General Casino News

In a recent note to investors Goldman Sachs is predicting that the US will legalize and regulate the online gambling industry. It is another example of how a growing number of people believe the legalization of Internet gambling is inevitable.

Representative Barney Frank (MA Congressman) has introduced two key pieces of legislation regarding online gambling. The first would be to delay the rules from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act from going into effect in December.

The second is the more interesting Bill for online casinos. The legislation calls for legalization and regulation of online gambling in the US. Frank has tried before to overturn the UIGEA, but his latest attempt seams to have much more support, particularly from the general public who are taking notice.

Goldman Sachs writes in its note to investors "We believe it is logical to assume that the US market will eventually regulate, given the potential implications for US tax take, if nothing else."

There is a strong likelihood that online poker is legalized in a number of states before the federal government makes any changes to the current laws. Frank's House Finance Committee is focusing their attention on the economy, so the Internet gambling debate has been delayed until at least September.

Even with the delay, Frank insists that the legislation will be passed, and suggests that online casino players in the US should be patient. Online poker players received a jolt a couple of weeks ago when the US government seized bank accounts that held money for US player payouts.

Several online poker rooms had temporarily stopped accepting deposits, but as of late last week the sites were once again taking the player deposits. The move by the government may have backfired, with more people in the US now joining the call for the right to gamble online.

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wynn Resorts Ltd. CEO Steve Wynn says his swanky $2.3 billion Encore casino — which opened Monday in an economy that's battering casino, travel and other consumer companies — is about perfecting the basics.

"Better service, nicer rooms, better lighting," Wynn told The Associated Press. "Themes that are corny get old quickly, but real and wonderful environments with great service are timeless."

Even if visitors think the Encore delivers on that promise, however, Wynn will have to keep prices low to keep people booking its 2,034 suites. That's because while Wynn is doing well, Las Vegas is not.

MGM Mirage Inc., which owns 10 casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, has laid off about 3,200 workers here since October 2007. Harrah's Entertainment has cut 1,800 workers since January. And Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Lerner told investors in a note on Monday that he is tracking more delayed projects in Las Vegas than ever before.

Wynn said he views layoffs as an absolute last option, and he's willing to drop his room prices to keep people in the building and his employees working.

"If I lay off employees, I cause a ripple effect of insecurity and fear that is much, much more difficult to overcome than is raising the price when business is good," Wynn said.

The 5,000 new jobs at the resort, while 300 short of the number announced in July, were eagerly awaited, even though locals have seen many swings in their city's economy before. Some 100,000 people applied for the positions, company officials have said.

Hit hard by foreclosures and the mortgage crisis, Las Vegas reported an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent in November, up from 7.6 percent in October and above the November national average of 6.7 percent.

And Encore's opening is likely to be the only bright spot for a while.

Directly across the street is the former site of New Frontier hotel-casino, an empty lot where a stalled project modeled after The Plaza hotel in New York has yet to rise. Next to that sits Boyd Gaming Corp.'s stalled $4.8 billion Echelon project.

"It's going to bring some optimism, I think," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV. "Granted, it's not something that anybody could do."

Schwartz said some visitors will come just because it's Wynn's hotel, and others will come because of buzz generated for the casino.

In addition to the jobs, Encore will likely contribute significantly to the economy through taxes on gross casino revenues, room taxes and entertainment tax, Schwartz said.

But Encore's opening is sending unwelcome ripples through the gambling market in Las Vegas. Wynn, known for shaking up Sin City one casino at a time, is doing it this time by lowering rates so he can keep visitors coming in the short term.

He said he's booked 60,000 room-nights since dropping rates last week at Encore and Wynn Las Vegas next door. Those guests, most of whom signed up for visits next month, would have probably gone to properties down the street instead, he said.

"I want Encore filled and Wynn, and I'm sorry to everybody," Wynn said.

He said he would raise rates as the rooms fill up, and hope to get as close to 95 percent as possible. Five percent of rooms, he said, are usually saved for high rollers.

Weeknights, a standard 700-square-foot suite at Encore is going for $159 in January, according to Encore's Web site, with higher prices on weekends. That's down from rates easily $200 or more.

Natural light flows onto the 72,000-square-foot casino floor from a large glass-covered atrium and windows overlooking the pool. One restaurant's wall is decorated with a large Asian dragon made from 90,000 Swarovski crystals, while another displays Frank Sinatra's 1953 Oscar at its entrance. The nightclub, XS, opens with large glass doors to an outdoor pool with its own bar, blackjack tables and cabanas.

But all year, Vegas visitors have been spending less money, no matter how tempting the offerings. Analysts who study the industry say the gambling market may not have hit bottom yet.

"It has taken time for the full impact of the financial crisis to become apparent due to pre-planned travel," Celeste Brown of Morgan Stanley Research wrote in a note Friday to investors.

Casinos are typically more willing to sacrifice room rates than non-gambling hotels in order to get people in the door, figuring they'll still make money from customers gambling, eating and entertaining themselves inside.

But Wynn says the company's room rates are a big part of his profits, and lowering them hurts.

Brown said the rate cuts could pressure other casinos to follow suit and further depress the whole market's profitability.

"If I ever set a price, then the market has to go off that," Wynn said. "When we did this the other day, we repriced the whole city."

Wynn's fortunes are strongly tied to Las Vegas, despite the company's investment in a $700 million Encore now being built in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, analyst Robert LaFleur wrote in a recent note to investors.

Wynn expected thousands to jam the entrances to the casinos on Monday night, as some of his best customers ceremoniously pull the first slots and play the first hand at each machine and table with $2 million in house money.

If they win — at prices of $1,000 to $25,000 — they get to keep the winnings, but Wynn says he expects they'll play some more no matter what happens.

"I've never met a gambler that would win a bet and retire from gambling," he said.
By OSKAR GARCIA

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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada and the United States should legalize and regulate online gambling to contain its potentially harmful effects because players tend to bet more frequently and aggressively than they do in casinos, a study released on Tuesday says.

The study, conducted jointly by academics of the University of Western Ontario in Canada and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, found that online gambling is readily accessible via the Internet even though it is outlawed or in a "legal grey area" in United States and Canada.

Online gambling is big business, the study said, estimating worldwide spending at more than C$10 billion ($10 billion) a year.

Betting online is a problem, the study says, because it has the potential to be more addictive than casino gambling. Online gamblers can hide their activity more easily than casino gamblers, and betting can quickly become a routine part of their daily lives.

"It brings out the gamblers' more competitive side," said June Cotte, associate professor of marketing at the University of Western Ontario and one of the study's authors.

"When not seen as reserved solely as behavior for an outing or a special occasion, gambling is more likely to become a pernicious, insidiously integrated component of a consumer's life."

As part of the study, 20 regular casino gamblers and 10 regular online gamblers were interviewed. Pictures were used as stimuli to find out what gambling feels like and how it is perceived by the participants.

Results show online gamblers bet more frequently and aggressively, the study found.

As one potential solution, the study's authors suggested that governments encourage large corporations like those that run the major Las Vegas casinos to enter a new, regulated online gambling market. The major Vegas operators include MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment Inc

Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah's, said the company has already supported a study looking at the pros and cons of legalizing and regulating online gambling.

Depending on how the government would structure its approach, he said Harrah's would be interested in exploring the market opportunity.

The study also suggested government sponsors in Canada might enter the market and regulate it with measures like more effective age checks when signing up, setting limits on bets and implementing mandatory "cooling-off" periods that force gamblers to stop betting for a set amount of time.
by Wojtek Dabrowski

Categories: News  

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - A New Jersey appeals court was just as put off by massive layoffs, bug-infested rooms and uncooperative management at the Tropicana Casino and Resort as state regulators were, and upheld the denial of the casino's license.

Tuesday's ruling affirmed last December's decision by the state Casino Control Commission to strip the former owners of the gambling resort of their license and put the property up for sale.

The Tropicana had appealed the decision, claiming the commission acted wrongly and exceeded its authority in denying the casino a new license.

Last December, regulators cited an affiliate of Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp. for laying off nearly 1,000 casino workers, causing problems with cleanliness and service, as well as for poor compliance with state regulations. The appeals court decision reached many of the same conclusions.

"The findings made by the commission that Tropicana lacked financial integrity and responsibility, as well as business ability, are amply supported by the record," the judges wrote.

The judges cited "the massive staff layoffs," replacement of senior executives with less experienced people, "the cleanliness crisis," and "intransigence" on the part of ownership in complying with important regulations in upholding the commission's decision.

The property, which includes New Jersey's largest hotel at 2,129 rooms, is up for sale, but still open. A first round of bids was rejected because they were too low.

Tropicana president Mark Giannantonio is running the day-to-day operations of the casino under the supervision of a state-appointed trustee, retired state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein. Giannantonio said the ruling will have no effect on the casino's operations.

"I work for the judge now; we severed ties (with Columbia Sussex) on Dec. 12," Giannantonio said. "We're just trying to do the best we can in a very difficult market."

Linda Kassekert, chairwoman of the Casino Control Commission, said she was pleased by the decision.

The court ruling allows the thus-far unsuccessful effort to find a new buyer for the Tropicana to continue.

Stein has said it is likely the casino eventually will be sold through a pre-planned filing under Chapter 363 of the U.S. bankruptcy code. It would allow the eventual buyer to obtain clear title to the property, free from any liens or lawsuits, and would be quickly completed, Stein said.

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