NORTH AMERICA
La Chambre des députés de la province de Buenos Aires, en Argentine, vient d'entériner le nouveau budget 2017 du Gouverneur María Euge- nia Vidal. Ce nouveau budget prévoit un nombre important de changements dans la taxation des jeux d'argent dans la province. Les taxes sur les revenus bruts des salles de jeux et de bingo vont, par cette nouvelle loi, augmenter de 2 à 3 %, pour atteindre une taxation à hauteur de 15 %. Les 46 salles de bingo de la région devront en outre main- tenant faire payer un droit d'entrée de 20 pesos à chaque client.
Une nouvelle loi actuellement à l'étude au Mexique pourrait autoriser l'installation de casinos sur les bateaux de croisière. Selon les lois actuelles, les casinos des bateaux de croisière n'ont pas le droit d'ouvrir leurs portes aux passagers lorsqu'ils sont à quai dans les ports mexicains ou lorsqu'ils naviguent dans les eaux mexicaines sauf en cas d'autorisation préalable accordée par le Ministère de l'Intérieur.
Alfredo Cornejo, Gouverneur de la province de Mendoza, vient de fermer un casino situé dans la ville de La Consulta. Ce casino s'était vu accorder une licence il y a 10 ans dans le but de développer le tourisme dans la région. Les autorités ont toute- fois affirmé que le casino n'a pas atteint le but fixé d'attirer des touristes mais a favorisé l'augmenta- tion des paris dans cette petite ville qui compte 8000 habitants.
Le sénateur José María Martínez, membre du Parti d'action nationale (PAN) a demandé au Min- istère de l'Intérieur mexicain (SEGOB) de soumettre un rapport au Sénat sur le nombre de casinos actuellement exploités au Mexique ainsi que sur le nombre exact de candidatures reçues pour l'ouver- ture d'établissements supplémentaires.
Le plan directeur d'aménagement urbain du projet BNC World Barcelone, en Espagne, vient d'être approuvé. Les opérateurs Hard Rock, Melco et Peralada ont trois mois pour soumettre leurs propositions au gouvernement catalan.
Le développement du complexe Time Square à Menlyn Maine, dans la ville de Tshwane, un projet de construction de 4 milliards de rands mené par Sun International, est en bonne voie. Le casino devrait ouvrir ses portes comme convenu en avril 2017.
Le casino Polonia-Wrocław, filiale polonaise d'Olympic Entertainment Group, qui exploitait l'Olympic Casino Sunrise, le casino phare d'OEG à Varsovie jusqu'en septembre 2016, vient de faire un dépôt de bilan au tribunal.
L'opérateur russe Domain LLC vient d'ouvrir le premier casino à Krasnaïa Poliana, près de la ville de Sotchi, dans la région de Krasnodar, région où les paris sont autorisés. Connu sous le nom de Sochi Casino and Resort, ce complexe cinq étoiles vient d'ouvrir dans la station de ski de Gorky Gorod et compte 569 machines à sous et 70 tables de jeux, pour un investissement d'un montant total de 4 milliards de roubles (66,3 millions de dollars US).
P28 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM
Georgia Assembly to Consider Five Casinos As Georgia’s General Assembly started a new 40-day legislative session in
January, proponents of bringing casino gambling to the state are hopeful the topic will be central to the state’s future, with Wynn and MGM lobbying hard
Te US state of Georgia is to consider the introduction of five casinos and a racino as part of upcoming legislation
GEORGIA CASINO LICENSING
Georgia Senator Brandon Beach plans to introduce a proposal to introduce five casinos and one horse racing track in the upcoming legislative. Te most recent polls in the state suggest that a majority of voters want casinos to be introduced in Georgia.
A poll by Te Atlanta Journal-Constitution saw 56 per cent of registered voters support the introduction of casinos with only 38 per cent against them. Senator Beach requires two-thirds of the House and Senate to agree to then put the issue to voters in a 2018 referendum. He said: “I’m a Republican. Tere’s nothing more republican or conservative than allowing voters to decide if they would like to pursue this.”
His bill will propose a 12 per cent tax on gross gaming revenue although that figure will probably have to increase to be approved by the General Assembly. Casinos in Maryland are taxed at up to 67 per cent. Senator Beach has proposed that the state be split into four geographic zones: I-20 to the north, Coastal Georgia, Middle Georgia and South Georgia. He
War of words continues over Taj Mahal closure
New Jersey
Carl Icahn has said he will sell the shuttered Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City as long as he makes back the US$300m he has lost on the casino. Atlantic City’s mayor Don Guardian said that allowing such a huge building to lie dormant on the Boardwalk was the ‘worst of the worst.’
Te mayor said Icahn should ‘sell it, make a profit and move on.’ “He doesn’t have any faith in the city, I get it,” Mayor Guardian said. “But don’t let us lose that building on the Boardwalk. We need that activity and those jobs.”
However, Mr. Icahn responded by saying: “Telling us we should sell the Taj and make a profit is easier said than done. We’ve lost almost $300m on that investment. If he’s a buyer
said a ‘primary’ license would be granted to a leading casino operator, with a minimum investment of $1bn in a new resort casino within 25 miles of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. It would be allowed an unlimited number of gaming positions.
Te bill would then offer four secondary licenses each with a minimum investment of $250m, which would allow 2,000 gaming positions and a racino horse track license with a minimum $150m investment, giving 1,500 gaming positions. Te secondary licensed casino would not be located within 50 miles of the primary licensed casino. Te new gaming venues would be regulated by a division of the Georgia Lottery Corporation, which would also be in charge of awarding the licenses.
MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts are lobbying Georgia’s legislators to let voters decide on a constitutional amendment allowing casinos. Supporters believe that the success of MGM’s National Harbor in Maryland, which opened in early December, could help sway opinion.
at that price, I’d be a happy seller.” He also asked where the mayor was last summer when the strike forced him to shut the casino’s doors.
“Some help back then would have been nice,” he said. Te venue closed on October 10 following a strike by its employees called by Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union.
Te New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has confirmed that Mr. Icahn had applied for permission to surrender the Taj Mahal’s casino license on December 22. It coincided with state legislators looking to punish him for closing the casino with new laws that will penalise any owner who shuts down an Atlantic City casino after January 2016, withdrawing their gaming licence for five years. Te new legislation was put forward by state Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is also a union official. Mr. Icahn slammed the Legislature as being ‘at war with business.’
US
IGT has extended its multi-year contract with the Idaho Lottery to continue providing Scratch Games printing services through March 2019. Tis is the second, two-year extension that has been exercised on the existing contract and was unanimously approved by the Idaho Lottery Commission. In addition to providing Scratch Games printing services to the Idaho Lottery, IGT will continue to support the Lottery with related products and services including game planning, ticket design, marketing support, and analytics. IGT currently provides over 70 per cent of printing for the Idaho Lottery’s Scratch Games, resulting in responsible, incremental sales growth year after year. Together, IGT and the Idaho Lottery have worked closely to deliver a portfolio of games with fun, new play styles. In 2016, the Idaho Lottery broke records, returning $49.5m to Idaho public schools and the Permanent Building Fund, a 10 per cent increase from 2015.
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