exclusivity to offer blackjack in return for $1 billion to the state over five years.
A July restraining order prevents law enforcement in North Carolina from cracking down on users and owners of video gambling machines, which the state Supreme Court banned in 2013. Richmond County Sheriff James Clemmons said while it may appear law enforcement is ignoring illegal gambling, his "hands are tied" until the order is lifted.
The four-month-old Kansas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg laid off 10 workers and closed table games between 2-6 a.m. Revenue has come up short of the projected $3 million a month. Unworried, Kansas Lottery Director of Gaming Facilities Keith Kocher said Kansas Crossing has plenty of time to find its niche.
July was the Las Vegas airport’s best month ever. Volume hit 4.32 million passengers, breaking a record set back in August 2007, and officials believe the McCarran International Airport (l.) is well on the way in 2017 to handling more travelers than it ever has before.
Anxious to prevent a motor vehicle attack like the one that recently killed 14 people in Barcelona, the Fremont Street Experience has sped up its deployment of traffic barriers, installing them around at least three junctions along the busy pedestrian walkway.
The Cosmopolitan casino resort in Las Vegas is making a major play to attract veterans and their spouses to apply for 150 job openings. So far it has held seven job recruitment events aiming attract people that one recruiter describes as “reliable and resilient.”
The South Beloit, Illinois city council will form a committee to review liquor license regulations. The city currently has 11 video gambling licenses for bars and restaurants and four boutique licenses. A one-year liquor license fee in South Beloit is $1,500, compared to $5,000 in nearby cities.
Atlantic City has sought proposals once again to develop Bader Field (l.), its closed municipal airport—a 143-acre bayside tract—into an entertainment attraction. The city has received four proposals for the property including one from Florida developer Glenn Straub—who now owns the former Revel casino—and another to return minor league baseball to the resort.
Former casino executive and now Allegiant Air President John Redmond (l.) announced he has purchased 22 acres in Port Charlotte, Florida to build a $600 million Sunseeker Resort, 10 minutes from Punta Gorda Airport where Allegiant is the sole carrier. The complex will have a hotel, nine condo towers, a marina and a 1,000 foot pool and create 500 jobs.
A father and son who worked at the last remaining San Diego card room still operating have cut a plea bargain with the U.S. Attorney for operating illegal sports betting out of the casino. Fourteen total have been charged in the federal racketeering case.
A federal judge recently ruled the Kialegee Tribal Town’s lawsuit against the Muscogee (Creek) Nation belongs in tribal court. The Kialegees sued following a raid on their not-yet-opened restaurant in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which Creek Nation officials feared would become an illegal casino and compete with their River Spirit casino (l.).
A hearing will be held September 6 on whether to issue a permit to sell alcohol to the Jamul-San Diego Casino (l.). The San Diego County casino is located on windy country roads and many residents fear to allow drinks to be served there.
The California Assembly last week held hearings on the tribal state gaming compact with the Wilton Rancheria. The tribe wants to build a $400 million casino in Elk Grove, in an unfinished mall (l.).
The White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians will be required to provide an environmental impact statement on its proposed casino resort at Star Lake, Minnesota. The question will be how broad the scope of the EIS will be. Casino supporters will want to keep it narrow, and opponents will want a broad analysis.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band helped investigators squash a bank-fraud scheme, leading to the indictments of 19 people. The group opened accounts at Bank of America, deposited fraudulent checks and with debit cards made 18 cash advances totaling more than $200,000 at the tribe's FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan casino.
The Richards Group of Dallas has created three TV spots highlighting the Choctaw Nation's variety of business enterprises, including casinos, hotels and gas stations, which employ more than 8,000 people. The spots also are designed to encourage people to do business with the Choctaws, since that benefits the Southeast Oklahoma region.
The New Hampshire Lottery is putting the pedal to the metal on internet sales by approving online sales. In neighboring Massachusetts state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg (l.) is virtually shaking in her boots.
Australian casino operator Crown resorts is unveiling an online lottery product titled CrownLotto through its online sports betting site CrownBet. The product allows players to bet on overseas lottery draws without actually buying tickets within the lottery’s jurisdiction.
Irving George “Jack” Davis died July 21. He was 92. Davis was the longtime president of Resorts International and shepherded that company through casino openings in the Bahamas and Atlantic City. In New Jersey, Davis was instrumental in attracting casino companies and investors to Atlantic City, including now President Donald Trump.
Win Systems has named Manuel Wladdimiro sales director for Central America and the Caribbean, responsible for expanding the company’s product placement in the region.
Oklahoma’s WinStar World Casino and Resort has launched the Lightning Link Lounge Powered by Casino 360˚, linking 150 Aristocrat Lightning Link progressive slots.
Casino games like Mississippi Stud Poker and Three Card Poker took years to become successes. Two newer games—Deuces Joker Wild and DJ Wild Poker (l.)—are increasingly popular. A peak base table game can lease for $2,000 or more per month per table. At 100 tables, that’s $200,000 a month or $2.5 million annually.
The NFL has launched a 32-team eSports experiment in a move to engage younger fans. The league centers around EA Sports Madden Football game. Initially planned as an eight-team test league, interest in the league from gamers saw the NFL include a virtual team for every NFL franchise.
Shark Trap Gaming & Security Systems is launching the Shark Trap System, a network of “super shufflers” with the capability to detect marked cards, asymmetry and other irregularities.
Oklahoma’s Quapaw Tribe has enlisted Joseph Eve CPAs to conduct multiple audits for the tribe’s Quapaw Casino and RV Resort in the latest of several years of partnership.
Jackpot Digital has introduced a new poker table with virtual cards called PokerPro. The tables can also be programmed to offer horse or sports betting to players who are between hands.
