NEWS INBRIEF
BLANKET BAN An ordinance banning all forms of gambling in the Philippine capital of Manila has passed its second reading.
EASTERN PROMISE As we went to press, New Jersey legislators were poised to pass a law allowing the use of mobile devices in Atlantic City casino hotels. The state would be following in the footsteps of Nevada, where the Silverton Casino Hotel is the latest to take advantage of similar rules by signing up Cantor Gaming to run a sportsbook including mobile.
POWER STRUGGLE Malaysia’s Genting Group and Crown owner James Packer appear set to fight for control of Australia’s Echo Entertainment Group. Both have reportedly applied to raise their stakes in Echo above ten per cent.
IN CZECH JCM has been named as preferred vendor of bill validators, printers and digital displays to Apex, with rollouts beginning at Casino Strazny in the Czech Republic and continuing to all other Apex properties. It has also become preferred bill validator provider for Caesars Entertainment.
LOTSA LOYALTY Grosvenor Casinos has ordered 700,000 loyalty cards, branded Grosvenor Play Points, from Plastic Card Services for its 35 UK sites.
REAL MONEY Innovative Technology’s NV200 bank note validator has been approved by the European Central Bank for its ability to distinguish genuine euro notes from counterfeit ones.
OK FOR VEGAS The Nevada Gaming Control Board has approved Deq Systems’ Real Link wide area progressive system.
ONE AND COUNTING Rivers Casino in Illinois has celebrated its first birthday.
GAME OVER Shuffle Master has decided not to go ahead with a takeover of online Poker firm Ongame Network, saying it would not gain the financial benefits anticipated.
Life beyond Vegas New casinos are still springing up around the US
They may secure most of the headlines, but there’s a lot more to US casino gaming than Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The $500m Maryland Live! casino development that welcomed its first players in June is one of the highest- profile new locations, but it’s far from the only one opening in the country despite the dire economic climate. Making its debut on the other side of the US, for example, is the Running Creek Casino in Upper Lake, California, near Sacramento. Run by the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, it’s a relatively small-scale operation, with 349 slots and six table games, but as Tribal Chairperson Sherry Treppa said, “we want this establishment to be more than just a gambling hall. Our vision is for visitors and local residents to see this as a place to come for dining and entertainment, as well as a local meeting place for clubs and organisations.” Closer to the Maryland project both geographically and in size is the $350m Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland, Ohio. Developed by a partnership including Caesars Entertainment and managed day-to- day by Caesars, it offers around 2100 slots and 63 table games as well as a 30-table Poker room. And on Maryland Live’s doorstep, MGM Resorts International is partnering with property developer Peterson Companies to develop a resort casino at National Harbor, on the Potomac river in Prince George’s County, Maryland, near Washington, DC.
Said James J. Murren, MGM’s
Chairman and CEO: “We believe this ideal location will not only attract residents from Virginia and DC, but will also serve as a new amenity for the more than 40m domestic and international visitors who travel to the nation’s capital each year.”Plans call for it to include around 4000 VLTs
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and 250 table games – in total, slightly fewer games than Maryland Live! – though new legislation permitting live (i.e. non-electronic) table games in the state and a referendum are required before it can go ahead.
And it’s not just the opening of new casinos that signals continued vitality in the US market outside Las Vegas and Atlantic City. There are high-profile deals going on, too, for example with Caesars selling Harrah’s St. Louis for to Penn National Gaming for $610m, and Boyd Gaming spending $1.45bn to buy Peninsula Gaming and its five properties. They are Kansas Star near Wichita, Kansas; Diamond Jo in Dubuque, Iowa; Diamond Jo Worth in Northwood, Iowa; Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, Louisiana; and Amelia Belle in Amelia, Louisiana. Said Keith Smith, President and CEO of Boyd Gaming. “The Peninsula properties are a strong fit for us, as they are well-managed and operate in resilient markets in the Midwest and south.”
The biggest property by revenue in May was in New York
Against this background of buzzing activity outside the traditional gaming capitals, it’s perhaps no surprise that in May the single biggest property in the country in terms of gross slots revenue and tax generation was not in Nevada or New Jersey, or even fast- developing
Pennsylvania, but was Genting Group’s Resorts World Casino New York City. Generating gross gaming revenues of
$57.5m in May from its slots – table games are not yet permitted in the state – it beat second-placed Mohegan Sun. “Resorts World’s model has maximised gaming revenue for New York state in a manner that has not been replicated by any other facility in the nation,” said Michael Speller, the casino’s President. Beat that, Vegas.
INBRIEF
JUST THE TICKET FutureLogic is supplying its Gen2 Universal printer to Dutch operator Holland Casino, which is rolling out a TITO system in its 14 properties.
NORTHWEST NOD Roulette equipment maker Cammegh has won a gaming licence in Washington state for its Mercury 360, Eyeball Display Camera and Billboard displays.
GOING PRIVATE Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) has been named a registered independent testing laboratory by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Pre-approval tests for gaming technology in the state are now to be performed by private firms such as GLI, rather than by government employees. GLI, which has also recently obtained certification in Maryland, has upgraded its Las Vegas facility and taken on more staff to handle this.
DREAM WORLD Magic Dreams has entered the Serbian market, installing its Captain Ca$h in the Game Planet and Fair Play casinos. It has also secured its first Tanzanian order, at Las Vegas Casino in Dar es Salaam.
DOWNTOWN UP Nevada gaming revenue in April rose six per cent year-on-year to $856m despite steep declines in Reno and northern parts of the state. The Las Vegas Strip was up seven per cent and downtown Vegas by 25 per cent. In Macau, meanwhile, revenue was up 7.3 per cent in May. At $3.3bn it reached the second- highest monthly revenue figure ever, though growth was at the slowest level for nearly three years.
KONAMI ORDER DRGT, newly representing Konami Gaming in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, is to supply Konami slots to the Saarland Spielbanken casino group.
LONDON FORECAST London’s Hippodrome Casino, opening in July, expects to do about £12m ($19m) worth of business in its first year.
POKER PLASTIC Fournier & USPC has produced a special edition of PVC playing cards to be used at WSOP tournament tables.
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