Today, in a special edition of the GGB Podcast we sit down with Oliver Bartlett, the director of gaming for BetMGM, on the growth of the “live” dealer phenomenon and why it will become an increasingly important part of the future of iGaming.
Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp. has spent years modernizing bingo halls by adding electronic slot machines. It gets around the illegality of slot machines in the province by dubbing them “charitable gaming centers.” But they operate like slots, and consumers can lose as much as $12 per minute playing them.
More than 15 senior executives from gaming’s largest operators and suppliers are shaving their heads this month to help to battle childhood cancer. Take some time to read about their commitment to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and donate to this very worthy cause. Dan Ingster (l.) explains how it came together.
Imagine being able to get professional treatment for problem gambling anywhere, anytime, on your own schedule. That is the concept being pursued now by the Yale School of Medicine—with some help from Connecticut’s Mohegan Tribe.
Penn Entertainment announced in an SEC filing that it is exercising its option to purchase all of the remaining shares of its sportsbook partner, Barstool Sports, for $387 million. At left, Jay Snowden, CEO, Penn Entertainment, Erica Nardini, CEO, and Dave Portnoy, president, Barstool Sports celebrate the initial buy at the Nasdaq closing bell.
Entain has been fined £17 million by the U.K. Gambling Commission. The commission said the company hasn’t done nearly enough to protect consumers from gambling addiction, or properly adhere to anti-money laundering obligations. How will this impact Entain’s partnership with BetMGM?
Commercial casinos in the U.S. set a new quarterly revenue record in the second quarter of 2022, generating $14.81 billion, and the industry overall is on pace for a second consecutive annual revenue record.
Plenty of developers envision building a casino in Manhattan, yet plenty of officials want no parts of a casino in a town that never sleeps. They are, however, more than willing to let the casino go to Queens, Brooklyn or Staten Island.
Analysts predict that travel to Macau will be back to near-normal by year’s end, but depressed consumer confidence in China will continue to affect gaming there. Some U.S. operators are reportedly less enthusiastic about their investment in the casino hub.
The American Gaming Association has selected three new inductees for the Gaming Hall of Fame Class of 2022—Gavin Isaacs, Virginia McDowell and Michael Rumbolz (l. to r.). The trio will be inducted at a private ceremony at the G2E conference in Las Vegas this October.
Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, has nothing but praise for the bookmaker’s success. FanDuel controls more than 51 percent of the U.S. market for online sports betting. At the same time, Nevada regulators gave the green light for FanDuel Sportsbook to enter into a partnership with Boyd Gaming at its Fremont Hotel & Casino sportsbook.
California’s teachers unions and some of its senior legislative leaders have all come out against Proposition 27—the sports betting operators’ measure that would legalize online sport betting. The campaign is causing both sides to recruit supporters and Prop 27 just lined up Major League Baseball.
The recent negotiations between Inspired Entertainment and PlayAGS have shown that both companies may actually be undervalued, regardless of a merger. Additionally, the AGA has released its selections for its HoF Class of 2022, and it did a fine job in honoring some of gaming’s best.
This week, the GGB Podcast has a conversation with Bill Miller, the president and CEO of the American Gaming Association on a wide range of topics as we run up to the revitalized G2E to be held in October.
Singapore last week officially launched its Gambling Regulatory Authority. It replaces the Casino Regulatory Authority, but is headed by the same chief executive, Teo Chun Ching.
South Korea’s Lotte Tour Development Co. is actively wooing VIP customers who may no longer wish to patronize casinos in Macau, according to COO Lawrence Teo (l.). The push starts this month with a high-roller junket.
Amendments to laws regulating the tourism tax in Macau were passed by a unanimous vote in the city’s Legislative Assembly on August 11, said Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Nai Wong (l.).
Macau’s new junket law gives gaming operators the right to offer “special accounts” for customer deposits, but those accounts will not be able to yield interest.
Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment says it’s on track to open its Inspire Korea resort (l.) in Incheon in late 2023. The complex will include a foreigners-only casino.
Greece’s first true skyscraper is going to be a signature landmark of the country’s first integrated resort. The $1.2 billion IR (l.) is being built at the former Hellinikon International Airport site. The developer, Lamda, calls it and its Riviera Town the “biggest urban project” in the European Union.
The National Football League has partnered with British network ITV on a three-year deal to broadcast game highlights and sponsored shows. The contract will come into effect Friday, September 9.
The former gray market betting operators who illegally allowed residents of Ontario, Canada to gamble on their sites are being given a grace period under Premier Doug Ford (l.) to sign up to operate legally in the new regulated market. Financial analysts believe this gives them a leg up to dominate the market over those who don’t have that head start.
Almost two-thirds of Canadians 15 or older say they gambled at least once in the last year. The majority of cases were buying lottery tickets. The study was conducted by Statistics Canada, which also reported that 2 percent who gambled were at moderate-to-severe risk of problem gambling.
Wind Creek Hospitality has launched CasinoVerse, a social gaming application that will allow customers of the tribal casino enterprise to play in an immersive 3D world.
The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission was the latest agency to approve regulations for sports betting. Governor Laura Kelly announced that retail and mobile sports betting would commence on September 1.
Now that legal sports betting has been signed into law, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has to approve the rules and regs before launching. The commission has no intent on rushing the début.
States vary in their approach to college games participating in sports betting. But former congressman Tom McMillen (l.) says betting on college sports might lead to point-shaving or fixing a game.
Hundreds of restaurants, bars, grocery stores and bowling alleys met the August 15 deadline to apply for sports betting kiosks, according to the Ohio Casino Control Commission. If approved, the businesses can turn on their kiosks on January 1, 2023.
Bettors in Tennessee now can place sports wagers on Betly.com, the online and mobile sportsbook from Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis, Arkansas. Earlier this year, Southland launched Arkansas’ first online and mobile sportsbook.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are big topics for all companies, but gaming companies specifically are beginning to face increasing scrutiny for their predominantly white, predominantly male boards of directors, thanks in part to a recent report from the Las Vegas Sun.
Because of redistricting, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (l.) is in a race for re-election against fellow Democrat, Carolyn Maloney. Nadler is accused of taking money from companies seeking to develop in his district, including a casino.
Bally’s has applied for a license to build a $1.7 billion casino complex in downtown Chicago. If the license application is approved, the company will open a temporary venue at Medinah Temple while building the permanent facility. The company also said it would close on the deal to purchase the operations of the Tropicana (l.) in Las Vegas next month.
One day after Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams announced she supports expanded gambling, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (l.) said the state is doing just fine without casinos or sports betting.
Officials at Louisiana Downs (l.) in Bossier City postponed the Super Derby until 2023 to raise more purse money from historical horse racing machines, new off-track betting locations and sports betting, plus 100 additional slots.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission and Chairwoman Cathy Judd-Stein (l.) says the MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor casinos have not done enough to replace dealers lost to the Covid-19 crisis, citing pre-pandemic employment pledges.
Gindi Capital has submitted plans to the Clark County Commission for a sizable retail and entertainment complex on the south side of Las Vegas Boulevard. The existing site (l.) is expected to be torn down to make room for the new development.
Despite being closed for over two years, Golden Entertainment and CEO Blake Sartini have yet to commit to future plans regarding the Colorado Belle hotel-casino (l.) in Laughlin. The company also operates two other casinos in the area, as well as the Laughlin Convention Center.
The AGA has endorsed the executive order recently signed by president Joe Biden regarding the regulation of digital assets, and has asked for assistance in implementing appropriate regulations for the gaming industry. The AGA’s Alex Costello (l.) says that any federal regulations should “consider gaming’s unique circumstances.”
The developers of the long-awaited Fontainebleau Las Vegas integrated resort have announced plans to open a 90,000 square-foot luxury retail shopping center (l.) that will connect to the resort once completed. Both developments are expected to debut at the end of 2023.
The political committee of Governor Ron DeSantis received $1 million from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, a portion of $2.225 million the committee received from July 30 through August 5, according to a report.
The Potawatomi Tribe strongly opposes the Menominee Nation’s proposed casino in Kenosha, Wisconsin (l.). But the Oneida Nation and Stockbridge-Munsee Nation support the Menominee’s proposal.
Warhorse officials announced they’ll open a temporary, 400-slot casino in Lincoln, Nebraska in mid-September. And Fonner Park Race Course (l.) will open a temporary casino in Grand Island by Thanksgiving.
Casino mogul and former legislator David Chow (l.) has announced his retirement as co-chairman of Macau Legend’s board of directors. Melinda Chan, his wife, was named as an executive director.
Gaming veterans Anthony Ball and Cameron Louis (l. to r.) have been named as the new chairman and vice chairman of Australia’s Gaming Technologies Association.
Tetsuo Saito, Japan’s minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, will remain in that role at the pleasure of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who was elected last October.
Wynn Macau COO Frederic Luvisotto (l.) has been appointed as executive director of the Wynn Macau board, effective immediately. The company has seen multiple high-level departures in recent months, including former president Ian Michael Coughlan.
Atlantis Paradise Island has named industry veteran Joe Brunini (l.) as chief gaming and customer development officer. Brunini has casino experience across multiple markets, including Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Vancouver.
The International Center for Responsible Gaming announced that it has received a $600,000 donation from Bally’s Corporation to support research on problem gambling.
Rush Street Interactive has acquired the popular TV series Poker Night in America, and officials have confirmed that the company will “eventually” launch online poker at its BetRivers and BetSugarHouse sites.
Gaming Innovation Group has signed an agreement with Kings Media to supply its platform to create the first North American version of the popular King Billy online casino.
Flexia Payments has unveiled InstaPlay, a new onboarding module designed to streamline the registration and onboarding processes for its cashless systems.
More than 3,000 people attended the recent Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association conference in Tulsa. One of the hot topics was mobile sports betting, although it may be some time before it’s added to tribal compacts.
