CASINO NEWS
Pennsylvania needs table games; Texas wonders if it needs casinos
G
rowth in slots revenue at individual casinos in Pennsylvania appears to be levelling off, suggesting that the state’s approval of table games in January may provide a welcome boost.
Figures from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show that total
revenue from slots grew 30 percent year-on-year during April, to just under $200m.
But the bulk of that increase came from two new locations, Rivers Casino and Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, which hiked the number of venues in the state from seven to nine.
On a like-for-like basis excluding those two, slots revenue was up only 1.7
percent in April. One site, the Mount Airy Casino Resort, was down about 20 percent and only two – Parx Casino and Hollywood Casino – experienced growth in the double digits.
Casinos and suppliers alike are now pinning their hopes for growth in
Pennsylvania on table games, with TCSJohnHuxley the latest vendor to win approval from the PGCB.
Texas, meanwhile, is again considering legalising casinos. Although Rick Perry, the Republican Governor, is opposed to the move and
previous attempts at legislation have failed, the potential tax revenue is attractive to some law-makers, who anticipate an instant return of $500m annually over the first two years of legalisation, and eventually as much as $4bn a year.
And the idea is being taken seriously enough by Pinnacle Entertainment that CEO Anthony Sanfillipo has said the chance of casinos coming to Texas was one reason that his company pulled out of a $305m development in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Texans currently travel to neighbouring states, including Louisiana and Oklahoma, to gamble.
Whichever way it goes, however, no decision will be made for a while – Texas’s legislature does not meet again until 2011.
Gaming Labs adds online testing services
T
4 JUNE 2010
esting specialist Gaming Laboratories International Group (GLI) has acquired
Technical Systems Testing (TST) to create a new division handling online gaming systems.
The new division, called GLI
Interactive, “will allow GLI to combine its services with TST’s deep technical knowledge in the i-gaming and interactive gaming niche”, GLI said. GLI Europe Managing Director
Phillip Barow will take on the same role at GLI Interactive, while senior management of TST will also move to the new division. TST has labs in London, Macau, Manila, and Vancouver.
Separately, Australia’s Enex
TestLab says it is increasing its business in the gaming sector. The firm is accredited in Australia, New Zealand, and Macau.
Buyer sought
Octavian International in the UK has gone into administrative receivership. Receivers from KPMG will run the firm while seeking a buyer. Joint Administrator Allan Graham attributed Octavian’s problems to “the global economic downturn combined with specific gaming industry factors, including delays in expected regulatory and legislative change”, adding that “we believe there is a realistic prospect of finding a buyer”.
Name sold
The
Slots.com domain name has
reportedly been sold for $5.5m by owner Christina Hall to an unknown buyer. At press time the Website remained unchanged.
Sitting pretty
Gaming Partners International is to
sell Gary Platt casino seating products in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the New York tribal market.
Ooh la bar
France’s JoaGroupe is turning the
bars of 20 casinos into sports bars during the World Cup.
Mexico way
Aristocrat Technologies has opened
an office in Mexico City, headed by Director of Sales and Operations Carlos Carrion and overseen by VP of Latin America Alvaro Nores.
Consult on
Britain’s GameOn Marketing and GameOn Affiliates have established a
News in brief
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