China’s Golden Week celebration paid off for Macau, though not as much as in previous years. Analysts says lower visitation created lower expectations, but gross gaming revenues didn’t lag as much as expected. Some believe a slowing Chinese economy will impact all future Macau revenues, and has impacted Macau gaming stocks, which have sunk almost 40 percent since May.
One year after the October 1 massacre occurred the day before it opened, G2E 2018 presented a much more upbeat event, focusing on sports betting and a general rally in casino gaming. As usual, the highlights of the Global Gaming Expo centered on the innovation in the hundreds of slot machines on display from all the major manufacturers.
The government of Ireland is poised to double its gaming tax. The Irish Bookmakers Association is predicting massive shutdowns by businesses that have a very small profit margin. Finance Minister Pascal Donohoe (l.) says the increased tax would help to treat problem gambling.
Studio City International Holdings Ltd., 60 percent owned by Melco Resorts & Entertainment, has launched an initial public offering. The entity controls Melco’s Studio City (l.) in Macau. Going the other way in the Philippines, Melco is ready to take its Manila public company and City of Dreams casino private.
The Chairman’s Reception at G2E was the site for the induction of this year’s class into the Gaming Hall of Fame. The four honorees included (l. to r.) Peter Carlino, Richard Haddrill, Phil Hannifin and Steve Perskie. Their inclusion means more than 90 people are members of the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame.
The agency that oversees gaming in Massachusetts is seeking input from residents of the southeastern part of the state as to whether it should reopen bidding for a casino license for the region. The residents have until the end of November to respond. Neil Bluhm (l.), owner of Rush Street Gaming, wants to build a $600 million casino in Brockton.
A coalition of church and political leaders are lining up behind a ban on sports betting advertisement before and after live event. Industry leaders are jumping on board too. GVC CEO Kenny Alexander (l.) has agreed that television ads should be banned before 9 p.m.
The NFL season has been a boon to New Jersey sports books. Revenues almost doubled from August, but the big surprise has been the dominance of the DFS companies—FanDuel and DraftKings—as opposed to the known brands of Atlantic City casinos.
A key figure in the evolution of modern-day Las Vegas, the 68-year-old is quitting the gaming giant he has served for nearly two decades. First with Steve Wynn, later with MGM, he was instrumental in the development of three Strip’s icons: The Mirage, Bellagio and CityCenter.
Indian online poker platform 9stacks has raised 28 crore (US$3 million) through a Series A funding round via WaterBridge Ventures, whose Manish Kheterpal (l.) says India is on the cusp of “massive one gaming adoption.” The poker portal reports that it currently has some 100,000 subscribers.
The government of Albania has announced it will relocate all casinos and betting shops out of residential neighborhoods and into the outskirts of cities, particularly in the capital of Tirana, where a restaurant-casino operates (l.).
To lure more Chinese tourists, Star Entertainment of Australia has launched a new Chinese brand. Exec Matt Bekier (l.) said Star is responding to “the staggering wealth creation in China” and a robust middle class.
A New South Wales pokies club has been fined $100,000 fine for what the government termed “systemic” breaches of gaming regulations including cash advances to customers to keep them gambling.
The casino at Ajax Downs in Ontario will stay open, although the proposed Durham Live megacasino will be built nearby. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation rewrote gaming rules to allow two facilities. The agreement ends years of legal battles by Ajax and Pickering, which both campaigned for a casino and its associated economic benefits.
Government officials in New South Wales are under fire for their decision to permit an advertisement for a horse race on the side of the world-famous Sydney Opera House.
Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (l.) and Valley Forge Casino Resort are the latest Pennsylvania casinos to apply for online gaming licenses, while Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino took itself off the list.
PokerStars is now offering content from developer Play’n Go in Italy under a partnership agreement signed earlier this year. PokerStars Italy will offer a full suite of games from Play’n Go.
The World Poker Tour and FansUnite have announced a global marketing partnership. FanUnite is a Ethereum blockchain protocol that claims to be revolutionizing online sports betting, but can also be used to run online poker contests. The company is one of several new platforms proposing to root cryptocurrency into online gambling sites.
The Atlantic City Convention Center (l.) will be home for a gaming data center developed by Continent 8, a data hosting company, which will serve iGaming and sports betting facilities in the United States.
NASCAR is set to implement new guidelines for sports betting on its product in 2019. The announcement comes after Dover International Speedway (l.) in Delaware opened a sports betting kiosk, the first NASCAR track to allow sports betting. NASCAR president Steve Phelps said that he expects guidelines on sponsorships and [possibly prohibitions on drivers and crews betting on races.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill that will send 1.25 percent of sports betting revenue to the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. The tax will be added to the 8.5 percent of revenue generated at land-based sportsbooks the 13 percent tax on online sports betting. The tax will be used for the marketing and promotion of Atlantic City.
New Mexico will be the sixth state to offer sports betting, although it will be by one of the state’s gaming tribes, the Santa Ana Pueblo. The New Mexico legislature itself has yet to legalize sportsbook. Vic Salerno (l.), president of USBookmaking, calls it a “unique position” with an “attractive service.”
The joint venture is partnering with the United Auburn Indian Community to run the sports book planned for the tribe’s Thunder Valley casino near Sacramento. All that has to happen now is for California to legalize sports betting. United Auburn Chairman Gene Whitehouse (l.) says the tribe wants to be ready should it happen.
Lawmakers in the Buckeye state have begun a series of meetings that they hope will eventually lead to a bill setting out the framework for legalization of sports betting. They hope to finish that task by the end of 2018.
Two casinos in West Virginia will be offering sportsbook after partnering with Miomni Gaming. The owner of the properties, Delaware North, will use their partnership with Miomni to offer a turnkey sportsbook solution to other casinos, as well. Delaware North marketing VP, Luisa Woods (l.), says sports betting will deepen customer relationships.
Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort is the new east coast home for the Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN). The Las Vegas based network, which features broadcaster Brent Musburger (l.) will beam two weekend shows from the Boardwalk resort.
Boutique hotels are a growing phenomenon in Las Vegas even if they’re housed in mega-resorts. NoMad Las Vegas is the latest entry, now part of Park MGM (the former Monte Carlo). Geared toward travelers seeking a unique kind of luxury—and with the ability to pay for it—they’re redefining the resort casino experience.
Driving Arkansas Forward, the political group behind a constitutional amendment to expand gambling in the state, released a report showing two new and two expanded casinos would generate $5.8 billion and create 6,000 jobs over 10 years. An estimated 1.149 million Arkansas residents visited Mississippi to gamble last year, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
Fantasy sports operator FanDuel said Amendment 3, which would let Florida voters determine expanded gambling, would impact voters' right to play fantasy sports and make it "impossible to bring sports betting to Florida." State Rep. Jason Brodeur (l.) says voters should be in control of tourism and the state’s “family friendly” image.
The tourism bureau of Greater Springfield wants the city of Springfield, Massachusetts to adopt a 1 percent increase to the hotel tax. This would, of course apply to the hotel operated by the MGM Springfield (l.), which just opened.
The Silverton Casino Hotel (l.) in Las Vegas is reaching deeper into the Southern California border trade with a new resort in Pahrump, Nevada. Silverton Ranch will be the sixth casino in the small town 65 miles west of Las Vegas and will feature 125 hotel rooms, meetings space and an outdoor entertainment venue.
Kentucky Downs, Caesars and Churchill Downs/Keeneland all are planning new harness racetracks in the same location near the Tennessee border. A major feature will be the addition of hundreds of new historical racing machines (l.), which have generated more than $20 million for the Kentucky general fund and millions more for racing purses.
September was the fourth-best month for Maryland's six casinos with $143.8 million in revenue, up 6.9 percent over September 2017. Maryland marks fourth-best month for casino revenue, Maryland Lottery and Gaming reported. MGM National Harbor retained its top spot with $54.4 million, a 10.3 percent increase compared to September 2017.
The Virginia Racing Commission unanimously approved temporary emergency rules for historical horseracing machines, effective October 9. The rules limit total number of machines to 3,000 statewide. The number of machines per facility will depend on the area population. The emergency rules must be replaced with permanent ones within 18 months.
In a move to increase tax revenue, the Hancock County, West Virginia Board of Health voted 3-0 to allow smoking at Mountaineer Casino & Racetrack and limited video lottery parlors. Mountaineer Casino officials said lifting the ban will help it better compete with Wheeling Island and the Meadows casinos, which allow smoking.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recently hosted a celebration of Virginia's seven federally recognized tribes at Werowocomoco in Gloucester County, where Chief Powhatan and Captain John Smith met in 1607. One of the tribes, the Pamunkey, plans to develop a $700 million casino resort (l.). The other six tribes are banned from offering gambling.
It took seven years but Viejas Casino and Resort in Southern California just finished a renovation and expansion project. Besides three new hotel towers, the property now boasts the largest center bar in San Diego County and an adults only property, the Willows Hotel and spa.
Arizona casino profits fell slightly in 2016 but was more than offset by significant increases in the non-gaming elements of the casino properties. Together they created a final income of $2.23 billion for that year.
A controversial proposition on the November ballot in Idaho would authorize the racetracks in that state to deploy historical racing machines. Critic says this will open the state to unrestricted gaming expansion. The state’s gaming tribes are lobbying against the measure.
Although they could benefit from collecting sales tax on their reservations, the tribes of North Dakota are wary of a proposed bill in the legislature. Their main problem with the bill is that it would also tax casino profits.
The Red Mile harness racetrack in Lexington, Kentucky and the thoroughbred racetrack Keeneland both have been offering Kentucky Lottery games, including the instant play game Keno, since April. Kentucky Lottery Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Delasencerie said the Lottery and the racetracks both benefit from the arrangement.
The online lottery company Jackpocket would like to sell online lottery tickets in Ohio as it does in New Hampshire and Minnesota. But first it needs to get the attention of the Ohio Lottery.
The influential trade group selected the vice chairman of Scientific Games and the veteran gaming journalist for special recognition at an awards ceremony at last week’s Global Gaming Expo. Both were hailed for their unique and longstanding contributions to the industry.
The 2018 Great Women of Gaming awards, sponsored by Global Gaming Women, were presented at the Global Gaming Expo. The awards recognize and encourage outstanding achievements by women in the gaming industry. Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairwoman Becky Harris (l.) presented the awards to Pokin Yeung, Julia Boguslawski, Dale Merrill, Michelle Schenk and Debra Nutton.
Embattled Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International has announced that Chairman and CEO Harry Cheang resigned, effective October 5. IPI profits dropped 91.3 percent in the first half of 2018.
Longtime Scientific Games and WMS game design executive Allon Englman will join Aristocrat Technologies as senior vice president of game development, focused on content for North America.
Macau casino operator SJM Holdings has announced the appointment of Paul Baker as the president of its Grand Lisboa Palace, now in development along the city’s Cotai Strip. The resort is set to open next year.
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has given temporary approval to Hard Rock Atlantic City’s change in president and senior vice president of marketing. Joe Lupo was approved as casino president and Jeffrey Hook (l..) was approved for the marketing position. Lupo replaces Matt Harkness, who shepherded the casino through its rebuild of the former Trump Taj Mahal and its June opening.
Scientific Games has appointed Alexander Ambrose as chief financial officer of SG Digital. Ambrose was formerly as finance director of Ash Gaming and, UK finance director of Playtech. The company said he will work to propel SG Digital’s growth in iGaming and sports betting.
Paul Pellizzari, who developed Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation's "world's best" responsible gaming program, was named vice president of global social responsibility at Hard Rock International. The author of two books and numerous articles, he was named one of the “World’s Top 50 Social Responsibility Leadership Talents” in 2015.
Scientific Games has entered into an agreement to acquire Don Best Sports Corporation, a supplier of real-time betting data and pricing information for sporting events.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas will implement Duetto's cloud-based application GameChanger to refine pricing and digital distribution strategies, and Scoreboard to build and share forecasts, budgets and reports at its 1,504-room property. Duetto co-founder Marco Benvenuti (l.) says Duetto programs were tailor-made for properties like Hard Rock.
Atrient is launching the V3 version of its PowerKiosk suite, featuring facial recognition technology to allow customers to log in without a player’s card.
AGS works to improve its credit facility through the repricing of $509 million in existing Term B Loans, and has secured commitments for another $30 million in term loans.
Novomatic Gaming Industries has merged the subsidiary including U.K.-based slot manufacturer Astra Games into the parent company, among other corporate changes.
Theatro and Konami introduced the first voice-controlled mobile app platform, seamlessly integrating Theatro’s conversational computing platform with Konami’s Synkros casino management system.
Software developer BetConstruct has announced that its Live Dealer Casino product has been certified as compliant for the UK market by Gaming Laboratories International.
GVC Holdings has launched a new social responsibility plan that seeks to reduce problem gambling risks and further improve all-around industry standards, the company said. The plan focuses on four areas for improvement including advertising and education.
The focus on sports betting at last week’s G2E was a reflection of the hunger for knowledge about the subject. At the UNLV Gaming & Hospitality Education Series on October 25, the top experts in the field will offer their thoughts and guidance. And there’s a similar esports panel to boot.
