After seven years of hesitation, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has committed to a purpose for its top four hotel floors. They’ll be high-
roller suites known as the Boulevard Penthouse will be the most expensive hotel rooms known to man. They’re available only to those who make a $1 million buy-in at the Cosmo’s casino in the sky, The Reserve. It adds a perk that the Cosmo couldn’t previously offer to visiting whales. “They were players and not stayers. People play more where they sleep,” a Cosmo exec explained to Bloomberg, adding, “If a guest wants stone crabs for dinner in their Penthouse, we’ll go to Joe’s and procure them.”
Opines the magazine of the Adam Tihany-designed Penthouses, “whereas Sin City’s other megasuites all conform to kitschy themes, the Cosmopolitan’s are Continue reading
house balks at a prohibitive, 54% tax rate for online casinos. A 16% rate has been counterproposed and Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D) is trying to get both sides to coalesce around a 25% impost. As for the slot routes, some make the morally bankrupt argument that since they already exist in black-market form the state should simply ratify the status quo. Says Costa, “Video gaming terminals is an issue that I think a lot of members of the Senate are not supportive of, and that has become a roadblock, quite frankly, to reaching a consensus.”
an injunction seeking to annul the marriage of the DFS giants, saying it would — if consummated — give them more than 90% of market share, effectively a monopoly. Reasoned Bureau of Competition Director Tad Lipsky, “This merger would deprive customers of the substantial benefits of direct competition between DraftKings and FanDuel.” The two companies said relatively little in response, stating that “In the days ahead, it will be business as usual as we prepare for the start of the NFL season.”
the time the case was argued that it had specific development plans for the state.” Indeed, MGM’s solicitude for the Nutmeg State was quite sudden and did not manifest itself until the Hartford-area satellite casino was mooted by lawmakers. I’ll go farther and say MGM wouldn’t have such a chubby for Bridgeport if the words “satellite casino” had never been uttered. We’ve not seen opportunism on this scale since Penn National Gaming offered to close Hollywood Casino Perryville lock, stock and keno if it were given Laurel Downs instead.
company, Universal Entertainment Corp., and his dreams of owning a casino in his native Japan may have just gone up in smoke. The Okada suspension automatically triggered a Nevada Gaming Control Board investigation. And if Okada loses his Nevada license, it more than likely would set off a domino effect in other jurisdictions. As the online Nevada Independent newspaper put it, the news is bad for Universal but far worse for Okada personally. It could also put a swift kibosh on litigation whereby Okada hopes to regain his forcibly sold Wynn Resorts stock and regain his seat on the Wynn board. Without a license, the issue is moot. The news also puts the Okada suspension in a new light: It may have been a prophylactic 
right now. The central government could monitor the casino visits of citizens and resident aliens by having their ID numbers monitored. The upside is that it means that a ban on gambling by locals is probably off the table. As for downsides, you could have a deterred citizenry, attempted transference of ID numbers and a burdensome verification regime for the casinos themselves. Although every citizen has an ID number in theory, only 10% have the plastic verification card, 
sunblock. However, in a perverse way, this is good for business. With inhospitable conditions emptying the sidewalks, customers have little choice but to stay inside and gamble. As I like to say, it’s an ill wind indeed that doesn’t blow somebody some good.
City was flat but Lake Charles rose 9%, New Orleans increased 5% and Baton Rouge — look out! — was up nearly 14%. Pinnacle Entertainment was a big winner, up 30.5% at L’Auberge Du Lac ($20 million), 20.5% at L’Auberge Baton Rouge ($15 million) and 8% at Boomtown New Orleans ($10.5 million). The only bad news came from Boomtown Bossier, down 6.5% to $5 million.
whether it’s over his need to get a gaming license or the importance of submitting a site-plan application. Now he’s disputing payments to the Special Improvement District. 
traction like Venetian, Wynn, and City of Dreams,” writes JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. That name never did have any particular promise of enchantment, did it? After years of touting the Macao/Hong Kong bridge, casino operators have suddenly cooled on it, describing its likely effect on the market as ‘marginal.’ Greff writes that “it’s not likely that individuals can drive their own cars from HK or Macau directly.” There’s been a similar cooling on the light rail system, “since it’s not integrated where people would initiate the travels, especially among buses (there are 350 – 400 servicing the casinos).”
permanently banned from gambling at Wynn Resorts on June 7, 2017 due to my role as Chairman and CEO of a publicly-traded technology company focused on the cannabis sector,” said Isaac Diedrich. The 25-year-old marijuana mogul was trespassed and barred from gambling at Wynn Las Vegas. The casino defended the move on the grounds of the dichotomy between state and federal law on cannabis, citing the Bank Secrecy Act. In short, Wynn decided Diedrich’s money was obtained illegally (or at least from within a legal penumbra) and showed him the door.
require that 40% of the state’s energy output come from renewables by 2030, by which time Adelson will be 96. As matters stand presently, Las Vegas Sands would be required to purchase 25% of its energy in renewable form by 2025. Since the Nevada energy market is currently being deregulated, Adelson contends that it’s too soon to raise the mandate, which he argues will raise energy prices right along with it.
the comparison. Terrestrial casinos pulled in $208 million, while Internet gambling grossed a further $21 million (up 27%). Golden Nugget continues to dominate the Internet sphere, holding 28% of market share, while the rest is fairly evenly divided between its rivals. Borgata grossed a healthy $60.5 million (up 12%). Slot winnings were flat, despite higher handle but Borgata cleaned up at the tables, winning 42% more on 3% less wagering.
casinos and racinos would be eligible to host ‘Net poker under Bonacic’s bill, meant to palliate the objections of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and the casino industry. $110 million in licensing fees are anticipated if the bill passes. Bonacic’s Assembly counterpart, Rep. Gary Pretlow (D) is shopping a similar bill around the lower house, although Bonacic concedes it’s “a tougher walk” down there.
pushing a ballot question to put a racino in York County — provided it is run by no one other than Shawn Scott. The latter has been subpoenaed by the ethics board but is running scared at the moment. Refusing the requests to testify. “The probe is expected to take several weeks or even months and could cast a shadow over the committee’s effort to convince voters to support the initiative in November,” 
analyst Chelsey Tam, by way of Asia Gaming Brief. In a case of them that has gets, Sands’ existing portfolio of resorts is cited as a contributory factor. One might add that Japan‘s government is looking to Singapore as a role model and Sands is not only the top performer in that market, its Marina Bay Sands is expected to be the template for what the Japanese government wants to see in the RFPs. Return on investment is also anticipated to be as healthy as Singapore’s, if not better … an unbelievable 20% on $10 billion invested. That’s despite a middle-of-the-road estimate of the Japanese market: $19 billion in gross gaming revenues, plus another $6 billion from amenities. (Some of these projections for Japan are so giddy it leaves one wondering if an epidemic of coke snorting has broken out in the investment community.)