“It has been a dominant season for the Crimson Tide and our traders have seen enough.” With those words, FanDuel proceeded to pay out $400,000 to University of Alabama bettors, even though the national collegiate championship game had not yet 
been played. Ooops. The Clemson Tigers proceeded to maul the Tide and add that $400,000 insult to the injury of FanDuel having to pay everyone sagacious enough to have bet on Clemson to win. Shades of FanDuel parent Paddy Power‘s rash decision in 2016 to pay $1 million ahead of time to punters who had Hillary Clinton winning the presidency. FanDuel tried to paint the loss as a win, saying, ““We made history in November when we paid out customers early on Alabama winning the National Championship.” Of course, making history isn’t always a good thing, as Richard Nixon could have told you.
* Chalk up a win for New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and we don’t mean his re-election. An arbitration panel has ruled in favor of Continue reading
casino to offer sports wagering, preceded by Hollywood Casino, near Harrisburg, Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and SugarHouse in downtown Philadelphia. However, the action could be the heaviest at Parx parent Greenwood Racing‘s South Philadelphia Turf Club, an OTB located near Lincoln Financial Field & Stadium, as well Citizen’s Bank Field. It’s strategically sited to take advantage of those sports fans who want to take in live action but have a flutter beforehand perhaps. “We knew it was going to be a very busy week, based on the appetite we’ve seen in New Jersey and with other operators in Pennsylvania. Now the Eagles will be continuing in the playoffs, we expect to see even more activity,” said Matthew Cullen, Parx’s sports-betting supremo. Pennsylvania casinos are expected to take a big bite out of 
Cordish Gaming captured $50 million, up 6%. Horseshoe Baltimore fared no better than the Baltimore Ravens‘ playoff hopes, down 7% to $22 million. One star performer was way out west in Rocky Gap, where Golden Entertainment vaulted 18% to $4.5 million. Hollywood Perryville had a rare good month, up 9% to $6 million while Churchill Downs finished in the money at Ocean Downs, with table games powering a 45% surge to $5.5 million, Even with all the heavy action in Maryland, play is flowing back into West Virginia, buoyed 9% last month on 9% higher slot win and 7% more table-game revenue. Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races lagged the state average, grossing 
workforce, as well as the upcoming racino at Empire City in Yonkers. He added that room revenue and gross gaming revenue on the Las Vegas Strip were tracking comfortably ahead of MGM’s projections. Greff predicted a better entertainment calendar for 2019 (spelled “Lady Gaga“) and continued recovery at Mandalay Bay. Speaking of entertainment, everybody 
forward progress, Cordish 
these people, as it has prevailed upon CEO Mark Frissora to extend his tenure through April, 
deeply committed to eliminating sex trafficking and all other forms of human trafficking in our industry and beyond.” With those words, Jan Jones Blackhurst announced Caesars Entertainment‘s entrance into 
— but that has always been Reid’s style. The New York Times 
injured several hundred more. Determined to establish a cause, officials soon discovered the fire, which appeared to be set intentionally, had been started in one of the hotel’s elevator lobbies. With that, they developed suspicions of the hotel’s 23-year-old busboy, Philip Bruce Cline. Following a brief investigation, Cline was arrested for multiple counts of arson and murder. A year later, a jury ruled Cline guilty of all convictions and sentenced him to eight consecutive life sentences without parole. While tragic, the deathly Hilton fire helped ignite an international overhaul of building codes.
Sin City timeshares. According to the 
Pete Rozelle of e-sports? “By everybody’s prediction are more people who will be watching it in a few years than watch the NFL, NBA and baseball combined,” Berman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, estimating the eventual size of the industry at $11 billion/year. “There are hundreds of millions of people who play e-sports on a regular basis throughout the world. We think that it is an emerging industry that has really got incredible growth potential and we are kind of in on the ground floor.” I don’t think many would dispute him. He likens the current state of e-sports to tribal gaming in the early Nineties. If that is the case, $11 billion may be a conservative estimate.
Station Casinos is bringing two name-brand chefs to the upgraded Palms. Between high-in-the-sky 
numbers was a mind-boggling 53% explosion in baccarat win on 26% higher wagering. Non-baccarat win was up a comparatively modest 3.5% on 7% greater play. Slot coin-in on the Strip was up 8% but win increased only 3.5%. Last December was dreadful for baccarat (-30%), so this month should impress in that department. Locals casinos’ performance didn’t reflect the robustness of the Las Vegas economy, being 1% down, pushed by 4.5% lower win on 2.5% more coin-in. Not even an extra weekend day could help.
hesitate to jump into the opportunity with both feet. Feelings about the change were strong on both sides of the issue. Garden Café employee Nicolas Kepner was looking at being able to spend less time with his dad, a long-haul trucker. Nonetheless, he offered a fair and balanced take on the change. “He’s only going to be home Christmas Eve and some of the day on Christmas, so we’ll have to get up early,” Kepner said of his father. “The good part is I’ll be making time and a half, and that will help pay some bills.” We appreciate McGlynn putting a little extra largesse in his employees’ Christmas stockings.
operators. After all, they are raking in billions of dollars from Chinese citizens in businesses that depend on government licenses.” Plus, half of the gaming concessions in Macao are held by running-dog capitalists from the Great Satan. “Further incentive could come from the pressure by some to open Macau to more Chinese operators,” Fantini continues, adding that Macanese Secretary for Economy & Finance Lionel Leong suggested the government “should reconsider” rebidding the six concessions. And when a suggestion is made in China, it almost has the force of an order. As Muhammad Cohen puts it, “seating arrangements and cryptic quotes from second rank officials at third rank functions become critical policy rubrics.”