Keystone State casinos go begging; IRS: DFS is gambling

There’s an old-codger mindset in the gaming industry that we’ll never go over to cashless gambling, no, not in a million years! Tell that to Station Casinos. It just inked a pact with Automated Cashless Systems to deploy cash-free table games at its Las Vegas properties. ACS’ PlayOn solution enables punters to buy chips with their debit card. As long as the industry doesn’t cross over into enabling use of credit cards at slots and tables, we’re A-OK with cashlessness. To say nothing of how much more sanitary it is. ACS reports that it is “seeing significant interest to deploy PlayOn across the state, especially with the concerns surrounding currency and COVID-19.” We don’t doubt it. Good move, Station.

No more tax-free daily fantasy sports. The Internal Revenue Service says DFS is subject to the same federal excise tax as real sports betting. That’s a $10 million annual bill for the DFS industry, maybe higher if the taxman decides to apply it retroactively. Chronicles LegalSportsReport.com, “An interesting part of the equation is that DFS is being treated like gambling in this instance at the federal level. While the memo clearly does not mean that the federal government writ large considers DFS to be a form of gambling, the IRS is attempting to treat DFS entries as ‘wagers.‘” (emphasis in the original) Reassuringly for operators, “The memo is internal guidance and does not carry the force of law.” All is not lost. The Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act exempts DFS, while the Wire Act was written long before DFS was a glimmer in Jason Robins‘ eye. The likes of DraftKings and FanDuel could prevail in court, if that’s how the IRS wants to roll. Still, it’s all the more reason to support Reps. Dina Titus (D) and Guy Reschenthaler (R) as they endeavor to repeal the excise tax on sports betting.

Jottings: Boyd Gaming has quietly filed papers with Henderson to keep Eldorado Casino closed until June 2021. Locals casinos may be more resilient than the Strip but that doesn’t mean they’re not hurting … ‘No roulette or craps for you!’ That’s the Massachusetts Gaming Commission‘s rejoinder to a request from Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield to restart certain banned table games. Poker is also down for the count … Online gambling is predicted to be on the docket for the 2021 Indiana Lege. Let’s hope so. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico‘s government is getting into the act, soliciting public opinion on i-gaming. It’s one of Gov. Wanda Vasquez‘s policy goals. Gaming Commission President Manuel Laboy Rivera asserted that “there is a great opportunity to position ourselves in this industry, which can contribute around $68m by 2022.” … There’s a new candidate for a casino in Japan. French Groupe Partouche is teaming with Japanese Pixel Companyz. No official destination has been announced but Nagasaki is predicted to be it.