Monthly Archives: July 2016

Casino regulator nixes calls for 10% gaming tax in Saipan

Imposing an additional 10 percent tax on Saipan’s casino industry is not appropriate. At least, not right now.

Saipan lawmaker Edmund Villagomez recently tabled a proposal that seeks to add another 10 percent tax on casino gaming revenue on top of the business gross revenue tax, according to a Marianas Variety.

However, members of the Commonwealth Casino Commission turned down the measure on grounds that the island’s sole casino operator, Best Sunshine International, is already paying an exclusive license fee, gross gaming tax, as well as other regulatory fees.

Commission Executive Director Edward Deleon Guerrero told lawmakers Best Sunshine has paid the $1 million application fee; the three-year $15 million exclusive license fee totaling $45 million; the $3 million regulatory fee; the $4.4 million developers fee; some $1.7 million in excise taxes, and between $3 million to $4 million in business gross revenue tax (BGRT).

Galaxy turns to big shoppers to beef up VIP segment

Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. is now redefining the word “VIP” in its business vocabulary.

Gone are the days when the label “VIPs” or “very important persons” is only synonymous to the high rollers who powered Galaxy’s operations in Asia’s premier gambling hub for over a decade. With the number of big gamblers in the former Portuguese enclave dwindling, Galaxy has turned its focus into luring a new kind of “VIPs” to prop up its revenues – the big shoppers.

Kevin Clayton, Chief Marketing Officer of Galaxy, said they are now rewarding big shoppers with perks that were once exclusive for big rollers. The move, he said, is part of their business strategy to attract more tourist and, in effect, boosts number of their non-gaming revenue.

“A VIP can be either a big gambler or a big shopper,” Clayton told Bloomberg.

Aussie lawmakers push for $1 maximum pokie bets in new gambling reform plan

Australia is dusting off the gambling reform plan that former Prime Minister Julia Gillard has junked six years ago.

The Guardian on Thursday reported that South Australian Senate powerbroker Nick Xenophon and Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has revived gambling reform plan into the federal agenda, which Gillard thumbed down in 2010.

If they will have it their way, Xenophon and Wilkie want to ban sports betting advertising and introduce a maximum $1 bets on poker machines.

“We will be planning a whole series of measures, both in the parliament and outside the parliament, to deal with the issue of gambling reform and, in particular, one issue that has resonated throughout the community and that is on the issue of sports betting advertising,” Xenophon said

Russian political party pushes to legalize bitcoin

Russia is known for its hardline stance against bitcoin, but one political party is looking to change all that.

The Party of Growth, a right cause party representing the liberal free market economy and democracy, is pushing not only for the country to legalize bitcoin mining but also for the Russian government to officially recognize bitcoin property rights.

More than 2 million people in Russia already have their own bitcoin wallets, party leader Titov Boris told Russian language news agency TASS. Boris said bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology could help to the country’s struggling economy.

“Russia can take advantage of the difficult economic situation Russia is dealing with today by opening up to the blockchain technology,” the party leader told the news outlet.

Becky’s Affiliated: My Top 5 Takeaways from WGES 2016

For the first time since our launch, the CalvinAyre.com film crew was invited to cover the World Gaming Executive Summit (WGES) at the W Hotel in Barcelona.  I sincerely enjoyed my time at this event because its intimate nature, beautiful location and accessibility to senior level gambling professionals.

While there were a number of topics covered and discussed at WGES throughout its 2016 edition, I would like to share with you five main takeaways from my time at the event.

Brexit’s immediate impact on Gibraltar not as bad as it seems

When the UK’s EU referendum results were announced on Friday, June 24, 2016 there was a wave of doom and gloom rippling across the iGaming industry.  Gibraltar’s future as hub for the industry was under fire and all sorts of hypotheses and rumors began circulating, but these are the key words here- hypotheses and rumors.

EuroMillions price hike sparks UK players’ outrage

Frustrated UK lottery players are now up in arms over the recent price hike of Europe’s largest lottery draw.

UK lottery players made their grievances known in different social media channels as UK National Lottery Operator Camelot announced that the price of EuroMillions draw will go up by 50 percent to 2.50 ($3.30), according to The Evening Standard.

Players protested the new system changes that the UK National Lottery operator Camelot introduced, which they claimed to have made it more difficult for them to win the pot money. Under the new system, bettors will now be required to choose “lucky star” numbers out of 12 rather than 11.

It means that players will need to pick the correct 2 numbers from an expanded pool, lessening their chances of winning the jackpot from 1 in 117 million currently to 1 in 140 million.

High Stakes Poker Pro Matt Marafioti Goes Missing

Poker pro Matt Marafioti has gone missing, according to friend and fellow pro Randy Dorfman. Marafioti, who is known to many by his online moniker ADZ124, has always been something of a divisive figure in the poker community. During his days playing the highest stakes cash games online, Marafioti would never be short of a […]

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Macau gaming-related crime continues to post double-digit growth

Gaming-related crime in Macau continues its torrid pace, with the number of cases showing double-digit growth in the first five months of 2016.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the 56th anniversary of the Macau Judiciary Police (PJ), director Chao Wai Kuong said there’d been 660 gaming-related criminal cases through the end of May, up 15.6% from the same period one year ago. The pace of growth is accelerating, as Q1’s year-on-year increase was only 11.2%.

In keeping with recent patterns, gaming-related crimes largely fall into one of two categories: loan-sharking and illegal detention of gamblers who can’t pay their debts. Gaming-related loan-sharking cases were up 65.7% to 179 while illegal detention cases were up 70% to 169.

Comparing the 12 months between June 2014 – May 2015 and June 2015 – May 2016, gaming-related crime is up by one-third. Loan sharking cases were up 60% to 389 while illegal detention cases were up 200% to 435.

WSOP Round-Up: Vornicu Leads Day 2AB of the Main Event

Eight-time World Series of Poker Circuit winner, Valentin Vornicu finished ahead of 759 other players at the end of Day 2A/B. Maria Ho, Tom Middleton, and Gaelle Baumann also finished the day with towers of chips.

Valentin Vornicu will be hoping 2016 is the year he adds a World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet to the eight World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold rings he has in his collection. Winning the WSOP Main Event is the only hope of realising that dream, and at the end of Day 2A/B, he leads the remaining survivors with 838,600 chips.

[Image Credit: PokerNews]

764 players entered Day 1A, and 1,733 players entered Day 1B creating a combined attendance of 2,497 players. 1,847 of them made it through to Day 2A/B, and this is how life turned out for a select few worthy of a few keys.

Atlantic City revenue dips in June as Trump Taj Mahal strike drama ratchets up

Atlantic City’s casinos suffered another brick-and-mortar revenue decline in June, and this time they can’t blame the calendar.

Figures released Wednesday by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement show land-based gaming revenue of $197.5m, down 3.6% from the same month last year and down even further from May’s $203.3m. Add the $16.4m from the state’s online gambling sites and June’s overall number is down only 1.2%.

Total slot machine win was down 3.7% to $142.9m while table games fell 3.3% to $54.5m. Through the first half of 2016, total land-based revenue is up 0.6% to $1.15b, or up 2.5% to $1.25b if you count the online contribution.

Only two of AC’s eight casinos were in positive territory for the month, with the Trump Taj Mahal up 13.2% to $17.3m while Resorts rose 9.8% to $15m. The other six were negative nellies, even the market-leading Borgata, which slipped 1.3% to $56m.

MGM Resorts launch real-money mobile slots tournaments at Vegas casinos

Casino operator MGM Resorts has launched a real-money mobile casino tournament offering to guests using the WiFi system at nine of its Las Vegas properties.

On Wednesday, MGM announced that it had teamed with mobile gamers oneLIVE Inc on a new mobile gaming platform, easyPLAY Mobile Tournaments, which offers guests the chance to play against each other in regularly scheduled casino contests for cash prizes.

MGM’s new platform is accessible via the InteractivePro Tables at the Aria, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Luxor, New York-New York and Excalibur casinos. (Circus Circus’s WiFi system is apparently not sufficiently robust to handle the system.) MGM guests can also play anywhere on the property using their personal mobile device or laptop.

The tournaments feature classic casino games such as slots, bingo and video poker plus other social, casual and console games. The games include popular titles from developers Spin Games and Touchstone Games. and MGM promises that more games and tournaments will be added in due course.

MGM Resorts launch real-money mobile slots tournaments at Vegas casinos

Casino operator MGM Resorts has launched a real-money mobile casino tournament offering to guests using the WiFi system at nine of its Las Vegas properties.

On Wednesday, MGM announced that it had teamed with mobile gamers oneLIVE Inc on a new mobile gaming platform, easyPLAY Mobile Tournaments, which offers guests the chance to play against each other in regularly scheduled casino contests for cash prizes.

MGM’s new platform is accessible via the InteractivePro Tables at the Aria, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Mirage, Monte Carlo, Luxor, New York-New York and Excalibur casinos. (Circus Circus’s WiFi system is apparently not sufficiently robust to handle the system.) MGM guests can also play anywhere on the property using their personal mobile device or laptop.

The tournaments feature classic casino games such as slots, bingo and video poker plus other social, casual and console games. The games include popular titles from developers Spin Games and Touchstone Games. and MGM promises that more games and tournaments will be added in due course.

Pennsylvania Gambling Expansion Put on Hold Until Fall, But Remains “Probable”

Pennsylvania’s gambling expansion legislation, which includes the regulation of online poker and casino games, will have to wait until “the fall” for a vote in the Senate which may or may not pass it to the governor’s desk. That’s the verdict, at least from Senator Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, who spoke to […]

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