Farrugia was found guilty in May of unlawfully disclosing information he had obtained by virtue of his office and revealing professional secrets. That was for tipping off casino owner Yorgen Fenech in September 2019 that an anti-money laundering investigation was about to be conducted at a rival casino.

Two months later, Fenech, one of Malta’s richest men, was arrested as he tried to flee the island on his yacht. He was charged with complicity in the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia who was killed in a car bomb attack in 2017.

Fenech, who at the time owned the Portomaso Casino in the resort town Saint Julian’s, is currently awaiting trial for the murder.

Incriminating Texts

Analysis of Fenech’s phone after his arrest revealed conversations with Farrugia concerning rival casino operators that incriminated the regulator.

In texts exchanged between the two men on September 23, 2019, Fenech expressed his dissatisfaction with a recent money laundering review of the Portomaso Casino, which he said had tarnished the business’ reputation.

Farrugia responded by saying he would delay the release of the accompanying compliance report until a forthcoming investigation of Casino Malta, owned by Fenech’s business rival, Eden Leisure Group, was completed.

As MGA chief, Farrugia was charged with overseeing one of the world’s foremost online gaming hubs. He resigned quietly in October 2022, shortly after police questioned him about his conversations with Fenech.

The Times of Malta?has suggested the charges against Farrugia were initially hushed up to avoid tarnishing the reputation of the gaming industry.

Widespread Corruption

Prosecutors believe Caruana Galizia was murdered because she was looking into a government contract to build a power station, which she believed had been corruptly awarded by the Maltese government to Fenech’s company,?Electroglas.

She had discovered that a Dubai-registered company mentioned in the Panama Papers leak, 17 Black, planned to make a payment of $2 million to two offshore shell companies. These were owned by Keith Schembri, the former aide of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, and Konrad Mizzi, the former Energy Minister.

Journalists who took up the investigation after Caruana Galizia’s death discovered that 17 Black was controlled by Fenech.

A so-called middleman, Melvin Theuma, named Fenech as the mastermind behind the killing. Fenech claims Schembri was the orchestrator.

The scandal caused a political meltdown in Malta, laying bare the corruption endemic in the island’s politics and business sector and leading to Muscat’s resignation as prime minister.

The post Ex-MGA Chief Conviction Upheld for Tipping Off Casino Owner Murder Suspect appeared first on Casino.org.

The Philippines is home to both commercial and government-held casinos. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation(PAGCOR) regulates commercial gaming resorts in Manila and in special freeport zones. The agency also runs casinos under the Casino Filipino brand.

Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte flip-flopped on his pledge to sell off PAGCOR’s casinos on grounds that their operations provided too critical of a tax benefit, specifically in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, has since resumed the central government’s mission to divest the casino portfolio.

Liquidation Delayed

Earlier this year, PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco said the agency would unload its nine casinos and 33 satellite branches before the end of the first quarter in 2026. This week, Tengco pushed back on that statement and revealed that the selloff won’t even start until sometime in 2026.

In the interim, PAGCOR is investing in modernizing its Casino Filipino properties, many of which are outdated and in need of upgrades. Tengco believes such an investment will make the venues more attractive to prospective buyers and result in richer sales.

As we prepare for the planned privatization of PAGCOR casinos, we intend to increase their value by modernizing our gaming facilities and equipment to make them more attractive to potential investors,” the PAGCOR chief said on Tuesday during his keynote address at Inside Asian Gaming’s Academy Summit at the Hilton Manila.

Tengco detailed that PAGCOR has ordered 3,341 new slot machines that are commonly found in the multibillion-dollar integrated resort casinos in Manila’s Entertainment City to be installed in Casino Filipino’s premier properties. The first batch of 1,968 terminals is expected to be delivered this week.

Tengco additionally said PAGCOR will mandate that buyers of the Casino Filipino properties will be required to maintain a minimum of 50% of the acquired venue’s workforce for a certain period. Those who are let go will be required to receive severance packages based on their length of employment.?

PAGCOR Casino Revenue

PAGCOR’s gaming operations pale in comparison to the integrated resorts in Manila.

In the second quarter, Casino Filipino locations generated gross gaming revenue of approximately PHP8.29 billion (US$147.5 million). During that same April through June period, Manila’s City of Dreams, Solaire, Okada, and Newport World Resorts produced GGR of PHP40.3 billion (US$717.1 million).

The influx of Chinese high rollers has Filipino gaming magnates bullish on the industry. This week, Travellers International Hotel Group and Alliance Global, the parent companies of Newport World Resorts, revealed their intentions to open casino resorts in Boracay and Cebu. ?

The post Philippines Casinos to Remain Under Government Control Until at Least 2026 appeared first on Casino.org.

At the Bank of America’s Gaming and Lodging Conference last week, Robins acknowledged DraftKings customers scoffed when it proposed a small levy on winning sports bets placed by clients in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont to deal with the elevated taxes in those states.

Clearly, this was something that our customers — they didn’t like this type of solution,” Robins said at the conference. “Our thinking behind it was, well, we can invest more in promo for you and other things because we’re going to be collecting more upfront. But we got feedback that people didn’t like this particular solution, so we changed it.”

After announcing the surcharge plan on August 1, DraftKings reversed course less than two weeks later as none of its rivals followed suit. Though the company didn’t say the two events were linked, DraftKings scrapped the surcharge plan on August 13, the day on which FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) reported second-quarter results and told investors it had no plans to follow its competitor on the tax on winning bets gambit.

Robins Looking for Ideas to Contend with High Taxes

While Robins didn’t mention specific ideas, he said the gaming company he co-founded is examining avenues through which it can better contend with some states’ high taxes on online sports betting.

“The bottom line is, at some point, I guess it depends on what happens in other states, but I don’t think that in perpetuity, it will make sense for anybody to completely just eat any tax increase that happens anywhere,” said Robins at the conference.

Some analysts have speculated that either or both of Illinois and New York could pass iGaming legislation next year, and that would be an avenue through which operators such as DraftKings could offset some of their sports betting tax exposure.

Other Legislative Issues Confounding Gaming Companies

Shares of DraftKings are up 5.47% year to date – a tepid showing relative to some peers and broader domestic equity benchmarks. One reason the stock has been lethargic in 2024 is because there’s been little of note in terms of positive legislative action.

“DKNG’s total addressable market should increase over the next 3-5 years as states legalize sports betting,” noted Zacks Equity Research. “As budget deficits continue to balloon, more states will likely turn to sports betting as a much-needed tax revenue source.”

The post DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Seeks Alternative for Fighting High Taxes appeared first on Casino.org.

Recent media reports suggest that new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is poised to bring a casino policy statement to parliament as soon as this week, and that the package is likely to include a directive calling for as many as seven gaming venues to commence Thailand’s foray into regulated gaming.

Should related speculation about the creation of seven integrated resorts, including three in Bangkok prove accurate, those numbers would top previous scuttlebutt. Earlier this year, there was chatter that should Thai policymakers approve casino gaming — an increasingly likely prospect — the country would start with five casino hotels. That plan called for two gaming venues in Bangkok, and one each in the Eastern Economic Corridor, Chiang Mai, and Phuket.

Bangkok Could Be an Alluring Casino Center

An article published by The Nation on Monday featured comments from Deputy Secretary-General to Prime Minister Suksit Srichomkwan indicating that the casino legislation under consideration by the Thai cabinet provides for three integrated resorts in Bangkok.

Assuming long-term return on investment in the high teens or low 20s in percentage terms – a common goal in the gaming industry – a $3 billion licensing fee would likely be palatable to numerous gaming companies, including US-based firms Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts International, and Wynn Resorts. All three have expressed some interest in Thailand.

The aforementioned legislative package also includes stipulations that casinos command no more than 10% of an integrated resort’s square footage and that gaming venues outside of Bangkok will carry an initial licensing fee of $1.5 billion.

Bangkok Casinos Matter for Other Reasons

The Thai government’s commitment to allowing casino resorts in Bangkok is important for other reasons. First, it’s the most populous city in the country, thus making it desirable for operators.

Speaking of Japan, Thai lawmakers backing the country’s casino ambitions are hoping to speed up the legislative process so that their nation’s first gaming venues open before MGM Osaka does in 2030.

The post Thai Government Eyes Bangkok for Three Casinos appeared first on Casino.org.

England-based bet365 operates iGaming and online sports betting across New Jersey through its partnership with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. In recently disclosed regulatory action, the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) punished bet365 with a $33,000 settlement.

The state’s gaming administrator said the online sportsbook took bets on a mixed martial arts (MMA) match that had been contested a week earlier. Bet365 oddsmakers accidentally listed the replay of the match on their book. The sportsbook was also accused of accepting wagers on other prohibited sporting events.

Settlement Ratified

DGE Interim Director Mary Jo Flaherty, who has served in the role since the agency’s longtime Director David Rebuck retired in March after leading the gaming regulatory for nearly 13 years, said the MMA match and cited prohibited wagering events occurred between Feb. 3, 2022, through Jan. 23, 2023. Flaherty said that after seeing bet365 take “remedial action,” the DGE agreed to settle the shortcomings.

Having considered the Stipulation of Settlement which the parties executed and finding sufficient legal and factual support for the recommended penalty therein, I hearby order that the settlement be adopted and that a civil penalty in the amount of $33,000.00 be imposed upon bet365,” Flaherty wrote in her order.

The bet365 penalty will be deposited to the DGE’s Revenue Unit. The fine comes just weeks after bet365 was ordered to pay over a half-million dollars back to bettors after a DGE probe concluded that the sportsbook amended odds in the book’s favor after accepting nearly 200 wagers.

Bet365 argued that the initial odds were offered in error. The DGE said a sportsbook can only amend a facilitated wager with its approval.

“The failure of bet365’s internal software coupled with its manual trading errors caused its system to be unable to ensure the accuracy of its data feeds. These failures are both problematic as to bet365’s business ability to conduct online gaming and the integrity and reliability of its operational systems, and therefore unacceptable as they resulted in misleading wagering information that was relied upon by its patrons and ultimately led to incorrect payouts for numerous patrons,” the DGE wrote.

Ensuring Trust Paramount

As sports betting has spread to nearly 40 jurisdictions in the U.S., the industry has faced criticism this year for supposedly limiting bettors who win too often and preying on those who don’t.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, perhaps the most pro-active regulatory in the U.S., continues to investigate how its online sportsbooks decide when to limit customers. Sportsbooks have been hesitant to reveal their trade secrets, but a planned Q&A with licensees is slated for next month.

DraftKings later realized a programming error that made the interactive slot unwinnable.

The post Bet365 Fined Again in New Jersey, This Time for Taking Bets on Completed Events appeared first on Casino.org.

The fine, which is part of a non-prosecution agreement (NPA), is believed to be the largest on record for any US-based casino company “based on admissions of criminal wrongdoing,” according to DOJ. Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts notified investors about the penalty in a form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) late Friday.

Pursuant to the NPA, Wynn Las Vegas agreed to forfeit $130 million in funds involved in the transactions at issue and continue to make certain enhancements to its compliance program. The DOJ agreed that, subject to Wynn Las Vegas’s fulfillment of its obligations under the NPA, it will not bring any criminal charges against Wynn Las Vegas concerning the subject matter of its investigation, subject to standard reservations of rights and certain reserved claims,” said the gaming company in the regulatory document.

News of the penalty hasn’t spooked Wynn shareholders as of yet as the stock was down just 0.16% in Friday’s after-hours session. As part of the NPA, Wynn Las Vegas admitted that it used an illegal money transfer system to skirt regulated, traditional anti-money laundering protocols.

Wynn Las Vegas Money Transfers Had China Ties

DOJ outlined several scenarios in which violations at Wynn Las Vegas had ties to China. In one example known as “Human Head” or “Human Hat” betting, a? guest of the Sin City casino resort would use a proxy to wager their funds for fear that if they bet themselves, they’d run afoul of US Bank Secrecy Act or Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) laws.

“A money processor, acting as an unlicensed money transmitting business, collected U.S. dollars in cash from third parties in the United States and delivered that cash to a WLV patron who could not otherwise access cash in the U.S. The patron then electronically transferred the equivalent value of foreign currency from the patron’s foreign bank account to a foreign bank account designated by the money processor,” said DOJ in a statement.

Wynn Resorts’ Wynn Macau unit runs two integrated resorts in the Chinese territory, but DOJ didn’t mention anything about the operator’s Macau exposure playing a role in the money transfer schemes that occurred at the company’s Las Vegas property.

DOJ added that in another example of Wynn Las Vegas flouting anti-money laundering regulations, the venue didn’t report millions of dollars in transactions attributable to a Chinese guest who “had spent six years in prison in China for conducting unauthorized international monetary transactions and violations of other financial laws.”

Wynn Looks to Put Ominous Chapter to Bed

While the bulk of the operator’s earnings and revenue are derived from Macau, Wynn’s Las Vegas complex, consisting of the namesake casino hotel and adjoining Encore, are vital to its US presence and overall investment thesis. That confirms it behooves the operator to put the illegal money transfer issue to rest.

“In reaching the resolution set forth in the NPA, the DOJ took into account the historical nature of the transactions at issue; Wynn Las Vegas’s cooperation with the DOJ’s multi-year investigation; that Wynn Las Vegas no longer employs or is affiliated with any of the individuals implicated in the transactions at issue; and Wynn Las Vegas’s extensive remedial measures, many of which were undertaken prior to the parties entering into the NPA,” said the gaming company in the SEC filing.

The case was investigated by the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the IRS.

The post Wynn Las Vegas Strikes $130M DOJ Settlement, Largest Fine Ever for a US Casino appeared first on Casino.org.

All nine inspectors under Champion’s control signed an open letter published Wednesday by the MSEA-SEIU Local 1989 public services union. The letter expresses no confidence in Champion, who has been executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit since 2016.

“Casino gambling … was a highly contentious issue in Maine in 2003 when it was passed by voters and legalized,” Mark Brunton, president of Local 1989, said in a statement. “One of the concerns was to make sure it was well-regulated to protect the citizens of Maine. That’s the important role that our inspectors play. They need to be on the job whenever the casinos are open.”

‘Undermining the Board’

?The inspectors’ letter claims that Champion “does not respect” the oversight of the Maine Gambling Control Board because it has denied his proposals in the past.

Now, rather than subject himself to the checks and balances of the Board’s oversight function, Milton Champion is circumventing the Board altogether by making unilateral decisions that completely undermine the Board’s ability to oversee gambling matters in Maine.”

The inspectors claim that “many of these decisions make very little sense, are based on false data, and have irreparably harmed the Maine Gambling Control Unit’s ability to regulate casino gambling.”

Additional grievances include Champion’s alleged failure to “correctly pay” his inspectors for services rendered and refusal to discuss all of the above issues.

“We must make it known that Milton Champion has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for our legal rights and processes spelled out in our union contract, has retaliated against us individually and as a group, and has created a deeply dysfunctional and toxic workplace environment,” the letter states.

Champion Blunder

Champion hadn’t responded to a request for comment on the letter from Casino.org at the time of publication. However, Steven Silver, chair of the Maine Gambling Control Board, told The Portland Press Herald that “from a purely operational standpoint, things have been running very smoothly and very profitably under Director Champion.”

Silver also acknowledged he was aware of complaints about a hostile work environment and had concerns over the decision-making that went into the schedule change.

On May 6 of that year, the regulator replied to a poster’s opinion that referring to a group of women as “ladies” was inappropriate.

“In this day and age, I guess ‘bitches’ is better,” he suggested.

Then, just over a week later, he reacted to images of a white nationalist march on the US Capitol with: “At least they are not burning down or looting stores.”

The post Maine Chief Regulator Facing ‘No Confidence’ Revolt by Casino Inspectors appeared first on Casino.org.

Legal sports betting began at the state’s three brick-and-mortar casinos — Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park — in January 2023. Online sportsbooks commenced operations two months later in March.

According to the school’s Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts’ summer update, there has been “no change in the proportion of monthly gamblers … who had engaged in any illegal sports betting between 2022 and 2023.” The UMass researchers did find a decrease in the proportion of monthly sports bettors who engaged only in illegal sports betting, but concluded that Massachusetts’ regulation of sports gambling “was not a substantial recapture of illegal sports betting revenues.”

Concerned Commissioners?

UMass researcher Rachel Volberg recently presented the July findings to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC). Though the July update focused on problem gambling rates, commissioners said their interest was piqued by the illegal betting data points.

A lot of the reason we wanted to make sure this is done and done correctly, sports wagering, is that we want to stamp out the illegal market,” said MGC Interim Chair Jordan Maynard. “The illegal market is not a victimless place.”

Maynard said the regulated space provides numerous consumer protections that aren’t available in the underground and offshore markets, including responsible gaming programs, player complaint resources, and guarantees that bets will be paid and account withdrawals will be executed.

If you have an issue with your bookie, there are only a few places you can go. If you have an issue with a legal sports wagering operator or gambling operator in the state, you can come to the Gaming Commission and we can help take care of these issues,” Maynard said.

Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said she can understand how an online sports bettor might be tricked into believing an unregulated, offshore sportsbook website is a legal operation. She said the state must do more “to continue to educate consumers” about what is and isn’t permitted sports gambling.

More Data Needed

Since legal online sports betting in Massachusetts — the preferred wagering method in states where both retail and internet sportsbooks are allowed — is only 17 months into existence, Volberg told the MGC that more time is needed to hopefully transition more bettors from the illegal market.

Many jurisdictions have found that it can take a substantial period of time for sports bettors to migrate fully from nonregulated to regulated providers,” she explained.

Sports betting has provided a substantial revenue windfall for Massachusetts. The MGC says since the first legal bet was wagered in January 2023, the state has collected $166.6 million in sports gambling taxes and fees.

The post Study: Illegal Sports Betting Rate in Massachusetts Remains Unchanged appeared first on Casino.org.

The company told shareholders on Friday that it would halt trading and publish its full-year results later in the day. That’s while it “considered the implications” of a damning report by New South Wales (NSW) regulators that found it was still unsuitable to hold a gaming license for its flagship Star Sydney property.

The report by the New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) concluded the operator had not sufficiently addressed the “governance and cultural concerns” highlighted in a 2022 inquiry that initially found it unfit for licensing.

It has only very recently turned its attention to dealing with challenges that should have been prioritized earlier,” NICC chief commissioner Philip Crawford said.

“It was unclear whether The Star could feasibly operate under less supervision, when it was exhibiting past behaviors with its license still suspended,” he added.

Secret VIP Room

The 2022 inquiry determined that The Star Sydney had failed to protect itself from being used by criminal gangs to launder money in private high-roller junket rooms.

Star allowed Macau-based junket operator Suncity to secretly operate an unbranded VIP room, referred to as “Salon 95.” This was despite Australian authorities having identified Suncity as having links to organized crime.

Salon 95 continued to operate even after then-Star CEO Matt Bekier told regulators his company had severed business links to Suncity.

The casino also allowed Chinese high rollers to withdraw a total of $900 million for gambling using China UnionPay (CUP) credit cards while disguising these transactions as “hotel expenses” to avoid breaching CUP’s no-gambling transaction rules. Star subsequently lied to CUP and the National Australia Bank in an effort to conceal the deceit.

Crown Passes Test

Star’s competitor, Crown Resorts, faced similar accusations of cultural shortcomings and was also found unsuitable for licensing in NSW following a 2021 inquiry. But last April, the NICC determined that the company had successfully addressed its failings.

The report, published last Thursday, came just two days after Star opened its AU$3.8 billion (US$2.5 billion) Queens Wharf in Brisbane, Queensland. It also runs The Star Gold Coast in Queensland.

The post Star Entertainment Kicked Off ASX Over Missing Financial Results appeared first on Casino.org.

In a media session earlier this week following a Cowboys practice, Jones said he thinks the Lone Star state will eventually have sports betting, but until then, Texas is missing out on an opportunity to generate significant tax receipts.

I think ultimately you’ll have sports betting in the state of Texas. Until that time, the state does lose an opportunity for huge amounts of revenue,” the Cowboys boss said.

Jones didn’t speculate as to when the state could approve mobile sports betting, but it appears that is highly unlikely to happen prior to the 2027 legislative session. If it happens then and the matter is approved by voters later that year, it’s possible Texas would have mobile sports wagering in advance of the 2028 football season.

Jones Wants Transparency in Texas Sports Betting

Jones and other owners of professional teams located in Texas have been vocal supporters of regulated sports wagering coming to the state because it’d be a money-maker not only for the state, but for their franchises as well.

“I think that properly, properly supervised, by the people that play the games and people that have the teams that play the games and the individual athletes — you’ve got to make sure that the perception is and the reality is that there’s just no compromising on it all being very competitive and up-and-up,” he told the press. “I think that takes some time in some places more than it does others.”

Jones has some gaming investments, including ties to an Arkansas casino plan. Along with several other professional team owners, he was an early investor in DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG).

Texas Sports Betting Outlook

In 2023, both casino gaming and sports wagering made more progress than the issues previously had in Texas, but both ultimately perished because there wasn’t momentum in the state Senate to take up the related bills.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) controls what bills are heard in the Senate and his opposition to gaming expansion is well-documented.

Due to this being an election year, the Texas legislature had a brief schedule, making it difficult to consider gaming issues. The legislature is scheduled to reconvene in January, but the prevailing wisdom in sports betting circles is that politicians there won’t prioritize sports wagering.

The post Jerry Jones: Without Sports Betting, Texas Missing Out On Big Revenue appeared first on Casino.org.

One of the more notable illegal gaming websites that has for years facilitated online gambling for players in states where such gambling isn’t allowed is Bovada. The gaming brand was originally known as Bodog and reportedly made the Saskatchewan-born Calvin Ayre a billionaire.

Louisiana and Ohio are both home to legal, regulated brick-and-mortar casinos, plus in-person and online sportsbooks. Online casino games, however, remain prohibited.

Bovada Limits Operations?

Louisiana and Ohio’s directives to Bovada follow a growing list of legal gaming states that have warned Bovada to stop allowing consumers in their jurisdictions access to its internet slot machines, table games, poker room, and sportsbook. Bovada claims it operates legally through its iGaming license it holds from the Anjouan Gaming Board.

Along with the online gaming concession Bovada possesses from the archipelagic country located off the southeastern coast of Africa, the website is registered with the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority.

On its website, Bovada says it has adhered to all of the cease-and-desist letters, with Louisiana being the lone exception as of this writing. The LGCB wrote the iGaming company in a letter dated August 6.

Bovada says a customer with an account balance in a state where the website suspends its operations should contact customer support to arrange “a cryptocurrency withdrawal.”

Cryptocurrency is the preferred currency on Bovada, as the platform provides players with larger sign-up bonuses and promotional incentives when using Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other prominent decentralized digital currencies.

Unregulated Gaming

Gambling in the US has expanded considerably in recent years.

Along with numerous new brick-and-mortar commercial casino states, the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision that a federal law that had limited single-game sports betting to Nevada was unconstitutional resulted in nearly 40 states authorizing sports gambling. Legal iGaming has also grown to seven states, and several others continue contemplating whether to allow online slot machines and table games.

The federal law enforcement agency maintains that it “takes seriously the issue of illegal online gambling and continues to successfully investigate and prosecute illegal internet gambling.”

The post Gaming States Continue to Order Offshore Casino Websites to Cease Operations appeared first on Casino.org.

The complaint, filed Wednesday in London’s High Court by 20 institutional shareholders, demands $150 million in damages. It claims that Entain failed to properly inform investors of an investigation by the UK tax agency, HMRC, into bribery and corruption at the Turkish subsidiary, Headlong.

Ultimately, Entain would pay one of the biggest fines in UK corporate history, ￡600 million (US$760 million) to resolve the case. Shares in the company have almost halved since May 2023 when it warned shareholders of the impending penalty.

Shady Networks

Entain, then known as GVC Holdings, offloaded Headlong for free in December 2017 ahead of its proposed takeover of British legacy betting group Ladbrokes-Coral.

Online gambling is illegal in Turkey, and the company wanted to rid itself of black-market ops that might give regulators a reason to nix the Ladbrokes deal.

HMRC accused Entain of failing to stop Headlong employees from engaging in bribery. The unit was so poorly overseen that some of its employees were defrauding the parent company by siphoning off money.

Entain, which now owns half of BetMGM, could have been prosecuted under the UK Bribery Act but prosecutors ultimately decided against this because it could have resulted in the company losing licenses across the world, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Internal Unrest

Should the case proceed to trial, a judge will need to determine the degree to which the Turkish investigation caused Entain’s stock market downturn. There have been many other factors that have damaged its share price over the past few years, including a series of misfiring acquisitions.

Andrew Williams, a partner at Fox Williams, the law firm that filed the complaint, said he hoped the lawsuit would “offer institutional investors the opportunity to recover substantial losses, but more importantly, serve to improve transparency and governance within the UK’s gambling sector, reminding public companies that they need to take their disclosure obligations seriously.”

The post Entain Shareholders Sue Over $760M Turkish Bribery Fine appeared first on Casino.org.

Last week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) said it is examining financial penalties against Resorts World Las Vegas (RWLV) — Genting’s lone Nevada property — over that venue’s role in allowing known illegal bookmakers to wager there. Nevada regulators alleged that Resorts World Las Vegas not only knowingly allowed those bookies to bet there, but also didn’t scrutinize the source of their cash. That could call into question the veracity of the integrated resort’s anti-money laundering protocols.

We think another risk is that a negative review by the commission could jeopardize Resorts World New York City’s bid,” wrote CIMB analysts in a recent report to clients.

Genting-owned Resorts World New York is a slots-only venue in Queens. The venue has been operational for about 13 years, and over that time, it’s delivered more than $4 billion in taxes for the state. That coupled with its status as one of the highest-grossing regional casinos in the country, despite having no table games, has led to speculation that Resorts World New York is almost a lock to win one of the three downstate permits.

Genting Could Face Hefty Fine in Nevada

CIMB Securities observed that Resorts World Las Vegas could have to answer for as many as 300 separate violations, which could result in fines totaling $75 million.

“Some industry experts say that this is rare and the commission is unlikely to go that far, due to the uncertain long-term impact from taking such a drastic measure,” noted the brokerage firm.

Scott Sibella, the former MGM Resorts International and RWLV executive at the heart of the scandal, pleaded guilty in January to violating the federal Bank Secrecy Act, and in May, was tagged with a $9,500 fine and a $100 special levy. In Nevada, he could face loss of his gaming license and up to $750K in fines.

Genting NY Casino Bid Could Withstand Controversy

To date, no New York regulators have commented on whether or not the goings on at Resorts World Las Vegas could endanger Genting’s Empire State ambitions. In New York, the current emphasis is on finding some way to expedite the start of the bidding process for the three downstate casino licenses — something that appears unlikely over the near term.

However, that’s just speculation and no New York regulator has publicly said the Genting and MGM bids there are in jeopardy due to controversies in Nevada. With both operators already established and known to New York policymakers, and with both pledging billions of dollars in enhancements to their existing venues and the creation of thousands of new jobs should they win traditional casino licenses, it’s possible their New York ambitions can withstand the Sibella-related imbroglio in Las Vegas.

The post Genting NY Casino Bid Could Be Hindered by Las Vegas Controversy, Says CIMB appeared first on Casino.org.

Virginia has expanded gambling considerably in recent years to include up to five brick-and-mortar casinos with slot machines, live dealer table games, and sports betting. Virginia is also now home to online sports betting and slot-like historical horse racing machines that operate in parimutuel wagering facilities.

The Virginia Lottery oversees lottery gaming, casino activity, and retail and mobile sports betting. The Virginia Racing Commission regulates HHR gaming, horse racing, and parimutuel wagering.

The joint subcommittee is expected to make its recommendations to the General Assembly in January.

Consultant Recommends Formation?

During the joint subcommittee’s meeting on Wednesday, Brianne Doura-Schawohl, a consultant with her boutique Doura-Schawohl Consulting, LLC, recommended to the bipartisan panel to set aside funding for the establishment of the Virginia Gaming Commission. Doura-Schawohl said a central gaming regulatory agency is best at providing consumer protections, governing operators, and ensuring that the societal harms of expanded gaming are minimalized.

Doura-Schawohl said Virginia has an obligation to direct a percentage of its gaming tax for the research, prevention, treatment, and recovery of problem gambling.

The most comprehensive model to mitigate risk and reduce harm is a bifurcated approach between the state health agency and one central gaming regulatory agency,” Doura-Schawohl said. “The regulatory should be empowered to require and enforce stringent consumer protection provisions as part of licensure.”

Virginia, once among the most limited gaming states, is poised to become a big player in the US casino industry as retail casino resorts open across the commonwealth.

In January 2023, Rivers Casino Portsmouth became the first permanent casino to open in Virginia. Larger casino resorts are soon opening in Danville and Bristol.

Caesars Entertainment plans to open its $750 million integrated resort Caesars Virginia in Danville before the year’s end. Hard Rock International plans to open the $550 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol this fall or winter.

Petersburg voters will decide whether to authorize a $1.4 billion mixed-use complex with an integrated resort casino this November. And the Pamunkey Indian Tribe continues to move forward with a more than $500 million casino project in Norfolk.

Churchill’s Opposition

Churchill Downs, Inc., which operates HHR machines in Virginia and is building The Rose Gaming Resort, a $460 million development, in Dumfries, is opposed to putting parimutuel wagering regulation under the scope of the proposed Virginia Gaming Commission.

Churchill, which also owns and operates the Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, says other states that have moved parimutuel wagering regulation from a racing commission to a gaming commission have seen allocations to horsemen decline. The Kentucky-based company pointed to Michigan where in 1997 the Michigan Racing Commission merged with the newly formed Michigan Gaming Control Board.

Michigan’s once vibrant thoroughbred industry went from running over 1,000 races for $9 million in purses (2003) to ceasing thoroughbred racing,” Churchill’s presentation to the joint subcommittee detailed. “In 2003, there were 375 thoroughbreds foaled in Michigan and in 2022 there were four.”

Michigan’s final racetrack, Northville Downs, closed earlier this year bringing an end to Michigan’s horse racing industry.

“Given the nuances of parimutuel wagering, live horse racing, simulcast wagering, and advanced deposit wagering, Churchill Downs believes the oversight of historical and live horse racing should remain at the Virginia Racing Commission,” the company concluded.

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So-called “sweepstakes casinos” offer traditional slot machines and table games via online websites and apps. The platforms circumvent state and federal gaming laws by utilizing a dual-currency system.

New players are afforded a free allotment of virtual coins that can be used to play the casino games. Once the free play runs out, players can purchase a separate virtual currency to further their gameplay.

Online sweepstakes casinos have come under regulatory examination, with state officials in Michigan, Georgia, and Delaware recently sending cease-and-desist letters to several operators.

AGA Stresses Regulatory Vigilance?

In a memo regarding sweepstakes issued this month, the AGA said online sweepstakes casinos undermine gaming regulations and threaten consumers. The gaming lobby is urging state regulators to send warning notices to sweeps operators informing them they’ll face legal action if they don’t immediately terminate their US-focused operations.

“There are an increasing number of entities that have intentionally designed business models to circumvent or exploit ambiguity in state gambling laws and the regulatory frameworks within which the legal gaming industry operates,” the AGA memo read.

Gaming regulators and state attorneys general should investigate companies or platforms that offer casino games or a form of sports betting under the ‘sweepstakes’ model to determine whether or not these operators are in compliance with their respective laws and regulations and take appropriate action if not. Where state laws and regulations are not clear, legislatures should consider enacting legislation to prevent unlicensed operators from exploiting loopholes in sweepstakes regulations to offer online real money gambling,” the memo continued.

The AGA says online sweepstakes casinos differ from social gaming apps in that the latter doesn’t provide an opportunity for players to win cash.

“Unlike sweepstakes casinos, which utilize a dual currency system to offer players the chance to exchange the in-game currency for real money and prizes, social casino games are more casual games that resemble gambling style games but have a closed loop economy where rewards cannot be redeemed for real-world currency, used to win prizes, or traded to other players,” the AGA said.

Michigan Sweeps Out Sweepstakes

Toward the end of 2023, the Michigan Gaming Control Board sent cease-and-desist letters to two leading sweepstakes casino operators, Cyprus-based Stake.us and San Francisco-based Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), which runs Luckyland Casino, Chumba Casino, and Global Poker.

As a result of the communications, both Stake and VGW stopped offering their products in Michigan. It was reported this week that Delaware has taken similar action against VGW and the company is being sued in Georgia for operating illegally.

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The DGE told the casino operated by MGM Resorts International that a recent audit into BetMGM’s operations determined that the iGaming platform underpaid taxes due to overstating its promotional gaming credits, or PGCs.

Borgata was told it must pay the DGE the $365,161, plus an interest and tax penalty amounting to $33,272. Because this was the second time in 18 months that BetMGM overstated its PGCs, the DGE also concluded that a civil financial penalty was warranted.

$75K Settlement?

DGE Interim Director Mary Jo Flaherty told Borgata and BetMGM that PGCs only qualify for tax exemption when the credits are provided for free online slot machine play. Any associated winnings from the promotional credit must be available for immediate cashing out after the bonus is wagered one time.

In 2023, the DGE found that BetMGM had included promotional credits issued for interactive table games as qualified tax deductions.

In that audit, the DGE discovered that BetMGM overstated its promotional deductions by more than $9.8 million, which resulted in a tax underpayment of more than $787K. BetMGM paid the back tax and $127,345 in interest and penalties.

Flaherty said BetMGM’s second regulatory violation regarding PGCs in a year and a half is a matter the DGE views as “serious.” ?

The fact that this conduct was repeated less than 18 months after the Division warned an additional violation of this type could result in a civil penalty is also to be considered. The Division notes that the underpayment of taxes was remedied quickly in each case, and software fixes were deployed to correct the reporting errors with regard to PGCs,” Flaherty wrote in her action in lieu of complaint letter.

Flaherty said the division accepted Borgata’s offer to pay a civil penalty of $75K to settle the matter. DGE rules permit a civil penalty of up to $100K per violative instance against a casino licensee.?

iGaming Boom

While in-person play in Atlantic City has slowed this summer for the nine brick-and-mortar casinos, iGaming revenue continues to experience record growth.

Through six months, Borgata’s online casino operations ranked third in New Jersey’s iGaming market. The casino’s iGaming partners combined to win $257 million during the six months, with BetMGM accounting for the lion’s share at $132.57 million.

Borgata’s online casino partners additionally include Borgata Casino, Party Casino, Wheel of Fortune Casino, and Stardust Casino.

Borgata’s physical casino floor is the richest in Atlantic City. Between January through June, Borgata’s retail gaming win totaled $351.8 million. Hard Rock was second at $262.2 million.

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For its casino venture, the City of Norfolk partnered with the Pamunkey Indian Tribe, a small Native American community located about 65 miles north of the Hampton Roads city in King William, and billionaire gaming industry veteran Jon Yarbrough. The tribe and Yarbrough, through his Golden Eagle Consulting, LLC, this week unveiled another design plan for the undertaking that’s to cost around a half-billion dollars.

The complex, which is to be built adjacent to the city’s Harbor Park Minor League Baseball Stadium, home of the Norfolk Tides, on roughly 13.5 acres of city-owned land, would include a casino, hotel, ballroom, spa and fitness center, and parking garage.

City Officials Welcome Plan

The Norfolk government has become increasingly frustrated with the Pamunkey Tribe and Yarbrough for the continuous delays in breaking ground.

The developers have blamed the setbacks on a difficult construction site and the state and city’s plan to embark on a $2.6 billion infrastructure project that includes building a 17-foot-high floodwall along the Elizabeth River. The tribe and Yarbrough originally intended to include a marina with the resort casino, but with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers readying to build the floodwall, the resort plan had to go back to the drawing board.

Another setback was the tribe’s idea to construct the resort in phases, with opening the casino first. That idea was pushed back on by city officials who demanded that the entire resort come at the same time.

The developers had also tried to open a temporary casino inside Harbor Park before it was clarified that the state gaming law only allows for temporary casinos to operate at the same mailing address as the permanent casino.

Though it’s been nearly four years since Norfolk voters signed off on a casino development led by the Pamunkey Indian Tribe and no dirt has yet been moved, City of Norfolk Communications Director Kelly Straub said the local government is “encouraged” by the latest outline.

We are very encouraged by the most recent application for a development certificate which is now proceeding through the review process,” said Straub. “The City of Norfolk remains committed to fostering a vibrant and thriving community, and the resort casino is poised to be a cornerstone of this vision.”

Before the casino can begin construction, the city’s Architectural Review Board (ARB) must first sign off on its blueprint.

HeadWaters Name Sunk

Previous plans for the Norfolk casino from the tribe and Yarbrough used the identity HeadWaters Resort & Casino. But after facing much headwind, the development group has seemingly ditched that name.

Nowhere in the casino’s ARB presentation was HeadWaters mentioned. Instead, the project was referred to simply as the Norfolk Casino.

Norfolk Casino will reimagine the waterfront inspired by its own rich maritime history,” the presentation’s “Design Narrative” read. “The graceful curves of the shipping channels and railroad lines that once traversed the site have been translated into various components of the project.”

“These influences pay homage to the original use of the bustling marine terminal in hope to aid in the careful endeavor to bring new life to the Harbor Park area once again,” the statement added.

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In an op-ed for Long Island Business News, Joshua Liebamn, a partner at Rosenberg Calica Birney Liebman & Ross LLP in Garden City, NY, opined that the saga of “Waiting for Kathy” is stalling the process through which gaming companies can bid for the trio of downstate permits.

In May, Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon) proposed bills in their respective chambers that if signed into law by Hochul, would have opened the bidding window for the New York City-area licenses as soon as Aug. 31. With that date just 16 days away, the governor hasn’t shown any intent to sign the legislation.

Press reports suggest that her staff never asked for the bill to be sent to her office for review, much less for her approval or, for that matter, a veto. Rather, there appears to have been a conscious decision to ignore the proposed bill and, by doing so, push a regulatory decision far into next year,” wrote Liebman.

The Addabbo/Pretlow effort could pave the way for decisions to be made on the three winners of the casino licenses by the middle of next year. Without, that process could drag well into late 2025 or beyond.

NYC Casino Process Long Derided

In his op-ed, Liebman clearly noted that neither he nor his firm have any relationship with Sands nor do they have financial interests in the operator’s Long Island venture. The attorney believes the gaming venue could be a driver of economic growth for Nassau County.

“If Rick’s casino in the movie ‘Casablanca’ had been waiting for Governor Hochul’s administration to issue it an operating license, the amoral French Captain Renault would have died of old age long before being presented with his winnings,” wrote Liebman.

Hochul has consistently said she’s not directly involved in how and to whom the licenses will be awarded, but some New York political experts believe there are obvious links between the New York Gaming Commission (NYGC), the New York Gaming Facility Location Board, and political entities.

Sands Casino Could Boost Nassau County Economy

Owing to the sluggish pace at which New York regulators are moving, there’s nothing more than speculation regarding which of the more than 10 bidders will win the three downstate casino licenses. However, the Sands plan is widely viewed as one of the most viable.

Not only is the operator one of the largest gaming companies in the world, it’s already making significant investments in the surrounding community. Plus, Nassau Coliseum is close to Manhattan, but doesn’t a gaming venue at the Coliseum doesn’t pose a traffic threat to the already highly congested borough.

For his part, Liebman believes the LVS casino hotel could jumpstart Nassau County’s local economy while paying dividends over the long-term.

“This governor and her casino siting board need to recognize what the business community has long known. Delay is as much a decision as definitive action,” concluded the attorney. “Our region’s economy can’t be permitted to be deferred into oblivion. The casino decision should be issued ‘letters of transit’ and allow it to fulfill its economic potential.”

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Should MGM win the permit, which could happen before the end of this year, it would debut the new venture in Brazil in 2025 under its BetMGM brand. The gaming company described the Brazil effort as “BetMGM-branded venture.”

The new BetMGM-branded venture will align MGM Resorts’ industry-leading gaming and entertainment expertise, and proven LeoVegas technology, with Grupo Globo’s superior consumer knowledge in Brazil, and reach of almost 70 million people every day through its multiple vehicles, to create a product with significant scale, resources and access,” according to a statement.

The gaming company added that the Brazil partnership will be able to leverage MGM’s various casino brands while accessing Brazilians that are customers of both MGM and Grupo Globo. Grupo Globo, which turns 100 years old next year, is one of Latin America’s largest media entities. The company makes for a practical sports betting partner in Brazil for any gaming operator because it owns at least half a dozen sports networks in the country.

Why Brazil Sports Betting Matters

Brazil is Latin America’s largest country by population and the region’s biggest economy. Alone, those data points highlight the allure of the market to international gaming companies such as MGM.

Brazil ranks as the sixth-largest country in the world by population, but 20 million represents less than 10% of the population, indicating there’s ample room for gaming companies to broaden the reach of internet casino and sports wagering offerings. Additionally, Brazil doesn’t have brick-and-mortar casinos, meaning more cost-efficient online wagering options dominate the market.

Bottom line: with Europe’s betting markets mature and legislative progress in the US slowing, Brazil is one of the best international opportunities for iGaming and sportsbook operators.

More MGM Brazil Details

The MGM/Grupo Globo venture will be based in Sao Paulo. The media statement didn’t include financial details of the partnership and it didn’t mention which entity will have majority control or if it will be split 50/50.

As of December 2023, 134 companies signaled interest in potentially bidding for sports wagering licenses in Brazil, but there’s chatter that some of those firms, including US-based operators, are merely kicking the tires and taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Brazil is one of the most exciting and vibrant emerging gaming markets in the world, and no one has more exposure and expertise in this market than Grupo Globo,” said MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle in the statement. “This historic alliance allows us to quickly enter the market with the scale and expertise needed to establish an early foothold as a leading operator and provider of the very best experience to customers across Brazil.”

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Arkansas Edge is seeking permission from the Arkansas Racing Commission (ARC), the state’s gaming and racing regulator, to amend its rules to permit electronic 50/50 raffles. Operating such an online raffle would be costly, as managing an internet sweepstakes would require Arkansas Edge to partner with and utilize a geolocation technology service provider like GeoComply to ensure that only people physically located within the state are participating. There would also be “know your customer” components.

Since Bet Saracen already has geofencing technology and KYC protocols in place to allow anyone aged 21 and older physically located inside Arkansas to place online sports bets, the casino owned and operated by the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma says it can run the electronic 50/50 raffle.

Big Catch?

Saracen reps say if Arkansas wishes to allow an online raffle to support the Razorbacks’ NIL program, the state might as well also go ahead and legalize iGaming, including online slot machines and interactive table games. Casino officials have presented regulatory amendments to ARC’s online sports betting rules to allow raffles and iGaming.

Saracen leaders have recommended altering the definition of “interactive gaming” to include “a NIL drawing game conducted through an electronic device or machine to benefit a Name, Image, Likeness collective consistent with the Arkansas Student-Athlete Publicity Rights Act.”

We would have an innovative NIL fundraising strategy that no state has,” Saracen Chief Marketing Officer Carlton Saffa told Best of Arkansas Sports.

“I graduated from the University of Arkansas,” Saffa added. “My wife graduated from the University of Arkansas. My children have no choice. They will attend the University of Arkansas. This is where we need to be focusing.”

As for online slot machines and table games, Saffa said the state authorizing its three brick-and-mortar casinos to operate such interactive gaming would help rid the state of illegal, offshore websites and apps that actively target players in states where iGaming isn’t allowed.

Immediate Pushback

The odds of Arkansas Edge and Bet Saracen teaming up for NIL aren’t exactly good.

To circumvent that concern, Arkansas Edge and Saracen carefully worded its proposed regulatory language to refer to an online 50/50 raffle as a “NIL drawing game.”

Arkansas’ Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson isn’t sold.

We believe the proposed NIL raffle is not authorized under existing Arkansas law and could not be implemented with just a rule change,” Hudson said in a statement.

“It’s also important to note the proposal is part of a broader request to allow casino gaming online. This would represent a major expansion of gaming in Arkansas and should not be rushed into without understanding its impact on our state,” Hudson continued.

The post Arkansas Razorbacks NIL Collective Asks State for Online Raffle to Fund Players appeared first on Casino.org.

In a clear blow to rival DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG), FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) announced today it has no plans to implement levies on winning sports bets in select high-tax states.

Dublin-based Flutter reported second-quarter results this afternoon — 12 days after DraftKings said it will charge a small surcharge on winning sports wagers in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont starting Jan. 1, 2025. Dashing the hopes of some DraftKings investors, Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said the company won’t play along.

We often find as well that smaller players may also have to increase their prices, which leads to us capturing more share , which provides an offset for us,” said Jackson in response to analyst question on a conference call. “And so we think that moderating the level of reducing local marketing is the best customer options and we have no plans to introduce a surcharge on winners.”

Investor reaction to the news was clear. At this writing, shares of Flutter were higher by 10% in after-hours trading while DraftKings was down 4%. Year-to-date, the FanDuel parent is up 6.92% while rival DraftKings is down 10.81%.

Welcome to Surcharge Island DraftKings

Following DraftKings’ Aug. 1 announcement about the surcharge, which the company told analysts and investors could be accretive to 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), there was ample speculation among some market participants that the plan could be validated by FanDuel following suit. Some so-called experts even believed that was likely.

Flutter joined Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI) as the operators overtly saying they will not levy winning wagers in high-tax states. Likewise, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook parent Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) recently delivered financial results and didn’t mention plans for a surcharge.

Last week, ESPN Bet owner Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) said it’s monitoring the surcharge situation, neither endorsing nor deriding the idea. That’s the closest a gaming company has come to siding with DraftKings, but it’s a stretch at best.

Flutter Bashes Illinois Tax Scheme

Jackson told analysts that he believes the bulk of the state’s in which FanDuel operates have “sensible” approaches to taxing regulated sports betting, though he added he’s not a fan of the graduated tax scheme recently implemented in Illinois.

Starting in July, Illinois instituted a tax plan that mandates high revenue sportsbook operators such as DraftKings and FanDuel pay significantly higher rates than smaller counterparts. As a result, the effective rate for those two more than doubled in that state.

“I do think instituting a graduated tax system that punishes those who’ve invested the most to grow their businesses is wrong,” said Jackson in response to an analyst question. “I think it will drive customers to offshore operators or potentially to onshore operators who offering unregulated, untaxed prop parlays under the guise of sweepstakes.”

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During a Virginia Lottery board meeting last week, Ray Dunkle, the lottery’s director of gaming operations, said progress continues to move swiftly at the Danville construction site.

Construction is moving great. It looks significantly different,” Dunkle explained in his update. “They’re looking to open in the fourth quarter.”

Caesars Virginia is being built on the former grounds of Dan River Inc.’s textile campus, which served as Danville’s economic engine for more than 100 years until an India-based conglomerate acquired the apparel and fabrics giant in 2006 and moved its operations overseas. The integrated resort casino has retained the manufacturing grounds’ iconic “Three Sisters” smokestacks to pay homage to the property’s historic roots.

Danville is located just north of the North Carolina border. Along with its former textile industry, the city’s economy throughout its history relied heavily on tobacco production. The area was also the third and final capital of the Confederacy before its surrender in the Civil War.?

Workers Wanted?

When it opens later this year, Caesars Virginia will offer a 320-room hotel and a casino floor equipped with roughly 1,300 slot machines, 85 live dealer table games, 24 electronic table games, a Caesars Sportsbook, and a World Series of Poker Room. Resort amenities include a full-service spa, an outdoor pool, a 2,500-seat live concert theater, 50,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and a variety of dining and drinking options.

Both unemployed and underemployed people are encouraged to visit the job fair to learn more about the array of jobs Caesars Virginia must fill. Openings include table game dealers, pit supervisors and managers, public relations and social media specialists, slot attendants, kitchen workers, waitstaff, HVAC techs, and electricians.

The 650 positions are in addition to the approximately 430 team members presently employed at the resort’s temporary pavilion tent casino. The provisional gaming space has 826 slots and 36 table games. The casino generated gross gaming revenue of $19.2 million in June.

Casino Changes

During its bid to partner with Danville for its casino opportunity that local voters approved of during the 2020 election, Caesars pledged to employ 1,300 people. The casino operator has since appealed and obtained approval from the Danville City Council to amend the operating terms to employ a minimum of 900 people.

Caesars also trimmed the number of hotel rooms from an originally pledged 500 occupancies to 320. The adjustment was the result of skyrocketing labor and materials costs due to inflation.

When Danville picked Caesars as its gaming partner, the Las Vegas-based company said it would invest $500 million to bring its Virginia resort to reality. The budget has since ballooned to $750 million.

Caesars’ original development agreement with the city required it to build a minimum of 300 hotel rooms rated four stars or higher.

The post Caesars Virginia Has 650 Jobs to Fill Before Permanent Resort Opens appeared first on Casino.org.

Council members are working to prevent charitable casinos from many downtown areas, according to the Keene Sentinel, a local news outlet.

Casino Restrictions

The new ordinance would place many other restrictions on casinos. City officials are planning to regulate the size of casinos. The current proposal says they should be at least 10,000 square feet. An earlier proposal put their minimum size at 20,000 square feet.

The newest plan also says how close they can be to schools, religious sites, and residential properties, the report added.

Casinos likely can’t be located within 200 feet of a house of worship, daycare center, or school. They also can’t be sited within 250 feet of a residence. Just one casino can be on a lot and casinos must be 500 feet or more from one another.

I’d say probably the biggest change is that … it didn’t necessarily make sense … for a charitable gaming facility to occur in the downtown growth district,” Keene Senior Planner Mari Brunner said last week.

“The … downtown growth [zone] is intended for a more walkable, pedestrian-oriented environment,” Brunner added.

Keene Community Development Director Jesse Rounds explained that casinos lead to more traffic and the need for increased parking.

The areas that casinos can be located include West Street, from Island Street to the bypass, Winchester Street, south of Island Street and north of Cornwell Drive, Main Street south of Route 101 and north of Silent Way, and Ash Brook Road, the Sentinel reported. Key Road and Kit Street are also allowed locations.

City officials will next consider the casino regulations during Sept. 11 and 19 meetings.

Only one single gaming property, Wonder Casino, is operating in Keene. It could remain at its current location despite new regulations, according to current plans.

Property Owner Complains

The proposed ordinance is hampering plans for a casino in Keene’s Central Square.

Local property owner Dorrie Masten claimed the new regulations came about after she proposed a new casino for that neighborhood.

I’m hoping the city allows charitable gaming anywhere in our downtown,” Masten was quoted by the New Hampshire Business Review last year. “Anywhere, whether it be my property or someone else’s property. There currently is no restriction, and there wasn’t a restriction until I asked about it and put in an application.”

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China, of which Macau is a territory, forbids visitors to the casino center from entering with more than $5,000 in cash, but that rule has long been circumvented with bettors using local money exchangers to whom cash was sent prior to the bettor’s arrival. China also limits the amount its citizens can withdraw from bank accounts via debits when traveling outside the country, furthering demand for Macau money transfer operations, but Beijing is clamping down on that system.

That comes as Macau casino stocks have been trending lower for months, prompting some analysts to speculate that the money transfer news could stoke more selling pressure.

In our opinion, the news about the Macau government’s decision to criminalize money exchange activities could bring some noise and lead to near-term share price weakness,” said Citigroup analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung in a new report.

Under the latest iteration of the “‘Law to Combat Gambling Crimes,” those running money transfer businesses with the primary purpose of serving customers who intend to use the funds at Macau casinos could face up to five years in prison if they don’t have proper licensing.

Money Transfer Rules Could Pinch Premium-Mass Players

Potentially further weighing on Macau gaming equities is the notion that the bettors most likely to use money transfer services are premium-mass players or those who wager more than their mass-market counterparts and less than VIPs.

“Although most players have their own legitimate ways to get their funds over to Macau — and these small money touts are unlikely [to be] the main fund facilitator for premium mass players – we are afraid that this negative news could add uncertainties and hurt the already fragile investment sentiment against the Macau gaming sector,” added the Citi analysts.

The volume of cash exchange by unregulated money transfer operators isn’t known, but Bloomberg reported that in 2023, Macau authorities detained 10K individuals providing related services.

Macau Casino Stocks Already ‘Fragile’

Despite a run of mostly solid monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) data, a Bloomberg Intelligence index of Macau casino stocks is flirting with 170 today after trading north of 240 in May, underscoring lingering weakness in the group and investor apprehension about the status of the stocks as value plays.

This negative news could add uncertainties and hurt the already fragile investment sentiment against the Macau gaming sector,” observed Choi and Cheung.

The analysts did note that Macau remains one of the top destinations for outbound tourism by Chinese nationals.

The post Macau Casino Stocks Languish on New Money Transfer Rules appeared first on Casino.org.

Last month, the Study Commission on the Future of Gaming in Ohio presented its findings to the state legislature. The 11-person bipartisan group of lawmakers and state racing and gaming officials struggled to find a consensus on whether to support the authorization of online casino gambling and internet lottery games.

However, the three GOP lawmakers serving on the committee came out in support of more gambling options being afforded to Buckeye State residents, including online slots, table games, and lottery sales. They also voiced their opposition to the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) earlier this year placing a ban on player prop bets involving collegiate athletes.

Unneeded Regulation

At the request of NCAA President Charlie Baker, OCCC Executive Director Matthew Schuler determined in February that requiring the state’s retail and online sportsbooks to remove college player props was needed to protect the integrity of college sports and reduce instances of player harassment. Schuler cited that such player props accounted for less than 1.5% of the overall money wagered on sports last year in Ohio.

Ohio Reps. Jay Edwards (R-Athens), Jeff LaRe (R-Violet), and Cindy Abrams (R-Hamilton) say the exclusion of such betting lines does little to protect college players and since student-athletes can now receive NIL money, they should be treated similarly to professional athletes.

“While we understand the circumstances in which this decision was made, we believe it is one that was not needed,” the Republican lawmakers wrote in their policy recommendations.

With the current landscape of collegiate athletics and NIL, players are now being paid to play (and perform) in certain sports. That is no different than any other professional sport. Reports of harassment and potential threats are unacceptable at any stage of athletics. Such acts should be investigated and prosecuted accordingly,” the suggestion continued.

“But the response from the OCCC to simply ban prop-betting on individual collegiate athletes looks to solve the problem without addressing the issue. We recommend that the OCCC’s policy be rescinded and prop- betting on college athletes be restored,” they concluded.?

Prop Bans

Most states prohibit their licensed sportsbook operators from accepting player props on college athletes. Such props typically involve a bet based on a single player’s performance.

Along with Ohio, gaming regulators and/or lawmakers in Louisiana, Maryland, and Vermont this year altered their sports betting rules to prohibit college player props.

Baker, who signed Massachusetts’ sports betting bill into law while governor of the state, says player props in college sports are “enormously problematic.” The former governor who became head of the collegiate sports governing body in March 2023 says college athletes “generally are surrounded by a huge percentage of their classmates who bet on sports.”

The post Ohio Republicans Say Ban on College Player Props Unjustified in NIL Environment appeared first on Casino.org.

The gaming company said last week it will start implementing a small levy on winning sports wagers in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont in an effort to lower its effective tax rate in those high-tax jurisdictions. The plan is scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. DraftKings told investors the surcharge could be accretive to 2025 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The operator’s EBITDA forecast of $900 million to $1 billion for next year doesn’t include potential benefits from the surcharge.

Surcharges would be lowest in Pennsylvania (1.0% surcharge, $9 million surcharge revenue) and highest in New York (6.6% / $209 million). The New York surcharge reflects the gap between the state’s 51% GGR tax and DraftKings’ target 20% rate,” noted EKG.

The research firm added its $270 million estimate doesn’t include the impact of bettors leaving DraftKings because of the levy, but it added that if that forecast proves accurate, it could add 150 basis points to the operator’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) market share, lifting it 34%.

FanDuel ‘Huge Domino’

Since DraftKings made the announcement, Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI) said it won’t follow suit, and ESPN Bet parent Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) said it’s monitoring the situation. Before the news, BetMGM and Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) delivered financial updates with neither announcing a similar plan.

“If FanDuel does not follow suit, and if states chafe at the potential for lost tax revenue, we believe DraftKings management will face considerable pressure from policymakers, investors, and media to drop the idea,” added EKG.

The research firm pointed out that if FanDuel employs a surcharge in the four aforementioned states, it could realize a revenue benefit of $358 million.

DraftKings Surcharge Risks May Outweigh Rewards

Since announcing the surcharge, DraftKings has been vilified on sports wagering social media with bettors and industry observers saying the move is no more than a stunt to get clients to absorb some of the operator’s tax bills in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

“At first glance, we think the risks (e.g., player attrition, reputational damage, states not buying the idea that surcharge revenue is tax-free) appear to outweigh rewards (e.g., increased profits),” concluded EKG.

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Known as “past-posted wagers,” a term that originated from horse racing and parimutuel bets made after the horses are called to the post, or starting gate, the NGCB endorsed an amendment to Regulation 22.060 and 22.115 that would lift reporting rules for accepting such late bets. Under the NGCB’s recommendation, Nevada’s licensed sportsbooks would no longer be required to seek approval to cancel past-posted bets.

The Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) is expected to adopt the proposal during its August 22 meeting.

Under Nevada’s current sports betting regulations, when a sportsbook becomes aware that it accepted past-posted bets, the book must inform NGCB Chair Kirk Hendrick before canceling the action. Licensees also must submit supplemental data on the incident within 45 days.

Operational Fairness?

Hendrick said during Wednesday’s meeting that the regulation adjustment lifts an unnecessary workload from the NGCB and its staff while easing licensees’ reporting requirements.

This is about trying to be fair, which is an overarching and important goal for the board, to both the patron and licensee,” Hendrick said.

The NGCB chair said that with the bulk of sports bets in Nevada now being made online and the in-person customer relationship with bookmakers no longer prevalent for most bettors, removing the past-posted reporting requirement makes sense.

In the digital age, there is an opportunity that if past-posting happens, a knowing or unknowing individual could place a bet on an event that has already had an outcome and cash that out and leave that electronic book,” Hendrick said. “They don’t care about the relationship [with the book].”

Hendrick went on to say that if an event already has an outcome, there can be no wagers under Nevada law.

“That’s a simple fact,” the board chair continued. “You can’t place a wager on [a decided outcome.] You can’t file a patron dispute if you knowingly or unknowingly place a bet on something that has already been determined.”

‘Nothing to Rescind’?

John Michela, the senior deputy attorney general of the Gaming Division of the Nevada Attorney General’s Office, told the board that the lifting of the reporting requirement does not impact books’ house rules because there is technically no betting involved.

“What we’re saying in the draft language is that there’s nothing to rescind,” Michela responded to a question posed by NGCB Member Dr. Brittnie Watkins. “If a bet’s placed after the outcome has already been determined, it’s just flat-out not a wager. There’s nothing to rescind.”

If the NGC approves the board’s recommendation, sportsbooks would still be required to submit reports of canceled past-posted bets every 45 days to the state but would be free to rescind such bets without first gaining approval from Hendrick.

The post Nevada Gaming Regulators Propose Easing Sportsbook Rules for Past-Posted Bets appeared first on Casino.org.

In December, the state’s gaming regulatory agency notified Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting Corporation (Suffolk OTB), the public entity that owns and operates the video lottery casino and hotel, that 34 of its employees weren’t properly licensed.

The commission said nine staffers were working without a license while 25 others were employed with expired or incorrect licenses. Newsday broke the news of the alleged regulatory violations through a Freedom of Information Law request.

The gaming commission issued Suffolk OTB a $26K fine on April 1 after determining that 26 employees remained noncompliant in licensing. Newsday reports that Jake’s 58 is appealing the penalty on claims that the violations stem from when the casino was owned by Delaware North.

Compliance Complaints

Suffolk OTB acquired Jake’s 58 in 2021 for $120 million from Delaware North, the Buffalo-based gaming and hospitality conglomerate that helped Suffolk open the video lottery casino inside a former Marriott hotel in early 2017. Jake’s offers more than 1,000 video lottery terminals (VLT), slot-like machines operated by a centralized lottery network.

Jake’s is one of 11 VLT casinos in the state. Each VLT casino keeps about 46% of the gross gaming revenue won by the terminals and electronic table games. About 44% goes to state education, and the remaining 10% is reserved for vendors and the administration of the central lottery system.

While the expansion is ongoing, state gaming regulators say Suffolk must do more to keep its workforce in regulatory compliance. Suffolk OTB CEO Phil Boyle told Newsday that the company is amid a hiring process for a newly created full-time position that will oversee employee licensing.

Boyle says the employee licensing violations raised by the state primarily dealt with operations when Delaware North managed the casino.

Though we were only recently notified of any issues … questions date back to when Delaware North ran Jake’s 58 Casino Hotel. It is our intention to address them, resolve them, and become a statewide model for other casinos to follow regarding license compliance,” Boyle told the Long Island news outlet.

In a statement provided to Casino.org, Delaware North says it was not notified of worker non-compliance during its management of Jake’s 58.

Delaware North operated gaming at Jake’s 58 under a management contract with Suffolk Regional Off-Track Betting from the venue’s opening in February 2017 to May 2021. Delaware North did not receive any notices of employee licensing violations during its period of managing Jake’s 58 on behalf of [Suffolk OTB]. Delaware North is strongly committed to gaming compliance, including employee licensing, at our casinos and other gaming venues in New York, seven other states and Australia,” the Delaware North statement read.

Possible Competition?

Jake’s could see new gaming competition should Las Vegas Sands secure one of the three downstate casino licenses the state is expected to grant next year.

Sands is seeking a permit to construct a $6B integrated resort casino at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum site. Jake’s is about 30 miles east of where Sands wants to construct its casino.

Jake’s isn’t bidding for one of the full-scale gaming licenses that include privileges for Las Vegas-style slot machines, live dealer table games, and sports betting.

The post Jake’s 58 Casino Appeals $26K Regulatory Fine Issued By New York Gaming Commission appeared first on Casino.org.

PlayIN for Charity is backed by The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the National Guard Association of Indiana. The veterans service organizations are calling on the Indiana General Assembly to “modernize” charitable gaming in the Hoosier state.

Under Indiana’s present charitable gaming statute, games of chance are limited to paper raffles, pull tabs, punchboards, and tipboards. Special casino and bingo nights are also allowed, but are limited to three days per week.

Most veterans groups are primarily funded by a combination of federal grants, state funding, private donations, and their facility’s operations.

Present Gaming Regulations

Veterans groups pay the state $50 a year for a charitable gaming license. The permit allows groups like the VFW to conduct raffles and sell paper pull tabs, punchboards, and tip boards 24 hours a day from its licensed facility.

For paper pull tabs, each board game must not exceed $15K in prizes. Single prizes per ticket are limited to $599 or less.

Winners of $250 or more must verify their identity with their printed name, signature, and date of birth. That information must be included in the charitable gaming facility’s annual report of monies received from each charitable game and its associated payouts. Those reports are submitted annually to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s Charity Gaming Division.

Electronic pull tabs are digitalized versions of traditional paper pull tabs that are a cornerstone of charitable gaming.

PlayIN is focused on expanding charitable gaming to permit e-tabs, but such authorization could also lend electronic gaming to for-profit taverns and other small businesses that house pull tabs.

Revenue Boost

PlayIN argues that as the world continues to evolve toward a digital environment, its veterans organizations should be allowed to “explore innovative avenues to grow.” Electronic charitable gaming in other states where it’s allowed — Ohio and Kentucky, for example — has been credited for significant revenue boosts for veterans groups and nonprofits.

Electronic pull tabs have been incredibly beneficial for the American Legion in Kentucky. The additional money raised from e-tabs has allowed us to invest in our posts and engage in our communities,” said Rhonda Fields-Hayes, American Legion Past State Commander. “Our posts are now more sustainable and ready to meet the needs of our veterans long into the future.”

Jerry Wilson of American Legion Post 199 in Ohio said his post struggled to generate $15K a year in charitable receipts before e-tabs. Since the Buckeye State permitted electronic charitable gaming, Wilson says the post now donates $100K a year to local charities.

The post Indiana Veterans Groups Urge Legislature to Allow Electronic Charitable Gaming appeared first on Casino.org.

That’s according to a recent Jefferies Equity Research report, which noted that 60% of surveyed DraftKings investors said they oppose the plan that the operator announced last week in conjunction with its second-quarter earnings report. It could be argued that’s a larger-than-expected disapproval percentage because the company said the small surcharge could be additive to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).

DraftKings said its 2025 EBITDA forecast of $900 million to $1 billion doesn’t include potential benefits from the tax, which goes into effect in those states on January 1.

In the wake of DraftKings announcing the controversial effort, there’s been ample criticism and opining in sports betting circles. Some experts noted that with Vermont being a small state, and Pennsylvania allowing promotional spending to be deducted from taxes, it’s Illinois and New York that figure most prominently in the surcharge plan. Illinois recently moved to a graduated tax on sports wagering under which the highest revenue operators, such as DraftKings, pay more taxes than lower-grossing rivals. New York’s sports betting tax of 51% is the highest among large states.

Some DraftKings Investors Worried About Rivals’ Responses

Following the DraftKings announcement, industry insiders and investors alike have speculated about whether or not competitors — namely FanDuel — will follow suit. FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) reports second-quarter results on August 13.

FanDuel could market against it and gain more share from new customers, irrespective of whether it leads to more EBITDA, which would be negative for DKNG shares,” wrote Katz.

That’s to say, DraftKings’ rivals could leverage the surcharge against it. To date, only Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI) has publicly said it won’t employ such a scheme, but BetMGM and Caesars Entertainment delivered financial results last week and there was no talk from either of those brands potentially implementing a tax on winning bets in any state.

Some DraftKings shareholders surveyed by Jefferies told the research firm they viewed the surcharge move as hasty and retaliatory, indicating it could come back to bite DraftKings in states such as Illinois and New York that are mulling iGaming legislation.

Dueling Views on DraftKings Surcharge

There are two sides to the surcharge coin, and that was apparent in the Jefferies survey.

Others indicated that the risk is high, unless DKNG’s intelligence suggests more states are likely to raise taxes,” added Katz. “The best case is you offset the tax increase in part, the worst case is you lose more share than you expect and have to reverse the strategy.”

Conversely, shareholders who are on board with the DraftKings decision believe it could be a positive for the industry and boost the operator’s free cash flow. Investors in that camp also believe bettors should be more aware of the tax regimes in their home states. They’ve also reconciled that FanDuel may not immediately follow suit.

The post DraftKings Investors Express Dismay About Surcharge Gambit appeared first on Casino.org.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) said an audit of bet365’s sports betting operations conducted in April 2022 determined that the online sportsbook unilaterally revised odds on 13 sporting events without approval from the state regulatory agency. The odds adjustments reduced how nearly 200 winning bets were paid.

DGE auditors found that bet365 regularly altered odds on accepted bets in the house’s favor. That violates New Jersey’s sports betting regulations and warrants regulatory recourse.

“Bet365 violated Division regulations by unilaterally revising odds on accepted wagers without prior Division approval,” the action in lieu of complaint read.

The failure of bet365’s internal software coupled with its manual trading errors caused its system to be unable to ensure the accuracy of its data feeds,” the New Jersey DGE statement continued. “These failures are both problematic as to bet365’s business ability to conduct online gaming and the integrity and reliability of its operational systems, and therefore unacceptable as they resulted in misleading wagering information that was relied upon by its patrons and ultimately lead to incorrect payouts for numerous patrons.”

Bet365 is a British-based gambling firm privately owned by the billionaire Coates family.

Sportsbook Claims Erroneous Odds

Bet365 operates online sports betting in New Jersey through a partnership with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. The online sportsbook responded to the DGE action by claiming that it incurred several “obvious error” situations during the events in question.

“Once bet365 accepted the wagers, even using odds it considered to be ‘incorrect,’ its only recourse was to seek Division permission to alter or void the wagers,” the DGE filing explained.

Bettor Restitution?

In its order, the DGE instructed bet365 to honor all 199 winning wagers in their full amount owed based on the odds that the original bets were placed. The aggregate total is $519,323.32.

The DGE gave bet365 10 days to make the bettors full from the July 22 date of the action letter, meaning the outstanding wins should have now been paid. The DGE has also ordered bet365 to submit to the agency a report of its efforts to identify and rectify its odds-making failures within 20 days of the letter.

These types of multiple and serious violations cannot be tolerated in the New Jersey gaming regulatory system,” DGE Deputy Director Louis Rogacki wrote.

Calling bet365’s actions “totally unacceptable,” Rogacki warned the online sportsbook that “no further such violations related to the unilateral voiding of wagers will be tolerated” in what is seemingly a threat to the company’s New Jersey sports betting license.

The post Bet365 Ordered to Pay $500K+ in Back Winnings to Bettors in New Jersey appeared first on Casino.org.

The Cedar Rapids Development Group (CRDG) consists of local businesspeople who for more than a decade have sought a state-issued gaming license. CRDG is partnered with Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E), a Los Angeles-based gaming developer and operator, on a proposed $275 million resort project called Cedar Crossing.

“The casino will contribute to our economic diversity by creating quality jobs, including full-time, construction, and other indirectly related jobs,” said Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell (R). “Anchoring redevelopment on the west side of the Cedar River, the casino will further aid our recovery from the 2008 flood, including flood control measures, and generating significant property tax revenue in a location which has been off the tax roll since the flood.”

O’Donnell believes the casino will keep gaming money in Cedar Rapids that’s currently flowing to casinos in other parts of the state or neighboring jurisdictions.

Support Growing

The mayor’s comments echo those of the Linn County Board of Supervisors in its letter encouraging the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission (IRGC) to embrace a casino in Cedar Rapids.

A casino in Cedar Rapids has the broad-based support of business, labor, nonprofits, local governments, and residents in Linn County as demonstrated by the successful passage of two separate gaming referendums in 2013 and 2021,” the Linn County letter read. “Now is the ideal time to approve a casino in Cedar Rapids that will strengthen and enhance economic activity and tourism and provide numerous and diverse benefits for Linn County residents and visitors.”

State lawmakers representing Linn County and the surrounding areas are also continuing to get behind the Cedar Crossing idea. A bipartisan group of 10 state senators and representatives recently wrote the IRGC issuing their support of the casino.

The proposed Cedar Crossing Casino project represents a $250 million investment, backed by dozens of local investors, that will increase tourism to Iowa,” the lawmakers’ letter read.

CRDG, through its charitable arm, the Linn County Gaming Association, has pledged to direct 8% of its annual gross gaming revenue to charity — more than double Iowa’s 3% mandated minimum.

“This percentage, more than double the statutory requirement, will provide an estimated $5 million to $7 million annually, benefiting community organizations throughout our region,” the lawmakers continued.?

Longtime Coming

Cedar Rapids voters passed local referendums lending public support to a casino in both 2013 and 2021. Local referendums are needed in Iowa for the IRGC to consider and approve casino bids.

While Iowa’s operational casinos continue to contend that more competition will hurt their businesses and lead to job layoffs, the IRGC is commissioning a study on the feasibility of allowing a casino in Cedar Rapids.

The post Cedar Rapids Casino Project Continues to Gain Support in Iowa appeared first on Casino.org.

Last week, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited announced the closing days in conjunction with an agreement with New Zealand’s Secretary for Internal Affairs.

The temporary shuttering of the casino floor will cost the company about NZ $5M (US $3M) in lost revenue, according to the New Zealand Herald. It’s the first time a casino in New Zealand has voluntarily closed, the report added.

The casino company could have been forced to close the Aukland casino, and those in Hamilton, and Queenstown, for 10 days, according to earlier news reports. Regulatory fines could have totaled as much as NZ $8M.

The five-day shuttering doesn’t apply to SkyCity Auckland hotels, the Sky Tower, the theater, or restaurants and bars outside of the gambling area.

Failure by Casino

“The closure is the result of failings on the part of SkyCity, which we have accepted responsibility for. We failed to meet the standards expected of us in this case,” SkyCity CEO Jason Walbridge said in a recent statement.

“Over recent years, we have made significant progress to strengthen how we manage risk across the SkyCity Group, but there is still work to do. We are well underway and remain committed to prioritizing the care of our customers. We understand that the privilege of holding a casino license comes with significant responsibilities and obligations,” he added.

Continuous Gambling

The wrongdoing relates to play by an unnamed casino guest between 2017 and 2021. In 23 instances, the guest continuously gambled at the casino.

SkyCity technology should have picked up that he was continuously playing and staff should have appropriately responded, the Herald reported.

The guest later complained about the debt he accumulated as a result of his gambling activity. The guest also argued the company violated responsible gambling rules.

The casino investigated the incident and blamed its lack of oversight on a glitch related to technology design errors, the Herald reported. The issue has since been corrected and the casino has released an apology.

SkyCity will pay its staff during the five-day Auckland shuttering.

SkyCity owns five casinos located in New Zealand and Australia

The post New Zealand Casino to Temporarily Close Next Month Due to Oversight Failure appeared first on Casino.org.

Rush Street Interactive’s proclamation arrived after DraftKings said last Thursday that it’s planning to launch a small surcharge on winning sports wagers placed by bettors in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. That levy goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Of those four states, Rush Street operates in Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania.

As we put our customers first, it was an easy decision for us,” said Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz in a statement.

The gaming company billed the decision to eschew a surcharge as confirmation of its “customer-centric policies.” Chicago-based Rush Street Interactive operates BetRivers, PlaySugarhouse, and RushBet brands.

DraftKings Surcharge Yet to Lure Copycats

In the wake of the DraftKings announcement, there’s been considerable speculation among bettors and investors about whether or not other gaming companies would follow suit. While it’s been just five days since DraftKings announced the scheme, it’s still alone.

Likewise, Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) reported second-quarter results last week, noting earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at its digital unit surged, but that company made no mention of a surcharge.

A test of the surcharge gambit could arrive on August 13 when FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT) reports second-quarter numbers. By market share, FanDuel is the lone credible competitor to DraftKings, but as of yet, Flutter hasn’t publicly commented on the surcharge issue.

Rush Street Interactive Could Provide Surcharge Template

DraftKings and FanDuel have formed a nearly impenetrable duopoly in the US sports wagering space – one born largely out of superior technology and strong brand recognition. However, those traits don’t guarantee DraftKings clients in the aforementioned states will stick around and pay an added tax on their winning bets.

It’s possible that rivals will let DraftKings take its chances and deal with the fallout from the surcharge plan, and that RSI may have just provided the playbook to foster some goodwill among bettors who are now motivated to wager elsewhere.

“RSI remains committed to maintaining its leadership position in the industry by continuously prioritizing the needs and preferences of its players. We believe that RSI’s focus on customer satisfaction, coupled with its innovative rewards and loyalty programs, sets a benchmark for excellence in the online gaming industry,” concluded Schwartz.

The post Rush Street Interactive Takes Shot at DraftKings, Says No Surcharge appeared first on Casino.org.

That slide sent the stock to a weekly loss of 11.79% and the shares entered Monday 35.40% below the 52-week high. A decline of 20% is considered a bear market. Ominous as all that sounds, some analysts believe the recent weakness in the gaming stock could represent a buying opportunity for prescient investors.

In a new report to clients, Stifel analyst Jeffrey Stantial acknowledged skepticism surrounding DraftKings’ surcharge scheme, but added the stock has upside potential.

We share similar hesitation regarding potential consumer backlash to added tax surcharge, though acknowledging rationale vs. more common mitigation strategies,” observed the analyst. “Still, we continue to see a compelling upside bias to out-year estimates, now even further discounted.”

Stantial reiterated a “buy” rating on the shares with a 12-month price target of $48, down from $50, implying upside of 50% from the August 2 close.

Inside DraftKings’ Surcharge Plan

When it delivered its second-quarter earnings report last Thursday, DraftKings told investors it’s planning to launch a small surcharge on winning sports wagers placed by bettors in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont — four of the states with the highest sports wagering taxes. That levy is slated to go into effect in those states on Jan. 1, 2025.

DraftKings told investors the new tax on winning bets in the quartet of aforementioned states could be accretive to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), noting that its 2025 EBITDA forecast of $900 million to $1 billion doesn’t include potential benefits from the surcharge. That could bolster the operator’s free cash flow (FCF) position.

“We see a compelling FCF trajectory & upward bias to Consensus estimates, reflecting continued execution on product, healthy same-state handle/gross gaming revenue growth trends, incremental state legalization, structural hold-rate expansion, sustained rationality in market-wide marketing/promos, and newfound fixed cost discipline & scale efficiencies,” added Stantial.

Rough Stretch of News Flow for DraftKings

News of DraftKings implementing the surcharge appeared to take attention away from the operator announcing a $1 billion share repurchase program — its first form of return of capital to investors in more than four years as publicly traded company.

The week prior, DraftKings announced the sale of the Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) to that company’s founders. Though terms weren’t disclosed, there’s speculation the gaming company took a loss on the initial purchase price of $70 million.

The post DraftKings Sell-Off Could Spell Opportunity, Says Analyst appeared first on Casino.org.

All major resorts on the Las Vegas Strip now charge resort fees, even those, like Planet Hollywood, that once proudly advertised not doing so. According to a growing chorus of consumer advocacy websites, paying these fees is unnecessary because they’re illegal.

“You do not legally have to pay any hotel resort fee,” claims killresortfees.com. Resort fees violate Nevada’s Deceptive Trade Practices Law, the website proclaims, so you may refuse to pay them at check-in.

Tell the manager you already paid the published rate for the room and all necessary taxes,” killresortfees.com advises, encouraging you to stand your ground.

Is this good advice? Only if you don’t mind running a serious risk of having your reservation canceled, being charged a cancellation fee, and getting escorted out of the hotel by security.

Moreover, many hotels won’t even allow you to raise a stink about resort fees at check-in. Unless you specifically remember to inquire about hidden charges, they will only be revealed after you check out and your credit card has already been billed for them.

Hidden in Plain Site

The first resort fees went unnoticed because only a few dollars per night were charged by only a few hotels 25 years ago.

Now, according to a Nerd Wallet analysis of more than 100 hotels around the US in January 2023, they average $42.41 per night or about 11% of the overall cost of a hotel stay.

Only four hotels on the Las Vegas Strip don’t charge them: Travelodge by Wyndham Center Strip, StripViewSuites at Jockey Club, Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South, and Best Western Plus Casino Royale.

To check if a hotel charges a resort fee and how much, visit resortfeechecker.com.

Why Resort Fees Exist

According to hotels, they’re a convenience for their guests, who demand only one price for a bundle of amenities rather than be billed separately for things like Wi-Fi, gym access, and local phone calls.

Because all travelers still use the hotel phone to make local calls.

The real reason resort fees exist is the introduction of online travel agencies (OTAs) in 1996. The first resort fees were rolled out one year later, allowing hotels to compete on Expedia, Travelocity, and Booking.com.

Now that 41% of all booking comes through OTAs versus 29% via hotel websites and 29% through travel agents, according to hospitality.net, the cost of not appearing on the first page of OTA results has increased, too.

And resort fees provide other economic benefits. Hotels pay commissions to OTAs for every room booked — commissions based only on room rates, not separate fees. Additionally, resort fees contribute to revenue per available room, an important performance indicator. And according to the analyst firm OTA Insight, resort fees offer tax advantages.

But the biggest incentive for hotel corporations to continue charging resort fees is because it’s a revenue stream their stockholders have grown accustomed to. According to Consumer Reports, US hotels collected a whopping $2.9B in resort fees in 2018, triple their 2004 take.

Not Illegal … Yet

You can certainly challenge resort fees, for instance, by filing a dispute with your credit card company or a complaint with your state’s attorney general. But even if you can (somehow) waive them, you’ll still need to pay them first.

By the way, you shouldn’t take advice from avoidincometax.com, either. (Yes, it’s a real website.)

Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. Visit VegasMythsBusted.com to read previously busted Vegas myths. Got a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs busting? Email [email protected].

The post VEGAS MYTHS RE-BUSTED: You Don’t Have to Pay Resort Fees appeared first on Casino.org.

Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ commercial business unit, Wind Creek Hospitality, bought the eastern Pennsylvania casino from Las Vegas Sands in 2019 for $1.3 billion. At the time, the tribe envisioned big plans for its first major casino resort owned outside of its home state.

The casino sits on the former site of Bethlehem Steel, a steelmaking company that provided steel for countless major buildings, including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, the Chrysler Building, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Bethlehem Steel played an instrumental role in manufacturing warships and military weapons for the US during World War I and World War II.

No. 2 Machine Shop Project

Wind Creek Bethlehem last year completed its delayed $160 million hotel and meeting space expansion that took the property to 550 rooms in two towers.

Wind Creek execs told state gaming regulators that the plans floated in 2019 to redevelop the No. 2 Machine Shop, which stands a third of a mile long and has sat vacant since Bethlehem Steel’s closing around the turn of the century, remains fluid.

A master developer has been selected and we’re currently working on feasibility studies that will help to develop that vision,” Patrick Ryan, Wind Creek Bethlehem’s vice president and general manager, told the PGCB. “We’re very excited to see what will come as we continue to review what that looks like.”

Previously, Wind Creek suggested turning the historic structure into an indoor water park with an adjacent 400-room hotel. The company at the time said the project would cost more than a quarter of a billion dollars, as the brick Machine Shop was in despair.

Bethlehem Steel fell on difficult times in the 1980s after imported steel became cheaper than domestically produced steel. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

No Changes to Casino?

In seeking a five-year extension of its gaming license, Wind Creek leaders told the state it has no immediate plans to alter its 150,000-square-foot casino floor. That includes continuing to allow smoking in nearly half of the gaming space.

Wind Creek is home to 2,318 slot machines, 143 live dealer table games, 216 electronic table game positions, a 20-table poker room, and a sportsbook.

Wind Creek Bethlehem generated the second most gaming revenue in the state among the 17 brick-and-mortar properties last year. Its slots won $285 million, up 5% from 2023, and trailing only Parx Casino at $386.2 million.

Wind Creek’s tables won more than $241.2 million to easily take the state’s top spot. However, felt win was down for the casino by 1% year over year.

The PGCB is expected to vote in favor of extending Wind Creek’s license in the coming months.

The post Wind Creek Bethlehem Still Committed to Redeveloping Historic Steel Machine Shop appeared first on Casino.org.

The Boston-based gaming company said the surcharge will be applied in states that have elevated sports wagering levies and multiple operators. Illinois, which recently implemented a graduated sports betting tax scheme that raised rates on the largest operators there, is one of the four states in which DraftKings will apply the surcharge. New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are the other three.

We plan to implement a gaming tax surcharge in high tax states that have multiple mobile sports betting operators on January 1, 2025 which could drive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) upside on an annual basis,” said CEO Jason Robins in a statement.

DraftKings forecast 2025 EBITDA of $900 million to $1 billion — a forecast that does not include the potential benefit from the bettor tax.

DraftKings Surcharge Plan Met with Derision

In its investor presentation, the gaming company noted the surcharge will only be applied to winning wagers and it will be treated as a separate transaction when winning bets are paid. DraftKings added that the tax will be made clear to clients as it will appear on bet slips.

“The surcharge will be fairly nominal to the customer. In Illinois, for example, it will amount to a low to mid-single digit percentage of the Net Winnings a customer would previously have received,” wrote Robins and CFO Alan Ellingson in a letter to shareholders.

Some even went so far as to say black market bookies in New York are cheering the news. As of Thursday, DraftKings is the first major online sportsbook operator to announce such a surcharge.

Buyback Telegraphed, but Still Good News

While the surcharge commanded plenty of attention following DraftKings’ second-quarter earnings report, the $1 billion buyback wasn’t overlooked. Though analysts had increasingly telegraphed some form of shareholder rewards from the company was in the offing, it’s worth noting this is the first share repurchase plan in DraftKings’ four-plus years as a public firm.

In the earnings statement, Ellingson said the gaming company is excited about its free cash flow trajectory. As of the end of the second quarter, DraftKings had cash and cash equivalents of $815.88 million. Total liabilities stood at $2.91 billion, down from $3.10 billion at the end of last year.

The post DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in High-Tax States appeared first on Casino.org.

The Interior Department’s National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) approved the plan last month, six years after the Trump administration turned down the tribe’s application. The decision paves the way for that rarest of things in Alaska – a new gaming venue.

Alaska has no casinos and no state lottery, but it does have one electronic bingo hall and a small handful of charitable bingo establishments.

The problem for the Eklutna, up to this point, has been that Alaskan tribes have a different legal status to their counterparts in “the Lower 48.”

That’s largely thanks to the Nixon-era Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). The act awarded the tribes land and financial compensation but recharacterized them as private corporations as opposed to sovereign nations with sovereign powers.

Limited Sovereignty

Under the?Indian Gaming Regulatory Act?(IGRA), Native American tribes are free to open class II gaming facilities — such as electronic bingo halls — on their land without the permission of state authorities provided such operations are legal elsewhere in the state.

But a tribe must have governmental authority over its land to have gaming rights there, and the Eklutna didn’t, according to the 2018 Trump administration decision.

That decision was based on the Sansonetti Opinion, a George H.W. Bush-era legal opinion that concluded Native Village sovereignty was severely limited.

The Eklutna sued the Interior Department, unsuccessfully, in 2019. It argued that it had exercised jurisdiction and provided governmental services since it was granted its land in 1906 through land management and environmental protection.

New Rules

But the tribe’s fortunes turned in November 2022 when Interior Department Solicitor Robert Anderson determined that?ANCSA did not prohibit the federal government from taking land into trust for Alaska Natives.

Then, in February this year, Anderson essentially reversed the Sansonetti opinion. Anderson opined that tribal authority should apply to land allotted to Alaska Natives provided it was not “geographically removed from the tribal community.”

For the Eklutna, this was a game changer.

“There’s still a few hurdles to clear, but we feel the major hurdles have been cleared,” Eklutna Tribal Council President and Chair Aaron Leggett told The Alaska Beacon this week.

Right now, we’re in dire need of housing,” he added. “We’re trying to raise finance to construct a gathering center/office space for the Tribe. We have our small clinic, but we don’t have much in the way of any infrastructure … so we feel that this will spur development in the village, it’ll spur development in the area, and it’ll spur development for Anchorage too.”

Those hurdles that still need to be cleared include an environmental review and potential lawsuits, not least from the anti-gambling State of Alaska, which has described Anderson’s opinions as “wrong.”

“…[W]ith a stroke of its pen, Interior purportedly changed how Alaska has operated for the last 50 plus years,” lawyers wrote in a February court filing.

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The GCGRA, which was formed last September and chaired by former MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) CEO Jim Murren, granted a lottery license to The Game LLC. The company is a unit of closely held Momentum and is expected to offer lottery games under the UAE Lottery brand.

In a note to clients on Monday, CBRE Institutional Research analyst John DeCree said the Abu Dhabi lottery approval is a “key marker and potential sentiment-changer” that brings “validity and transparency” to UAE’s gaming regulatory process. He added the lottery acceptance could “further alleviate skepticism in the investment community regarding legalized commercial gaming in the UAE.”

UAE Lottery Could Be Positive for Wynn

It’s been more than two years since Las Vegas-based Wynn announced plans for the UAE casino hotel, and while the company is a minority investor in the project, some analysts view it as a potential long-term driver of earnings and revenue for the operator.

On the other hand, analysts have also argued that Wynn’s share price doesn’t reflect the UAE opportunity because casino gaming hasn’t been approved there. The shares closed higher by 1.09% on Monday. Although UAE regulators haven’t officially approved casino gaming, Wynn Al Marjan Island is already under construction, targeting an early 2027 opening. The hotel tower could be topped off as soon as late 2025. Even without formal confirmation that casinos will be allowed, the UAE is widely seen as one of the best international expansion avenues for the industry.

The UAE is still the next gaming frontier. We continue to believe the UAE is one of the most attractive global gaming opportunities today,” observed DeCree. “The GCGRA is staffed by well-known and experienced gaming veterans and has been working expeditiously to craft industry-leading regulations, which are now becoming visible.”

Further adding to the allure of the UAE for Wynn and its investors are at least two factors. First, should the GCGRA soon approve casino regulations, Wynn would likely have a multiyear monopoly on casino gaming in the UAE because its project is the closest to being ready. Second, the operator previously told investors Wynn Al Marjan Island could generate as much as $600 million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) when fully ramped.

UAE Casino Licensing Could Look Like Las Vegas

DeCree added that a takeaway from the lottery approval is, should casino gaming be permitted in the UAE, the licensing renewal process will be “administrative in nature,” implying that the model will be more like what is seen in Nevada and less like the concession model employed by Macau and Singapore.

If this is the case, we believe public investors could assign higher valuation multiples to UAE commercial gaming operations relative to jurisdictions with less predictable or more competitive renewal procedures,” added the analyst.

That would likely be attractive to operators, including Wynn, because in Nevada, there’s little effort surrounding license renewal, but in Macau, permits need to be renewed at regular intervals with the government often seeking great concessions with each renewal.

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