Gambling 2009

Nevada state legislators voted to raise hotel room taxes by three 3% to help fund the state budget. The increased tax on hotels comes instead of a proposal to raise the state gambling tax.
Room taxes are passed along to the visitor, also rates quoted typically do not include tax.

An increase in the tax on casino gambling, would prove hard for the industry to pass along.

Casinos preferred the room tax, and so a room tax it shall be.

Nevada casinos currently enjoy the lowest gaming tax in the country, paying only 9% of gaming income to state revenue collectors.

European nations are in disarray over the communal terms regarding online casinos.

Cypriot legislators have written a bill to propose the country be given an EU exception to control gambling in the country.

The European Union has leveled charges against other member nations for failing to abide by Union agreements regarding trade in services when they apply to gaming.

Police would like a new law increasing penalties for operating illegal gambling venues.

Chairman of the House Institutions Committee Ricos Erotokritou said: “It pains us to see that Cyprus has become a free-for-all when it comes to illegal gambling,”.

A resolution by the European Commission recognizing the special circumstances regarding Internet gambling passed last month.

Online casino Golden Casino hit a resounding milestone regarding their series of progressive jackpot games recently, their total jackpot prize pool has hit a staggering $2,000,000.

This is the highest jackpot total hit by Golden Casino but also the highest reached by any Vegas Technology powered online casino.

Many of Golden Casino’s slots carry huge six-figure jackpots that contribute to this $2.000.000 total, including an $887.000 prize pool on the Red, White and Win slot game.

Also the following games have a big jackpots:

Pay Dirt – jackpot of $360.000

Treasure Trail – jackpot of  $370.000

Mega Money Mineboasts – jackpot of $205.000

Anti-smoking fanatics have forced the Tri-State Racetrack and Casino in West Virginia to implement a complete smoking ban. As a result, casino gambling revenues are off by almost twenty percent, hurting state coffers at a time when the state budget is facing a severe deficit.

Rich Tesler, the executive director of Tri-State, says slot machine revenue will is projected to drop  $11.3 million over the current fiscal year from last.

“If that’s correct, the state will lose close to $6.2 million in tax dollars from slots because of the smoking ban,” he said.

Some players said they stopped coming as frequently because they felt they were denied their right to choose to smoke by the law.

Lawmakers in the state of Nevada passed the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act to ensure that residents would breathe easy when they went to public locations. It was a win for anti smoking advocates that look out for the health of employees.

Now lawmakers are preparing to change the rules.

The Nevada Senate voted 16-5 in favor of a Bill that would ease the statewide smoking ban. Taverns and bars in the state run video gambling machines, and they say their business has been down around twenty percent since the ban went into effect.

Some believe the smoking ban is simply being blamed, and is not the reason for the business drop off.

Casinos have actually been the beneficiary of the smoking ban.

If the support in legislature for expanded casinos in the state is any indication, Texas may soon become a threat to other states.

Legislation has been proposed and is receiving strong support that would bring seventeen new casinos to Texas. The legislation would authorize slots at racetracks, and also full scale Indian gaming in the state.

The Senate must to approve the measure and it appears as though it will have a difficult time passing in the Senate. The Lt. Governor, David Dewhurst is said to be against expanded gambling.

The plan that is being discussed would be equally fair for all parties involved.

Expanding casino options has become a popular decision by lawmakers around the country.

The guvernor received a reprieve from the state Supreme Court.

The Court ruled in favor of Riley and his Task Force on Illegal Gambling in a case involving a raid the Task Force carried out a couple of months ago. The raid took place at the White Hall Resort and Entertainment Center, an establishment that is run by a charity organization.

The ruling by the Supreme Court did not end the issue. Riley believes the electronic bingo machines that the hall are using are illegal under state law. The charity organization feels the machines are legal, and that they are not similar to slot machines.

Officials from Antigua and Barbuda announced Thursday that they are stepping up efforts to monitor online-gaming operators licensed by the Caribbean nation.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Directorate of Offshore Gaming, which oversees the Antigua eGaming Authority, said it plans to maintain the country’s white-list status by implementing a  program leveraging information systems and industry-specific computer assisted auditing technique to actively monitor the businesses of licensees.”

The ongoing improvements to our statutory requirements ensure that our licensees comply with internationally accepted best practices, and further affirms their commitment to socially responsible practices.

Working in conjunction with other licensing jurisdictions and with our licensees, Antigua intends to continue to hold itself to the highest possible standards. The players deserve nothing less.”

Leading Canadian online and television bingo solutions developer and supplier Parlay Entertainment Incorporated has added to its games portfolio after signing a strategic partnership with NextGen Gaming Party Limited.

Oakville-based Parlay stated that the new NextGen games offer an excellent revenue generating opportunity for its existing customer base while providing further marketability of its ParlayGames suite with new customers.

Australian firm NextGen is a leading independent developer of slot games for the international gambling industry and revealed that it is currently reviewing the integration timeline for this project with Parlay.

Parlay is recognised as a pioneer and leader in bingo and soft gaming and the millions of players who play on sites powered by Parlay will be able to enjoy more entertainment variety with NextGen’s innovative games. This promises to be a powerful partnership with great synergies for players and operators.

Deutsche Bank AG’s  lead equity research analyst for the U.S. casino industry is leaving the bank to form an independent research and consulting firm, based in Las Vegas.

Bill Lerner said: “We have seen a trend developing toward branded analysts going independent and wanted to capitalize on that,”

Deutsche Bank’s research division issued a note that said the firm had discontinued coverage of 17 casino and gaming companies.