Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The debt problems weighing on Kerzner International’s Atlantis property just got worse. Brookfield, the creditor that was going to step in and take over, has pulled out of the deal. Now the impact of the court-ruling inspired decision is creating ripples in the Bahamas’ political world. And legendary developer Sol Kerzner (l.) has stepped down as CEO of Kerzner International but remains as chairman of the company.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed a bill to allow Atlantic City casinos and state racetracks to accept wagers on athletic events. The bill, which quickly worked its way through both Houses, would give the state ammunition to challenge a 1992 federal ban on sports wagering.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The battle royal between Kazuo Okada and Steve Wynn stepped up another level last week as Okada petitioned to replace three board members, and possibly a fourth—Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine (l.), whose position on the conflict is unknown.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Although he won’t actually have any authority until the rest of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is named, Chairman Stephen Crosby (l.) is already talking about what he would like to see potential casino developers propose. His message is: think big and think creatively.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Ohio Casino Control Commission refuses to be rushed in doing its job before allowing the first of four casinos authorized by the voters to open. The commission is doing background checks that can take up to 18 months, in just a few months. Recently it was forced to concede that the opening set by the Cleveland Horseshoe Casino (l.) for March would not happen.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Former Aristocrat and Aruze Gaming executive Kent Young has launched a new premium slot content firm based in Reno, called Spin Games.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Ground will be broken this summer for a $150-million, 20-story, 382-room hotel next to the Forest County Potawatomi Community’s Bingo Casino in Milwaukee. The tribe said the 4-star/4-diamond-level hotel will create 230 permanent jobs and generate nearly $10 million per year in additional revenues.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Prominent slot developer Joe Kaminkow has resigned from his position at the head of the premium game studio of slot leader International Game Technology.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The possibility that the provincial lottery of Ontario, Canada might decide to expand into Toronto has border towns that have casinos, including Niagara Falls, worried about the competition killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Finance Minister Dwight Duncan (l.) is “open” to the idea.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
With a new drive for gaming legalization in many U.S. states, the motivations remain the same but the logic may differ. How will that impact the success of new casinos?
Sun, Jan 22, 2012
This week, the Global Gaming Business Podcast features an interview with Rick Mazer, the regional president of Harrah's Las Vegas, Imperial Palace, O'Shea’s, Flamingo and Bill's Gambling Hall on the Las Vegas Strip about the exciting things happening that side of the highway, including the Linq project.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Marina Bay Sands is set to benefit from the recent opening of a new station on the local mass transit system of Singapore. Whether the casino or the retail shops will be the bigger winner from the improved access remains to be seen.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The impressive increase in revenue in Macau in 2011 was attributable to many factors, but the VIP market continues to be the most important. In fact, it increased by a substantial margin in the previous year.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The recent presidential election in Taiwan saw relatively pro-gaming President Ma Ying-jeou chosen for a second term. However, in local elections in one potential casino jurisdiction, a less-friendly candidate beat out a five-term legislator.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Melco Crown’s purchase of the dormant development, Macau Studio City, was a logical move for the company, but unless a casino is included, it makes no sense.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Slot parlors in residential districts will be a thing of the past under a new set of regulations that will be issued soon by the Macau government. Since there are only two, it won’t mean much, but it will help streamline the slot parlor business.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Bermuda has seen several cruise lines reduce the number of visits their ships make to the North Atlantic island. Although a number of factors are undoubtedly involved, those that government can affect include opening hours for shipboard casinos and shops, as well as Sunday openings for Bermuda’s retailers.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Australian slot industry appears to have received an eleventh-hour reprieve from the government in the slot pre-commitment issue. The MP who has insisted on complete and mandatory pre-commitment seems willing to accept a trial period for the measure after talks with Prime Minister Julia Gillard (l.).
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
As the Minnesota legislature prepares to reconvene on January 24, the state’s Indian tribes with gambling interests are covering all the bases to make sure they maintain their monopoly on gambling in the state. Currently 18 Indian casinos generate about $15 billion annually and return $600 million to the casinos, with no revenue sharing with Minnesota. At issue is a new stadium (rendering at l.) for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The 2012 London Olympics is expected to be accompanied by a lot of online betting by punters around the world. Betting exchange operator Betfair will be helping the IOC spot irregular patterns in the action which could signal the fix is in.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Iowa state Senator Jeff Danielson plans to introduce a law allowing online poker in Iowa. He said the Justice Department’s opinion regarding the federal Wire Act opens the way for Iowa to form interstate and even international agreements to offer internet gambling.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Online casino pioneer Microgaming is arranging to offer operators on its poker network access to loyalty program specialist Initial Rewards.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
State Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff (l.), who is behind Florida’s ambitious casino bill, originally presented as a way to limit or ban lesser forms of gaming, says she has “lost that battle.”
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Maryland slot location commission has rejected one of two bids for the license to create a casino resort at the state-owned Rocky Gap Lodge (l.) in western Maryland.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
More than half of residents polled are unimpressed by the plan to build a $4 billion complex at the Aqueduct racetrack, now home to a thriving racino, which is actually threatening live racing at the track.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Delaware Governor Jack Markell has done an about-face on the issue of new casinos in the state, now supporting the existing racinos’ position that new venues would do hurt business.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Florida AG opposes slots outside Miami-Dade and Broward counties, winning applause from the Seminoles. Pam Bondi (l.) had alleged money laundering at tribe’s Tampa casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Lawmakers in northern New Jersey are backing a Casino Gaming Study Commission that would consider expanded gaming at the Meadowlands racetrack, as well as evaluate the state’s new regulatory reforms. But opposition from the Governor Chris Christie’s office might kill the proposal.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Cordish Company officials say the first phase of what will be Maryland’s largest casino is on target to open in early June with between 2,500 and 3,000 slots.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The New York tribe says it will resume construction of its permanent Buffalo Creek casino sometime in 2012. The site has sat idle since 2008.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Missouri River Historical District, license holder for Argosy Casino Sioux City, has sued casino operator Penn National in federal district court. MRHD said Penn is interfering with MRHD’s ability to talk to other operators about a larger, land-based casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Kansas City’s four casinos—Ameristar, Argosy Riverside, Harrah’s North Kansas City and Isle of Capri—are getting ready for new competition in the form of the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. The $200 million Hollywood will open February 3.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Saratoga Casino and Raceway in New York has released a $40 million expansion plan that would add a hotel and convention center, as well as 15,000 square feet of gaming space. The raceway is gearing up for the prospect of expanded gambling in New York under Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new initiatives.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Senate wants to regulate the cafes, which offer online electronic games some have compared to slots. The House supports an outright ban. And Governor Rick Scott (l.) believes they are outright illegal already.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The real estate investor will make a credit bid for the property, and may offer more if other suitors emerge. Bids are due by February 10 and now starts at $60 million.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Atlantic City's second-smallest casino, ACH, has begun its plan to attract a local market by offering bargains and discounted slots and table games. Will it be enough for the casino to survive a pivotal 2012?
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
CityCenter in Las Vegas has partnered with Sotheby's International Realty to sell its luxury condominiums at Mandarin Oriental and Veer Towers (l.). Sotheby's is concentrating its marketing efforts in Asia, South America and Canada.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The East Fremont Street casino has closed indefinitely pending a redevelopment plan. Ninety employees were informed last November of the looming closure.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Atlantic City’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is considering plans to add retail and dinning space along Pacific Avenue (l.) as part of the Tourism District’s Master Plan. But will casinos go to the expense of converting frontage?
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The number of calls to the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling dropped 6 percent, from 14,380 calls in 2010 to 13,528 in 2011. But the average debt of callers soared to $157,074, more than $113 higher than in 2010.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Gaming isn’t the only game in town for tribes. Sometimes gaming can open the way for branching into other entrepreneurial enterprises, according to speakers at the recent Economic Forecast Conference held in Northern California.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
It will be a long time before the Tejon Indians of California will be able to open a casino, in spite of recently being granted federal recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Now the work will begin in earnest.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The principal chief of the Muscogee (Creek) nation said he opposes the Kialegee Tribal Town’s pursuit of a casino in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. George Tiger said the Creek Nation has not received the required application for the casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Disagreements continue between the City of Duluth and the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. The tribe wants the feds to put in trust the Carter Hotel, located next to its Fond-du-Luth casino in downtown Duluth. The city says it will lose tax revenue on top of the profit-sharing payments the tribe has quit making.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
If the Ho-Chunk tribe is allowed to build a $150 million casino in Beloit, Wisconsin, the mayor of South Beloit said his city and neighboring communities would benefit in many ways. Chippewa officials also have asked to be included in negotiations regarding the casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community will provide $4 million in loans and grants to the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota to upgrade its Royal River Casino. A new compact negotiated between the state and the tribe allows it to add 250 new slot machines.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
A casino-hotel resort has been approved by the Hardeeville City Council that would be owned by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians and developed by SB Investment and Stratford Land. The complex would create 2,250 jobs and include the casino, a 400-room hotel, 2,000-seat event center, restaurants and an 18-hole golf course.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The Menominee Tribe has hired KMD Consulting Services to develop an off-reservation casino in Kenosha, Wisconsin at the now-defunct Dairyland Greyhound Park. The tribe has been working on the casino project since the mid-1990s and has invested more than $12 million.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
OEG has a new CEO, Madis Jääger. The Estonia-based gaming concern is looking to grow its land-based and online gaming businesses and also has new heads for each business.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Aristocrat Technologies has named systems expert Jeffrey J. Connors as the company’s new senior director of national ac counts and business development.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Inspired Gaming Group announced the appointments of Ron Babini and Jurate Bitinaite to the company’s global sales team.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
NEWave announced a new affiliation with Jordan Gaming Consulting Group to offer database management and slot management consultation.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
A major gaming analysts is advising clients to sell IGT shares because of “grave concerns” about IGT’s purchase of social gaming company Double Down Interactive.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Multimedia Games has extended revenue-sharing game placements of 1,709 units at the Chickasaw Nation’s two Oklahoma casinos.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Dallmeier has installed the largest CCTV system for a casino in the U.K., as the SeMSy system was placed at the Aspers Westfield Stratford City Casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Analysts say 2012 should finally be a year of improvement in the results of slot manufacturers in the U.S., thanks to new venues and the replacement cycle.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
A Nebraska lawmaker has a novel concept for making money off of gambling without the state actually dirtying its hands by taking part in gambling. State Senator Paul Schumacher proposes telling neighboring states that if they don’t pay his state a portion of their gaming revenues, that Nebraska will build its own casino.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
The only casino in the 20 Super Celebration cities sponsoring special Super Bowl Sunday activities, Indiana Live Casino in Shelbyville is expecting large crowds on February 5. It’s also the closest casino to Indianapolis where the game will be played this year.
Sat, Jan 21, 2012
Betting on the outcome of political elections is a time-honored tradition. However, a Taiwanese website that took bets on the recent presidential election there has run afoul of the police—even though the bets were made with points, not currency.
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