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NEW NY GAMING LICENCES $20M+
New York Gaming Board has approved applications for four upstate casinos with fees ranging between $20m and $70m. New York - New licences
The New York Request for Applications establishes minimum licence fees for commercial casino licences in each region and details how local support must be illustrated.
Casinos will be built in three regions: the Southern Tier, Capital Region and Catskills with the most expensive licenses; US$70m being either in Dutchess or Orange counties; the two closest to New York City.
US – TROPICANA COMPLETES LUMIERE PURCHASE Tropicana Entertainment has completed its acquisition of Lumiere Place Casino, HoteLumiere, and the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis from Pinnacle Entertainment for a purchase price of US$260m.
With the acquisition, Lumiere becomes the ninth casino property in Tropicana’s portfolio, joining the company’s gam- ing resorts in Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey and Aruba. With its prime downtown location, Lumiere becomes Tropicana’s second-largest casino property, after its flagship Tropicana Atlantic City Casino and Resort. The property will remain under the Lumiere brand.
“We are incredibly excited to add this magnificent St. Louis property to Tropicana’s portfolio,” said Tony Rodio, the com- pany’s President and CEO. “We are very much looking for- ward to becoming part of the St. Louis business community and working with the city and state as we operate Lumiere into the future.”
US - ANNUAL AGEM/AGA/JCM GOLF CLASSIC Players at the AGEM/AGA Golf Classic Presented by JCM Global earned their “license to drive” at the 16th annual event. Organisers celebrated 16 successful years of the high- profile affair with new challenges and more fun.
Event producer Tom Nieman of JCM Global said: “We’re cele- brating our 16th by giving players a ‘license to drive’ with two fun and challenging driving contests, chances to win a 4x4 truck, and a great day at one of the world’s top courses. We are excited to welcome our players and sponsors and to raise a lot of money in support of the National Center for Responsible Gaming’s important research.”
This year’s Golf Classic took place on April 29 on the award- winning greens of Cascata in Boulder City, Nevada. This year’s event was more exciting than ever, with two “License to Drive” contests where organisers gave away $8,400 in total cash prizes. Players will also had two opportunities (front/back) to win a 4x4 truck in hole-in-one contests, and there was a wide range of terrific raffle prizes.
US - CAESARS CALLS TIME ON HARRAH’S TUNICA Caesars Entertainment has confirmed it will close Harrah’s Tunica on June 2, following persistent declines in business and increased competition. Caesars said it remained com- mitted to the Tunica area, where it operates Horseshoe Tunica, which is currently being upgraded, and the Tunica Roadhouse Hotel and Casino. The company plans to collabo- rate with local officials to identify alternative uses for the facility and site.
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The licence fee will be $50m to develop a casino in the rest of the Catskills, and $35m for a second casino in the Catskills if one is built in Orange or Dutchess counties. Developing a casino in the Albany area would need a $50m licence, one in the Southern Tier, which constitutes Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Tioga or Tompkins counties, would demand a license fee of $35m whilst in Wayne or Seneca County it would be $50m.
If a casino were to be built in either Seneca or Wayne counties, a second casino in the Southern Tier would require a $20m licence fee. There are currently at least three casino proposals for each of the regions. Applicants were recently required to participate in an Applicants Conference, which took place in the Capital Region at the end of April and was open to the public and streamed online.
US Having increased its ownership in Casinos Poland, Century Casinos has boosted its revenues in 2013 by 46 per cent. Net operating revenue came in at US$104.6m with the three months ended December 31, generating $29.4m of that, representing a 66 per cent increase. In April 2013, the company completed the purchase of an additional 33.3 per cent ownership interest in Casinos Poland, doubling its ownership. Century Casinos followed this up on November 29, 2013, with its subsidiary Century Casinos Europe finalising credit and management agreements with United Horsemen of Alberta, in connection with a development in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Applications for gaming facilities will be accepted until June 30, 2014. At least 20 applicants are expected to lodge their interest with names such as Hard Rock, Penn National, Empire Resorts, the Flaum family real estate company, the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and the Stockbridge-Munsee Indians, all saying they will apply. There are currently five Indian casinos upstate in New York along with slot halls at nine racetracks, including Resorts World New York owned by Genting.
Facility Location Board Member Paul Francis said: “This marks the beginning of the bidding process for long-anticipated gaming facilities to benefit Upstate New York. We look forward to reviewing and evaluating the applications and will continue to conduct an open, honest and transparent process.”
Facility Location Board Member Stuart Rabinowitz added: “This RFA was designed to attract bidders who are committed to realising the highest impact and best value to New York State, the applicable region and host locality. The measures and metrics contained within it are comprehensive and realistic and bring with it a commitment to integrity and responsible public policy.”
TransAct signs deal for multi- site Epicentral System install
US TransAct Technologies has entered into an agreement with an international multi-site casino operator to install the company’s Epicentral promotion and bonus- ing system on all 900 slot machines at one of the operator’s properties. TransAct has not directly named the customer.
The agreement also includes an option for the customer to add Epicentral to approximately 2,500 additional units that encompass the balance of the slot machines at all of its properties. TransAct is working with the customer’s tech- nical and marketing teams and expects the initial 900-unit Epicentral installation to go live in the second half of 2014.
In addition, the customer has pur- chased approximately 1,500 of TransAct’s Epic 950 dual-port
printers as it continues to replace existing slot machine printers sup- plied by another manufacturer across its properties.
Bart C. Shuldman, Chairman and CEO of TransAct Technologies stated: “Epicentral is the industry’s most flexible solution, allowing operators to simultaneously run multiple promotional programs across their entire casino floor, regardless of their existing slot management system and slot floor composition. Furthermore, its ability to offer multiple currencies within a single promotion makes it a perfect fit for international implementations such as this.
“Our new relationship with this multi-site operator also includes a significant slot machine printer replacement order as our Epic 950 dual-port printers replaced a com- petitor’s printer.
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