Monthly Archives: February 2015

Revel Sale Price Could Drop to $45 Million or Less

Like the old man Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the latest deal to sell the Revel casino is “not dead yet,” but it might as well be. According to a report by ABC Philadelphia on Wednesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns refused to extend a deadline to sell the casino to Glenn Straub. However, she failed to rule on whether Revel could terminate their agreement with the Florida real estate mogul.

Instead, Burns said that she would issue a ruling on Tuesday whether Revel can cancel their sale of $95.4 million to Straub. If she cancels the deal, it would be the second deal to fall through for the bankrupt casino. The original potential buyer, Brookfield Holdings, failed to close on the deal after issues arose regarding debt held by the property’s power provider.

Another Sale Could Force Price Even Lower

John Cunningham, attorney for Revel, made it clear that they are ready to find a new buyer for the property. “We’re ready to find a new buyer,” Cunningham told reporters. “We have zero confidence in Polo North’s ability to close.”

Let the good times roll! A rainbow of color floods the streets of…

Mom-of-four, 26, who ‘quit her McDonald’s job to care for disabled child’ says she is one of three $564.1MILLION Powerball winners Alabama cop who paralyzed Indian granddad with body slam after his new suburban neighbors called the police because he was ‘suspicious’ is fired Incredible story of multimillionaire CEO who started life as a four-year-old refugee fleeing Vietnam with nothing but a vial of poison in case of pirates Growing up recluse: The seven children who ‘NEVER’ left their tiny Manhattan apartment in their childhood – and learned about the world from watching 5,000 movies ‘I felt like a real-life blow up doll’: Two more sexual assault accusations brought against Bill Cosby in Canada where there is no statute of limitations Obama, the Oval Office clown: President pulls faces and fires imaginary gun in video made to promote overhaul of US health system Revealed, the real-life … (more)

Poker Personality Kara Scott and Spouse Pair Up with Tilt Events Italy

Kara Scott wasn’t out of a job for long. Less than two months after revealing that her five-year relationship as a partypoker ambassador was ending, Scott has confirmed a new role with Tilt Events. Writing on her Cardrunners blog, the 37-year-old says she’ll serve as a consultant and brand ambassador to the Italian poker event […]

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Chris Christie Accused of Blocking PokerStars in New Jersey

The battle over legalized online gambling in the United States went mainstream on Thursday when Business Insider published an in-depth column detailing the relationship between New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and how that relationship may be keeping PokerStars’ online gaming license application on ice in the Garden State.

Christie’s office laughed off the allegations in their response to Business Insider, calling them “nonsensical” considering Christie signed the 2013 online gambling into law. “The DGE licensing review is an independent, technical process, the length of which varies case by case,” Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the governor said.

That being said, there certainly is a lot of smoke that signifies there might be some fire.

The Christie/Adelson connection

Bwin.party shares nosedive after suitors break off acquisition talks

UK-listed online gambling operator Bwin.party saw its shares nosedive on Friday, falling as low as 78p before rallying somewhat to close at 83.75p. That represents an 18% decline from Friday’s starting price and not far off the previous record low of 80p last August.

The share plunge is believed to be the result of unidentified suitors deciding to break off acquisition talks. Companies including Playtech, William Hill, Ladbrokes and Canada’s Amaya Gaming have all been rumored to be sniffing around the underperforming Bwin.party but so far it’s been all smoke and no fire.

On Friday, Dealreporter quoted banking and gaming industry sources saying at least some of the would-be suitors lost interest in kicking Bwin.party’s tires after discussions failed to progress. Bidders reportedly had “a serious look” at acquiring Bwin.party’s sports betting and bingo divisions but balked at taking on the company’s struggling PartyPoker unit, which was described as being in “free-fall.” PartyPoker’s revenue fell 25% in Q3 and projections are for a further 25% decline in 2015.

A Bwin.party spokesperson denied that it no longer had anyone to talk to, telling eGaming Review that “in the event that talks had concluded” the company would be “obliged to update the market.” Translation: Bwin.party’s still talking, only it’s not clear if anyone’s still listening.

Bwin.party’s board is believed to be pushing for an all or nothing deal, contrary to the suggestion made last summer by activist Jason Ader, who pushed for the company to get back into the grey markets it exited in 2013. Suggestions have been made that Bwin.party would be wise to split in two, with one division handling regulated markets and the other making lots of green in the greys.

UK-facing firms have already seen one confirmed and another potential mega deal this year, with Canada’s Intertain acquiring Gamesys’ Jackpotjoy and Starspins brands for £425m, while 888 Holdings’ board has confirmed receiving a £744m takeover bid from William Hill. For some time now, Playtech has been stockpiling cash for a major acquisition and recently raised €315m via a bond issue to further boost its bargaining power, but its intentions remain unknown.

Meanwhile, PartyPoker is prepping a major UK marketing push in a bid to boost the vertical’s sagging profile. The plan is to team with the Dusk Till Dawn poker room in Nottingham and hopefully convince more live players to take their action online. PartyPoker will splash lots of branding around the DTD club while PartyPoker will host a dedicated tab carrying DTD’s online satellites and tournaments.

Trump Taj Mahal to Close Poker Room

The ongoing saga of the Trump Taj Mahal bankruptcy has claimed another casualty. Effective Sunday, February 15 at 11:59 pm, the poker room at the Trump Taj will shut down, closing one of the more iconic American poker rooms.

Allen Kessler shared a photo of the poker room closure via Twitter, stating, “Sad day in poker. I played here for several years during the 90s.” The Taj poker room was immortalized in Rounders when Mike and Worm took their trip to Atlantic City to blow off steam.

It was also home of the United States Poker Championship from 1996 to 2010. The USPC was one of poker’s top tournament series’ and was broadcast annually by ESPN until 2006.

Taj Poker Room on the Decline in Recent Years

Weekly Poll: Who will be next pro league boss to likely strike a favorable sports betting position?

Take Our Poll

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver opened the discussion of a professional sports league warming up to the idea of supporting legalized sports betting, which is why we decided to ask our readers, “Who will be next pro league boss to likely strike a favorable sports betting position?”

Naturally, Silver has become somewhat of a hero in these parts for his stance. his willingness to have a discussion on the subject got us thinking. Outside of Silver, which commissioner among the the four other professional sports leagues will most likely follow Silver’s lead and be receptive to the previously frowned upon idea of embracing a legalized sports betting environment.

We put four names on the list – Major League Baseball’s Rob Manfred, the NHL’s Gary Bettman, the NFL’s Roger Goodell, and Major League Soccer’s Rob Garber – and after a week of voting, well, the results are in.

What we found out wasn’t really that surprising because Manfred, the newly appointed commissioner of MLB, came away with the most votes, getting 50% of total votes. Why isn’t this surprising? Well, Manfred actually opened up about the idea already, telling ESPN.com that a legalized sports betting structure is something he’s willing to discuss with team owners in the league. That itself kind of already answered the poll, right?

Giada, Ri Ra fundraiser, 'For the Love of Cocktails' and Vom Fass

Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis arrives during the VIP grand opening of Giada, the first Giada De Laurentiis restaurant, on Monday, June 2, 2014, in the Cromwell. Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis is giving locals a 20 percent discount off their breakfast and lunch checks at her restaurant Giada in the Cromwell through the end of March in advance of its first-anniversary celebrations in June.

Chow Tai Fook plans $2.6 billion casino investment in Incheon; Landing/Genting casino project begins construction

Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises has already made its intentions known that it wants to build a casino resort in South Korea. Now, it’s been reported that the company is planning to invest $2.6 billion for a casino resort near South Korea’s largest airport in Incheon.

Chow Tai Fook is the latest in a long line of business firms that have looked South Korea as a potential casino destination, joining the likes of the Philippines’ Bloomberry Resorts Corp as firms with serious eyes at developing an integrated resort in Incheon. With the country on the verge of approving two new casino licenses in the near future, a lot of business are lining up with bids and Chow Tai Fook is first in line with a proposal that it hopes gets serious consideration from casino decision-makers.

According to Reuters, Chow Tai Fook is looking to develop an integrated resort and casino that will include, among other things, a foreigners-only casino, a hotel, shopping, entertainment, and convention facilities. The current plan for the resort would be to have it built between two stages with the first stage commencing this year until 2019 while the second stage taking place from 2019 to 2022.

The company has also identified a possible site to build its resort, earmarking a plot of land near where a couple of other casino projects – a consortium between Caesars Entertainment and Lippo Ltd and a joint venture between Paradise Co Ltd and Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings – are already planning their respective resorts.

Meanwhile, another casino project in South Korea is further along in its development phase. Landing International Development and Genting Singapore’s joint project, Resorts World Jeju in South Korea, has begun construction and is expected to open in 2017 with a completed date set for 2019.

The $1.8 billion project on Jeju Island covers a land area of 2.5 million square meters and will include a 10,000-square meter casino to go with a multitude of luxury hotels, a theme park, villas, and flats, food and entertainment establishments, and exhibition facilities.

Jeju Governor Won Hee Ryong earlier suspended the construction of the project over the lack of concrete information surrounding the project’s development application filed by the two partners. That issue has since been settled, paving the way for the project to officially begin its long-overdue construction.

Industry expert, Aideen Shortt, joins Random Consulting as a Partner Consultant

Mario Galea, founder of Random Consulting, an independent firm dedicated to adding value to a wide range of companies in the gambling industry, today announces that, effective immediately, Aideen Shortt has assumed a position as Partner Consultant in the company.

In her role Shortt will bring 15 years of industry experience and established relationships, and her contribution perfectly complements the existing skillset in the company, thereby reinforcing Random Consulting’s unique position to offer end-to-end support and services to companies in all sectors of interactive gambling.

“With Aideen on board, we are now taking a strategic position in the marketing, mobile and social gaming sectors of our industry.  Aideen will also be overseeing the European gaming markets so we continue to strengthen our position over that region. We are proud to have such an incredibly talented person, who brings energy and enthusiasm to everything she does. “

Last year was a remarkable period for the company, having established itself as a reputable service provider on both sides of the Atlantic.  “Adding Aideen’s marketing and operational expertise is exactly what Random Consulting needs to capitalise on our proven record, and become an all-inclusive consultancy, that consistently delivers measurable value.”

Shortt says “Mario is one of the pioneers of online gambling and I am truly excited to be working with him. Collectively we have contributed to a very broad range of sectors and verticals over the years. From regulatory compliance to strategic operations and marketing; from real money gambling to social games; and from land based operations to mobile apps, there are very few aspects of the business that between us we haven’t experienced “hands-on.”  There is a saying that no one person in a team needs to know everything, but together that overall team should 100% rounded.  We’re in that position, so we really are the right consultancy to help our clients succeed, whatever their particular goals may be.”

Random Consulting is a multi-disciplinary firm dedicated to the gambling industry whose team of consultants have the most broad-reaching experience of any other.  The company is active in multiple sectors and functions including strategy, marketing, operations, regulations, compliance.  Clients include operators, suppliers and support companies in the industry which address land-based and interactive gambling and social gaming.

More info at www.RNGgaming.com

One year after Ray Rice casino scandal, Adam “Pacman” Jones gets escorted out of casino

A year after Ray Rice violently cold-cocked his then-fiance, now-wife Janay Palmer-Rice in an elevator inside the since-shuttered Revel Hotel & Casino, another NFL player has figured into another incident inside a casino.

This time around, the unwitting participant is Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones and not surprisingly, TMZ was the first to report on the incident, much like it did with the Ray Rice scandal. Seems like a case of deja vu for Roger Goodell and the NFL.

According to TMZ, Jones was kicked out of the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana because of an incident that began at the casino cage where Jones reportedly got into an argument with an employee involving casino chips. Jones was then escorted out of the casino where video footage showed Jones having a heated discussion with police officers, claiming that he didn’t do anything wrong.

A lot of the parties involved, including the casino, the officers on the scene, and prosecutors have yet to release any comments surrounding the incident, but Jones himself has already come out to air his side, telling WLWT News 5 in Cincinnati that the casino asked him to leave because “I had dip.”

“There wasn’t an arrest because there was no crime committed, and I left on my own,” Jones added.

The incident is currently under investigation by the Lawrenceburg police.

This episode is the latest in a string of headaches the NFL is already dealing with in the offseason. The fact that it hasn’t even been two weeks since Super Bowl XLIX was played and you get a clear idea of how much of a mess the league is in right now. This incident could amount to anything, or there could be something there that sends another controversy into the NFL’s lap.