Century Casinos properties in Poland to remain closed through end of January CDC Gaming Reports · January 15, 2021 at 8:24 pm Colorado-based Century Casinos said Friday it would keep its gaming properties in Poland closed through Jan. 31 to comply with quarantines issued by the Polish government to contain the spread of COVID-19. The company closed its eight casinos back in December. Century owns 66.6% ownership interest in Casinos Poland Ltd. In a statement, the company said its Poland operating segment … [Read more...]
NJ to fine sports books asking players to cancel withdrawals Wayne Parry, Associated Press · January 15, 2021 at 4:08 pm ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey's top gambling regulator is threatening to fine sports books operating in his state that ask customers to cancel requests to cash out money from their accounts, saying the practice is ongoing and "unacceptable." In some cases, sports books have offered to give players cash bonuses if they cancel withdrawal requests, according to David Rebuck, director of … [Read more...]
Penn National teams with Choice Hotels to expand patron benefits Rege Behe, CDC Gaming Reports · January 15, 2021 at 4:05 pm Members of Penn National Gaming’s loyalty program now have another way to earn points while on the road. The Pennsylvania-based casino and racetrack operator announced an agreement this week with Choice Hotels International. Penn National’s patrons can accrue earning and redemption benefits when they stay at Cambria Hotels, Quality Inns, MainStay Suites, Econo Lodges or any other brand in … [Read more...]
Indiana: Area casinos find lump of coal as December revenues bring no merriment Karen Caffarini, Chicago Tribune · January 15, 2021 at 4:05 pm All five casinos in Northwest Indiana saw their revenues drop year-over-year in December as they continued to struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Revenues declined 13.5% at the five casinos together, slipping from $78.82 million in December 2019 to $68.15 million last month. Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City took the biggest hit, with revenues plummeting 41.3%, from $13.64 million to $8 … [Read more...]
Judge gives life to bid by porn mogul to end California gambling restrictions Nick Cahill, Courthouse News · January 15, 2021 at 4:02 pm Tilting the odds in Larry Flynt’s favor Thursday, a federal judge gave life to the porn mogul’s fight to oust a California law that’s preventing the expansion of his gambling industry portfolio. U.S. District Judge John Mendez denied the state’s attempt to dismiss the entire case, saying the broad enforcement of the anti-organized crime bill could amount to regulation of interstate … [Read more...]
GeoComply makes $200,000 donation to Conscious Gaming to fund PlayPause CDC Gaming Reports · January 15, 2021 at 4:00 pm GeoComply yesterday announced a $200,000 donation to Conscious Gaming to help fund the non-profit as it continues totackle the responsible-gaming challenges faced by the U.S. igaming industry through the accelerated deployment of PlayPause, the new national self-exclusion tool. GeoComply has set up Conscious Gaming as an independent nonprofit to align all industry stakeholders’ … [Read more...]
Missouri: Are slot machines in gas stations legal? Gretchen Bolander, FourStatesHomePage.com · January 15, 2021 at 2:39 pm Slot machines, you may be used to seeing them in casinos where they’re regulated. But a similar video game is showing up in gas stations and bars testing the limits of what’s allowed in Missouri. The company argued in court the machines don’t break the law. But there’s a growing number of prosecutors in the state that disagree. Blake Sherer, Platte County Asst. Prosecutor, said, “There are … [Read more...]
Arkansas: Saracen Casino’s business has not increased from bars closing after curfew Desmond Nugent, KATV.com · January 15, 2021 at 2:15 pm Over the past few months, local bars and restaurants have been adhering to Governor Hutchinson's directive to close at 11 p.m. Many of those businesses are seeing a decline in revenue from that curfew. Carlton Saffa is the chief market officer for Saracen Casino in Pine Bluff. He said business has been good since opening back in October of last year. Saffa said patrons from all over are coming … [Read more...]
Opinion: Letting Andrew Cuomo run New York’s online sports gambling is a very bad bet Howard Husock, New York Post · January 15, 2021 at 1:59 pm It was probably inevitable that legal sports betting would come to New York state. But the manner in which Gov. Cuomo is proposing to adopt it hurts consumers by limiting betting sites and further weds the state’s budget health to gambling — which disproportionately lures and effectively taxes the poor and undermines the work ethic. Online sports betting, legalized by the Supreme Court in 2017, … [Read more...]
Washington: Boosting pandemic-depleted state tax revenues main thrust for expanded sports gambling Geoff Baker, The Seattle Times · January 15, 2021 at 7:55 am A renewed push is underway to expand sports betting in Washington state beyond tribal casinos, this time with a couple of noteworthy twists attached. The filing Wednesday of a Senate bill aimed at widening the scope of such gambling to include the state’s licensed card rooms and racetracks is once again being driven by Nevada-based Maverick Gaming. But unlike a similar, failed effort last year, … [Read more...]
Las Vegas Strip’s Encore resort to serve as COVID-19 vaccination center Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports · January 15, 2021 at 6:24 am A Las Vegas Strip resort will join the high-profile venues around the country that are serving as COVID-19 vaccination centers. The currently unused convention space Encore at Wynn Las Vegas will house the vaccination distribution facility starting Monday for Nevada residents who are eligible under the state’s current guidelines. The location will be operated by Southern Nevada’s University … [Read more...]
Entain lines up first woman to run listed UK gambling group Mark Kleinman, Sky News · January 15, 2021 at 6:22 am Sky News has learned that Entain - which until recently was known as GVC Holdings - is in advanced talks to appoint Jette Nygaard-Andersen as its next chief executive. Ms Nygaard-Andersen, a Dane, is already a non-executive director on Entain's board. People close to the FTSE-100 gaming operator said that a deal to appoint her as its new CEO had not yet been concluded but that it was likely … [Read more...]
Gov. Cuomo’s plan for mobile sports betting in New York faces questions Jimmy Vielkind, The Wall Street Journal · January 15, 2021 at 3:55 am A key state lawmaker criticized New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to authorize mobile sports betting through a competitive bidding process, highlighting the obstacles ahead for legalizing online gambling in the state. State Sen. Joe Addabbo, a Queens Democrat who chairs his chamber’s Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee, said in an interview that he was glad the Democratic governor had shifted … [Read more...]
Louisiana’s gaming industry down around $830 million in revenue through November 2020 William Taylor Potter, Lafayette Daily Advertiser · January 15, 2021 at 3:30 am Louisiana's gaming industry likely lost more than $830 million in 2020, and at least 4,790 employees were laid off at some point during the year, according to data from the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. Through November, Louisiana's video gaming, racetrack slot machines, land-based casinos and riverboat casinos combined to lose more than $829.7 million … [Read more...]
A sneak peak at Live! Philadelphia casino Eric Raskin, Penn Bets · January 15, 2021 at 2:30 am Imagine catching a Bryce Harper home run from your hotel room. Not with your hands, mind you. The hotel isn’t quite that close, and Harper isn’t quite that big a slugger. But “catching,” as in “watching,” will be quite possible indeed from the Live! Casino Philadelphia rooms that face south when the Phillies are next playing home games at Citizens Bank Park. There’s a clear view of the field … [Read more...]
Tilman Fertitta Is in Talks to List Casino, Dining Assets Via SPAC Gillian Tan, Crystal Tse and Davide Scigliuzzo, Bloomberg · January 15, 2021 at 2:00 am Texas billionaire and Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is in talks to take his casino and restaurant empire public through a merger with blank-check firm Fast Acquisition Corp., according to people with knowledge of the matter. The special purpose acquisition company is in talks to raise more than $1 billion in new equity to support a transaction, said the people, who asked to not be … [Read more...]
Canada: Allowing online casino with large bets ‘simply wrong,’ says P.E.I. Liberal legislator Sara Fraser, CBC News · January 15, 2021 at 2:00 am Prince Edward Island's standing committee on health and social development will investigate the mental health implications from a new online casino coming from Atlantic Lotto. The news came Tuesday from the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, which says it is preparing to expand a new online casino to allow play by residents of P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, after quietly launching a site New Brunswickers … [Read more...]
The U.S. sports betting race is on—and many marketers want a piece of the action Michael Applebaum, AdAge · January 15, 2021 at 1:30 am It’s official: America is bonkers over sports betting. Each time a new state passes a bill to make gambling on sports legal or changes a law to allow more competition among betting platforms, known as sportsbooks, it becomes ground zero in a battle between market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel, whose efforts to beat back rivals often resemble a game of Whac-a-Mole. Take Illinois, whose most … [Read more...]
Ohio: Kent’s Water Street Tavern receives financial help from Barstool Fund Anne Nickoloff, cleveland.com · January 15, 2021 at 1:00 am Kent’s Water Street Tavern, a restaurant and bar which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, was chosen to get some financial help from the Barstool Fund to help get through the coronavirus pandemic. The fund, created by media company Barstool Sports, will give $20,000 a month to Water Street Tavern until pandemic-related restrictions are lifted, according to Water Street Tavern owner … [Read more...]
Lottery undersecretary says Brazil’s sports betting laws will be complete by the summer Phil, G3 Newswire · January 14, 2021 at 11:00 pm Brazilian legislator are aiming to have the nation’s sports betting laws in place by July with a launch date of 2022, according to Waldir Eustáquio Marques Jr., the undersecretary of SECAP, the Economic Ministry’s Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery. He said the regulation ‘must come out in July of this year.’ “Sports betting has some peculiarities, different from … [Read more...]
United Kingdom: Racing hit with financial blow as the government rejects request to review gambling levy Matt Hughes, The Daily Mail · January 14, 2021 at 10:00 pm Racing suffered another significant financial setback on Thursday with the Government rejecting the industry's request to launch a formal review of the gambling levy this year. In a letter to Annamarie Phelps, the chair of the British Horseracing Association, sports minister Nigel Huddleston made clear that increasing the rate of the levy above the 10 per cent of profits which bookmakers are … [Read more...]
United Kingdom: Gaming company secures Blackpool site as gambling fears dismissed Shelagh Parkinson, The Blackpool Gazette · January 14, 2021 at 9:30 pm Cashino Gaming Ltd, trading as Mekur Slots, had been refused planning permission to convert a former Coral Betting Shop on Abingdon Street into an adult gaming centre amid fears it would tempt vulnerable residents into gambling. Councillor Fred Jackson told a previous meeting of the planning committee the council wanted to reduce the number of gambling outlets in the town because “of the … [Read more...]
OPINION: Legalized gambling poses real benefits for Georgia Tom Spigolon, The Covington News · January 14, 2021 at 8:50 pm The MegaMillions drawing Tuesday, Jan. 12, paid out $615 million to the winner — if there was one. The odds of any one ticket holder winning it was one in 302 million, but the odds of winning any of the Mega Millions prizes was one in 24. Who hasn’t been in a hurry to buy something at a convenience store and gotten behind someone taking their time and sampling the many lottery products … [Read more...]
Hard Rock International acquires casino premise license in London CDC Gaming Reports · January 14, 2021 at 8:15 pm Hard Rock International announced today that the entertainment and hospitality brand has acquired the casino premise license from the Ritz Club in London, UK. This transaction allows Hard Rock to establish a new casino premise in London, continuing Hard Rock's expansion into major gateway cities around the world. "We look forward to expanding our brand offerings and bringing our hospitality, … [Read more...]
Raiders owner Mark Davis buying WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces Doug Feinberg, Associated Press · January 14, 2021 at 5:57 pm LAS VEGAS (AP) - Mark Davis is expanding his sports empire in Las Vegas, buying the Aces from MGM Resorts International. The Las Vegas Raiders owner purchased the WNBA team Thursday pending approval from the league's board of governors. “I am excited to announce that I have entered into an agreement to purchase the Las Vegas franchise in the WNBA from MGM Resorts International," Davis said … [Read more...]
