Tribal Ambition By Muhammad Cohen and Ben Blaschke, Inside Asian Gaming • June 5, 2018 Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment CEO Mario Kontomerkos believes the Native American casino operator has two aces in the hole for Japan, especially when it comes to the so-called regional markets beyond major areas. In his presentation at last month’s Japan… [continue reading]
Las Vegas Strip transportation: Who will take the wheel of the Taxicab Authority? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • June 4, 2018 It’s not a glamorous job but having the right person at the wheel of the Nevada Taxicab Authority is essential to keeping the visitors flowing smoothly into the great Las Vegas tourism machine. That job is open these days after… [continue reading]
How casinos use math to make money when you play the slots By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • June 4, 2018 Back when I worked security in an Atlantic City casino, patrons would often ask me, “Which slot machine is the one that’s going to hit?” My usual response was, “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be working here anymore,” followed… [continue reading]
More gambling fools gold for Illinois By Jim Nowlan, Quad Cities Online • June 4, 2018 State governments are salivating now that the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for them to authorize sports gambling, a legal (Nevada only right now) and illegal industry that experts say dwarfs the lotteries and casinos in dollars wagered…. [continue reading]
Gambling is an economic loser By Joseph Rust, Deseret (Salt Lake City) News • June 3, 2018 The recent Supreme Court decision on sports gambling has been hailed by many politicians, including our own Gov. Gary Herbert, as a victory for states’ rights, by opinion writers such as George Will as a way to decriminalize gambling, by… [continue reading]
Amid stunning recovery, Macau casinos still have room to grow By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • June 3, 2018 Less than two years ago, many wondered if Macau’s casino revenue would ever prosper again. Now, May’s 12% increase stands as a disappointment. Just a quick wander around Cotai reveals just how well Macau is doing right now and, as… [continue reading]
Why Las Vegas casinos had a good April and what it means By David G. Schwartz, Forbes • June 2, 2018 Towards the end of each month, the Nevada Gaming Control Board releases the Gaming Revenue Report. This 48-page publication is the cornerstone for much analysis of the state’s gaming industry, since it has indicators for how well casinos performed. You… [continue reading]
The Illinois Gaming Bill Has Come and Gone for another Year By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 31, 2018 Gaming nearly took another giant leap forward in Illinois. According to the Chicago Tribune, “It is something of an unofficial tradition in Springfield: As lawmakers inch closer to the end of the spring legislative session, a proposal to expand gambling… [continue reading]
Plans by Louisiana to move its riverboat casinos on shore currently in the dry dock By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 30, 2018 After years of debate, Louisiana lawmakers last week finally gave its casino operators permission to expand their gaming footprint and move its riverboats out of the water and onto drier and, perhaps, more fertile land. The action is a giant… [continue reading]
Sports betting? College athletes are vulnerable By The Boston Globe • May 30, 2018 Chicago White Sox players were so vulnerable to corruption in 1919 for one main reason: their salaries. “I needed the money. I had the wife and kids,” said White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte, who got $10,000 — more than his… [continue reading]
Sports gambling? Probably not soon, if your state has tribal gaming By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • May 30, 2018 In column A, we have the four most active states for Indian gaming: California, Oklahoma, Florida and Washington. In column B are four states with little or no Indian gaming: New Jersey, Mississippi, West Virginia, and Delaware. Guess which column… [continue reading]
Game companies need to cut the crap—loot boxes are obviously gambling By Peter Bright, Ars Technica • May 29, 2018 Game companies now lean heavily on loot boxes to monetize their products. Legislators around the world are threatening to impose regulations on the boxes, claiming that they’re gambling. Industry groups, however, insist that the boxes are not. I play games… [continue reading]
Bettman and Daly put on a lounge show of their own By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press • May 29, 2018 LAS VEGAS (AP) — Just before the most improbable of Stanley Cup Final in the most improbable hockey city around, Gary Bettman and Bill Daly put on a little show of their own. As lounge acts go, it probably wouldn’t… [continue reading]
In the short run, the odds are in Las Vegas’ favor when it comes to sports betting By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 28, 2018 When it comes to the spread of legalized sports betting, I can’t help but wonder whether this short-term gain will result in long-term pain. There’s been so much celebrating in the gaming industry and much of the media in the… [continue reading]
Prediction: The Washington Capitals will win the team’s first Stanley Cup By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • May 27, 2018 The Washington Capitals organization began play in 1974 – this is their second appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Vegas Golden Knights began play about 15 minutes ago and they’re already in their first Stanley Cup Final. Where was… [continue reading]
Prediction: In its first season, the Vegas Golden Knights will win the Stanley Cup By Howard Stutz, Executive Editor, CDC Gaming Reports • May 27, 2018 Like 99.99 percent of the hockey world, I never imagined the Vegas Golden Knights would be four wins from becoming the National Hockey League’s 2018 champions. I’m sure Geoff Freeman never thought the Golden Knights would be the last team… [continue reading]
Pro leagues’ messaging on sports betting ‘integrity’ may backfire By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • May 27, 2018 In response to a salvo about the “integrity fee” from a New Jersey senator on Wednesday, the NBA and MLB (the “Leagues”) made it clear that they will not quietly give up the fight for a percentage of all legal… [continue reading]
Nevada’s Eldorado Resorts becoming a force in regional gaming By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • May 27, 2018 High atop the list of gaming companies to keep an eye on is Eldorado Resorts, a Reno company that has become a force in the regional casino industry. Eldorado Resorts made a splash last month by announcing the acquisition of… [continue reading]
Casinos miss the point by grousing about player ‘entitlement’ By Mark Gruetze, CDC Gaming Reports • May 26, 2018 Finding ways to curb a gambler’s “sense of entitlement” has become a popular topic when casino executives gather. At conference tables or over drinks, they lament that slot fans feel entitled to free play, that table players feel entitled to… [continue reading]
Another Triple Crown winner so soon? It’s possible. By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • May 26, 2018 I began to follow the thoroughbred racing game in my youth, as a baby boomer in the 60’s. As was the case for many others, the Kentucky Derby and, by extension, the Triple Crown were of special interest to me…. [continue reading]
UK: Gambling Commission Says GAMSTOP May Be Unfit for Purpose By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 24, 2018 The UK national press has gained access to a letter, purported to have been sent by UK Gambling Commission Executive Director Tim Miller to the Remote Gaming Association (RGA), in which he refers to “unacceptable faults” contained within the responsible… [continue reading]
The Supreme Court Pulled Out the Cork and the Genie Is Loose By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 24, 2018 On Monday, May 14th, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. The law prohibited sports betting except as conducted by the lottery in Oregon, Delaware, Montana and in casinos in… [continue reading]
Two years on the sidelines is long enough; what have I missed, and what’s next? By Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports • May 23, 2018 During a telephone interview some years ago with the late Frank Rosenthal, I casually referred to the reputed organized crime associate by his nickname, “Lefty.” At the time, Rosenthal was facing a 1987 hearing by Nevada gaming regulators over his… [continue reading]
LEAKED: Italian Government Proposes Strict New Gambling Bill By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 23, 2018 The new Italian Government has put forward a draft of a new gambling bill, the contents of which have raised, let’s say, more than a few eyebrows in the gaming industry. You could say hackles would be more accurate. The… [continue reading]
AGS hyped up for its GameOn summit June 5-7 at Pechanga Resort & Casino By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • May 22, 2018 Sure, AGS could gather its clients for the usual corporate shindig and bombard them with information about their latest and greatest products. But that’s just not the AGS way. Instead, patrons at the third annual GameOn Customer Summit will hear… [continue reading]
Sports gambling ‘integrity fee’ supporters are not doing themselves any favors By Matt Bonesteel, The Washington Post • May 22, 2018 So-called “integrity fees” were a topic of conversation even before the Supreme Court ruled on May 14 that the federal law limiting sports gambling was unconstitutional. The NBA, in particular, seems to think it should get a cut of the… [continue reading]
‘All In:’ Essay collection adds valuable perspectives on gambling history By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 21, 2018 You wouldn’t be blamed for being out of breath. Keeping up with the history of legalized gambling is difficult on the best days. Lately, it’s been just about impossible. The United States Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn a law… [continue reading]
Gambling Is Coming, So Get Ready to Hate Sports By Holman Jenkins, Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2018 New Jersey, one of the most impecunious states in the union, was behind this week’s Supreme Court ruling overturning a federal ban on sports gambling. Not sport fans or sport leagues: It was the work of a leading avatar of… [continue reading]
Almost all the recent post-PASPA sports betting developments in U.S. By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle • May 19, 2018 It’s been a pretty insane and exciting week in the sports betting world. In case you were napping for five days: the 1992 federal law PASPA that had banned full-fledged wagering outside Nevada is history. The Supreme Court ruled on… [continue reading]
The future of U.S. sports gambling might look like an evening I spent on an English main street By Chuck Culpepper, Washington Post • May 18, 2018 I began by wagering 10 British pounds sterling ($13.50) on a dog named Callums Secret in the 6:19 race of Wednesday evening down at Hove on the English Channel, choosing him from the six-dog field because the tip sheet claimed… [continue reading]
Next Steps on Sports Betting By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • May 18, 2018 This was a momentous week for the gaming industry as the United States Supreme Court struck down the failed Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992. This victory would not have been possible without the commitment and leadership… [continue reading]
What Can the US Learn from European Sports Betting? By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 18, 2018 Given the seismic shakeup going on in the United States this week with regards to sports betting, it seems a fine time to take a detailed look at the state of sports betting in Europe and consider how our friends… [continue reading]
Come together: Consolidation is the name of the game By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • May 18, 2018 The once-fragmented – and, hence, competitive – gaming sector has seen an increasing number of mergers and acquisitions in recent years, and the velocity has only increased in the last twelve months. The fever for consolidation started quietly a few… [continue reading]
Will legal sports gambling warp America? The elites may hope so By Chris Reed, San Diego Union-Tribune • May 17, 2018 In the early 1940s, two trailblazing discoveries were made in Chicago that continue to shape the modern world. On Dec. 2, 1942, scientists at the University of Chicago working on the U.S. government’s Manhattan Project created the first controlled, self-sustaining… [continue reading]
Atlantic City Pushes the Restart Button By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 16, 2018 On May 26th, Resorts, the first casino in Atlantic City, will celebrate its 40th anniversary. As if to celebrate that event, two new casinos are scheduled to open on June 26th. Actually they are not new casinos, rather reincarnations of… [continue reading]
UK Bookmakers Eye US Markets in Wake of Supreme Court Decision By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 16, 2018 The news from across the pond of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the ban on sports betting has been a shot in the arm for UK bookmakers, just judging by the numbers alone. Their share prices boomed overnight… [continue reading]
Note to Pro Leagues: No One Wants to Pay You By Jill R. Dorson, SportsHandle • May 16, 2018 America’s pro leagues are so transparent. Over the last year, it’s been clear that the leagues are generally, at least publicly, not in favor of sports betting. They have claimed again and again that it may impair their games while… [continue reading]
Spectrum leader: Casinos should be out front on tax rates By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • May 16, 2018 For those of you who are unfamiliar with the phrase, calling a U.S. political issue “third rail” means that the issue is so controversial that it is essentially untouchable — that any public official raising the topic is likely to… [continue reading]
A new frontier and legitimacy for sports betting By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press • May 15, 2018 LAS VEGAS (AP) – Jimmy Vaccaro has seen just about everything in 40 years of taking money behind the counter at sports books in this gambling city. Until Monday. He had never seen a day like this. Sports betting is… [continue reading]
In-Depth Legal Analysis: SCOTUS Sports Betting Ruling By Sara Slane, American Gaming Association • May 14, 2018 Thanks to those who were able to join our call on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) earlier this afternoon. An in-depth legal analysis on the Court’s ruling is available here. See an excerpt below: This… [continue reading]
SCOTUS punts PASPA: The parlay party of sports betting legalization begins By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 14, 2018 Monday’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to overturn the federal ban on sports betting should set off a celebration in the highest offices of Gaming Inc. that makes the Mardi Gras look like a church picnic. It wasn’t… [continue reading]
Sports Betting Is a Victory for States’ Rights By Noah Feldman, Bloomberg • May 14, 2018 In an important states’-rights decision announced Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed New Jersey to permit sports gambling, both by private casinos and through state-run lotteries. The case, Murphy v. NCAA, has important constitutional consequences – and could have… [continue reading]
AGA Applauds Supreme Court Decision to End the Sports Betting Ban By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • May 14, 2018 The Supreme Court has struck down the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing or licensing sports betting. The Court announced its 6-3 ruling today in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, the challenge to the federal Professional and Amateur Sports… [continue reading]
Colorful Icahn casino era in Atlantic City not quite over By Press of Atlantic City - Editorial • May 13, 2018 With the sale of the thriving Tropicana Atlantic City to Eldorado Resorts and a real estate trust, investor Carl Icahn appears to be ending nearly two decades of involvement in the city’s gambling industry. It has been quite a show…. [continue reading]
If the U.S. Supreme Court lets states legalize sports betting, media might make a wager By Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune • May 12, 2018 Keep an eye on the line. There’s potential action in the uncertainty. The U.S. Supreme Court could strike down federal restrictions on sports wagering outside of Nevada, and a decision in New Jersey’s suit against the NCAA might come down as soon… [continue reading]
Norway To Block Domains of International Operators By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 11, 2018 Notwithstanding opposition within the government itself, Norway’s parliament approved a set of new measures and regulations concerning gambling on Monday May 7th, which had been proposed back in April by a coalition of opposition parties. None of these laws make… [continue reading]
Are Georgia casinos worth a gamble for education? By George Mathis, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution • May 10, 2018 Other than my daily commute on I-285, I’m not fond of gambling. Or am I? I buy a lottery ticket every week. For $2, it’s a cheap source of hope. The Georgia Lottery provides a more practical type of HOPE… [continue reading]
Macau is becoming a Rest Stop on the Great Silk Road By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 10, 2018 It is earnings season again and the casino reports from Macau are good. Wynn, Sands, MGM, SJM and Melco all reported double digit increases in revenues and profits for the first quarter. The total gaming win for the city was… [continue reading]
What happens if New Jersey loses the Supreme Court sports betting case? By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • May 9, 2018 The prevailing belief is that the United States Supreme Court — sometime before the end of its term in June — will rule in favor of New Jersey and eliminate Congress’ 1992 law banning full-fledged sports wagering outside Nevada. The… [continue reading]
Mississippi’s gambling story unfolds as Gaming Hall of Fame inducts initial group By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • May 8, 2018 A legislator persuades his peers to follow Nevada and New Jersey in legalizing gambling in Mississippi. Developers use their knowledge to construct gaming facilities that will attract visitors for the long haul. Executives with Las Vegas experience see the value… [continue reading]
Place your bets on Japan’s great casino investment narrative By Leo Lewis, Financial Times • May 8, 2018 For nearly two decades from the mid-1990s, Tokyo-listed Tanseisha was more or less dead to investors. Who, in a land of deflation and downsizing, would bet on a specialist designer of museums, trade shows, luxury hotels and high-end boutiques? Since… [continue reading]
Why excessive tax is no solution to Kenya’s gambling problem By Toddy Thairu, Business Daily • May 8, 2018 It is barely four months after the coming into force of the 35 per cent tax on gaming revenue, and the Treasury is proposing new tax changes in the gambling industry. This is through the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018… [continue reading]
It’s time to rethink Vegas By Nikki Ekstein and Kate Krader, Bloomberg • May 8, 2018 The Las Vegas you know and love (or hate) is in the midst of a reinvention. More than $5 billion worth of construction investment has poured into “Sin City” recently-resulting in such flashy ribbon-cuttings as the $375 million T-Mobile arena… [continue reading]
Why Japan’s gamble on casinos and Chinese tourists won’t fix its ‘tourism pollution’ problem By Mercedes Hutton, South China Morning Post • May 8, 2018 Japan has a problem with pollution, and it does not relate to issues of waste disposal. Rather, the rising numbers of visitors from afar have led to tourists themselves being viewed as pollutants, according to a May 5 article in… [continue reading]
Good vibrations: It’s time to market inspirational speakers in the casino-resort industry By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • May 7, 2018 It came from an unlikely place, but I take inspiration wherever I find it. And earlier this month I found it in abundance in the gymnasium at Pahrump Valley High School approximately 60 miles from the lights of the Las… [continue reading]
The changing patterns in casino and gambling By Carmen N. Pedrosa, The Philippine Star • May 6, 2018 I was in Macau recently to look at the premises of Galaxy. Since there are different interpretations of what it is I feel obliged to give an eyewitness report. The Galaxy Macau is hardly a billionaires’ playground. It is a… [continue reading]
Relax, you’re in Las Vegas By Juliet Pennington, Boston Globe • May 6, 2018 For many people, being suspended 550 feet off the ground in a glass-enclosed pod would produce a state of panic, but for me it brought on a state of zen. Of course, the soothing music being piped into my headset… [continue reading]
Team Trump Aided Harbinger Founder Falcone’s Vietnam Casino — And That’s Normal By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • May 4, 2018 Investigative journalism group ProPublica reports links between Donald Trump and Philip Falcone, principal owner of The Grand- Ho Tram casino resort in Vietnam, two hours south of commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City. The story suggests that the Trump administration… [continue reading]
The Gambling Compliance Global Regulatory Awards Ceremony, and Why It Matters By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • May 3, 2018 Gambling Compliance landed a great representative from the gaming world to present the awards at their second Global Regulatory Awards Ceremony in April, that being poker’s (and the BBC’s, and the Observer’s) Victoria Coren Mitchell, who is perhaps most famous… [continue reading]
FOBTs: where on Earth did they come from? And why? By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • May 3, 2018 As most of you may know, the long-awaited decision on whether to cut the maximum bet on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) has been pushed back again. Some of you, though, may well be asking: what, exactly, are these FOBTs,… [continue reading]
Pachinko: Japan’s Unlucky Loser By Muhammad Cohen, Inside Asian Gaming • May 2, 2018 Japan won’t open its first integrated resort for years, if ever, but the IRs already have their first loser, the country’s unique and ubiquitous pachinko business. Pachinko has become the target of efforts to combat problem gambling. That’s kicking an… [continue reading]
Chalk up another victory for both Disney and the Seminoles By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • May 1, 2018 The titan of Florida tourism and the titan of Florida gambling just notched another victory. The collective muscle of Disney and the Seminole Tribe of Florida again proved too strong for those lobbying for casino expansion in the Sunshine State…. [continue reading]
Caesars in Dubai: A Camel’s Nose under the Tent? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • May 1, 2018 Eldorado Resorts, Boyd and Penn National are extending their footprints across the nation at every new opportunity. But for the next tier up, the mega-casino companies – Caesars, Wynn, Sands and MGM – there are not enough of those opportunities… [continue reading]
Battle-scarred Wynn Resorts tries to keep its chin up and move forward By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 30, 2018 It’s a question many in the gaming industry must be asking, if only privately: Given the tumultuous start of 2018, how does the troubled powerhouse Wynn Resorts keep focused on the business at hand? The departure of its co-founder and… [continue reading]
The FOBT Hubbub Rolls On By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • April 30, 2018 The national press in the UK have been all over the FOBT news for a good long while now, but the furore amped up this week, with a lot of back and forth coverage. First, there was news of a… [continue reading]
Will Mississippi have sports wagering in casinos by football season? Don’t bet against it By Geoff Pender, The Clarion-Ledger • April 29, 2018 While state leaders continue their decades-old hemming and hawing over a lottery, folks could be legally betting on sports and horse racing in Mississippi casinos by this coming football season. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule as early… [continue reading]
With the Supreme Court’s pending sports gambling decision, states are already prepping for legalization By Jennifer Roberts, UNLV • April 27, 2018 The gambling world is waiting with bated breath for the United States Supreme Court decision that could result in an expansion of sports betting. The decision could be announced anytime between today and the end of June. Since I teach… [continue reading]
The Derby’s just around the corner. How lucky are you? By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • April 27, 2018 Luck is broadly defined as “the experience of notable positive, negative, or improbable events… occurring through chance rather than one’s own actions.” These events seem to happen all the time in one’s life, and they can be random or non-random…. [continue reading]
Eldorado Resorts is on the Move Again By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 25, 2018 In one day in April, Eldorado Resorts Inc added eight casinos to its portfolio; seven came from buying Carl Icahn’s Tropicana Company and the other, a casino in Illinois purchased from Caesars. Those purchases are the latest move in the… [continue reading]
Knights’ ‘crazy’ entertainment works — especially when winning By John Katsilometes, Las Vegas Review-Journal • April 25, 2018 On Tuesday morning I went to a Golden Knights practice and a Vegas variety show broke out. Luxor prop master Carrot Top, members of Cirque du Soleil productions (I believe I spied a Spermato from “Mystere”), drumming legend Vinnie Paul… [continue reading]
Gambling provides income, but what about Native Americans’ health? By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • April 25, 2018 “I auditioned for that TV show ‘Survivor,’ but they rejected me,” comic Larry Omaha began. “When I told them I grew up on an Indian reservation, they said I had too much experience.” For many, casino revenues have ended a… [continue reading]
‘The Gambler’ reminds us Kerkorian was a one-of-a-kind casino king By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 23, 2018 A few pages into William C. Rempel’s informative and entertaining new biography of the late casino king Kirk Kerkorian, you might find yourself wondering if such a success story would even be possible in today’s gaming industry. In a business… [continue reading]
Is Eldorado Resorts Expanding Too Fast? By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool • April 23, 2018 Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is all but exiting the casino industry, selling his stake in Tropicana Entertainment for $1.85 billion. But maybe Eldorado Resorts — which will operate the properties bought by real estate investment trust Gaming & Leisure Properties … [continue reading]
Industry, Academics and Advocates Unite to Launch Responsible Gaming Collaborative By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • April 23, 2018 The American Gaming Association (AGA) recently convened leading gaming industry organizations, academic professionals and advocacy groups to chart a new course on the complex issue of responsible gaming. The Responsible Gaming Collaborative will identify the programs and policies that best… [continue reading]
Steve Wynn isn’t out of the woods with gaming regulators By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • April 22, 2018 Just because Steve Wynn has stepped down from his leadership positions at Wynn Resorts Ltd., has sold all the shares he owned in the company and settled legal differences with his ex-wife, Elaine, don’t think for a minute that gaming… [continue reading]
NBA, MLB actually had the ‘balls’ to ask New Jersey for sports betting tax By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • April 21, 2018 This is one so rich with irony I’m having a difficult time staying seated. Proving that they are beyond shame when it comes to sports betting, the NBA and MLB engaged New Jersey officials in recent months to discuss how… [continue reading]
Gaming is ahead of the economy, but with plenty of uncertainties By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • April 18, 2018 Casino gambling in the U.S. outpaced the general economy in 2017, according to information from RubinBrown, an accounting and business-consulting firm. Total commercial gaming revenues in 2017 were $39.9 billion, a 4.1 percent over 2016, while Native American casinos collected… [continue reading]
VizExplorer: Making the most of disparate information By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • April 18, 2018 VizExplorer is in the information business, and the easiest illustration of what it can do is visible at a blackjack table. The company, in partnership with ARB LABS, has created a solution to an eternal problem: How to track how… [continue reading]
Stronger Together By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • April 17, 2018 Five years ago, the American Gaming Association (AGA) membership was largely comprised of large commercial casino operators. Those entities founded the organization in 1994, and defending their interests in Washington – or better yet, keeping Washington out of their business… [continue reading]
CDC Gaming Reports sends their best to the 2018 Indian Gaming Tradeshow By CDC Gaming Reports • April 17, 2018 Fortune was kind this year, and the planets lined up for CDC Gaming Reports and NIGA 2018, the annual National Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention. This is the first time the show has come to Las Vegas, and the first… [continue reading]
Shuffle up and deal: Controversy, conspiracy and card shufflers By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 16, 2018 Few gadgets are as ubiquitous on the casino floor as the card shuffler. The rectangular box looks simple enough, but its low table profile belies an inner core that’s been patented and has the potential of not only shuffling, but… [continue reading]
Trip to the Kentucky Derby becomes the role of lifetime By Bernard Kroviak, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • April 15, 2018 The Kentucky humorist Irvin S. Cobb once said, “Until you go to Kentucky and with your own eyes behold the Derby, you ain’t never been nowheres and you ain’t seen nothin.” Cobb may not have specifically intended that statement to… [continue reading]
Ocean Resort joining Hyatt is a huge positive for Atlantic City By Press of Atlantic City • April 15, 2018 Ten days ago Hyatt Hotels Corp. and AC Ocean Walk announced that the redeveloped Ocean Resort Casino in Atlantic City would be part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection of international hotels. That might turn out to be the year’s biggest Atlantic… [continue reading]
Let ‘Chief Wahoo’ do some good By Muhammad Cohen, CDC Gaming Reports • April 14, 2018 Major League Baseball has convinced the Cleveland Indians to remove their Chief Wahoo logo from uniforms. That may be a victory over racism or a cynical gesture, but it’s a missed opportunity for baseball and tribal casino communities, one that’s… [continue reading]
Five effective ways media strategies can work for you By John Dalrymple, The Geary Company • April 14, 2018 Any business, whether it’s a start-up or has been around for decades, needs to communicate to its target audiences in order to be profitable. One thing that is top of mind for most gaming executives is how to utilize their… [continue reading]
Think before you legislate! By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • April 13, 2018 With the impending Supreme Court of the United States opinion regarding whether the States have the right to offer sport betting, and whether Congress overstepped its powers with PAPSA in 1992 in limiting the number of States that can do… [continue reading]
UK Gambling Self-Exclusion Systems Roundup By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • April 13, 2018 There have been several leaks from the UK’s current self-exclusion systems exposed recently, be they the Multi Operator Self Exclusions Scheme (MOSES) used by many existing high street bookmakers across the land or the unique self-exclusion arrangements set up by… [continue reading]
Niagara Falls Closes the Door after the Horses Escaped By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 11, 2018 In these days of political polarization, very few voters trust any government official. Actually it is a long-term trend; Forbes has been doing a poll for 16 years on the most and least trusted professions in the country. Nurses, military… [continue reading]
Mutual benefit: GiGse, Juegos Miami team up in Miami By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • April 10, 2018 The international gambling management fraternity gets together at ICE London. U.S. commercial and Native American casino operators frequent G2E in Las Vegas. And now, for operators south of the United States and elsewhere, there’s a new option: Juegos Miami and… [continue reading]
New Swedish iGaming Bill Published By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • April 10, 2018 The Swedish Gambling Authority Lotteriinspektionen has just published in full the new regulations which will go into force on 1st January 2019, and they certainly make for an interesting read. Key changes include the introduction of a new licensing system,… [continue reading]
Energy Choice Initiative: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble! By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 9, 2018 “Let’s get ready to rumble!” — Boxing ring announcer Michael Buffer Nevada is known for its big fights. Whether it was the epic 42-round lightweight championship in 1906 in Goldfield between Joe Gans and Oscar “Battling Nelson,” the heavyweight “Fight… [continue reading]
Editorial: Sports gambling window in Kansas doesn’t need to be opened yet By Topeka Capital-Journal • April 8, 2018 The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on lifting a federal ban on legalized sports betting. Such a ruling is expected later this year. If the court favors broadening the availability of legalized sports wagering, as expected, the decision… [continue reading]
Adam Silver Once Again Undermines League’s Sports Betting Talking Points By Brett Smiley, Sports Handle • April 5, 2018 The NBA, MLB and now the PGA Tour have engaged in a sprint since January, lobbying for sports betting legislation favorable to their collective financial interests. This multi-pronged effort in over a dozen states eyeing legal sports betting has involved… [continue reading]
The Wynn mess, and the Mass. Gaming Commission’s big problem By Yvonne Abraham, The Boston Globe • April 5, 2018 A fish rots from the head, but it rarely stops there. Steve Wynn is detaching himself from the company building a gambling palace on the Mystic River after allegations of appalling sexual misconduct against him. But as a bombshell report… [continue reading]
Florida session: Armageddon? Or a whole lot of nothing? By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • April 4, 2018 The Florida casino expansion clock has been ticking for decades. Doomsday is now approaching, and legislators, operators, and non-gambling interests all know it. A constitutional amendment to require voter approval of any gambling expansion is on the ballot for November,… [continue reading]
Paddy Power Goes Digital with New Self-Exclusion System By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • April 4, 2018 Paddy Power has gone digital with its high street betting shop self-exclusion system, replacing its original 2016 MOSES handwritten pen- and paper-based system with a mobile players’ app compatible with both iPhone and Android platforms. The app, designed by the… [continue reading]
Investment continues to build momentum for ‘New Springfield’ By The Republican Editorials, MassLive • April 3, 2018 Less than seven years after a tornado ripped through Springfield, the city continues to grow in ways even optimists could not have imagined in 2011. According to Chief Development Officer Kevin Kennedy, public and private investment since the tornado totals… [continue reading]
Walters goes to prison while PGA gambling pal Mickelson keeps on swinging By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • April 2, 2018 The relationship between PGA star Phil Mickelson and gambler Billy Walters has always felt like a missing jigsaw puzzle piece. Once assembled, the puzzle told the story of the remarkable rise and fall of America’s biggest sports bettor on insider… [continue reading]
The Casino Quandary of Andrew Cuomo By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • April 2, 2018 Resorts World Catskills, New York’s fourth commercial casino opened on February 9, 2018. It cost $1.2 billion to build and has 2100 slot machines, one hundred and thirty table games and one hundred hotel rooms. New York is a rather… [continue reading]
Casinos in Japan could turn out to be a losing bet By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool • April 2, 2018 As more information becomes available about what Japan’s emerging casino sector may look like, it appears leading gaming companies may not want to make as a big a bet on the country as they’d planned. Those companies’ initial enthusiasm led… [continue reading]
Any pro-gambling bill passed in Louisiana separates more suckers from their money By James Gill, New Orleans Advocate • April 1, 2018 After the gambling industry took over the state a generation ago, politicians were all eager to assure the public that its tentacles would extend no further. After the lottery, casinos and video poker had been legalized, there would be no… [continue reading]
Japan casino law picks up steam; Las Vegas Sands leading candidate By Howard Jay Klein, SeekingAlpha.com • March 31, 2018 The progress of Japan’s Integrated Resort enabling legislation is being dragged to the altar like a couple in a shotgun marriage. The IR initiative, a child of Premier Shinzo Abe for over four years, is amidst a personal political firestorm… [continue reading]
Would you take £1m now, or £1,000 a week for the rest of your life? By Hannah Jane Parkinson, The Guardian • March 29, 2018 It’s a nice dilemma to have, and quietly devastating for the rest of us who will probably never have to face such a conundrum. A Canadian teenager who won the lottery, after buying her first ever ticket to celebrate her… [continue reading]
If you build it, they won´t not come By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 29, 2018 Guillermo Fernández Vara, President of the Spanish region of Extremadura, has recently proposed legal changes which would allow for fast track planning consents and lower gambling taxes for the development and operation of large scale leisure complexes – those with… [continue reading]
UK: Gambling, Regulation & The Future By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 29, 2018 Despite doing well on the balance sheets, the UK gambling industry had a pretty poor 2017 in terms of public perception and media coverage. The hubbub over the state of the sector looks set to reach an ever greater swell… [continue reading]
Fitch: Regional markets are mature, but regulatory change could bring progress By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • March 28, 2018 While increased competition has been a challenge to the bottom line at regional casinos, at least one silver lining has emerged: states have had to modernize some of their laws to keep their properties from falling behind. That concept is… [continue reading]
Bang! Wynn and Packer Just Got Their Equilibrium Punctuated By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 27, 2018 March had some shocking moments for the gaming industry. In separate events two industry giants suddenly walked off, if not into the sunset, at least into the clubhouse. Both were evolutionary moments; in the blink of an eye, the gaming… [continue reading]
IGRG Tightens Up UK Industry Code for Advertisers By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 27, 2018 As many gaming insiders expected, the UK government has begun to tighten up its regulation of the UK gambling industry. Some big names in the market have come under the regulator’s hammer in the past 12 months, and there have… [continue reading]
Mandalay Bay surveillance video of Paddock reveals evil in all its banality By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 26, 2018 One of the many painful realities to emerge from the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip is the idea that so much destruction was unleashed on the innocent by one man. And not even a particularly interesting… [continue reading]
Experts envision sports betting scene after court ruling By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • March 25, 2018 As the date of the announcement of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act draws near, just about every stakeholder in the decision seems to be in agreement on the most… [continue reading]
Bet on U.S. Supreme Court sports wagering verdict to change the game in Asia By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 24, 2018 A U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the federal government ban on sports betting would trigger expansion of all forms of online gaming in Asia, industry experts say. Opinions differ on how fast U.S. legalization might alter Asia’s gaming landscape… [continue reading]
UKGC Advises that some FOBTs should be reduced to a £30 “or below” maximum stake By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 23, 2018 In a surprise announcement this week as part of their newly published formal advice to support the Government with its review of gaming machines & social responsibility measures, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has recommended that while stakes for slot-based… [continue reading]
Wynn Is Genting’s jackpot chance in Macau By David Fickling, Bloomberg News • March 22, 2018 Genting Bhd. Chairman Lim Kok Thay has never quite gotten over losing out on a Macau casino license. The Malaysian gambling and resorts group failed to win a permit when the territory opened its casino market in 2002, and an… [continue reading]
‘The Producers’ and the Kentucky Derby By Bernard Kroviak, Special to CDC Gaming Reports • March 22, 2018 As the winter doldrums wear on in the East and the Midwest, the hope for an early spring and an end to the cold and wind can, understandably, be found in many places. For me, that hope of coming warmth… [continue reading]
Japan Sending A Strong Message On Casinos That Global Gaming Giants Don’t Get By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 22, 2018 International casino operators’ pulses have been racing since Japan took its first giant step toward casino legalization in December 2016. But Japanese authorities seem determined to ruin the party before it ever starts. Details about Japan’s integrated resort implementation bill,… [continue reading]
‘Jane Doe’ jackpot payout undermines lottery integrity By Mark Gruetze, CDC Gaming Reports • March 22, 2018 When spending the public’s money, honesty isn’t the only part of the best policy. Openness and transparency are just as important. That’s why people in the 44 states and three other jurisdictions offering the Powerball lottery should doubt the wisdom… [continue reading]
Oklahoma’s plentiful Indian casinos have shot at craps and roulette By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • March 21, 2018 If you’re a dice manufacturer, you might be shipping large packages to Oklahoma locations soon – the nation’s densest state for casinos is a good bet for adding craps. And roulette wheel manufacturers are likely smiling, too, because their game… [continue reading]
Legalized sports betting: Put down those forks, kids, that pie’s not ready yet By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 19, 2018 Like hungry children waiting for a pie to cool, professional sports leagues are drooling in anticipation of a piece of profits if, as anticipated, betting on games soon becomes legal outside Nevada. With the U.S. Supreme Court considering New Jersey’s… [continue reading]
Southern Nevada’s Big Six casino companies anticipate growth in 2018 By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • March 18, 2018 Another earnings season has come and gone, and Southern Nevada’s Big Six casino companies had mostly positive news to report as they wrapped up 2017 and plotted their respective courses for 2018 and beyond. For Southern Nevada’s dominant publicly traded… [continue reading]
How has NBA Commissioner’s call for ‘fair result’ on sports betting unfolded? By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • March 17, 2018 In mid-February, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver publicly weighed in on the ongoing multi-state tug-of-war over the direction and contours of legal sports betting legislation in the U.S. The battle? The leagues want money and control over an annual multi-billion dollar… [continue reading]
Should Massachusetts permanently legalize sports fantasy betting and impose a tax on it? By The Boston Globe • March 16, 2018 YES Eileen M. Donoghue, State senator, Lowell Democrat Eileen M. Donoghue More people are playing daily fantasy sports, which has become an exciting new part of our innovation economy. It flourishes worldwide, with 59 million people playing last year in… [continue reading]
Replicated History in the Community By David G. Schwartz, Green Felt Journal, Vegas Seven • March 16, 2018 There’s a lot of talk about how quick Las Vegas is to throw out its history. (“Las Vegas” being used as shorthand for the resort operators who make many important decisions about the region’s most prominently built environments.) What’s missing… [continue reading]
Ex-CEO of Paddy Power calls for mandatory online limits By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 15, 2018 Stewart Kenny takes the spotlight this week as the latest figure in the gaming industry to speak out about the problems seen in the current infrastructure of the gambling industry. The co-founder of Paddy Power, and Chief Executive of the… [continue reading]
More Better Data, Please By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • March 15, 2018 The Gambling Commission of Great Britain has released its annual report on participation rates and the perception of gambling for 2017. Every year, the Gambling Commission ask approximately 8,000 people (4,000 men and 4,000 women) about their gambling in the… [continue reading]
Italian Elections: The Gambling Industry Outlook By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 15, 2018 Gambling has been, at the very least, a simmering topic of relative discontent in Italy for some time now, and it’s only going to get hotter and harder to handle in the coming months. As the second largest European gambling… [continue reading]
March Madness year-round? Sure, if gambling on life becomes legal By Chris Reed, San Diego Union Tribune • March 14, 2018 The return of March Madness is a reminder that perhaps the most common of all the unenforced laws in America — after changing lanes without using turn signals — is the ban on sports gambling. An estimated $10 billion is… [continue reading]
AGA March Madness Research Rollout By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • March 14, 2018 This week, the AGA released our annual estimate on how much Americans will wager on March Madness, again topping $10 billion this year. Due to the failed Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a staggering 97 percent of total… [continue reading]
Hialeah track and casino owner Brunetti gets a big send-off By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • March 14, 2018 Business leaders come and go, but very few had the influence of John Brunetti. Long-time Hialeah Park track announcer Tom Durkin likely phrased it best: “His legacy is prodigious,” said Durkin, who hosted a memorial service at the casino racetrack… [continue reading]
Legalization and regulation: Congresswoman Titus hits right notes in letter to DOJ on Wire Act By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 12, 2018 The race to expand legalized sports betting and online gambling beyond its current borders is a marathon, not a sprint, and few politicians appear to understand that as well as Nevada Democratic Rep. Dina Titus. Titus, whose Congressional District 1… [continue reading]
Gaming industry pushes back against WHO definition of Gaming Disorder as a disease By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 12, 2018 The gaming industry has begun, on a global scale, to push back against the World Health Organization (WHO) decision to make gaming addiction disorder an officially recognised disease last year. The WHO has drafted definitions for “gaming disorder” and “hazardous… [continue reading]
Nevada’s gaming officials, industry take safe route on marijuana By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • March 10, 2018 Gov. Brian Sandoval’s Gaming Policy Committee, in record time last week, approved a resolution affirming the state’s stance on the use of marijuana in gaming establishments in what was likely the last policy group assembled under his watch. Committee members… [continue reading]
Sands Bethlehem Announces Sale for the Second Time By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 9, 2018 Las Vegas Sands sold its property in Pennsylvania to an Indian tribe from Alabama. On the surface the story is pretty straightforward, but it does have some interesting twists and turns. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians through its affiliate,… [continue reading]
European Court rules Hungarian restrictions on online gambling sites illegal By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 8, 2018 The European Court of Justice (CJEU) brought its hammer down hard on Hungary this week, determining that their recently proposed requirement that a venue be a licensed brick and mortar facility before being permitted to offer online gambling services was… [continue reading]
New York state’s new sports betting bill is a win for sports leagues By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • March 7, 2018 Six weeks after the New York State Senate held a hearing on the potential of New York sports betting, Chairman of the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, John Bonacic (R-42nd District), introduced Senate Bill S7900, which would legalize sports… [continue reading]
How ‘Accidental’ Casino Billionaire Chen Lip Keong’s Cambodia Bet Paid Off By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • March 7, 2018 When Chen Lip Keong won Cambodia’s first casino license in 1994, he had hardly ever stepped inside a casino. He’d been to Malaysia’s Genting Highlands once on a date in the 1970s and visited Las Vegas once as a tourist…. [continue reading]
The Southern Gaming Summit: More than Mississippi By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • March 7, 2018 The gambling landscape has grown exponentially across the United States in the past 25 years, and that’s especially true in the South. In 1992, Mississippi became only the third state in the nation to offer gambling. Since then, competition has… [continue reading]
UK Gambling Commission consults on changes to fair and open provisions By Melanie Ellis, Harris Hagan • March 6, 2018 There are seven weeks left to respond to the Commission’s consultation on changes to the LCCP’s fair and open provisions. The proposed changes would give the Commission greater powers to enforce compliance with a range of consumer protection provisions in… [continue reading]
Power of Wynn Resorts brand could be sorely tested in Massachusetts By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • March 5, 2018 Shakespeare first said it. Now the Attorney General of Massachusetts is telling Wynn Resorts to forget it. Forget keeping former company chairman and CEO Steve Wynn’s name on the side of the sparkling $2.4 billion casino-resort now under construction just… [continue reading]
SCOTUS in the PASPA Sausage Factory By I. Nelson Rose, Gambling and the Law • March 5, 2018 “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” Otto von Bismarck On December 4, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in the New Jersey sports betting case. Almost every Justice was… [continue reading]
Japan Moves into the Casino Business By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 5, 2018 Japan is embarking on a casino adventure and it is carving its own unique path. In December, the Japanese Diet passed initial enabling legislation. The law as it stands is too vague and could not be implemented without more structure…. [continue reading]
Pennsylvania Reverses Directions and the CDC Newsroom Responds By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • March 1, 2018 CDC Gaming Reports has matured over the last 15 years. It has grown from being the distributor of a single report, the Adams Daily Report, to a news outlet that five days a week publishes the early morning Flash, mid-day… [continue reading]
Some ominous signs for UK gaming in the UKGC’s 2017 Gambling Participation Report By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • March 1, 2018 On Tuesday the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published a report entitled Gambling participation in 2017: behaviour, awareness and attitudes. As one might expect considering the year the gaming industry has just put behind it, this annual report made for a… [continue reading]
Asia’s casinos must learn the secret of Las Vegas, says master designer Paul Steelman By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 28, 2018 Three integrated resorts with a combined price tag approaching $5 billion in Entertainment City by Manila Bay have set new standards for the Philippine casino market, if not the region. Yet these three oases of indulgence each stand in splendid… [continue reading]
The names of lottery winners need to remain out in the open By The Valdosta Daily Times Editorial Board • February 28, 2018 State Sen. Steve Henson, D-Stone Mountain, has proposed granting anonymity to lottery winners – including those who win massive cash awards. Even though the Georgia Lottery does not always make the names of big winners public — if the winners… [continue reading]
Hellinikon, site of 2004 Summer Olympics, approved for Greek casino license By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 28, 2018 The Greek Court of Auditors has approved the master plan for the Hellinikon project. This is the final piece in the puzzle allowing the Government to issue a tender for a casino license on the site of the former Athens… [continue reading]
Seminoles branch out into social gaming By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • February 28, 2018 A powerful guitar riff blasts out of my laptop shortly after I enter the Hard Rock Social Casino website. Then background chatter, like you’d hear at a bar, accompanies my experience as I check out the site’s slot options. “Safari… [continue reading]
Poker, addiction and awareness By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 28, 2018 This week, the Australian Gambling Research Centre (AGRC) released a report stating that 46%, nearly half, of all poker players surveyed in the country had a gambling problem of one kind or another. This is a higher rate than was… [continue reading]
Are casinos a sound tool for growth as government aims to pass bill? By The Yomiuri Shimbun • February 27, 2018 Doubts cannot be dispelled about opening casinos in the expectation of economic benefits without looking squarely at the adverse effects and risks involved in gambling. The government is promoting efforts to draft a bill on the operation of integrated resort… [continue reading]
Why Advantage Players shouldn’t worry casinos By Nicholas Colon, Gambling Insider • February 27, 2018 Every so often there are people who try to circumvent the system for profit. In the casino gaming realm they are known as Advantage Players. Casinos often go to great lengths to prevent APs from playing in their casinos. The… [continue reading]
One challenge for MGM, and the rest of us: Talking about business in the wake of tragedy By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 26, 2018 Corporate quarterly earnings report conferences are usually dominated by high levels of optimism and punctuated by moments of unabashed cheerleading. Charles Dickens couldn’t have written about them. No matter how tough the competition or rotten the market conditions, it’s always… [continue reading]
West Virginia sports betting bill contains few sure things By Mike Myer, Parkersburg News & Sentinel • February 26, 2018 If West Virginia legislators behind the sports betting bill were trying to ensure we can compete against surrounding states, they went way, way overboard. Should sports betting become a reality here, that could cost West Virginians millions of dollars a… [continue reading]
Las Vegas Sands: Prime For A Possible Move Over Wynn Woes And Strong Fundamentals By Howard Jay Klein, SeekingAlpha.com • February 25, 2018 Around our industry there are lots of people who have gone on record as never seeing the possibility of a deal between Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson and now, former Wynn Resorts Ltd (NASDAQ:WYNN) CEO Steve… [continue reading]
Parking, resort fees could put damper on Las Vegas Strip boom By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Review-Journal • February 24, 2018 The Southern Nevada casino industry is riding a new wave of confidence bolstered by some strong financial results, an anticipated uptick in visitation and a flurry of new projects that will return the region to the look of those go-go… [continue reading]
Should Massachusetts permanently legalize and impose a tax on sports fantasy betting? By Eileen M. Donoghue, State senator and Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling • February 23, 2018 Hear from both sides of the story. YES – Eileen M. Donoghue, State senator, Lowell Democrat Daily fantasy sports has become a growing part of people’s pastimes and an exciting new part of our innovation economy. It flourishes worldwide, with 59… [continue reading]
Too many casinos can spoil the pot By Don Glynn, Niagara Gazette • February 21, 2018 Nearly five years after New York voters approved a constitutional amendment to expand casino gambling, widespread concern prevails that the Empire State may soon be saturated with the gambling palaces. Now, however, while the state expects to profit from the… [continue reading]
Opposition lacking to Florida gambling amendment By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • February 20, 2018 A good fight must have two sides: A puncher and a counter-puncher, if you will. But so far in one group’s attempt to put gambling expansion in the hands of Florida voters, the opposition hasn’t shown up. Voters In Charge,… [continue reading]
Gambling Ads Crackdown in the UK By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 20, 2018 The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) in the UK have announced a slew of new regulations designed to help protect vulnerable gamblers. These regulations will apply to all advertisements broadcast during live sporting events, of which the UK has an… [continue reading]
Adam Silver proves that NBA’s sports betting ‘integrity fee’ is a total sham By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • February 20, 2018 During a press conference on Saturday at the All-Star Weekend, NBA commissioner Adam Silver inadvertently revealed that the league’s expansive lobbying effort for a cut of all wagers on legal sports betting is a bogus hodgepodge of nonsense. “This notion… [continue reading]
Will Wynn’s departure be enough to keep Boston casino project on track? By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 19, 2018 Steve Wynn enjoyed success at the highest levels of the gaming industry during his long career, but in many ways the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor project was positioned to be his penultimate prize. All that’s changed in the wake… [continue reading]
Clarion responds to industry sexism claims over ICE London By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 19, 2018 Kate Chambers, Managing Director of Clarion Gaming, the organisers behind London’s massive gaming conference ICE – held earlier this month at the ExCeL centre – has responded to the complaints made by Sarah Harrison of the UK Gambling Commission in… [continue reading]
Two Years Behind Schedule, MGM Finally Arrives In Cotai Amid Macau Boom By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 18, 2018 It’s not often that you can be two years behind schedule and have good timing. Five years after breaking ground, and 10 years after opening its first property on the Macau peninsula, MGM has its foothold in Cotai , the… [continue reading]
Trump’s true believer in Nevada pushes Heller to the right – and runs opposite of gaming – in U.S. Senate primary By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 17, 2018 It’s no secret Republican U.S. Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian is an unabashed Donald Trump fanboy who has hitched his political fortunes to the president’s agenda. When the first page of your campaign website enthuses, “In 2016 you voted to Make America… [continue reading]
Horserace handicappers hope they won’t be left in the dust by SCOTUS ruling on sports betting By Bernard Kroviak, CDC Gaming Reports • February 16, 2018 The 2017 Breeders Cup is over, and Gunrunner was victorious in the $6 million Classic. He also finished second in the $10 million Dubai World Cup last March. In January, maybe unsurprisingly, he was named Horse of the Year at… [continue reading]
The Past Is Still With Us By David G. Schwartz, Green Felt Journal, Vegas Seven • February 15, 2018 We all have things in our past that we’re not proud of. It might be a playlist that captures immature musical tastes, or a bad haircut. This isn’t confined to individuals: Groups of people feel it as well. The Las… [continue reading]
Can Wynn Resorts Find Its Way Out Of This Quagmire? By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 14, 2018 It is almost impossible to avoid talking about Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts these days. Wynn has always been an important figure in gaming, a marketing genius and a game changer. But, since January 26th, Wynn has transcended the gaming… [continue reading]
Who’s Going to Fix Wynn Resorts? Not Its Board By Joe Nocera, Bloomberg • February 14, 2018 Is there a corporate board in the U.S. worse than the one at Wynn Resorts Ltd.? It took two weeks for chairman and chief executive Steve Wynn to step down as a series of exposes about his alleged sexual behavior… [continue reading]
Give Delaware’s casinos a break By The News Journal (Delaware) • February 14, 2018 Over the past several years, the owners of Delaware’s three casinos have been sounding alarm bells over high tax rates that they say are putting jobs at risk. But those warnings have gone unheeded in Legislative Hall in the face… [continue reading]
Missouri considers mirroring Illinois’ bar-slots arrangement By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • February 13, 2018 One of my best friends attended a small college in St. Louis, which is on the Illinois-Missouri border. This was back in the 1970s, so fraternity initiations were a little rougher. But that was mitigated by the fact that this… [continue reading]
Will Vegas ever be the same? By David Purdum, ESPN • February 13, 2018 Back in the September of his years, Frank Sinatra would take the mic and command this little lounge stage. Still the headliner of all headliners at The Sands, four miles down The Strip, Sinatra would escape to this neighborhood joint,… [continue reading]
With mini casino, some will win, some will lose By Reed Pederson, Trib Live • February 12, 2018 Recently, our state legislators bestowed upon us more personal freedom. We can buy consumer-grade fireworks without driving to another state, and we’ll be able to gamble without driving to another county. With an estimated $75 billion in unfunded public pension… [continue reading]
Stockholder lawsuit tars shimmering world of fallen casino king By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 12, 2018 The hits kept coming last week for fallen casino king Steve Wynn. The awful details contained in The Wall Street Journal recently not only blew Wynn out of the chairman’s throne at Wynn Resorts, but the tough times continued with… [continue reading]
Gaming regulators still going after Steve Wynn By Jane Ann Morrison, Las Vegas Review-Journal • February 11, 2018 For 12 days, an acidic drip, drip, drip demolished Steve Wynn’s reputation, finally forcing him to resign as chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts on Tuesday. Now it looks as if his resignation won’t spare him further embarrassment after all…. [continue reading]
15 alternative phrases for NBA, MLB’s ludicrous sports betting ‘integrity fee’ By Brett Smiley, SportsHandle.com • February 9, 2018 Here’s a SportsHandle first: a listicle. Over the past few weeks in states advancing bills to implement legal sports betting, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have joined forces to lobby state lawmakers for a 1 percent “integrity… [continue reading]
SkyBet CEO Flint Speaks Out on Problem Gambling at ICE By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 9, 2018 Richard Flint, CEO of SkyBet, held his hands up on the first day of the ICE gaming convention this week and acknowledged publicly that the industry, SkyBet included, had “not done itself any favours” in the past with its approach… [continue reading]
Mixed Microgaming Bag at ICE By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 9, 2018 Microgaming gave us some pretty mixed signals this year at ICE, drawing a fair amount of attention for all sorts of reasons. To begin with, they kicked off the show with a new product which has drawn quite a bit… [continue reading]
Understanding the Wynn Legacy By David G. Schwartz, Green Felt Journal, Vegas Seven • February 9, 2018 The news of Steve Wynn’s resignation from the company he founded, Wynn Resorts, has brought more questions than answers in Las Vegas. Most of those questions won’t be answered for some time, if ever. Right now, many people are wondering… [continue reading]
Odds Grow Longer For East Windsor Casino By Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant • February 8, 2018 Legislators reconvened the General Assembly Wednesday for their final regular session before facing the voters in November. The occasion is always marked by fresh proposals labeled as progress. The gaming industry is providing us with a sharp reminder of how… [continue reading]
ICE: Bigger & Better Than Ever By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 8, 2018 ICE London, held at ExCeL in the east of the capital was larger and arguably more successful than ever this year, covering a staggering 43,500 square metres this year – more than twice its size back in 2012 – with… [continue reading]
Thoughts from ICE 2018 By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • February 8, 2018 That is ICE, now the largest gaming show in the world, over for another year. It is funny to think that this all started in 1987 when Jeff Lindsay, the founder of John Huxley Casino Equipment, decided to exhibit at… [continue reading]
Wake-up call: Gaming industry is progressing, the men who run it aren’t By David Fickling, Bloomberg News • February 7, 2018 The fall of Steve Wynn is a wake-up call for the global casino industry. Gambling has traditionally gone hand-in-hand with seamier activities, and sexual politics that would be considered unacceptable in other sectors have long been tolerated. Wynn’s resignation Tuesday… [continue reading]
Jai-alai has gained bounce, thanks to pari-mutuel expansion By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • February 6, 2018 Jai-alai was supposed to be on the way out in South Florida. Attendance has declined since the Florida Lottery began, then further with the arrival of professional sports teams, and yet further when casinos came to the area. The frontons… [continue reading]
West Virginia sports betting has potential – if done right By The Intelligencer, The Register-Herald • February 6, 2018 West Virginia ought to have a sports betting statute on the books this spring – but it needs to be a home run, not a foul ball. Within a few months, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to clear the… [continue reading]
Sports betting legalization issue heats up for Super Bowl LII By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • February 5, 2018 Becky Quick looked good in red, but maybe she should have worn stripes. Quick, who anchors the syndicated “On the Money” program on CNBC, in a broadcast that aired on Super Bowl Sunday, found herself playing referee in a lively… [continue reading]
PASPA to drive $4.6 billion in illegal bets on Super Bowl 52 By Geoff Freeman, President, American Gaming Association • February 2, 2018 Earlier this week, we released our annual estimate on how much Americans will wager on the Super Bowl, this year topping $4.76 billion. Due to the failed Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a staggering 97 percent of total… [continue reading]
Would Wynn Resorts be better off without Steve Wynn? By Muhammad Cohen, Forbes • February 1, 2018 Accusations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn last week led to an immediate 10% loss in the share price of Wynn Resorts, the company Wynn founded and still heads as chairman and CEO. Shares of Wynn Macau were hit harder… [continue reading]
Gaming handle versus gaming revenues: NBA doesn’t understand how things work in a casino By Ken Adams, CDC Gaming Reports • February 1, 2018 Many people confuse handle and win, equating handle with gross income and therefore a suitable target for taxation. However, handle is not the equivalent of revenue in other industries, nor is win when it comes to taxation. In retail, revenue… [continue reading]
CMA investigation shakes up UK online gambling promotions structure By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • February 1, 2018 After the conclusion of a lengthy Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into online gaming promotions, it looks like the industry in the UK is set for a significant shake-up regarding bonus terms and conditions, play-through requirements, and withdrawal options… [continue reading]
Macau Casinos May Face a Tough Year By Rich Duprey, The Motley Fool • January 31, 2018 The revival of VIP gambling in the Chinese enclave helped Macau witness a 19% gain in gaming revenue from the year before, and because Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) generates 60% of its revenue from the region, it was able to overcome… [continue reading]
Some Indian casinos cautious about sports wagering By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • January 30, 2018 Like other gambling industry members, Indian tribes are pondering their next move as the possibility of legal U.S. sports betting inches toward becoming a reality. In December, the U.S. Supreme Court heard an appeal against the constitutionality of PASPA, the… [continue reading]
1995 Bridgeport casino players: Two went to jail and one to the White House By David Collins, The Day • January 30, 2018 To understand the dynamics of the way MGM Resorts International is using a bid for a casino in Bridgeport as a smoky decoy, you need to look no further than the failed 1995 bid to build one there. The Vegas-based… [continue reading]
In Macau, ‘draining the swamp’ has real meaning for Adelson By John L. Smith, CDC Gaming Reports • January 29, 2018 Casino king Sheldon Adelson is fond of reminding people about the times his doubters have been wrong. From the sound of things, there have been more than a few memorable moments in his business career. The fact the Las Vegas… [continue reading]
Why the NBA’s legalized sports betting proposal is preposterous By Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun • January 28, 2018 Much like the public reaction to its superstars LeBron James and Kevin Durant when they joined super teams, the NBA itself has gone from hero to villain in Las Vegas circles over the past week. The gaming industry had widely… [continue reading]
The Vegas shooter and problem gambling By Editorial Board of the Christian Science Monitor • January 25, 2018 Nearly four months after the Las Vegas massacre, investigators have released a preliminary report about the shooter, Stephen Paddock. His motives remain unclear but officials can’t help but point to one possible factor: his extensive gambling in the days before… [continue reading]
National Bookie Association? By Anthony Curtis, Las Vegas Advisor • January 25, 2018 The NBA has made it known that it wants a piece of the pie if sports betting becomes legal in the U.S. In a statement this week, an attorney for the league said that 1% of all wagers made sounds… [continue reading]
New York casinos will continue to battle each other By Sara Foss, Daily Gazette of Schenectady • January 24, 2018 We’ve been told that Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady has yet to reach its potential, that the gaming facility is still new and that revenues will rise. But what if this never happens? What if revenues take a hit… [continue reading]
Indiana got out in front, but now everyone is catching up By Nick Sortal, CDC Gaming Reports • January 23, 2018 Sometimes after you do things right, and get good results, circumstances change. Take the case of gambling in Indiana. In 1993, state leaders approved riverboat casinos in a rational, well-planned manner (although it require a special session in which budget… [continue reading]
The Future of Gambling By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 23, 2018 Traditional high street bookies in the UK took a big hit recently on the news that the government review into fixed odds betting terminals looks set to conclude on reducing their maximum stake to the lowest level being considered, namely… [continue reading]
A quick European tour By Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co • January 23, 2018 The French land-based casino industry saw another year of growth in 2017. Overall gross gaming revenues (GGR) increased by 2.4% to €2.3 billion, but within that there were definite winners and losers. Lucien Barriere, the country’s largest operator by GGR,… [continue reading]
The FOBT Furore By Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports • January 23, 2018 The Sunday Times was an early leader in fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) speculation this week, with coverage from “an ally” of Cultural Secretary Matt Hancock suggesting that it is highly likely the government will opt for the full reduction in… [continue reading]
Science has a gambling problem By Nature.com Editorial Staff • January 23, 2018 Pathological gambling is thought to affect as many people as autism and schizophrenia. It disrupts employment, relationships and health, and places an enormous burden on the state. It is the only behavioural addiction formally recognized by the American Psychiatric Association,… [continue reading]
