Floating casinos in the Indian state of Goa have been granted yet another reprieve from their forced relocation, in what definitely qualifies as the day’s least surprising news.
On Saturday, Goa’s Public Works Minister Sudin Dhavalikar granted the state’s six floating casinos another six-month extension of their ability to operate on the Mandovi river. The announcement came just one day before the last six-month extension was set to expire.
For years now, Goa’s government has been promising to shift the shipboard casinos to a new waterway, but only as a temporary measure. The ultimate plan is to compel the casinos to permanently transfer their operations to a designated land-based gaming zone, possibly as part of an in-development airport near the state’s northern border.
The original plan was for Goa’s floating casinos to move ashore by 2020, but Goa’s Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced in early August that the transfer might not take place until 2022. Parrikar also promised to appoint a judicial commissioner who would be responsible for regulating casino activity as of this December.
Parrikar also said the new land-based licenses would be valid for a period of 10-15 years, and access to all of the state’s casinos would hereafter be restricted to out-of-state tourists.
While the water-to-land relocation will prove both disruptive and costly for operators, the long-term result will likely make up for the bother. Citing figures from similar casino relocations in the US state of Illinois, analysts have suggested shipboard casino operators could see their gross gaming revenue improve by as much as 25% once the legs of their gaming tables are firmly on dry land.
Goa already has a number of land-based gaming venues, most of which are located in tourist-friendly upscale hotels, but they are restricted to offering electronic gambling, i.e. no table games. All Goa casinos were hit with stiff hikes in their fees and taxes in the current fiscal year, which got underway on April 1.
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The 90-minute federal sports betting hearing was packed with testimony on both sides, but for NJ sports betting, it's carry on as usual for now.
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Melco International Development’s temporary Cyprus casino has more than achieved the company’s visitation goals in its first three months of operation.
This week, Melco International’s Cyprus Casinos (C2) venue announced that its new Limassol gaming venue had welcomed over 175k individual guests since its soft-launch on June 28. The property held its official grand opening ceremonies this week.
The Limassol venue has apparently made up ground since its soft launch, as C2 president Craig Ballantyne originally said the property’s visitation had been “below expectations,”. The underwhelming birth was blamed in part on what Ballantyne claimed were unfair advantages offered by small-scale casinos in the Turkish-controlled northern half of Cyprus.
But C2 weathered the storm and said this week it had signed up 13k customers to the property’s loyalty program, “thus achieving the goals set by Melco Group,” according to an official statement from the company. Ballantyne added that C2’s first three months of operation “were successful and the results exceeded our expectations.”
Cypriot Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades and Limsassol’s Mayor Nicos Nicolaides were on hand for C2’s official grand opening, and each talked up the financial boost Melco’s gaming operations will give the local economy.
The Limassol venue is a temporary stand-in for Melco’s in-development €550m City of Dreams Mediterranean integrated resort, which won’t open its doors for another three years. After it opens, the Limassol venue will close its doors forever, and its staff will migrate to the larger resort.
Under the sole casino license Cyprus issued in 2016, Melco is also permitted to open four smaller ‘satellite’ venues, only one of which will be authorized to offer table gaming, while the others will each be restricted to a maximum of 50 electronic gaming machines. Three of these venues will launch later this year, while the fourth will open in Ayia Napa late next year.
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Western Australia’s regulator revealed that unclaimed prize money grew 12% to €1.1 million in the year to June 30.
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Zitro exhibited its latest creations for Video Bingo and Video Slots at the recent Andalusian Game Congress Expo, the new creations will be a revolution for the Spanish market in the coming months. Under its Video Slots brand BRYKE, Zitro showcased its leading product: LINK KING, a new form of revolutionary game in Spain. LINK KING has great progressive jackpots ...
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Andrea Domingo, the chairman and CEO of state regulator Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corporation (PAGCOR), is envisioning more casinos operating in the Entertainment City complex in Metro Manila, according to Inside Asian Gaming.
Such a plan might take a while, as PAGCOR itself placed a five-year moratorium on new gaming licenses for Manila-based casinos back in March 2017, upon the request of existing operators in the area.
Moreover, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the agency last August to stop issuing new casino licenses, with no timeframe given for when applications will once more be accepted.
“I really think there should be a critical mass in Entertainment City making the area more contiguous and each IR [integrated resort] more accessible. I really believe that,” Domingo told the news outlet.
She said she would have liked to see such a “critical mass” materialize, “but the four original IRs there are very adamant… They’re opposed to a fifth operator and they’re asking for the moratorium of five years for the industry to mature.”
Domingo noted that the five-year moratorium came around the time that Duterte is scheduled to step down from office, in 2022. Although admitting that land in Entertainment City was “very limited,” she said, “There’s new land in nearby areas and if the President, or the next President, will lift the [suspension on casino licenses]… But I cannot foretell what will happen.”
Another casino operator, Landing International, was set to begin building its casino resort in the same area as that of Melco Philippines’ City of Dreams Manila, Tiger Resort’s Okada Manila and Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino, but Landing’s lease contract with state corporation Nayong Pilipino Foundation was questioned by the Philippine Commission on Audit, which estimated foregone state revenue of PHP26 billion ($481 million) in relation to the property’s actual market value. The Philippine Justice department would later call for termination of the lease agreement.
Another local operator, Travellers International, which operates Resorts World Manila, is currently planning the building of a casino resort to be located in Entertainment City within a few years.
Inside Asian Gaming recently reported Domingo also saying that PAGCOR would continue to operate 17 casinos that the Department of Finance had earlier scheduled to be sold within the year. Domingo explained that the casinos were “still profitable” and that all proceeds went directly to the national government, unlike with a private operator that would be taxed one-fifth of its revenue. She also claimed that the lands in which the casinos were located were leased and not owned, making such a sale uncertain.
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PAGCOR chairwoman Andrea Domingo confirmed that the government has put on hold the sale of its casino licences.
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Caesars Entertainment has raised the curtain on a “100 Year Partnership for Japan” campaign. The casino operator is one of the many that is hoping to grab a license to set up a resort in the newly approved Japanese integrated resort (IR) market. As part of its campaign, Caesars has included a number of announcements tied to initiatives in the country, all designed to help set it apart from the competition.
Included in the initiatives are concept imagines of an IR that could be located at the Yamashita Pier in Yokohama. The concept is based on The Great Wave, an ukiyo-e piece crafted by Japanese artist Hokusai. The IR would carry the name “The Yokohama Art & Culture Park and Entertainment Resort,” but is up against some strong opposition. Yokohama citizens have already overwhelmingly said that they opposed an IR, as has Yukio Fujuki, chairman of the Yokohama Transport Association (YTA). The YTA controls the area around the Yamashita Pier.
Caesars also said that it was designed an innovative casino entry system exclusively for use in Japanese IRs. The system uses smartphones to initially register the customers and then to subsequently track each entry into the casino, as well as to monitor for possible problem gamblers.
That system, apart from sounding very intrusive, doesn’t meet Japan’s requirements. Japanese regulators require that a “MyNumber Card” be produced each time a customer enters a casino.
The casino giant also said that it has already spent around $223,000 on responsible gaming initiatives in the country. Those funds were first allocated last February, meaning it spent just over $30,000 each month on the program. Caesars added that it will now allocate an additional equal amount, more than likely to be spent just as quickly.
The company also said that it is currently expanding its team in the country. It has added Shinya Okiyama as the manager for Japan development and Kengo Nishmura as the head of government and community relations. Caesars didn’t specify exactly how many boots it now has on the ground in Japan, but said that it is still increasing the force and that it was still considering adding more contingents outside of Tokyo.
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At least 12 entities, eight from outside Japan, are asking about building a casino in Yokohama City, according to the Kanagawa Shimbun.
GGRAsia reported the news that among the companies requesting information on setting up a Yokohama casino are Caesars Entertainment Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, and MGM Resorts International. Apart from these four, two other entities who had submitted related documents to the city are based in Japan, while two remained unidentified.
The Malaysia-based Genting Group, through subsidiary Genting Singapore, disclosed that it has incorporated several subsidiaries, including Genting Yokohama Co., Ltd. and Resorts World Yokohama Co., Ltd.
In spite of the interest from businesses, it is not certain that Yokohama will push through with a bid to host one of three casinos licensed by the Japanese government pursuant to the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Law passed last July. In a survey conducted by the city last May and June, 94% of respondents expressed a “negative” view of having a casino in the city.
The Yokohama government intends to study the requests it has received, and by March 2019 will release its comprehensive study as basis of whether a bid will be made.
Yokohama is the second most populous city in the country, after nearby Tokyo, another favored location for an integrated resort. Aside from the two cities, Osaka has been tagged as a likely casino spot.
Meanwhile, GGRAsia also reported that Shinzo Abe’s recent reelection as prime minister would not make a difference to when casinos are to be constructed and opened. Union Gaming’s Grant Govertsen said, “I don’t think his reelection will have any impact on the IR situation other than it will keep moving it forward. Otherwise this doesn’t change the pace of IR events.” He saw the licenses being issued two years from now yet, and for the casinos to open in 2025.
Mike Tanji, of Gaming Capital Management Inc., said the reelection would not make a difference to the timing of putting up the integrated resorts, noting that the process will involve creation of a casino administration committee and the drafting of guidelines by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. This and several other procedures “will take relatively a long time since our country has no experience in this field,” Tanji said.
Abe has had his popularity plunge due to his commitment to passing the IR bill, on which Japanese citizens remain divided.
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SA Gaming has launched a new game: Shanghai Godfather slot! The slot game features Shanghai in the 1930s. Those were the days when the bold gets the gold. With a 3×5-reel 30-line slot, “Shanghai Godfather” comes with a Free Game Feature, where free spins are awarded when a certain amount of Scatters appear on screen. Players have more chances to ...
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Casinos in Cotai have been the biggest winners in Macau lately, taking a huge chunk of the profits from those casinos located on the peninsula. However, there’s no need to be concerned that the peninsula-based casinos could be forced out, as they still attract a different clientele that are more comfortable with the old-style venues.
Ben Lee, iGaming’s managing partner, told the Macau News Agency that the two districts attract completely different types of gamblers. He explained, “The Peninsula attracts the hardcore, old fashion, value-conscious gamblers who prefer the proximity to the range of dining, shopping and entertainment amenities. Cotai attracts more status conscious and family oriented clients.”
Union Gaming’s Macau expert, Grant Govertsen, told the media outlet that the solid money is on the peninsula venues retaining their share of the market. He said that the casinos will more than likely not see “any revenue declines in any sort of material way.” Govertsen added, “The reality is that while the Macau Peninsula has seen its share of GGR decline relative to Cotai, it is experiencing growth in revenues.”
The Union Gaming analyst pointed out that Cotai will still be the stronger segment. He expects gaming revenues in Cotai to likely account for as much as 70% of the overall gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Macau for the next several years as many of the visitors look for new experiences “beyond the casino floor.”
The Peninsula properties will more than likely need to alter their game plan in order to stay competitive with Cotai. Says Lee, “As the Peninsula properties get older, remembering they were the first generation casinos, the operators will have to rejuvenate their aging properties.”
Govertsen echoes that belief, stating that the older properties will more than likely be torn down to make way for newer venues with more hotel rooms and amenities.
Currently, Cotai takes in 61.2% of the GGR in Macau. In 2014, the GGR take was 45.5%. All of Macau’s largest and newest developments are located there and the area has continued to increase in popularity since Galaxy Entertainment opened the doors to its Grand Waldo Hotel there in 2006. 60% of the four- and five-star hotel rooms in Macau are located in Cotai.
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The company has appointed Monica Digilio as its new CHRO and Executive Vice President.
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Popular software privider, Play’n GO have pulled another ace from up their sleeve with their newest game release, Street Magic slot. The new Street Magic slot game is based around a mysterious trickster known only as “The Magician”. The Magician will use his array of magical performance features to help players conjure up a win, in this 5-reel, 20 payline ...
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The Macau economy is expected to grow 5.8% for this year, followed by 3.9% growth in 2019, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
News outlet The Macau Hub reported on the EIU’s forecast that the special administrative region’s growth in gross domestic product (GDP) will continue to be fueled by the gaming sector, which itself has seen below-expected gross gaming revenue (GGR) the past year.
Macau’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) had previously released data for the first half of the year, showing 7.6% GDP growth year on year.
The EIU said that the Macau government’s attempts at diversifying the economy outside of gambling would remain largely unsuccessful. However, according to the EIU, the government should continue working to grow its non-gambling tourism activities to boost the entertainment sector.
With Typhoon Mangkhut hitting the city the other weekend, several analysts had adjusted their GGR forecasts for the quarter. The overall effect on the economy, however, is seen to be negligible.
The EIU expects a slowdown in mainland China’s economy will affect Macau; however, this will be offset somewhat by increased incomes to be spent by visitors from China.
Chinese tourists remain the hugest population among those visiting Macau, with 2.53 million Chinese visiting last August, a 25.3% increase from August last year. A total of 3.4 million people visited in August, a 18.7% increase year on year.
Macau’s strong 2017 performance, much on account of growth in the VIP gaming business, was preceded by three years of contraction owing in part to the Chinese government’s anti-corruption drive where it cracked down on outflows to Macau.
According to the EIU, inflation for 2018 is expected to hold at 2.9%, lowering to 2.8% the following year. The budget balance will be at 10.3% for 2018, and 9.4% in 2019. The unemployment rate is projected to stay at 1.9% for the two years.
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Virtual games specialist Kiron Interactive deals with 138.com to provide its full portfolio of products to the UK & Isle of Man licensed Gaming Operator, 138.com. As Kiron Interactive deals with 138.com, the Asian Casino & Sportsbook operator, which is now also focused on the UK & Global Emerging markets, will benefit from Kiron’s fully hosted and managed turnkey virtual ...
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After much bad publicity, FanDuel Sportsbook announced last week they'd pay out the prop bets made on glitch odds during an NFL game.
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Rich Goldman Holdings Ltd, formerly the Neptune Group, posted higher profits in the first half of 2018 compared to the same period last year, according to a filing.
Total first-half revenue, including the company’s money lending business and hotel operations, was HKD130.5 million ($16.7 million), compared to HKD296.8 million ($38 million) during the corresponding period last year, a 56% decline. Profit for the period was HKD124.4 million ($15.9 million), compared to HKD39.9 million ($5.1 million) in the same period last year.
In spite of a fall in revenue due to the cancelation last year of its junket representative agreements, profits were boosted by the reversal of impairment losses of trade receivables and intangible assets, HKD42 million ($5.4 million) and HKD49.8 million ($6.4 million) respectively, from 2017. In addition, a one-off loss on disposal of an associated company last year, worth HKD62.9 million ($8 million), meant the first half profits of this year would be that much higher.
These positive effects were offset by a 69% decline in gaming and entertainment revenue, from HKD295.5 million ($37.8 million) in the first half of 2017 to HKD91.3 million ($11.7 million) in the period of January to June of this year.
Money-lending revenue went up to HKD15.7 million ($2 million), from HKD1.1 million ($141,000) last year. “With the great financial strength and capability, the Group has both the potential and the ability to further expand its money lending business and deliver a stable and durable returns for our shareholders,” Rich Goldman said in its report.
For hotel operations, which the company had begun last year with the Harbour Bay Hotel, revenue for the first half was HKD23.5 million ($3 million), 30% higher than last year’s first half. “The financial position and performance of the hotel had been significantly improved within a short period of time. It does not only demonstrate our Group’s ability to provide immediate positive impact over our investment sectors, but also our promise to look for wise investment opportunities for our Group and shareholders,” the company said.
It was in mid-2017 that, after Venetian Macau terminated its business with Neptune Group, that the Group changed its name to Rich Goldman, reflecting the diversification of its operations. Currently, its remaining junket business is in connection with eight VIP tables in the Grand Lisboa casino in Macau, operated by SJM Holdings.
“In view of the fluctuating return of the gaming industry in Macau, the Group will continue to monitor the performance of the Gaming and Entertainment Business and at the same time diversify its investments by developing its hotel operations business and money lending business in Hong Kong to maintain a stable and sustainable growth of the Group,” the report read.
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Betsoft Gaming keeps its position of a leader in the Curaçao regulated market, signing the latest in a series of far-reaching content agreements with Jumba Bet casino. The content agreement covers all Betsoft games licensed for the jurisdiction, also player favourites titles from the Slots3TM series. The deal also provides for the integration of further games over time, allowing Jumba Bet’s players ...
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Mississippi casinos reported significant gaming revenue gains in August, the first month of legal sports wagering in the state.
Figures released this week by the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) show the state’s commercial casinos generated combined gaming revenue of $181.7m in August, a 7.5% improvement over the same month last year. (The numbers don’t include the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ three casinos.)
In geographic terms, the dominant coastal casino segment improved 10.5% to $108.7m, while the northern segment rose 3.3% to $49.6m and the central segment gained 3% to $23.3m.
August was the first month of legal sports wagering at Mississippi casinos, and the qualifying venues reported handling $6.3m worth of wagers last month. For the record, this is $3.5m less than the handle figure the MGC issued earlier this month, although that figure included the first three days of September (and the first weekend of NFL action).
Of this $6.3m handle, baseball claimed the lion’s share at $3.3m, while football came in just over $1.3m. Sports parlay cards generated $1.4m, while ‘other’ sports and basketball contributed $154k and $97k, respectively.
The state’s sportsbooks claimed $645k of this bounty for their own, equating to a respectable hold of 10.3%. Despite football placing second in the handle race, football revenue claimed top honors with over $243k, suggesting a lot of Mississippi college football fans were betting with their hearts, not their heads. Parlay cards ranked second, with $233k and baseball placed third with $164k.
Mississippi was one of only four US states that reported a year-on-year casino gaming revenue decline in 2017, according to the American Gaming Association’s latest State of the States report, falling 2% to just over $2.1b last year.
This year saw the state start off with three straight months in which gaming revenue was either flat or below the same months last year, but that was followed by two months of year-on-year gains, before things went south again in June and July. So while August’s gains can’t entirely be credited to the new sports betting product, it definitely didn’t hurt.
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Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, told CNN that the rise of DraftKings Sportsbook is thanks to football season and a mature NJ sports betting product.
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The casino hotel has been renamed as New Orient Landmark Hotel after it was sold by Macau Legend Development.
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The state of New Jersey will continue overseeing the fiscal recovery of Atlantic City until 2021, the Office of the Governor announced.
Gov. Phil Murphy has unveiled the report ‘Building a foundation for a shared prosperity,’ submitted to his office by Special Counsel James E. Johnson, which outlines various proposals to be undertaken before control of the city is given back to the local government.
“Atlantic City has a number of challenges that will only be resolved with significant direction from and partnership with the State,” the report read.
In May 2016, when Chris Christie was still governor, the Municipal Stabilization and Recovery Act (MSRA) was passed by the state legislature to remedy the bankruptcy faced by Atlantic City, whose casinos’ gross gaming revenue (GGR) had declined by 7.5% annually from 2006 to 2014, with some casinos closing down. With the legislation, a five-year period was given for the state’s takeover of local powers.
“The strong State oversight established by MSRA should continue until the earlier of two conditions: the expiration of the State’s authority in the City pursuant to the MSRA; or municipal capacity is on strong footing and the City’s reliance on State transitional aid has been substantially reduced if not eliminated,” the report read.
According to news outlet NJ.com, Murphy, who had campaigned for governor promising to end the state takeover, will push through with the five-year time frame after all. In his view, however, the state was acting more as a “partner” rather than “big-footing” the city.
“Without a doubt, positive things are happening in Atlantic City. However, if we want to see today’s progress endure long into the future, we have to tackle longstanding challenges such as poverty, unemployment, affordable housing and public health. Most importantly, we must invest in the people who live and work here,” Murphy said.
Murphy’s press release also quoted Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam as acquiescent to the ongoing recovery program. “As the mayor of this great city, I have waited patiently for this day. The citizens of Atlantic City deserve to have their local elected officials control their destiny. I am very optimistic that this is a huge step in the right direction for Atlantic City and its future,” Gilliam said.
The state counsel’s report points out that with the MSRA in effect, the municipal budget had shrunk 15%, while property taxes have not increased. However, school and county tax rates have gone up 10.7% and 15.4% respectively, as a balanced budget was passed for 2018.
The report recommended that the New Jersey government “form a task force to review recent casino closings to determine whether changes can be made to the regulatory framework, and suggests that the City expand efforts to promote itself as a destination.”
The report cited the entry of other states as well as Indian gaming into the market as having a big effect on GGR the past decade. “The Review Team is aware of no forecast that anticipates that Atlantic City will recover the market share it enjoyed until 2006 and the jobs created during the recent upswing are likely to be somewhat different from those created earlier… [T]he introduction of internet gaming in recent years has been a significant factor in the recent increase in casino revenue,” the report read.
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Zitro combines spectacular products and flexible business formulas to support Argentinian operators. Last May, Zitro celebrated its first Zitro Experience event in Argentina, where, in addition to presenting its products, founder Johnny Viveiros Ortiz announced their commitment to the market and their closeness to the needs of the Argentinian operators. The situation caused by the strength of the dollar has ...
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The Landmark Macau, a casino-hotel on the Macau peninsula close to Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, is no more. Not in name, at least. It is now officially known as the New Orient Landmark Hotel. The change in name comes after the casino-hotel was sold this past April by Macau Legend Development to an indirect subsidiary of Macau Legend, New Macau Landmark Management Ltd.
Media outlet GGRAsia reported on the name change, adding that it conducted a site inspection on Wednesday. That inspection didn’t reveal any changes in the venue’s Pharaoh’s Palace Casino, which will still be managed by Macau Legend under the license of SJM Holdings Ltd.
GGRAsia added that it had attempted to talk to Chong Sio Kin, a Macau property investor who is now the majority owner of the property, but was unsuccessful. Chong is also the chairman of New Orient Group, a Macau property development firm and president of the board of the Macau General Association of Real Estate. His purchase reportedly gave him 58% of the shares of Macau Legend.
The transfer of the hotel came after its CEO, David Chow Kam Fai, and a wholly-owned Macau Legend group sold 100% of their equity to New Macau Landmark. The deal was initially expected to be completed during the first quarter of the year, but was delayed as Macau Legend needed more time to fulfill certain unspecified conditions of the sale.
Macau Legend said at the time, “The disposal is expected to accrue a gain before tax of approximately HKD3.3 billion [US$420.5 million], which is calculated based on the purchase price, net liabilities value and carrying amount of the sale loan of New Macau Landmark Management as at December 31, 2017.”
The sale, which ultimately completed for $586.1 million, provided a nice boost to Macau Legend’s finances. In reporting its revenue for the first half of 2018, the company said it had earned a profit of $363.39 million.
The money was to be used, in part, to fund expand projects, including several in Cambodia. It would also go for expansion of the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf property, where Macau Legend currently has two hotels with a third currently under construction.
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FanDuel Sportsbook's decision not to pay a winning bet because of a glitch is under fire, but how would other sports betting markets handle a similar issue?
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The Macau government is considering legislation that would provide for the mandatory closure of casinos in the event of public emergencies, Inside Asian Gaming reported.
This comes after last weekend’s closures as Typhoon Mangkhut hit the special administrative region, already leading to downward revenue projections for the month. The government finally allowed the casinos to reopen Monday morning, after over 24 hours.
Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong said the government has yet to decide whether required closures would be part of the ongoing discussions on changes to Macau’s civil protection system.
“Will the closure in the future be regular? For the time being, I still cannot say,” Leong said, noting that the SAR’s six casino operators had fully cooperated with the directive to close the casinos, but that the procedure during similar events could be optimized.
Meanwhile, Macau News Agency reported that the New Macau Gaming Staff Rights Association had a similar proposal, that would allow the government to cease operations when a typhoon of signal 8 or higher hits.
The group submitted their proposal to the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ). Association president Cloee Chao said that the closure last weekend was welcomed by the majority of workers in the industry, and that she was confident their proposal would be made into law. Chao, however, admitted that she had not discussed the measure with any casino operator.
Typhoon Mangkhut came just about a year after Typhoon Hato, which was also a signal 10 storm. The damage Hato had wrought, including the loss of 10 lives, may have contributed to the swift action of both government and private sector to ensure safety of employees and players when Mangkhut hit. Nonetheless, the losses in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR) are forecast in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to firms Nomura, Bernstein, and Union Gaming. Compared to 2017, however, GGR is seen to likely grow.
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DraftKings Sportsbook, the first online NJ sports betting platform to go live in New Jersey, hit one million bets but how did it do it?
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Casino staff in the Philippines are no longer allowed to gamble in any of the country’s gaming establishments, apparently as a result of the government’s desire to temper local gambling appetites.
In an announcement posted to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) website, Angeline Papica-Entienza, Assistant VP of the Gaming Licensing and Development Department, announced that “all employees of licensees holding Gaming Employment License (GEL) are prohibited from playing in any gaming establishments in the Philippines.”
The notice, which was dated September 6, states that the names and relevant information of all GEL holders is to be integrated into the National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP), a computerized database of individuals who are restricted from playing in gaming establishments operated and regulated by PAGCOR nationwide.
At the end of the second quarter of 2018, PAGCOR’s NDRP featured a total of 1,303 names, although 632 of these exclusions had since expired. Nearly two-thirds of these exclusions were sought by family members of the gambler, while most of the rest were gamblers who’d opted for self-exclusion.
The NDRP’s ‘licensee-emanating’ category featured only 13 names at the end of last year, but a further nine names were added in Q2 2018.
PAGCOR appears interested in avoiding the fate of Macau, where casino dealers have long been overrepresented on the local registry of problem gamblers, and some local loan sharks have made a solid business fuelling these dealers’ gambling activities.
It’s not just casino staff who are coming under closer scrutiny. Last year, the Philippines National Police decided to monitor its officers’ activities in casinos after some current and former cops were found to be involved in an illegal money-lending business that preyed on down-on-their-luck gamblers in Manila’s casinos.
The Philippines is home to a growing number of major integrated resort casinos that cater to a primarily international clientele, plus numerous smaller gaming halls scattered across the country that cater to local residents, as well as serving as the primary licensing hub for Asian-facing online gambling operators.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has run hot and cold toward the local gaming industry – lately more cold than hot – and his ‘unpredictability’ reportedly played role in Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s recent decision to delist its Philippine subsidiary from the local stock exchange.
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Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc. (TRLEI), operator of the Okada Manila casino, has set up a Tokyo branch in anticipation of the opening of the gambling market in Japan, according to a statement from the operator’s parent company, Universal Entertainment Corp. (UEC).
“TRLEI Japan Branch will be established for research and analysis of the Integrated Resort [IR] Implementation Bill of Japan and study of the potential of a casino resort business in Japan in the wake of the enactment of said Bill in July 2018 with a view to becoming a future business contact (such as customer solicitation and marketing activities),” the statement read.
UEC added that its tentative date to register was this Thursday, September 20.
The newly-enacted IR legislation provides for the setting up of three large-scale casinos in yet-unspecified locations. About 40 municipal governments have reportedly signified their interest in hosting a casino, though citizens’ opinions may differ, as is the case in Yokohama, where about 94% of survey respondents expressed a “negative” view of the idea of having a casino in the city. However, businesses still have several years to convince constituents, considering the first casinos may take until 2025 or so to open.
Though TRLEI did not specify outright that it would vie for one of the three initial licenses to be issued by the Japanese government, it joins several operators that have expressed interest in doing business in the country, namely the Genting Group, Galaxy Entertainment, Melco International and MGM.
Tiger Resort Asia Limited (TRAL), which owns TRLEI, just last week inked an agreement to purchase Asiabest Group International Inc., giving the casino owner a presence in the Philippine Stock Exchange.
TRLEI’s directors have been accused of illegally removing company founder Kazuo Okada as chairman in 2017. The case, filed by Okada in order to be reinstated, is now pending in a Manila court. The former chairman had been accused of perjury and fraud, but these charges were dismissed.
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Recent advancements in mobile technologies have marked the rise of a new generation of players, and new mobile casinos are being launched almost every day, each bringing something different to the table and adjusting their offer to the latest mobile device platforms and device models. A lot of online casinos grabbed the opportunity of conquering the new market and optimised ...
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Casino operator Wynn Resorts has been hit with yet another lawsuit in the seemingly endless fight over its right to operate gaming in Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts media reported that Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, which formerly owned the Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston, is suing Wynn Resorts in federal court for allegedly conspiring to fix the application process that resulted in Wynn being awarded the sole Boston-area casino license in 2014.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Wynn conspired to “fix the application process, circumvent laws in place to prevent the infiltration of mob elements, and interfere and eliminate various regulations aimed at protecting the public at large.”
Said mob elements are a reference to Charles Lightbody, a convicted felon who co-owned the plot of land that Wynn purchased as the new home of its Encore Boston Harbor venue (formerly Wynn Boston Harbor), which is slated to open in June 2019. The other former co-owners are also defendants in the new Suffolk suit.
The ‘fixing’ is an apparent reference to Paul Lohnes, another co-owner of the land, who happened to be a former business partner of Massachusetts Gaming Commission chairman Stephen Crosby, who recused himself from a review of Wynn’s land deal, but not before declaring Suffolk Downs’ casino partner Caesars Entertainment ‘unsuitable’ to hold a local gaming license.
The new lawsuit further alleges that the land on which Encore is being built – the site of a former Monsanto chemical plant – is “a toxic waste site loaded with levels of arsenic still so high that a child day care center would not be permitted to be housed there.”
The awarding of Wynn’s license has survived any number of legal challenges by losing applicants and cash-hungry host communities, but the new lawsuit arrives just as the MGC is preparing to issue its report – likely next month – on whether Wynn execs knew of sexual harassment allegations against former CEO Steve Wynn while the company was undergoing its own suitability vetting.
Steve Wynn has since left the company and his name has been removed from the Boston project’s license, but the MGC could still determine that the company wasn’t honest during the suitability process and force the sale of the $2.5b in-development project. The desire to position itself as the project’s heir apparent appears to be the primary object of Suffolk’s new lawsuit.
After losing its Boston casino bid, Sterling Suffolk sought to wind down its racing operations before selling the racetrack property to a developer in May 2017. The lawsuit seeks a total of $3b in damages.
Mass Live quoted a Wynn spokesperson saying the company would mount “a vigorous defense” against the new lawsuit and its “frivolous and without foundation” claims.
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