Monthly Archives: July 2015

Epic views from Vegas hotel rooms

Guests staying in the Supreme King Corner Suite at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino can marvel at the Strip from the comfort and privacy of their bed. The Hard Rock’s Nirvana Suite offers floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room — with this view, who needs a TV? The Cosmopolitan’s deluxe wraparound terrace suite’s claim-to-fame is views like this of the Strip and beyond.

GBGA Strikes Blow Against UK Tax Regime

The UK point of consumption tax, which has had a trickle down effect on the country’s online poker players, forcing up rakes and curtailing VIP schemes, is about to be challenged in Europe’s highest court. The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA), which has long railed against the new UK licensing regime, received a boost […]

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Published Search Warrant Throws New Light On Amaya Trading Probe

New details of the Amaya Inc stock trading investigation have emerged with the publication of a search warrant that was used by the Quebec financial regulator to seize computers, e-mails, and phone records from three Amaya officials, including its chief executive officer David Baazov. The court lifted a publication ban on the warrant last week, […]

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MGM Resorts to fight Connecticut tribes’ plan to build casino off tribal lands

Connecticut’s two tribal casinos reported a rare increase in slots revenue in June.

The Mashantacuket Pequots tribe’s Foxwoods Resort Casino saw slots handle rise 1.2% to $484.9m in June, while revenue rose 2.3% to $38.6m. Meanwhile, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority’s Mohegan Sun casino reported slots handle up 1% to $580.1m and revenue up 3% to $46.7m.

However miniscule, the increases will be welcome news to the two facilities, which have undergone a prolonged stretch of negative numbers due in part to increased casino saturation in the US Northeast region. The threat of even more competition across the border in Massachusetts led Connecticut Gov. Daniel Malloy to approve legislation last month authorizing the tribes to build a jointly run $300m casino along Interstate 91 near the Massachusetts border.

That proposal has irked MGM Resorts, which is building a new $800m casino just across the border in Springfield, MA. MGM CEO Jim Murren had previously scoffed at the notion that a tribal “box of slots” could compete with MGM’s flashy new digs. Murren went as far as to say he’d “love to go toe to toe” with the tribes to see who was best equipped to win the affections of the region’s gamblers.

Brazil poised to okay legal sports betting

At long last, Brazil appears set to finally authorize legal sports betting.

On Monday, Brazil’s Senate approved the 671/2015 legislation; otherwise known as ‘MP Football’ because it is intended to shore up the finances of the nation’s football clubs. Part of the legislation involves the creation of two new lotteries, from which a portion of the proceeds will be diverted to the clubs.

One of the lotteries will be an instant-win scratch game using Brazilian football team iconography, while the other appears to be less of a lottery and more of a traditional fixed-odds betting scheme. This product will be overseen by the country’s federal bank, the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), either directly or via a concession awarded to third party operators.

The only forms of legal gambling currently permitted in Brazil are lotteries, horseracing and live poker tournaments. As the world’s fifth-largest country by population, Brazil is the white whale of South American markets for online gambling operators. Previous legislative efforts to approve online betting have failed to gain much traction but apparently the lingering costs of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the upcoming costs of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games are helping to change attitudes.

Downtown taxing district is expected to cross 'Ninth Street divide'

City officials hope to draw more businesses – and customers – into western Louisville by extending a special taxing sector across the “Ninth Street divide.” The Louisville Metro Council is expected to approve an ordinance that would expand the city’s Downtown Management District – or business-improvement district – to add major businesses and organizations such as Mercer Transportation, Zirmed and the Kentucky Lottery, The Courier-Journal reports.