Things were looking up for the daily fantasy sports industry in Illinois, where enabling legislation passed the state Senate 32-22. However, a hold has been put on the bill, which 
may not make it to the House. Why? Although the legislation would deal the casino industry in on DFS action, gaming executives complain that the regulatory mechanisms for DFS are flabby compared to what they have to comply with and they’d like to be permitted a wider array of Internet-gambling offerings, too. At present, DFS is illegal in Illinois, following an opinion rendered by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. While some solons are sympathetic to the casinos’ protests, others balked at the last-minute hitch. “With any bills that come anywhere close to gaming, everybody has their parochial interests that they pile on,” grumbled state Sen. Kwame Raoul (above), a co-sponsor of the bill, which would tax DFS revenues as low as 5% or as high as 30%.
“Today, Illinois and a handful of other states offer their lotteries over the Internet. And of course, for many years, Illinois horse bettors have been able to wager through the Internet. Establishing a regulatory regime for online poker and online gaming in Illinois will result in an open and competitive licensed market which would be attractive to both local riverboat licensees and worldwide operators,” responded the Poker Players Alliance. It’s another example of what happens when you open the DFS can of worms.
* Flooding Macao with upscale shopping malls may not provide the market with the same lift it has had for Las Vegas. Or so says Wynn Macau board member Allan Zeman, who told a Global Gaming Expo Asia audience, “In today’s world, because of online shopping, young people don’t go to shopping malls. The exclusivity in luxury shopping got lost.”
* Amaya Inc. CEO-in-absentia David Baazov is resigning from the company’s board of directors, as is CFO Daniel Sebag. Baazov, who is battling charges of insider trading, is still expected to pursue an LBO of Amaya. In other Internet-gambling news, Nevada 
Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) is proposing an online-gaming compact similar to the one that already exists between Nevada and Delaware. Among Sandoval’s supporters is Caesars Entertainment, which has seen over 75% of its new Total Rewards recruits come from the i-gaming sphere. A bill in Michigan to legalize online gambling has hit a tar patch, however. The wife of the bill’s leading proponent, state Sen. Mike Kowall, turns out to be a lobbyist for the same firm that represents FullTilt Poker and PokerStars. As such, Mrs. Kowall has become the poster girl for Michigan’s lax conflict-of-interest laws.
* Could the worst be over for Mississippi‘s casinos? That’s one school of thought after April revenues were reported. The much-abused Mississippi River casinos were up 1%, while casino winnings along the Gulf Coast rose 3%. The introduction of “historical racing” at Arkansas parimutuels had cut into the riverboat casinos’ business, counting Harrah’s Tunica among its victims.
* Congratulations to casino veteran and Seminole Gaming COO Larry Mullin. The well-traveled executive just had his contract extended to 2018. We wish him well.
