{"id":18191,"date":"2016-04-28T12:35:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T20:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18191"},"modified":"2020-05-31T07:01:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T15:01:05","slug":"case-bets-california-florida-minnesota-macao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-california-florida-minnesota-macao\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Bets: California, Florida, Minnesota, Macao"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a dramatic development, the six-tribe coalition that opposed letting <strong>PokerStars<\/strong> into <strong>California<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sanluisobispo.com\/news\/state\/california\/article74329852.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">stood aside<\/a>, clearing the path to unanimous approval by the\u00a0<strong>Assembly Governmental Organization Committee<\/strong> of a bill by state Rep. <strong>Adam Gray<\/strong> that <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-5733\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/california_state_flag-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"california_state_flag\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/california_state_flag-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/california_state_flag-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/california_state_flag.jpg 384w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>would legalize online poker in the Golden State. A provision that would skim off $57 million to $60 million (accounts vary) in revenue to subsidize the horseracing industry doubtless contributed to the 18-0 legislative landslide. Although the <strong>Internet<\/strong> poker market in the state is generously estimated at $400 million, it also thought that no more than 10 operators, tops, could be viable in it.<\/p>\n<p>If some of the tribes are showing flexibility, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cardplayer.com\/poker-news\/20273-california-racetracks-get-behind-online-poker-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">the horsey set is not<\/a>. A consortium of tracks, breeders and labor unions sent legislators a letter that read, in part: <!--more-->\u201cWe recognize the $60 million annual payment in <strong>AB 2863<\/strong> is intended to compensate the racing industry for being excluded from eligibility for i-Poker licenses, the loss of the industry\u2019s current Internet gaming exclusivity in the State, and the projected loss of market share for [advanced deposit wagering]. Given this sizeable impact on our business, we must condition our support for the legislation on a firm commitment to maintain the $60 million minimum payment throughout the legislative process. We are not prepared to negotiate on this baseline number.\u201d The coalition also wants to be let in on the action, should California expand &#8216;Net betting beyond poker.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Florida<\/strong> casino opponent <strong>John Sowinski<\/strong> is making mischief again. He&#8217;s peddling a potential November ballot question that would require any new casino to receive statewide electoral approval. That could effectively suffocate casino growth in the state, especially in the non-tribal sector, so you can be sure <em>S&amp;G<\/em> won&#8217;t be endorsing this come November.<\/p>\n<p>* Say goodbye to <strong>Duluth<\/strong>&#8216;s historic (but dilapidated) <strong>Carter Hotel<\/strong>. It will be demolished once it is taken into trust by the <strong>Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa<\/strong> for enlargement of their downtown <strong>Fond-du-Luth Casino<\/strong>. The Carter sits on a steep incline, which will present the tribe with some interesting engineering challenges as its builds an extension of its existing casino. The transfer has been the culmination of a series of legal battles in which the tribe has been prevalent, particularly regarding a revenue-sharing agreement with the city that Chippewa terminated seven years ago, with the <strong>National Indian Gaming Commission<\/strong> deeming the payments &#8220;inappropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>* At least somebody is doing better in <strong>Macao<\/strong>. In its 1Q16 earnings report, <strong>Galaxy Entertainment<\/strong> revealed a 6% increase in profit, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2016-04-27\/galaxy-posts-first-profit-gain-since-2014-on-new-resorts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">the first gain\u00a0since 3Q14<\/a>. The company credited the results to a 17% increase in mass-market table play. It took a couple of quarters for tourist-oriented\u00a0<strong>Broadway Macau<\/strong> and <strong>Galaxy Macau Phase Two<\/strong> to start yielding dividends but they&#8217;re obviously gaining traction. However, Galaxy is projected to be deriving 91% of its revenue from gambling in 2020. Diversifying the Macanese economy is easier said than done.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a dramatic development, the six-tribe coalition that opposed letting PokerStars into California stood aside, clearing the path to unanimous approval by the\u00a0Assembly Governmental Organization Committee of a bill by state Rep. Adam Gray that would legalize online poker in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/case-bets-california-florida-minnesota-macao\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[34,26,36,201,140,67,37,62,43,178,33,31,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18191"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27193,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18191\/revisions\/27193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}