Ex-chairman now ‘stars’ in WSJ ad as Wynn Resorts moves forward By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 13, 2019 Just when you think it’s safe not to think about all the ugliness that emanated from Wynn Resorts, a check of Twitter brings it all back. “Discover how the king of the Las Vegas Strip met his downfall,” the rolling… [continue reading]
How the ‘Las Vegas of Italy’ is kicking its slot machine addiction By Giorgio Ghiglione, The Guardian • May 8, 2019 At the start of this year, Massimo was standing on a bridge “determined to jump off”. The 45-year-old had been struggling with gambling addiction since 2001. “I started to play slot machines and video poker after the death of my… [continue reading]
“At risk” players and the risk of competition By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • May 8, 2019 Recent weeks have seen GVC, Svenska Spel, and number of other online gambling operators all calling for a total ban on broadcast advertising. Svenska Spel, the former gambling monopoly in Sweden (lottery and casino games), is owned by the state… [continue reading]
In-play betting and the future of exchanges in the USA By Paul Sculpher, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • May 8, 2019 It’s news to no one that the US betting market is about to explode, state by state, as betting on sports becomes legal. No doubt in-play betting will almost immediately be a hot potato. There’ll be scare stories, some justified,… [continue reading]
After a rough start, convenient bond fostered between California tribes and ‘Big Gaming’ By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 7, 2019 The relationship between Nevada’s major casino operators and California’s Indian tribes wasn’t always so cozy. Two decades ago, Las Vegas-based gaming companies spent millions of dollars to try and stop a burgeoning tribal casino industry before it left the starting… [continue reading]
A single available racino license causing consternation in New Mexico By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 6, 2019 New Mexico officials find themselves in a surprisingly prickly political predicament these days: How to move forward with the issuance of a single coveted racino license for one of several applicants. At a time of unprecedented legal expansion of various… [continue reading]
Adelson-owned casino scores victory in Pennsylvania’s high court By Brian Pempus, PennBets • May 4, 2019 A component of Pennsylvania’s 2017 gambling expansion law was struck down late last month. The legal challenge was led by Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, owned by Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The lawsuit argued that provisions in the law… [continue reading]
Osaka Stands Alone As Japan Big City Casino Candidate By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • May 1, 2019 Casino operators have declared Osaka their favorite major Japanese city to develop an integrated resort the way parents declare their only child their favorite. None of Japan’s other largest metropolitan areas have entered the competition for an IR license, so… [continue reading]
How To Be The Casino’s Landlord By Nathan Slaughter, Nasdaq • May 1, 2019 Back in the early 2000s, I used to write a column called “The Gaming Investor” for Casino Player magazine. As a result, I had a front-row seat to the gradual transformation that’s taken place in the casino business over the… [continue reading]
Some basic tips for betting on horse racing, Kentucky Derby By Gary B. Graves, Associated Press • May 1, 2019 LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Picking a horse to win the Kentucky Derby is easy. Placing a bet is as close as a cellphone, tablet, computer or even a smart TV with internet access. But for the novice or inexperienced bettor,… [continue reading]
Murren says the focus is on MGM 2020, downplays any deal for the Cosmopolitan By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 30, 2019 Jim Murren attempted on Monday to stamp out speculation that MGM Resorts International wants to acquire the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, which was put up for sale two weeks ago. I’m not sure he succeeded. MGM’s CEO would rather have… [continue reading]
What is a gaming regulator’s job? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 30, 2019 Gambling regulators in Louisiana, New Jersey and Massachusetts have some big issues on their plates and no one is quite sure what to expect. Big issues in regulation are not uncommon in gaming. Casino gaming is a highly regulated industry… [continue reading]
Celebrating spring, baseball, and old-school sportsmen Gaughan and Exber By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 29, 2019 Every year about this time I’m transported back to childhood by the smell of fresh-mown grass, the crack of the bat, and the many signs of the start of another baseball season. Big league, minor league, or little league, I… [continue reading]
Too big to fail U.S. Pacific Island casino keeps failing By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • April 26, 2019 Last Friday’s Marianas Variety newspaper reports the Rotary Club of Saipan raked in US$34,000 from a Las Vegas Night. Perhaps the Rotarians can teach Imperial Pacific International how to operate a profitable casino on the U.S. Pacific island, part of… [continue reading]
Unlucky Dragon sale: Rental king Ahern picks up a bargain By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 24, 2019 If ever a place needed an owner handy with his hands with a sharp eye for figures, it’s the lowly Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino just off the Strip. And this week, after more than a month of rumors linking… [continue reading]
The FOBT Debate By Chris Brady, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • April 24, 2019 Whoever first coined the phrase, “FOBTs are the crack cocaine of gambling” has a lot to answer for, as do bookies screaming that they will all become destitute because of legal restrictions on these machines. Both distort, with hyperbole, a… [continue reading]
Sports Betting – A Golden Age By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • April 24, 2019 Despite the efforts of the US Department of Justice, the United States is crossing the threshold into a world of legal sports betting. Admittedly this is on a state-by-state basis, and the first states that have legalised sports betting have… [continue reading]
Report: Six states with limited stakes gaming produced more than $4 billion in revenue in 2018 By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 23, 2019 Call it whatever you want; limited stakes gaming, slot machine route operations, convenience gaming, or distributed gaming. It’s all big business. In 2018, six states with locations that have a limited number of slot machines grew revenues 7.5 percent to… [continue reading]
Gaming reporter-turned-casino-communications man Thompson stayed cool to the end By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 22, 2019 Gary Thompson was the cool one, that much I could tell as I began hustling as an intern at the Las Vegas Sun in the late 1970s. I knew next to nothing, but even I could tell that. Thompson was… [continue reading]
Legal gambling would be better than Utah’s tax ‘modernization’ By Ron Mortensen, The Salt Lake Tribune • April 22, 2019 Utah’s governing and business elites are doing their best to convince Utahns that the state’s tax system must be modernized. However, their solutions are to do more of the same rather than doing something really innovative, such as implementing a… [continue reading]
Gambling will take over TV sports By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., The Wall Street Journal • April 20, 2019 Folks in the cable TV business aren’t taking any chances. When the Supreme Court last year struck down a federal law banning sports betting, they knew it was good news for the beleaguered cable bundle, the glue of which is… [continue reading]
A tale of Tunica’s decline By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 18, 2019 The Resorts Casino in Tunica, Mississippi is scheduled to close on June 30th. It will be the third casino to close in Tunica since 2014. The Roadhouse closed in January of this year and Harrah’s Tunica in 2014. Tunica has… [continue reading]
Nine of the craziest legal sports betting proposals across the U.S. By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle • April 17, 2019 A Missouri sports betting bill on Monday cleared the House General Laws Committee, and one of its provisions is a doozy: It calls for an “entry and facilities infrastructure fee” to be funded with an off-the-top cut from all legal… [continue reading]
Rodio to helm Caesars Entertainment, but what will the company ultimately look like? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 16, 2019 One wonders if Tony Rodio just signed on for a very short tenure as CEO of Caesars Entertainment. Within the same breath that it announced Rodio’s hiring, the casino giant said it has created a “transaction committee” of the company’s… [continue reading]
New York’s state constitution already permits mobile sports betting By Robert S. Smith and James M. McGuire, Times Union • April 16, 2019 If you live in New York, and you want to bet on the Super Bowl or the Final Four, you will soon will be able to do it legally — if you get into your car and drive to one… [continue reading]
Fumble! AAF debacle an embarrassing misstep in the name of sports betting By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 15, 2019 These days it’s easy to get caught up in the legalized sports betting fever making its way across the country. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a… [continue reading]
Virginia: Is State Sen. Stanley right? Are casinos a sign of civic death? By Bristol Herald Courier • April 15, 2019 It wasn’t quite like Daniel going into the lion’s den, but perhaps as close as we’ll get without actual big cats. State Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, went to Danville last week and told city leaders they don’t need a… [continue reading]
My first Kentucky Derby: You can never forget the experience By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • April 13, 2019 The Kentucky Derby is only a couple of weeks away, and the racing world has once again turned its attention to the Run for The Roses. The most exciting 2 minutes in sports comes once a year, on the first… [continue reading]
What is going on in Macau these days? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 11, 2019 In March, casino revenue in Macau fell 0.4 percent to $3.2 billion; in February revenue was up 4.4 percent and in January down 5 percent. VIP win was down 10 percent for the first quarter and mass-market win was up… [continue reading]
Massachusetts officials study gambling perceptions in African-American community By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 10, 2019 The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has had its hands full lately with the fallout from the sexual harassment at Wynn Resorts. But there’s more going on at the agency that’s important – even if it doesn’t generate startling headlines. Beyond acting… [continue reading]
Contagion By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • April 10, 2019 Four recent pieces of news from around Europe are all related, although they are about events in four different countries. Firstly, the Mayor of Riga, Latvia, not content with the closing of gaming halls (arcades with casino style slot machines)… [continue reading]
Why is Italy afraid of online poker shared liquidity? By Valérie Peano, Attorney-at-Law, EGLA – European Gambling Lawyers & Advisors • April 10, 2019 At the end of January 2019, the online poker regulatory authorities of France, Portugal, and Spain released a public statement on the implementation of the agreement concerning online poker liquidity sharing that they signed on 6th July 2017. The fourth… [continue reading]
What to make of the most recent German Prime Ministers’ decision By Dr. Joerg Hofmann and Jessica Maier, Melchers Law • April 10, 2019 On 21 March 2019, the Prime Ministers of the sixteen German states met for a conference intended to mark an important step forward in the debate on Germany’s future gambling regulation. They agreed on a Treaty amending the current Interstate… [continue reading]
Skill-based gaming push a reminder of past slot machine efforts By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 9, 2019 Remember Silicon Gaming? In the late 1990s, the Palo Alto, California-based slot machine manufacturer created a series of games operated on a system called Odyssey that featured a futuristic design and what, for the time, were high-tech 3D graphics. One… [continue reading]
Singapore makes casinos an offer they can’t refuse By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • April 9, 2019 Singapore’s two casinos came out of the gate strong in 2010 with estimated gross gaming revenue of US$6 billion. The city appeared poised to join Macau as a second Asian jurisdiction surpassing the Las Vegas Strip in GGR. But Singapore’s… [continue reading]
Rubinstein’s experience speaks to secretive nature of Wynn Resorts corporate culture By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 8, 2019 Obscured in the many sensational elements of the 209-page final report by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in its investigation of the sexual harassment scandal inside Wynn Resorts is an intriguing moment that might shine a little light on the atmosphere… [continue reading]
Who got rich this week: Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson gains $2.2B thanks to Macau’s high-rollers By Hayley C. Cuccinello, Forbes • April 7, 2019 When casino magnate Sheldon Adelson decided to build a string of resorts in Macau in 2002, his competitors were skeptical. “Everyone else in the gambling industry thought it was the dumbest idea ever,” Adelson told Forbes. “Now all the naysayers… [continue reading]
See Macau monthly casino revenue numbers, watch larger trends By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • April 5, 2019 Gaming revenue in the world’s casino capital beat expectations in March, even though it fell marginally compared with a year ago and decreased 0.5 percent in the first quarter. Gaming revenue numbers matter, to be sure, but not as much… [continue reading]
Casinos are still a bad bet in Pennsylvania By Philadelphia Inquirer • April 5, 2019 The casino industry and its addicted enabler — a.k.a. your elected Pennsylvania representatives — never ceases in their efforts to bring more gambling options to every corner of the Commonwealth. From slots to table games to sports betting, to online… [continue reading]
Predictably, another gamble lost in AAF failure By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press • April 4, 2019 Charlie Ebersol was sure his new football league was different, even as it ventured into the dark hole that had swallowed up ventures like his before. I talked to him in November, before uniforms had even been ordered and one… [continue reading]
Wynn Resorts weathering Massachusetts storm in final pitch for approval By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 3, 2019 Given the sordid nature of so much of the Steve Wynn sexual harassment mess, it’s hard to call anything shocking anymore. It’s like an epic Stephen King ghost story that keeps scaring you until you’re just worn out. After a… [continue reading]
AGA provides backers of sports betting ammunition for state legalization By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • April 2, 2019 After a fast and furious sprint out of the starting gate, the expansion of legal sports wagering across the U.S. has slowed to a trotter’s pace. For many state legislative bodies – working under abbreviated sessions and facing other complicated… [continue reading]
With Mass. Gaming Commission hearing, is Wynn Resorts’ nightmare finally moving toward closure? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 1, 2019 It isn’t Watergate, but I am reminded of the words of accidental President Gerald Ford whenever I’m forced to think about the gaming industry’s long nightmare at Wynn Resorts. At some point, it just needs to be over. I’m probably… [continue reading]
Osaka votes to decide casino question, but not the big one By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • April 1, 2019 On Sunday, voters in Osaka will choose a new mayor and governor in elections that carry strong implications for the effort to obtain a license for a casino complex in Japan’s third largest city. But the results won’t address the… [continue reading]
Gaming Commission won’t stream Wynn hearing or post report online By Boston Globe • April 1, 2019 Back in 2013, when Steve Wynn came before the state Gaming Commission to argue that he was suitable to hold a Massachusetts casino license, the commission took all its normal steps to make the proceedings transparent. It posted the results… [continue reading]
Caesars is for sale: Let the buyer beware By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 30, 2019 Oh, once mighty Caesar, what has befallen thee? Caesars Entertainment, once the strongest of casino companies appears to be nearing its end. Since December Carl Icahn has acquired nearly 20 percent of the stock of Caesars Entertainment. Icahn thinks the… [continue reading]
Editorial: Casinos are still a bad deal for New Hampshire By Concord Monitor • March 28, 2019 Opening New Hampshire to casino gambling, as the state Senate did by a 13-11 vote last week, is an even worse idea than it was on Manchester Sen. Lou D’Allesandro’s 2,347 past attempts to do so. The latter figure is… [continue reading]
Legalized Betting Could Change How We Watch Sports By Derrick Clifton, The Bad Bet, ProPublica Illinois • March 28, 2019 With sports betting legal in eight states, NCAA tournament brackets are more than a hobby for fantasy league fun, bragging rights and office pools. NCAA officials are now renewing efforts to address how sports gambling may affect game integrity, as… [continue reading]
One-time casino executive Douglass ranks as a ‘Distinguished Nevadan’ on many levels By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 27, 2019 Around Northern Nevada, William A. Douglass is probably best known as a writer and the co-founder of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Basque Studies Program. The author of an eclectic array of books on subjects ranging from Basque sheepherders and… [continue reading]
Gaming REITs may find new partners for casino acquisition in 2019 By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 26, 2019 REITs – real estate investment trusts – have grown into an important gaming industry business model. However, don’t look for another REIT to join Gaming and Leisure Properties, MGM Growth Properties and VICI Properties, all three of which were active… [continue reading]
Un-Lucky Dragon: Jilted Chinese investors hope their luck improves in court By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 25, 2019 Curious Las Vegas visitors may still wonder what happened to the once-sparkling Lucky Dragon, the diminutive Asian-themed casino on the edge of the north Strip at 300 West Sahara Avenue. The operating history was remarkably brief: It opened in December… [continue reading]
China economic stimulus stirs Macau optimism, but white collar slowdown looms By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 23, 2019 China’s moves to stimulate its economy have renewed optimism about Macau gaming revenue in some quarters. Beijing’s decision to make tax cuts and ease credit underscores that China’s economic slowdown is real and far reaching. Macau’s two biggest risks remain… [continue reading]
Vegas bookie returns home to new world of betting By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press • March 20, 2019 The biggest dice game around was just a few miles down the road when Jimmy Vaccaro was growing up in the Pittsburgh area. So was Comet News in Braddock, where those in the know slipped behind the green door into… [continue reading]
Gambling on sports: The flood gates are open By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 20, 2019 The national gaming narrative is being kidnapped by the legalization of sports gambling. It has been less than a year since the Supreme Court ruled the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 is unconstitutional. Sports betting has leaped… [continue reading]
Decisions, Decisions By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 20, 2019 If there is one thing we humans are not very good at, it’s making decisions. Ask people if they are good decision-makers, and most will tell you that they are. In fact, though, they are not, generally speaking. Stock and… [continue reading]
888 Holdings: hero or villain? By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • March 20, 2019 It’s been a busy start to 2019 for the London Stock Exchange-listed 888 Holdings. The operator hit the headlines recently with two major acquisitions – one more controversial than the other – as well as some thought-provoking financial results. On… [continue reading]
Icahn deals high-stakes poker game for companies tied to gaming icons Carano, Sarno and Harrah By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 19, 2019 The casino company founded by the late Don Carano could soon own properties associated with two other historical gaming figures, Bill Harrah and Jay Sarno. Orchestrating this proposed merger is billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn. It seems like there should… [continue reading]
The settlement in the Suen-Sands lawsuit is undisclosed. It shouldn’t be By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 18, 2019 In a brawl that was at times reminiscent of a 15-round fight, the 15-year legal battle between Richard Suen and Las Vegas Sands ended abruptly last week with the announcement of a settlement. That was the final bell in a… [continue reading]
Macau casino extensions leave big questions unanswered By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 15, 2019 Macau has finally taken a first step toward acting responsibly on gaming concession expirations, though the major items concerning expiration remain absolutely unclear. On Friday, the government announced it has extended the concession of SJM Holdings and subconcession of MGM… [continue reading]
Why a Chicago Casino May Never Happen By Robert Reed, Chicago Magazine • March 14, 2019 There’s plenty of action at Rivers Casino in suburban Des Plaines on this Wednesday afternoon. Scores of gamblers shovel quarters and dollar bills into banks of garishly colored video terminals with flashing names like Blazing 7’s Blackjack and Ultimate Texas… [continue reading]
Fantasy sports giants continue to counting winnings, take hits in court By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 13, 2019 Some may consider them sore losers, but the ranks of fantasy sports players willing to litigate online giants DraftKings and FanDuel continues to expand at a time of unprecedented growth in America’s legalized sports betting options. Whoever believed that there… [continue reading]
Will Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts survive the end of the Adelson-Wynn era? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 13, 2019 The future of sports teams after creative geniuses and super stars leave is a frequent topic of discussion. The same kind of discussion also takes place in business; is there life after Steve Jobs, Sam Walton, Ray Kroc or Colonel… [continue reading]
Nevada watching from the sidelines as Wire Act court battle plays out By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 12, 2019 As New Hampshire heads to federal court in an effort to squash the U.S. Department of Justice’s planned changes to the Federal Wire Act, the state is finding its support growing. Last week, Michigan and New Jersey filed amicus (friend… [continue reading]
Japan casino resort hopeful Wakayama makes its case By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 11, 2019 Integrated resorts in Japan’s largest cities promise to be spectacular successes. But most action on the IR front right now is in the so-called regional sector, areas that have been losing population and relevance as economic power becomes more concentrated… [continue reading]
Never-ending Suen-Sands case grinds back to court without Adelson By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 11, 2019 Forgive me if the story of Richard Suen and Las Vegas Sands sounds familiar. It probably should. The knock-down litigation has been going on in Nevada courtrooms for more than 14 years. President George W. Bush was still in his… [continue reading]
Labour needs to wake up to gambling’s complexities By Greg Wood, Talking Horses, The Guardian • March 10, 2019 Tom Watson, the deputy leader of the Labour party and a politician with a long-standing interest in the regulation of gambling, offered some hints of what might be in a new Gambling Act if or when his party returns to… [continue reading]
Horse racing needs to clean up its act, or go away By Paul Newberry, Associated Press • March 10, 2019 It was supposed to be one of the most thrilling days of the year at Santa Anita. Two big races at the historic Southern California track, including one of the top preps for the Kentucky Derby. Bob Baffert in the… [continue reading]
Minnesota: Why legalizing sports betting (still) faces such long odds at the Legislature this year By Peter Callaghan, MinnPost • March 8, 2019 Legal sports betting may be coming to Minnesota. But it doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry. Consider that the Senate bill that would partially legalize sports books in Minnesota narrowly slipped out of its first committee Thursday… [continue reading]
It’s time for the industry to face reputational challenges head on By Hannah Gannagé-Stewart, CDC Gaming Reports • March 6, 2019 It will have come as no surprise to the industry last week when the UK’s deputy opposition leader Tom Watson unveiled the Labour party’s plans to reform gambling legislation. At least it shouldn’t have done. Over the past year calls… [continue reading]
Skill or Chance – Is it legal? By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 6, 2019 According to the number of times I get asked, there is clearly a misunderstanding about the role of skill in gambling. There is a misconception that if a game during which people can win or lose money has an element… [continue reading]
Mistakes will happen, but we’re still in the early innings of the legal sports betting game By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • March 5, 2019 Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed legal sports betting to expand across America 10 months ago, the race has shifted from a full-on sprint out of the starting gate to a steadier, more gradual pace. Seven states quickly joined Nevada… [continue reading]
At the highest levels, competitive casino industry evolves in real time By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 4, 2019 For those immersed in the Las Vegas casino success story, change in the industry has felt more plodding and generational than rapid and revolutionary. These days, however, you can watch the evolution as it happens. The examples are everywhere, and… [continue reading]
Why the party is over for online gambling By Jonathan Ford, Financial Times • March 3, 2019 When Britain loosened its gambling laws in 2005, then prime minister Tony Blair presented it as a way to legitimise what would happen anyway. “I am not a gambler myself, but people do gamble,” he said. “There is no point… [continue reading]
Here’s why Nevada should worry about the Justice Department’s recent opinion about internet gambling By Chris Sieroty, Desert Companion • March 3, 2019 Internet gambling is a scourge and a plague, a magnet for crime and corruption. Or it’s a blessing and an economic boon — and a digital-era inevitability that we should tax and regulate. Or maybe online gambling is mere fiscal… [continue reading]
Las Vegas Sands head Sheldon Adelson illness echoes Macau bid history By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 1, 2019 Casino and political heavyweight Sheldon Adelson is being treated for cancer and has been away from the office since late December, according to media quoting Las Vegas Sands Corporation. The 85 year old chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands… [continue reading]
Yes, Virginia, in 2019 it probably makes sense to legalize casino gambling By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 27, 2019 You can’t blame states for trying not to legalize casino gambling. The gaming industry, often as oversold as it is misunderstood, is a lot more complicated than it’s often portrayed. For its critics, and there are still plenty of them,… [continue reading]
Macau Dances the Chinese Tango By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 27, 2019 Gaming revenues in Macau have stagnated lately. It is difficult to put a finger on the exact cause partly because the city is a mixture of government systems. Macau is unique in many ways; it was a Portuguese trading post… [continue reading]
Sports’ great gamble, Part 3: Future of ‘integrity’ By Michael Silverman, Boston Herald • February 27, 2019 (This is the third in an ongoing series examining sports gambling, and its impact on the people — and sports teams — of Massachusetts, and beyond.) When it comes to the link between “integrity” and sports betting, 2019 offers a… [continue reading]
Battling illegal sports betting: A century of lessons to be pondered By Michael Pollock, Spectrum Gaming Group • February 26, 2019 (Cue Walter Winchell’s sonorous voice). This is a true story about Al Capone and the repeal of Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent. By pure coincidence, the U.S. Supreme Court’s… [continue reading]
Betting on ‘Best Picture’ might liven up lagging Oscars audience By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 25, 2019 Hollywood’s high-rollers gathered Sunday for the 91st Academy Awards ceremony. Unlike their casino VIP counterparts in Las Vegas, the movie industry elite managed to get along fine without a host. The lack of so much as a good lounge comic… [continue reading]
Quit Scalping Hawaii Taxpayers — Legalize Gambling By Danny de Gracia, Honolulu Civil Beat • February 25, 2019 When it comes to growing the economy and raising revenues, the 30th Legislature needs to learn to work smarter, not harder. Since no one else wants to say it, I will: it’s time for a state lottery system, casinos and… [continue reading]
Restricting sports betting to upstate casinos would forfeit millions in tax revenue By Daniel Wallach and Robert Rosborough, New York Daily News • February 24, 2019 In a time when New York is seeing stunning declines in state tax revenues and faces an unexpected $2.3 billion budget shortfall, the state must not miss out on valuable opportunities to raise new revenue. That’s why the push to… [continue reading]
Oscars odds: Betting on the Academy Awards is now legal in New Jersey, so I tried it By Gary Thompson, The Inquirer • February 22, 2019 My anthem recently has been Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born singing that maybe it’s time to let the old ways die, yet here I am, driving over the Ben Franklin Bridge on a Sunday, just like I used… [continue reading]
Korea Casino Cluster Coming To Incheon – Probably By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 20, 2019 A recent article by The Innovation Group’s Michael Vanaskie examines the casino cluster effect in spurring extraordinary tourism and gaming revenue growth in Macau and Manila. Naturally, other jurisdictions are trying to emulate that success, including Incheon in South Korea,… [continue reading]
Between a rock and a hard place By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 20, 2019 What will happen to Gibraltar, post-Brexit? In 1713, by the Treaty of Utrecht, the Spanish ceded the sovereignty of Gibraltar, nicknamed “the Rock”, to the British Crown, and it has remained a British territory ever since. Why did the Spanish… [continue reading]
Let’s wake up, before gambling is treated like tobacco By Valérie Peano, Attorney-at-Law, EGLA – European Gambling Lawyers & Advisors • February 20, 2019 Legal provisions adopted in Italy concerning gambling are quite worrying. Currently, the Italian Senate is debating another increase of the fiscal levy rate for video lotteries (VLT) and amusement with prizes (AWP) machines (low stakes, low prizes). Under the current… [continue reading]
An Icahn-Fertitta combination could hold the key to the future of Caesars Entertainment By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 19, 2019 As the Billion Dollar Buyer, Tillman Fertitta entertains CNBC audiences on a weekly basis as he evaluates the merits of two small businesses, each of which is hoping to land a lucrative contract as a vendor to his Houston-based Landry’s… [continue reading]
Labor organizations using websites, social media to battle casino and political foes By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 18, 2019 These are interesting times for the Las Vegas casino industry and the various unions whose members are among the many thousands of workers who help make so many memories for visitors and so much money for investors. The best-known labor… [continue reading]
Getting in the game at last By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • February 17, 2019 You might recall that, at the end of the last installment, our trainer, Andy, had just told us that our colt was ready to begin his racing career. The excitement of that momentous announcement set in motion my long-awaited career… [continue reading]
Is Virginia about to make a bad bet on casinos? By Peter Galuszka, Washington Post • February 15, 2019 Except for horse racing and a lottery, when it comes to gambling, Virginia has for years avoided casinos with slot machines and roulette wheels, believing they are tacky, risky and too close to organized crime. For evidence, look at Atlantic… [continue reading]
Even for Washington, the fight over online gambling has been unusually shady By Rachel M. Cohen and Ryan Grim, The Intercept • February 15, 2019 SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C., talked to U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein “several times” about changing the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law that banned interstate betting, he told The Intercept. A 2011 Justice Department analysis of that law effectively… [continue reading]
AGA taking a measured approach toward the Wire Act reinterpretation By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 12, 2019 On his first day as CEO of the American Gaming Association, Bill Miller received a gift, courtesy of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Just as he was settling into the job, word landed that the U.S. Department of Justice had reconsidered… [continue reading]
Sports betting history being made in real time throughout the country By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 11, 2019 The wheels keep turning in the race to legalize sports betting across America. It’s easy to get caught up in the gold fever that broke out in the wake of last year’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal… [continue reading]
Pennsylvania: A chance to remake the York Galleria By York Dispatch • February 11, 2019 Anyone walking through the York Galleria can see that the Spiringettsbury Township mall is in trouble. Two of the former anchor stores are completely vacant. A third has been split, with Marshall’s on the second floor and Gold’s Gym on… [continue reading]
Our View: New York needs to open up legal sports betting to Batavia Downs By The Daily News • February 11, 2019 The state Gaming Commission has given preliminary approval to regulations that would open casinos to legal sports betting. Commission members drew a line, however, between casinos and racinos such as Batavia Downs Gaming that unfairly deprives the racinos from benefiting… [continue reading]
Department of Justice shouldn’t end online gambling to appease Trump donor Sheldon Adelson By Peter J. Ferrara, USA Today • February 9, 2019 Most decisions made by the Department of Justice are made to protect the long-term integrity of the institution. Policy changes are not made swiftly and can often take decades to implement. As a lawyer and former associate deputy attorney general… [continue reading]
Why I gamble: Sports betting is a labor of love By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle • February 9, 2019 I’ve voluntarily purchased new clothing three times since 2007. I clip coupons. I have an annual September calendar reminder to call SiriusXM, to threaten to cancel my subscription. They don’t like to lose customers, so each time they give me… [continue reading]
Atlantic City: A Word of Caution By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 7, 2019 Atlantic City is seemingly experiencing a resurgence. Gaming revenue has grown year over year for the last two years after ten years of declines. In 2018, total gaming revenue was up 8.7 percent and for December, a whopping 25 percent. … [continue reading]
From Little Acorns By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 7, 2019 It’s very cold in London (though not as cold as in the midwest of the USA), so it must be time for ICE. From my perspective the show keeps getting bigger and better. Thirty-two years ago, when I had just… [continue reading]
The Next Wave in The Gambling Industry: What’s It Going To Be? By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 7, 2019 The worlds of technology and of media never stand still. The gambling industry is particularly aware of this, as both the technology underlying the online games on offer, and that protecting the infrastructure for tracking play, monitoring players, and ensuring… [continue reading]
What Pansy Ho’s move on former Macau casino leader SJM really means By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 6, 2019 Kung hei fat choi/Gong xi fa cai. As the Year of Pig dawns, Stanley Ho’s daughter Pansy Ho has again moved to seize the family empire. After leading the 2011 coup against her father that gave Ho and siblings a… [continue reading]
‘Playing for Pizza?’ hedge fund places longtime gaming CEO on Papa John’s board By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • February 5, 2019 What does a struggling pizza chain have to do with a handful of casino companies under siege by activist investors? Hedge fund Starboard Value this week invested $200 million into embattled pizza chain Papa John’s, naming the New York-based company’s… [continue reading]
Japan resorts ‘will be integrated like never before in gaming and hospitality’ By Marcus Prater, Executive Director, AGEM • February 5, 2019 (Remarks from AGEM Executive Director Marcus Prater at ICE London 2019) It’s a pleasure to be here today as Executive Director for the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM). We are a non-profit international trade association based in Las Vegas… [continue reading]
Bettors get many Super Bowl choices at New Mexico’s first legal sports book By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 4, 2019 BERNALILLO, N.M. – Dressed in a Patriots sweatshirt, it was easy to tell which team Jeff favored in Super Bowl LIII. The far greater challenge was deciphering and deciding on which of dozens of proposition bets to make at the… [continue reading]
Gambling firms agree to slash FOBT stakes in Northern Ireland By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 2, 2019 As has been covered ad infinitum, fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) will see a massive reduction in max stakes come April, from the current £100 to £2, in a bid to protect vulnerable gamblers. (It’s worth noting that many detractors… [continue reading]
Macau casino revenue drop doesn’t mean sky is falling By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 2, 2019 Macau casino revenue fell in January, the first year on year decrease since July 2016. The 5 percent decline to US$3.1 billion doesn’t mean Macau has begun a replay of the 2014-2016 slump that cratered casino revenue by 36 percent…. [continue reading]
Nearly forgotten, Riklis owned Riviera, helped create junk-bond financing that reinvented LV By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 30, 2019 I’ve given up wondering how Meshulam Riklis will be best remembered. Riklis, who died Jan. 25 in a Tel Aviv hospital at the remarkable age of 95, has been portrayed as a rags-to-riches business success in some ends of the… [continue reading]
What should Wynn Resorts pay Nevada to settle the company’s sexual misconduct case? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 29, 2019 It’s ridiculous to think Wynn Resorts could escape paying a multi-million-dollar fine stemming from a 10-count complaint filed by Nevada gaming regulators that read like excerpts from a Law and Order: SVU script. But the company is nonetheless hopeful of… [continue reading]
Will Sports Betting Transform How Games Are Watched, and Even Played? By Bruce Shoenfeld, New York Times • January 29, 2019 Half an hour before a preseason hockey game last fall, Ted Leonsis strolled down the concourse of Capital One Arena in Washington, stopping every now and then to pose for someone’s selfie. Leonsis owns both the Washington Capitals, the National… [continue reading]
In Super Bowl: Patriots’ winning image creates a challenge for sports books By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 28, 2019 Everyone knows songwriter Randy Newman loves L.A. But Rams fans? Not so much. At least, not so much that they rushed out to Nevada’s sports books to bet on their favorite team against the New England Patriots in Sunday’s Super… [continue reading]
Fractions, decimals, and other measurements By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • January 26, 2019 The circumference of Thistledown race track is one mile. Most other tracks are about the same, although some vary. (The real exception is Belmont Park, which is the biggest in the United States at a mile and a half.) A… [continue reading]
Brexit: A bettor’s guide By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 26, 2019 Brexit has become so endlessly drawn-out and depressing that it’s tough to even think about – let alone try to coherently write about – without a profound sense of existential dread. So let’s have a flutter on it. Why not?… [continue reading]
It is Time to Adapt to the 21st Century for Wynn and Okada By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 24, 2019 Steve Wynn and Kazuo Okada are two of the most successful men in gaming. Their careers span almost fifty years; each of them in his own way shaped the industry. Wynn and Okada are the same age, born in 1942. … [continue reading]
Value creation – a delicate balance By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • January 23, 2019 Private equity (PE) has been quite active in the gambling market in the last year. This represents a change from a decade ago, when gambling became persona non grata for private equity due to profitability not coming anywhere near the… [continue reading]
2019 ICE London: The Naughty and The Nice By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 23, 2019 Last year’s exhibition was record-breakingly large, and this year is surely tipped to exceed that, with an incredible amount in store for attendees. Media coverage will of course be extensive, and I’ll be there doing the rounds on behalf of… [continue reading]
Wire Act reversal, panned by the gaming industry, was celebrated by one company By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 22, 2019 The geneses for last week’s stunning Department of Justice’s reversal of a seven-year-old interpretation of the Federal Wire Act probably took place in the Las Vegas Sands’ corporate offices shortly after Donald Trump was elected to the White House in… [continue reading]
As MLK Day passes, a reminder of the gambling ghosts of Vegas past By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 21, 2019 As short-lived as it was sensational, the Moulin Rouge casino on Bonanza Road long ago gained a mythical status in Las Vegas history. It is almost without exception the first name recalled when the conversation turns to casinos from segregated… [continue reading]
Illinois’s bet on expanded gambling poses risks By Jim Dey, The News-Gazette • January 21, 2019 With Illinois in desperate financial shape and a new governor taking office who advocates costly new social spending plans, the state is desperate for new revenue. So, once again, legislators who traditionally look for easy ways out of vexing problems… [continue reading]
Brian Sandoval Moves On By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 16, 2019 Beginning in 1996, Brian Sandoval was Nevada Assemblyman, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, Attorney General of Nevada, a judge serving in the United States District Court or the District of Nevada and in 2011 he became Nevada’s 29th governor. … [continue reading]
Encore Boston Harbor casino project: a tough job to finish By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 16, 2019 It’s safe to say Peter Campo knows a challenge when he sees one. Campo, the director of construction for Wynn Resorts’ $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor, is responsible for bringing in a five-star, 600-room casino resort with a high-end spa,… [continue reading]
How Illinois Bet on Video Gambling and Lost By Jason Grotto and Sandhya Kambhampati, ProPublica Illinois, and Dan Mihalopoulos, WBEZ • January 16, 2019 With the last streaks of daylight fading on a mild October evening, the cars pulled up in waves at Piero’s Italian Cuisine, an old-school Las Vegas hotspot known for its osso buco. Cadillacs with tinted windows. Taxis and rideshares. A… [continue reading]
Icahn buying up Caesars stock, but what is his ultimate goal? By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 15, 2019 Oftentimes, the final intentions of corporate raider Carl Icahn are unclear when he focuses on the stock of a troubled company. Name an industry, and Icahn has probably dabbled in it. Trans World Airlines, U.S. Steel, King Pharmaceuticals, Motorola, Blockbuster,… [continue reading]
Impending sale of Frias cabs a sign of rapidly changing times in LV By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 14, 2019 It rarely pays to get too sentimental about a cab outfit, not even one in service in Las Vegas as long as the company founded by Charlie and Phyllis Frias has been motoring. It’s a tough business known for its… [continue reading]
The Everett casino and where it stands By Mark Arsenault, Boston Globe • January 13, 2019 Don’t have time to read every Greater Boston casino story? Just catch up with this one. We’ve anticipated your questions and provided some bite-sized answers. What is the extremely abbreviated background on the current brouhaha over the Wynn Resorts casino?… [continue reading]
Fifteen-year-old wins Spanish State Lottery El Nino jackpot By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 12, 2019 For lack of a better term, this one is a public relations nightmare for the Spanish gambling authorities: a fifteen-year-old boy named Cosmin Rotariu has won €200,000 in the Spanish State lottery. Start with the fact that the legal age… [continue reading]
The book that made me close my online gambling account By Paul Rouse, The Irish Examiner • January 10, 2019 n Christmas Eve, two emails arrived from paddypower.com. The timing was pretty awful — it would be true to say that the emails were a profound source of irritation. In fairness, in the greater scheme of things, they might be… [continue reading]
Playing Loose and Fast with the Truth By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • January 10, 2019 Imagine if you can, a 30-something couple sitting at a table in their local bar. They are telling their friends about a trip they took recently. In the story, the couple on vacation in a faraway place called The Strip,… [continue reading]
Corporate Strategy In 2019: A Changing of the Guard? By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 9, 2019 There has been a lot of talk towards the end of 2018 concerning new efforts by the UK gambling industry towards more responsible gambling. These have included private “leaders’ meetings” to discuss voluntary self-imposed advertising restrictions or caps, as well… [continue reading]
Looking back and forward By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • January 9, 2019 2018 was a year to remember, possibly for all of the wrong reasons. For the European gambling industry, there was not much positive during the year, with plenty of bad news to write about. The exceptions are the successful opening… [continue reading]
Fractures appearing in NFL’s anti-gambling wall, but the structure is far from crumbling By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 8, 2019 One simple gesture along the Strip during the week prior to Feb. 3 will let us know if the National Football League’s long-standing hostility toward Las Vegas – and anything related to sports betting – has ended. If the marquee… [continue reading]
California tribal lawsuit should shake up state’s gaming regulators By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 7, 2019 It’s only January, but 2019 just got very interesting – dangerously so for the gambling gold mines of California. After watching what they believe has been a steady erosion of their exclusive casino gaming compact with the California government, three… [continue reading]
Billionaire, Bust And Back: One Of Las Vegas’ Original Moguls Is Winning Big Again By Abram Brown, Forbes • January 7, 2019 Summer usually quiets Las Vegas. But on a 101-degree day in June, gamblers stream into the downtown California Hotel, the original property of publicly traded Boyd Gaming. Bill Boyd, the company’s cofounder and executive chairman, is walking the casino floor,… [continue reading]
North Carolina should embrace sports gambling, or get left behind By Charles Gillespie, Charlotte Observer • January 5, 2019 Back in 2003 when I was an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina, online poker and online sports betting took the campus by storm. We very much felt that we were part of a movement, the birth of a… [continue reading]
Long vs. Short: Can Wynn Casinos Recover From Steve Wynn’s #MeToo Scandal? By Steve Friess, Intelligencer, New York Magazine • January 4, 2019 Of the many powerful men brought down by the #MeToo movement, the disgrace visited upon casino mogul — and high-profile Trump booster — Steve Wynn may well have been the costliest to the greatest number of people. Since February, when… [continue reading]
Las Vegas Casinos Get The November They Needed By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • January 4, 2019 November, like October, was a good month for gaming operators in Nevada. With many indicators up, it appears that the summer slowdown is as much a memory as triple-digit temperatures in the currently chilly Mojave. This will likely boost investor… [continue reading]
Changing tribal gaming compacts promises to become a top story in 2019 By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 2, 2019 It’s a time of year for predictions, and this one is easy: We will hear a lot about the definition of “exclusivity” in the next dozen months as states with tribal casinos test alliances and gaming compacts. Much is at… [continue reading]
Sports betting may seem easy. It’s not. Here’s why By Wayne Parry, Associated Press • January 2, 2019 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Wanna bet on sports? First, make sure you know what you’re doing — and the odds against you. Seven U.S. states now offer legal sports gambling, and as many as 30 more will consider jumping… [continue reading]
Wynn trademark infringement lawsuit against Resorts World Las Vegas seems overblown By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • January 1, 2019 For a nanosecond the other day, I thought Steve Wynn had returned to the helm of Wynn Resorts. How else can you explain the federal lawsuit the company filed just before Christmas against the developer of the $4 billion Resorts… [continue reading]
Italian Senate passes new gambling taxes, hitting industry hard By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 30, 2018 Now that last week’s proposed amendments to Italy’s budget have been confirmed and passed by the Italian Senate by a rather resounding 167-to-78 margin, Italian gambling firms must be feeling as if the government is adding insult to injury. A… [continue reading]
Muscles, Eyes, and Other Body Parts By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • December 30, 2018 One has to remember that young horses, like young children, have muscles, most of which are not yet developed. For horses to be ready to race, they need to first develop muscle strength and lung capacity. Doing this takes hours… [continue reading]
2018: An amazing year in gaming going, going, gone By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • December 29, 2018 “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.” — Vin Scully The great Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully was talking about the dramatic game-winning home run Kirk Gibson hit in the 1988 World Series, but… [continue reading]
A Wild and Crazy Year for Gaming By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 28, 2018 The narrative that has grabbed the most headlines and inches of copy in 2018 is sports betting. The Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 in May, or as one clever… [continue reading]
Reports Of Macau Demise Greatly Exaggerated, Tokyo Mon Amour, More 2019 Trends By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • December 26, 2018 Every year, I forecast key trends and events for the next 12 months then grade those predictions at the end of year. Here are forecasts for 2019. Reports of Macau’s demise are greatly exaggerated: Like mediocre military strategists, Macau casino investors are… [continue reading]
Trump’s Palace Casino That Wasn’t By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • December 24, 2018 Before he was President, before he was the star of The Apprentice, Donald Trump was a merely a high-profile real estate developer and casino owner. He had a long run in Atlantic City, where he expanded his casino empire to,… [continue reading]
UK Gambling Commission Investigates Unlicensed Casino Streaming on Twitch By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 21, 2018 The journos at video game journalism site Eurogamer should be congratulated for performing a public service. Their investigations into Twitch’s streaming of online casino gaming exposed at least two unlicensed services being streamed and promoted there. To the UK Gambling… [continue reading]
Macau’s Bridge Too Far – From Everything But Hong Kong International Airport By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • December 21, 2018 The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge opened in October but the impact of the world’s longest sea crossing on Macau’s tourism and gaming sectors has been muted. A test ride across the US$20 billion, 55 kilometer (34 mile) span confirms that the… [continue reading]
Are There Signs of Recovery in Atlantic City? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 20, 2018 The casinos in Atlantic City are having the best year they have had in ten years and some people are beginning to speculate the city is back on the road to prosperity. For the first ten months of 2018, the… [continue reading]
Sports betting may work on Beale Street. But will it work to worsen people’s lives? By Tonyaa Weathersbee, Memphis Commercial Appeal • December 20, 2018 As far as sports betting goes, Beale Street is an ideal spot. It already attracts tourists who, if they bet on sports there, they’ll likely eat at Beale Street restaurants or hang out at its clubs and leave after a… [continue reading]
Instant Expert Legal Analysis Of The Federal Sports Betting Bill – Part 1 By John Holden, Legal Sports Report • December 20, 2018 On a Wednesday, exactly six days before Christmas, Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) elected to drop a 101-page federal sports betting bill on the world. The bill closely follows a discussion draft circulated weeks earlier. While it… [continue reading]
Betting on the Future for Gambling Advertising By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 19, 2018 A fascinating study entitled “Controlling the Illusion of Control”, on the subject of patterns in gambling advertising, was published in late 2017 in the journal International Gambling Studies. The study recommends that a subject of concern to regulators, based on… [continue reading]
… And Eventually There Might be Just One By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • December 19, 2018 The UK Gambling Commission has initiated a consultation on a new national strategy to reduce gambling harms, with the current strategy officially ending in March 2019. What’s particularly interesting is that the Gambling Commission has sought this input in its… [continue reading]
The guessing game has begun as industry insiders ponder Isaacs’ next move By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 18, 2018 On the same day gaming executive Gavin Isaacs changed his LinkedIn profile job status to ‘TBA,’ Scientific Games filed a one sentence statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing his resignation as vice chairman of the gambling equipment provider’s… [continue reading]
The fine print in Maryland’s gambling expansion bites us again By Baltimore Sun • December 18, 2018 In November, Marylanders voted overwhelmingly to erase some of the fine print they had missed when they voted 10 years before to legalize slot machine gambling. It seems people had gotten the impression that this new money would go toward… [continue reading]
Oklahoma: New Gov. Stitt should honor Enid City’s wishes on Indian casino denial By Enid News & Eagle Editorial Board • December 18, 2018 The anti-casino message was strong and swift. With a 5-2 vote Tuesday night, the Enid City Commission rejected an offer to support plans by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma to build a casino in east-central Enid…. [continue reading]
The 5 Biggest Casino Gaming Stories of 2018 By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • December 17, 2018 With 2018 almost over, it’s time to consider just what the biggest news-makers were for the casino industry in that year. 2018 did not lack for either headlines or significant changes in the gaming industry, which continues to adapt to… [continue reading]
Lotte Tour Bets Korea Casino Resort Towers Can Stack Up By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • December 13, 2018 At the center of South Korea’s Jeju Island rises the nation’s tallest mountain, Halla, an icon attracting millions of visitors annually. In the center of Jeju City, Jeju Dream Tower is rising as the island’s tallest building. At 38 stories,… [continue reading]
Barclays releases mobile app featuring ability to block gambling transactions By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 13, 2018 Barclays Bank have become the first major high street bank in the UK to offer a new form of mobile banking. The latest version of the bank’s mobile app offers customers the option to block a number of different types… [continue reading]
A Lottery Payroll Deduction; Speed Dialing Tax By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • December 13, 2018 According to Wikipedia, speed dial is a function available on many telephone systems; it allows a person to place a call more quickly and with much less effort. It is a great idea, a person no longer has to laboriously… [continue reading]
Why gambling used to scare baseball and why it doesn’t anymore By Grant Brisbee, SB Nation • December 13, 2018 The mayor of Las Vegas attended the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings in 2004 with a showgirl on each arm and an Elvis impersonator behind him. This is not an exaggeration. Oscar Goodman was a former mob lawyer who represented… [continue reading]
Can Elaine Wynn hold on to the casino her ex-husband lost? By Rachelle G. Cohen, Boston Globe • December 12, 2018 It’s a tale right out of “First Wives Club” – except better . . . way better. He can’t keep his hands off the hired help (“The manicurist, oh for god’s sake, what are you thinking!”) But times change and… [continue reading]
Will the Phoenix Suns move to Seattle or Las Vegas if an arena deal fails? By Laurie Roberts, Arizona Republic • December 12, 2018 Splash one arena deal. Phoenix Mayor Thelda Williams and Councilwomen Laura Pastor and Debra Stark have asked for a postponement of this afternoon’s City Council vote on whether to spend $150 million upgrading the Suns arena. This, because the deal… [continue reading]
On the road with AGS: Gaming equipment maker highlights growing opportunities By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 11, 2018 Two top executives from casino equipment provider AGS met recently with investment managers in San Francisco and Denver. Union Gaming Group analyst John DeCree went with them. The Las Vegas-based manufacturer wasn’t seeking money. The non-deal road show allowed AGS… [continue reading]
Ruffin keeps moving, this time into Florida, but will Trump slow him down? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • December 10, 2018 Phil Ruffin was an enormously successful businessman before he entered the competitive Las Vegas gaming scene with the acquisition of the Frontier Hotel & Casino and subsequent purchase of the Treasure Island. He was a successful Strip casino operator before… [continue reading]
Why Las Vegas Is Still America’s Most Sinful City By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • December 10, 2018 It came as no surprise that a recent WalletHub study named Las Vegas the most sinful city in the United States. After all, “Sin City” has to be more than just marketing fluff, right? Las Vegas definitely is sinful, at… [continue reading]
Chips are down in Macau for America’s casino kings By Nisha Gopalan, Bloomberg • December 9, 2018 If any worsening of the trade war leads China to call for a boycott of U.S. companies, America’s casino kings will be sweating. Three American companies — Las Vegas Sands Corp., founded by Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson; Wynn Resorts… [continue reading]
UK Bookies Review Option of Setting Voluntary Advertising Restrictions By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 7, 2018 When the Remote Gambling Association, the major voice for Europe’s online gambling industry, wants to sit down with its UK members and talk over steps to improve responsible gambling and the industry’s public image, we know that stuff just got… [continue reading]
Atlantic City mayors are so corrupt they’re bad for casino industry’s image By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • December 5, 2018 Atlantic City has been making an economic comeback, but it appears Mayor Frank Gilliam may not be around to celebrate it. Like so many New Jersey mayors before him, he’s otherwise occupied by a political corruption investigation. And to think… [continue reading]
Lessons to be Learned By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • December 5, 2018 The US Supreme Court’s 6 – 3 decision in May of this year, ruling that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional, has opened the door for sports betting on a state by state basis. Gambling companies… [continue reading]
Thinking of the Children: Where to from Here? By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 5, 2018 The UK Gambling Commission recently released their annual edition of their publication “Young People & Gambling”. The report has a number of key findings which might give us pause for thought. Perhaps most important, while 1.7% of children aged 11-16… [continue reading]
Quietly, Resorts World Las Vegas on track to be the Strip’s first new mega-resort in nearly a decade By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 4, 2018 On a brisk December morning, the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas development was abuzz with activity. Along the Las Vegas Strip, onlookers could spot four cranes lifting pieces of construction material into place for the S-curved towers. From the… [continue reading]
Ghosts of Glitter Gulch: Bygone Fremont Street casino offers lesson for modern era By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • December 3, 2018 These days it’s just another ghost of Glitter Gulch, but there was a time in the 1970s when the Gambler’s Hall of Fame Casino hustled slot players on Fremont Street. It would never match the action at Binion’s Horseshoe Club or… [continue reading]
Seven Leadership Mistakes Casino Slot Managers Warn Against By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • December 3, 2018 Last week, I shared six leadership secrets for good management excerpted from Tales from the Slot Floor, a collection of edited interviews with casino slot managers, To recap, this book is based on a series of interviews with veteran slot… [continue reading]
Legal sports wagering has transfixed the nation’s gaming industry By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • December 2, 2018 Forget new casino openings. Legal sports wagering is the gaming industry’s fastest growth vehicle. Last week, before New York City became the gambling universe’s 50-yard-line for the ICE Sports Betting USA conference, representatives of H2 Gambling Capital visited separately with… [continue reading]
Pachinko mogul Okada clashes with Wynn, Universal spin ahead in Philippines, Japan, America By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • December 2, 2018 After spending three and a half hours listening to Kazuo Okada, the deposed founder of Japan’s Universal Entertainment and dispossessed co-founder of Wynn Resorts, and spending twice as many years following the saga of Okada and Universal versus Steve Wynn… [continue reading]
Report on young people and gaming released by UK commission By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • December 1, 2018 Young People & Gambling 2018, a research study into the gambling habits of teenagers in Great Britain, turned up some interesting observations. An astonishing total of 32.5 percent, almost a one-third of all children aged 11 through 16 in Great… [continue reading]
Second Philadelphia casino a bad bet for a city struggling with poverty By The Philadelphia Inquirer • November 30, 2018 The long-delayed casino near the sports stadium complex in South Philadelphia received another extension from the often-acquiescent Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. This casino has gone through changes in names, locations, and owners since the license was awarded in 2006 to… [continue reading]
American gamble: Tiger and Phil find a tough crowd for their head-to-head pay TV match By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 28, 2018 Golf is known for its well-mannered galleries, where volunteer ushers raise “Quiet” and “Hush” paddles and masses follow directions like well-trained retrievers. But it looks like champion golf hustlers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson found a much tougher crowd for… [continue reading]
Answers needed on fate of Everett casino license By Boston Globe Editorial • November 28, 2018 The house always wins. They know that in Las Vegas. But in Massachusetts, well, not so much. And right now the Massachusetts Gaming Commission — which faces a $2.6 billion decision on the Wynn Resorts Casino rising in Everett —… [continue reading]
Mass Shopping, Big Sales and the Thanksgiving Weekend By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 28, 2018 Thanksgiving has become the busiest travel and shopping holiday of the year. It is a great time for retail sales and travel destinations, but it is not without its potential liabilities. In the long-term, those who benefit today may suffer… [continue reading]
Kerkorian insiders describe late billionaire as understated but a shrewd businessman By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 27, 2018 Kirk Kerkorian was the most media-shy gaming executive I have covered in some 30-plus years following the casino industry. He was also, easily, the most influential. From the early 1960s until his death at age 98 in June 2015, the… [continue reading]
Tribal politics aside, Arizona a natural for legalized sports betting By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 26, 2018 FLAGSTAFF — The home crowd loves its North Arizona University Lumberjacks, win or lose. The affection for the home team runs hot in small college towns and big-league cities from here to Miami. Citizens of every state like to imagine… [continue reading]
Six Leadership Secrets From Casino Slot Managers By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • November 26, 2018 Earlier this year, I published Tales from the Slot Floor, a collection of edited interviews with casino slot managers, part of a larger project that captured how the discipline of casino management has changed and continues to evolve in the… [continue reading]
Best bet to combat gambling? Teach children bookies’ odds don’t add up By Greg Wood, The Guardian • November 25, 2018 Two stories over the past few days can only have reinforced the view of some – perhaps many – sports fans that the UK’s gambling industry is out of control. First came the news Bet365, the country’s biggest online bookmaker,… [continue reading]
A Guy’s First Race Horse By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • November 24, 2018 The Breeders’ Cup, thoroughbred horse racing’s Championship day, was run earlier this month at Churchill Downs. A total of 221 horses were entered in this year’s Cup races. Many of these mounts were home-bred, meaning that they were bred and… [continue reading]
Sports book or casino – which one is the best bet for you? By Dave Nash, the SportsDaily • November 22, 2018 Whether they are exploring the strip in Vegas or touring the virtual world on a smartphone, when it comes to the games people play, they generally have two questions fairly close to the front of their mind. What are the… [continue reading]
Too many children are hooked on gambling. Why aren’t they protected? By Marc Etches, The Guardian • November 22, 2018 Gambling is everywhere. It is on our TVs during football games, on our smartphones and computers, in video games and on our high streets. For adults, this can be a serious issue, particularly if you suffer from addiction, or are… [continue reading]
Nobody Harmed By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • November 21, 2018 Recently I attended an event entitled “Nobody Harmed by Gambling”, organised by the bookmakers William Hill. The intent of the meeting was to start a conversation about how to reduce, to a bare minimum, the harm caused by abnormal gambling… [continue reading]
Novomatic Group In Austrian Gambling Addict Payout Court Ruling: A Case Study By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • November 21, 2018 A ruling has been issued in a regional court in Austria which presents a host of fascinating questions for the gambling industry, whether or not the decision is later overruled by a higher court within Austria, or even, ultimately, by… [continue reading]
An update on events in Greece By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • November 21, 2018 Loutraki is not the only casino that has not been paying its staff on time. Apparently, the Porto Rio Casino in Patras, Greece has been delinquent in paying its staff due to low revenues. The staff have become so frustrated… [continue reading]
Harris shows political savvy as Nevada Gaming Control Board approves sexual harassment regulation changes By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 20, 2018 Two weeks after Becky Harris was named as the first woman to lead the Nevada Gaming Control Board in the state agency’s 63-year history, the #MeToo movement engulfed the Las Vegas casino industry. In January, a Wall Street Journal article… [continue reading]
No recount needed: Florida gambling amendment does not cover sports betting By Daniel Wallach, Forbes • November 20, 2018 Florida’s gubernatorial and Senate races are not the only ballot items from Election Day that are undergoing re-examination. It turns out that the ballot question on the future of casino gambling in the Sunshine State is likewise the subject of… [continue reading]
Taylor and other unsung Nevada gaming investigators are something to be thankful for By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 19, 2018 Nevada’s casino history is noisy with notorious scammers. Some concoct clever and complex ways to cheat the games. Others keep it simple and just steal. In the last couple decades, their names wind up on James Taylor’s desk at the… [continue reading]
Acquisitions, Mergers and REITs: The Way Things Are Done These Days By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • November 15, 2018 The sales of three properties, Greektown in Detroit, Atlantic Club Casino in Atlantic City and Kentucky Downs in Kentucky, were announced in the same week. Terms were not disclosed on the Atlantic Club or Kentucky Downs, but Greektown was reportedly… [continue reading]
UKGC chief says industry needs better customer understanding By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • November 15, 2018 UK Gambling Commission Chief Executive Neil McArthur spoke at the Raising Standards Conference in Birmingham last week, using his time at the podium to call on the industry to collaborate and to strive to understand their customers better in order… [continue reading]
MGM Resorts can’t escape the 1October connection even at a football game By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • November 13, 2018 We hit our first speed bump over the weekend in the rushed marriage between professional sports and legal sports wagering. And it had nothing to do with gambling. Last month, the New York Jets and MGM Resorts International established a… [continue reading]
How 2018 Will Define The Future Of Las Vegas Casinos By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • November 13, 2018 There are certain years that, at the end of which, the world moves closer to the future than the past, years that mark major shifts in how we see the world, or a small part of it. It’s possible that… [continue reading]
Scandal-plagued CG Technology hopes for a break from the Nevada umpire By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • November 12, 2018 Sports betting company CG Technology has a history of breaking the rules. Now it’s hoping that three strikes won’t mean it’s out of the ballgame in Nevada. Facing the threat of losing its gaming license at a time legalized bookmaking… [continue reading]
New Mexico lawmakers can’t let rogue sports betting ride By Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board • November 11, 2018 When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law earlier this year banning sports gaming in most states, justices made it clear that states should decide the issue, not the federal government. “The legalization of sports gambling requires an… [continue reading]
It’s all going dark again in the gambling capital of the world By Linette Lopez, Business Insider • November 11, 2018 We know that China’s economy is slowing dramatically, and one of the places where you can see that very clearly is Macau, the gambling capital of the world. Wall Street was reminded of that on Wednesday, when Wynn Resorts reported… [continue reading]
UK Minister who resigned over FOBTs delay speaks out By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • November 10, 2018 Former Minister for Sports Tracey Crouch spoke out last week about her decision days earlier to resign her post. By this point it was well understood that her resignation concerned the six-month extension granted by the government to the planned… [continue reading]
