The Canadian province of Saskatchewan will get a new tribal casino in the city of Lloydminster after the provincial government signed off on the plan.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan granted conditional approval for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) to operate a casino in Lloydminster, a northern city that straddles the border with Alberta (and is not too far from the birthplace of a certain gaming industry pioneer with whom this site shares its name).

There’s no firm date for when shovels might hit the ground, as FSIN must first get municipal approval from the city, develop a community consultation plan and such. But FSIN chief Bobby Cameron said the plan was to get construction underway “as soon as possible.”

Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority minister Don McMorris told reporters that the proposed venue would not be a “large, large casino,” with a gaming component of “roughly four or five gaming tables and 250 [slot] machines.”

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan will get a new tribal casino in the city of Lloydminster after the provincial government signed off on the plan.

On Tuesday, Saskatchewan granted conditional approval for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) to operate a casino in Lloydminster, a northern city that straddles the border with Alberta (and is not too far from the birthplace of a certain gaming industry pioneer with whom this site shares its name).

There’s no firm date for when shovels might hit the ground, as FSIN must first get municipal approval from the city, develop a community consultation plan and such. But FSIN chief Bobby Cameron said the plan was to get construction underway “as soon as possible.”

Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority minister Don McMorris told reporters that the proposed venue would not be a “large, large casino,” with a gaming component of “roughly four or five gaming tables and 250 [slot] machines.”

Casino operator Boyd Gaming has pulled the trigger on its rumored deal to acquire the Las Vegas assets of rival Cannery Casino Resorts.

Last week, rumors circulated that Boyd was close to a deal with Cannery, which operates the Cannery Casino Hotel in North Las Vegas and the Eastside Cannery Casino and Hotel in the Las Vegas Valley.

On Monday, Boyd confirmed that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the two Vegas properties from Cannery for $230m. The acquisition will be funded entirely with cash on hand and Boyd expects the deal will be complete sometime in Q3 2016.

Boyd CEO Keith Smith called the deal “a great tuck-in acquisition that further expands our presence in the Las Vegas market at an attractive price.” The Cannery deal comes just one week after Boyd announced a $380m deal to buy the Aliante Casino in North Las Vegas.

California’s online poker stakeholders are holding their breath ahead of the state’s latest legislative hearing on Wednesday.

The state Assembly’s Governmental Organization Committee will convene on Wednesday at 1:30pm PST to consider the merits of approving Assemblyman Adam Gray’s AB 2863 online poker bill, the latest attempt to harmonize the competing concerns of tribal gaming operators, racetracks and online gambling technology providers.

There have been two recent developments regarding AB 2863; one of which is positive, while your opinion of the other depends on where you stand on the great ‘bad actor’ divide and/or whether you work for Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand.

In the first development, California’s horseracing interests have officially pledged to support AB 2863, subject to a few conditions. Chief among these conditions is ensuring racing receives the $60m annual kickback Gray added to his legislation in January in exchange for the tracks foregoing the right to operate their own online poker sites.

California’s online poker stakeholders are holding their breath ahead of the state’s latest legislative hearing on Wednesday.

The state Assembly’s Governmental Organization Committee will convene on Wednesday at 1:30pm PST to consider the merits of approving Assemblyman Adam Gray’s AB 2863 online poker bill, the latest attempt to harmonize the competing concerns of tribal gaming operators, racetracks and online gambling technology providers.

There have been two recent developments regarding AB 2863; one of which is positive, while your opinion of the other depends on where you stand on the great ‘bad actor’ divide and/or whether you work for Amaya Gaming’s PokerStars brand.

In the first development, California’s horseracing interests have officially pledged to support AB 2863, subject to a few conditions. Chief among these conditions is ensuring racing receives the $60m annual kickback Gray added to his legislation in January in exchange for the tracks foregoing the right to operate their own online poker sites.

A new study has ranked US states by their levels of problem gambling prevalence, with casino-heavy states Nevada and South Dakota leading the pack.

The study, which was conducted by financial fitness firm WalletHub, compared states on two specific categories, including ‘gambling-friendliness,’ which takes into account the availability of gambling options, including casinos, lotteries, the legality of daily fantasy sports, sports betting and horseracing, plus the presence of illegal gambling operations.

The second category ranked states on ‘gambling problem & treatment,’ which includes criteria such as the number of state residents with diagnosed gambling disorders, the availability of problem gambling treatment options and the number of gambling-related arrests.

Nevada topped the ‘most addicted’ ranking with an overall score of 57, narrowly edging out runner-up South Dakota’s 56.62. The two states tied for the most number of casinos per capita, and ranked #1 and #2 respectively in gaming machines per capita. South Dakota also tied for highest lottery sales in the nation, while Nevada lacks a state lottery.

A new study has ranked US states by their levels of problem gambling prevalence, with casino-heavy states Nevada and South Dakota leading the pack.

The study, which was conducted by financial fitness firm WalletHub, compared states on two specific categories, including ‘gambling-friendliness,’ which takes into account the availability of gambling options, including casinos, lotteries, the legality of daily fantasy sports, sports betting and horseracing, plus the presence of illegal gambling operations.

The second category ranked states on ‘gambling problem & treatment,’ which includes criteria such as the number of state residents with diagnosed gambling disorders, the availability of problem gambling treatment options and the number of gambling-related arrests.

Nevada topped the ‘most addicted’ ranking with an overall score of 57, narrowly edging out runner-up South Dakota’s 56.62. The two states tied for the most number of casinos per capita, and ranked #1 and #2 respectively in gaming machines per capita. South Dakota also tied for highest lottery sales in the nation, while Nevada lacks a state lottery.