The St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin are not happy with a former employee they trusted to help them secure their financial operations. Leva Oustigoff, Jr. has been indicted on charges of embezzling over $72,000 from the tribe’s Turtle Bay casino and will now have to answer for his crimes. There are eight counts total and, if he’s found guilty of all of them, is looking at a terminal prison sentence.

The 58-year-old Wisconsin resident was picked up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s radar, which led to an investigation that involved the agency, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the St. Croix tribe. They determined that, beginning in December 2015 and running until January 2018, Oustigoff was slipping out money that he then used for unspecified spending habits. The amount he illicitly withdrew varied each time he needed cash, and a Department of Justice notice about the indictment doesn’t specify how he managed to conduct his covert operations. 

In December 2015, he made his first withdrawal, taking $9,500. He followed that a few months later with another swipe for $7,500, and then took an additional $1,799 later that same month. He must have had a huge pile of bills to pay in October 2017, as he managed to walk away with $20,000 on October 25 of that year. He then made his last grab on January 18, 2018, when he took about $8,600. 

In anticipation of a jury hearing the charges and deciding whether they held merit, he was presented with a summons to appear after the indictment was handed down last week. However, he is currently not under arrest and is free to roam about. The summons notified him that he will need to show up in court, but no date has been set for that appearance, which will most likely be held virtually because of COVID-19. 

Digital currency has reached a milestone. It has actually reached several milestones this year, facilitated by greater awareness and adoption. However, the latest one shows exactly how important digital assets have become in a very short time, and how important they’re going to be well into the future. To Millennials, digital currency is now more important than gold. 

JP Morgan conducted a study recently that explored the values of different assets, and determined that Bitcoin is on its way to becoming a stronger option, especially with younger generations, than gold. The financial services firm asserts, “Cryptocurrencies derive value not only because they serve as stores of wealth but also due to their utility as means of payment. The more economic agents accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in the future, the higher their utility and value. The potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable as it competes more intensely with gold as an ‘alternative’ currency we believe, given that [Millennials] would become over time a more important component of investors’ universe.”

This obviously doesn’t indicate that Bitcoin is currently worth more than gold; however, the implications are real. In terms of tangible value and usefulness, digital currency is gaining serious amounts of traction as a currency alternative, and this is only going to continue to grow as younger generations become the older generations, and new generations enter economic societies accustomed to the use of digital assets. 

The fact that JP Morgan would even be willing to utter those words is enough to indicate how far the Bitcoin ecosystem has come. It was only a couple of years ago that Jamie Dimon, the company’s CEO, screamed and shouted with everything he had that Bitcoin was a fraud. He changed his tune quickly once he understood the real-world value of digital currency, but his misguided initial reaction, shared by others, is what has kept Bitcoin from advancing more quickly. 

Heathcliff Farrugia began his career with the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) as its chief operations officer in 2014. It only took two years for him to be bumped up to the role of chief regulatory officer for the agency, and he then quickly moved up once again a year later to take on the CEO position. After six years with the gaming regulator, however, Farrugia feels it’s time to move on and find something else to challenge him. He has announced that he won’t be renewing his contract with the MGA and resigned this past Tuesday. 

The executive may have felt a little pressure to step away. Farrugia had recently become the focus of police attention over a possible connection to Jorgen Fenech, a casino operator who has been implicated in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The outgoing MGA head was thought to have had extensive communication with Fenech, and investigators reportedly uncovered “suspicious communication” between the two, according to the Times of Malta. That connection led to Farrugia being questioned by Malta’s Financial Crime Investigation Department. 

The timing of the sudden departure could certainly seem suspect. Farrugia is leaving along with Karl Brincat Peplow, the MGA’s chief officer for authorizations, and the regulator asserts that they are exiting to start an unspecified joint venture project. However, it’s uncommon for any entity to lose its boss – let alone two top executives – without extensive warning. 

The MGA and the Malta Financial Service Authority have been embroiled in a scandal that began to unravel following Galizia’s death. Fenech is said to have some link to the car bomb that killed her in 2017 in what has been described as a retribution attack after she exposed high-profile crimes in Malta that involved politicians and their inner circles. The death led to international pressure for the culprits to be found, and the investigation has uncovered some interesting facts along the way. 

SBC Digital Summit CIS

SBC is set to host the largest virtual event dedicated to the CIS region. Bringing their fully featured digital platform, participants will have access to a full agenda of conference speakers, virtual exhibits and networking lounges.

This CIS focused virtual event will feature 75 world class speakers, 25 exhibits and over 1,500+ delegates. If you want to learn more about the exceptional opportunities CIS has to offer, like in Ukraine, Georgia or Uzbekistan, and network yourself into a lucrative deal, this is a must attend event, and it’s free to register!

What: SBC Digital Summit CIS

The recent revelation that Las Vegas Sands (LVS) was looking for buyers for its casinos on the Las Vegas Strip caught some off guard, given the history the Sheldon Adelson-led company has had in Nevada and across the U.S. LVS is already exploring a possible deal to get rid of three Vegas properties for around $6 billion, but it most likely won’t extricate itself entirely. Instead, according to some analysts, the casino operator could work out management deals, through the use of a real estate investment trust (REIT), to keep a finger in the pot, but which would allow it the financial freedom to concentrate most of its efforts on Asia. 

Sanford C. Bernstein analysts believe this would be the most likely outcome for LVS. This is similar to what MGM Resorts International did earlier this year when it used an REIT to sell and then lease back the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, and REITs have become much more common in the casino industry in recent years. By selling the assets and then leasing them back, operators can reduce expenses and pick up massive injections of cash that can be used for other activity. 

Bernstein analysts Vitaly Umansky, Kelsey Zhu and Tianjiao Yu explain, “While we do not know at this time if there are actual potential buyers, it is possible that any acquisition may include a REIT as a purchaser (along with either a private equity buyer or a strategic). Further it is possible that a sale may only be a sale-leaseback to a REIT with LVS retaining the LV operations. The sale-leaseback structure has been commonplace for casinos in the U.S. for some time … while we view such transactions as largely financing in nature (replacing debt and debt service with a lease and rental payments), investors have looked favorably upon such financial engineering. However, we are not convinced that this is a structure that LVS would like to pursue (although it could be an eventual outcome).

LVS is apparently negotiating a deal for the Palazzo, the Sands Expo Convention Center and The Venetian Las Vegas that could be completed through an REIT. However, Morgan Stanley isn’t convinced the $6-billion price point is valid. The firm’s Thomas Allen points out, “We are not sure how much interest from strategic buyers there might be given the high absolute price, other reportedly available assets on the Strip, and the unique positioning of the properties. However, given the potential for a cheaper OpCo price through a sale leaseback and historically relatively steady EBITDA, there could be other interest.”

An ongoing investigation into illegal money transactions involving China and the U.S. has netted two more criminals. Fan Wang has pleaded guilty to their involvement in the sham operations, which included the facilitation of the exchange of Chinese yuan by high rollers visiting Las Vegas-area casinos. His next stop will be a visit to a courtroom so a judge can provide sentencing, which is expected to occur in late January 2021.

Since Chinese law doesn’t allow anyone to convert more than $50,000 yuan to U.S. dollars, gamblers needed a workaround in order to hit the Vegas casino scene with large stacks of cash. Seizing the entrepreneurial opportunity, Wang is said to have been working with unnamed casino hosts to be put in contact with the individuals, for whom he would provide money exchange services. Upon transferring yuan to his Chinese bank account electronically, he would give them the dollars they needed to hit the casino floors. 

Several law enforcement departments, as well as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), have been investigating similar activity for the past several years, and Wang is just the latest to be popped. He acknowledged his participation to the courts yesterday and pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and has to forfeit $225,000 as a result of the plea agreement. It isn’t clear how much money he may have laundered, or how much he earned in the process. 

States U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer, “As this series of guilty pleas makes abundantly clear, individuals facilitating the illegal transfer of money to and from China will be held accountable. The security of our banking system depends on it.” 

Despite some level of public opposition, integrated resorts (IR) are still expected to be a key feature of Japan’s future economy. Yoshihide Suga, who took over as Prime Minister following Shinzo Abe’s departure, fully believes that bringing commercial casinos into the country’s landscape will give it a huge economic boost. Talking to the Japanese Parliament’s lower house this week, he reaffirmed statements he made last month, asserting that the IR framework continues to push forward.

Suga told the House of Representatives, “Casinos are there in 130 countries and regions. It is planned that Japan integrated resorts [IRs] are to have international exhibition facilities, convention facilities, and large hotels to entertain whole families.” He added that, by allowing the resorts, Japan will become a greater attraction for international tourists, bringing in a larger segment of travelers that will help the country’s economy expand. Suga believes the IR legislation that was begun during the previous administration deserves to continue advancing, even though COVID-19 has forced the progress to slow to a crawl. 

Not everyone in politics agrees with the Prime Minister. There has already been mounting opposition by some public and legislative figures, who wasted no time jumping on the IR-related bribery saga to support their belief that opening up the country to gambling would be the same as opening the floodgates to nothing but sin and scandal. Politician Renho Saito, a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), feels the IR goal is misguided. 

Speaking in Yokohama, Saito stated, “Are casinos really a pillar for growth? They make money from people gambling and losing. It is an embarrassment that this is an element of the national government’s economic strategy.” Saito was formerly with the Democratic Party, which was dissolved in 2017, leading to her becoming a member of the CDP, but not giving up her goal of putting down the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan’s controlling political party, every chance she gets.

In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly.

Pronet Gaming adds Green Jade Games content

Platform provider’s latest partnership expands casino offering

COVID-19 continues to bite into Sin City, with three major Las Vegas Strip casinos announcing another batch of long-term layoffs. The MGM Grand, Park MGM and Tropicana all announced that they would be reducing the size of their workforce in the continued financial pressure brought on by the pandemic.

The MGM Grand, Park MGM and Tropicana sent documents to the Nevada employment office outlining their intention to lay off 1,172 employees. Nevada state law requires that all laid-off employees receive sufficient notice to enable them to look for new employment.

The bulk of the employees are set to be cut from the Tropicana, with 1,110 expected the lose their jobs. In a statement, the management of the Tropicana pointed out the pandemic conditions have forced the business into significant cutbacks:

“Significant drags on our business will likely continue for the foreseeable future. We could not have anticipated when our properties would be allowed to reopen and how restrictive the new operating conditions would be, and the negative impact this would have on business volumes.”

This is a guest contribution by Sergiy Logvynenko, Account Manager at Sigma Software. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

The casino game world is very conservative. This conservativeness is apparent from all sides, beginning with game titles, which have not changed in decades. However, although conservative, it is time for the casino games to adapt to modern technological devices. One exciting way is a topic I’d like to share some of my ideas on casino game play in portrait mode.

Most casino games are created following a landscape-first approach. There are currently games that follow a portrait-first approach, but not many. In fact, just a few years ago, there were almost no casino games in portrait mode at all. However, as technology is always progressing, you can now find portrait mode slot games. Is this a good sign? Yes! Is it enough? Unfortunately, no, because having interacted with most of these games, it is apparent that designers just scale landscape mode and put a “spin” button at the bottom of the screen. The look turns out to be very simplistic, resembling what looks like an unsuccessful version of landscape mode.

Yes, doubling design and development efforts to create a great game in both portrait and landscape modes might be too much. And yes, this may increase development time for about a week or so. But on the other hand, I’m convinced that a game provider can and should spend the money on these advances.

Sometimes, poker can really add a lot to a Hollywood movie. Other times, such as in the subject of this week’s Poker on Screen for example, it can highlight the weakness of the overall film and merely emphasise the problems the celluloid disaster has succumbed to.

In Time was made in 2011, which ironically enough was the year that online poker was sent back in time due to the events of Black Friday. Starring in the movie is Justin Timberlake, who would eventually make an entire movie around poker with the equally inept Runner Runner. Sadly for Timberlake, his poker scene during In Time doesn’t add to his resumes highlights reel.

The scene is a five-handed game between five guys all around the age of 25, the nominal age which humans have been frozen in time at thanks to genetic advances that have been made in this movie’s particular universe. People can only die if killed, that is unless their ‘time’ runs out. Each human is given only one year to live from the age of 25, but true to life if a little far-fetched, the rich hoard all the time just as they hoard money in reality.

Before you know it, Justin Timberlake’s character is tasked with saving humanity while his own time-clock starts to run down in the form of a ticking time bomb of superimposed light on his forearm.

Gambling operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) saw profits nearly triple in the third quarter of 2020, thanks in part to record online betting on the rescheduled Kentucky Derby.  

Figures released Wednesday show CDI generated revenue of $337.8m in the three months ending September 30, up 10.2% from the same period last year. But adjusted earnings shot up 38.5% to $121.9m while net income soared to $43.2m from $14.8m in Q3 2019.

Like many of its regional casino rivals, CDI has been furiously adding properties around the country over the past couple years, while also expanding its BetAmerica brand’s online casino and sports betting operations, making direct year-on-year comparisons something Stephen Hawking would find painful, and that’s before throwing COVID-19 into the mix.

The pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 Kentucky Derby from May to September, which pushed CDI’s ‘Churchill Downs’ segment revenue to $68m, more than twice the $32.7m the segment reported in Q3 2019. Earnings more than quadrupled to $23.9m, thanks in part to a $3.8m boost from the historical racing operations at the Derby City Gaming venue.

US regional casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings (TRWH) is officially rebranding under the Bally’s name, while its Atlantic City casino of the same name is adding a FanDuel-run retail sportsbook.

On Wednesday, the Rhode Island-based TRWH announced plans to change its corporate identity to Bally’s Corporation effective November 9, with its stock to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the new ticker symbol ‘BALY’.

Two weeks ago, TRWH announced its intention to eventually rebrand “virtually all” of its expanding casino portfolio under the Bally’s name and logo, which followed the company’s purchase of the Bally’s Atlantic City casino from rival Caesars Entertainment in April. (Caesars retained the right to continue operating the Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel & Casino under its existing name.)

TRWH chairman Soo Kim said the Bally’s brand “embodies a rich history” in America’s gaming market and “aligns perfectly with our current and future growth strategy.” TRWH CEO George Papanier stuck to the script, saying the company aimed to unite “our increasingly national footprint under a singular preeminent brand.”

The return of High Stakes Poker to our multimedia screens will be an extremely welcome one when it comes in December this year.

The news was revealed not in the form of a press release, but wholly organically by Tom Dwan, who posted a video on Twitter lasting 11 seconds, which featured him and plenty of other big poker names at the ARIA table for filming.

High stakes poker coming back guys. Hope I run as good as last time pic.twitter.com/m8auOjG2ic

— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) October 27, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Spain’s online gambling operators will get to promote their wares via La Liga football jerseys until the end of the current season.

On Wednesday, Alberto Garzón, Spain’s minister of Consumer Affairs, sent a letter to the country’s top football leagues advising them to wrap up any sponsorship deals with gambling operators before the 2021/22 season gets underway next September.

In July, Spain unveiled its new Royal Decree on gambling advertising, which calls for the elimination of most forms of online gambling marketing, including the presence of gambling operators’ logos on the shirts of Spanish football clubs.

But news of the Decree led gambling operators signing a bevy of new sponsorship deals and/or extending existing deals before the Decree was supposed to take effect this month. Even the state-run SELAE lottery operator got into the act, leading Garzón to eventually concede that there would be an undetermined grace period for existing deals.  

Nevada casinos reported their seventh straight month of annual revenue declines in September, with bingo and horseracing the only gaming verticals to post positive growth.

Figures released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show statewide gambling revenue of $821.1m in September, a 22.4% decline from the same month last year. However, September’s total was nearly $82m better than August 2020 and the state’s best showing since casinos reopened in June following their COVID-19 shutdown.

The pain was much greater on the Las Vegas Strip, where casinos reported gaming revenue falling 39.1% to $354.7m, although that was up $38m from August. The situation wasn’t much better Downtown ($51.8m, -21.5%) while the Boulder Strip gained 1.8% to $75.9m and Reno rose 3% to $57.1m.

Statewide slots revenue was off 12% to $607.5m while the ‘table, counter & card games’ segment slumped 41.9% to $213.6m. With the exception of bingo ($2m, +27.5%), all individual games were sharply negative, led by blackjack ($64.6m, -21.7%), craps ($32.8m, -13.3%) and roulette ($22.5m, -20.3%), while baccarat tumbled 86.6% to just under $14.2m despite baccarat volume dropping only 11.5%.