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Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Results

27Feb

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Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Results

A rendering of 1 portion of the proposed Resorts World Miami Genting casino resort project; the $3 billion project still hasn’t received a high sign from Florida lawmakers.

They state money talks, but in Genting Resorts World’s case, it’s not been speaking as loudly as the ongoing business might like.

Despite pouring $236 million in to a 14-acre waterfront Miami spread back last year and then sprinkling millions more into pressuring state politicians to ‘adapt’ a construction law to allow for a brand new $3 billion Resorts World Miami casino project, the Asian gambling conglomerate has largely met with absolutely nothing but resistance. So they’ve now determined for a new, less direction that is cumbersome the Sunshine State: a slots-only task that would set them up with Gulfstream Park racetrack in Miami’s Key Biscayne area.

Antagonists Await

Of course, anytime a potential brand new casino operator appears in a state, first thing that happens is some form of anti-gaming coalition forms; and Florida has been no exception compared to that guideline. Anti-casino group NoCasino.org is even releasing a movie mid-January called Pushing Luck that claims to show a ‘sobering glimpse’ of ‘broken promises’ from casino operators.
According to Genting’s new partner Gulfstream, the racetrack holds an as-yet-unused video gaming license that has the potential for use in either Miami-Dade or Broward counties, as the track rests simply between the 2 areas. Gulfstream also brought house this aspect last summer with a three-horse event that occurred on their property, which occurs to just look at the Broward county line into Miami-Dade.
But the big event may have backfired, as Florida gaming commissioners later filed a complaint from the race track for said event, so the certification issue remains not clear, and unsupported by the capabilities that could require to accept it. The proposed Genting project would also break precedent, as so far, only Native American tribes have already been able to offer slots without a real racetrack on the property.
The new pairing came up with a creative offering to tempt both lawmakers and regulators to bless their new union; Genting and Gulfstream say they would share some of their profits with Florida’s breeders, trainers and owners, an offer that sits mighty well with the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association with horse racing still an important aspect of Florida’s economy. FTHA CEO Lonny Powell has even gone therefore far as to state this makes it a ‘game-changing’ deal, saying ‘this is the partnership that is first the income stream and investment would really go back to the horses.’

Two-Hour Tours

Up until now, Genting has been offering only ‘cruises to nowhere’ in most cases, thrice-daily sailings between Miami and the company’s Resorts World Bimini casino in the nearby Bahamas, which conveniently rests just 50 miles off the Sunshine State’s shore. During the two-hour trips, fast-acting gamblers could play any games they wanted to on board, and that included recreations betting; in exchange for that business possibility, Genting would be to cough up $11 million to get towards fixing up Miami’s ports, plus an annual $7 million rental fee that will extend for at least the next 10 years.
A wrench ended up being thrown in the day and evening cruise excursions late a year ago, but, when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Genting these people were only to use U.S.-based employees on the trips. a battle that is legal; but Genting ultimately had to concede, as maritime rules that could apply to other Miami-based cruise companies apparently never apply when the ship does not actually dock in a foreign slot and does not need passenger passports, either.
With that choice, Genting cut back on its cruise operations out of Miami, saying they can’t manage to generate a crew that is all-american.
And that isn’t all the issues that have actually plagued the day-trippers either; pier issues in Bimini have actually meant Genting has to anchor off-shore and then ferry small groups back and forth, a reality that do not only eats up time and manpower, but has proved to be unpleasant for passengers in inclement weather.
Despite all these hurdles and projected losses of $11 million for 2014 Genting is apparently not considering getting away from the day cruise company. And clearly, no matter how stormy the seas, they plan to remain the course in Florida, some way.

Maine Gambling Enterprises Oppose Expanded Gambling in State

Most people consider Maine like this, but a small casino contingent is attempting to hold their own there as well. (Image: Katarina Neef/atpm.com)

We might not agree using them, but we all know there are many reasons that people may oppose more gambling in their state, from moral objections to concerns about issue gambling. But in Maine, gambling is finding an unusual opponent: the gambling enterprises by themselves.

Read Our Lips: No New Casinos

Officials from the two Maine casinos presently in procedure spoke to lawmakers this week and said that they shouldn’t approve any expansion of the casino industry in the state. In cases like this, it would appear that the casinos think that the market in the state is wholly saturated already while others believe they’re simply afraid of a competition that is little.

The two properties under consideration the Hollywood and Oxford Casinos encountered off while watching Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs against members of two native tribes that are american the state, plus the owner of the Scarborough Downs race track, over a number of bills that would serve to expand Maine’s gambling options.

The most controversial of these is called LD 1111. It would enable Scarborough Downs to become a ‘racino,’ operating slot machines along with their current horse racing operations. That problem has already been brought to referendum last year, when it received only 45 percent of the vote statewide.

Factional Battles

According to track owner Sharon Terry, Scarborough Downs is struggling due to the competition it faces from the casinos in the state particularly Oxford Casino, which will be simply 45 minutes away and opened in June 2012. And even though Hollywood Casino may away be further, it features a companion racino, and can offer everything Scarborough Downs can and more.

Terry says that revenues fell 21.8 percent at her track since slots were allowed during the Bangor competition track, and that the specific situation gets even worse considering that the opening of the Oxford Casino. Since Scarborough Downs is responsible for 101 days of rushing each year, the cut in revenue maybe not only threatens the track, but also Maine’s entire horse racing industry.

‘The Downs cannot endure underneath the current laws,’ Terry said.

Nonetheless, the general supervisors of both casinos in addition to several business people in the Oxford area disagreed, opposing slots that are allowing the Scarborough Downs facility. In general, the gambling enterprises feel that any new gambling in hawaii threatens to ‘cannibalize the industry,’ as Maine is a relatively small state without enough gamblers to support more venues.

That helps explain why in addition they opposed three other bills being considered by the state. Those incorporate a bill that would allow charities to perform up to five slots at their headquarters in order to raise funds, along with two bills that would allow Indian tribes to grow their gambling operations: one which would let the Houlton Band of Maliseets to operate slots and table games, and another that would let the Passamaquoddy Tribe apply to run table games and slots at a existing bingo facility.

‘Should further facilities available or expand, we would see erosion that is further of consumer base,’ said John Osborne, general manager of the Hollywood Casino.

Big Banks Refuse to Process Legal Online Gambling Transactions

Major credit card issuers like Chase, Wells Fargo and United states Express will not process online that is even legal gambling, they say. (Image: Jason Hindley/money.cnn.com)

Every thing seemed so hunky dory: Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey all got legal online gambling or at least poker, in Nevada’s situation up and running in 2013, and aside from a few issues with geo-location snafus, overall, the internet sites in all three states have actually been running pretty smoothly. Except for starters bug that is fairly major has nothing in connection with the sites themselves: major economic organizations like United states Express, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase are refusing to process any cash interactions on these sites, legal or perhaps not.

Your Transaction Was Denied

Whether credit or debit, several card that is myfreepokies.com heavy-hitter say they are not gambling with regards to honoring their cards on online gaming internet sites. And demonstrably, that’s not sitting well with many players who say, exactly what provides? But the banks involved say they’re not going to budge, not for online casinos, poker or sports that are even legal in Nevada.

‘We do not let credit card transactions for this activity,’ stated Steve O’Halloran, director of public relations and public affairs for Chase Card and Merchant Services. And American Express spokeswoman Sanette Chao concurs, saying her company simply ‘prohibits the use of the card for gambling services.’

While some may conclude that this is some sort of moral imperative, it turns out that it is more of a simple bottom-line business decision than anything else.

‘Gambling services, historically, account for a lot of card user credit losses and customer service disputes,’ noted Chao.

UIGEA Still Directs Banks’ Positions

And some banks do still hold onto the old UIGEA model (illegal online Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), because, after all, from a federal standpoint, it is still murky just how it’s to be interpreted after having a 2012 reinterpretation of the original 1961 Wire Act had been handed down through the Supreme Court that opened the doorway to at state-by-state that is least lawful Web gambling.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Natalie Brown claims this really is the thinking behind her company’s decision to decline gambling deposits.

‘In compliance with regulation GG (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), we prohibit the application of consumer credit cards for online gambling,’ said Brown, whom is vice president of customer financing communications with Wells Fargo. ‘The sites (Visa, MasterCard and Express that is american the merchant category codes and block costs that don’t conform to federal regulations.’

While this may make some feeling from their perspectives, it could prove a reality that is frustrating online players in appropriate gambling states.

‘What the industry has done is take a conservative approach or a reaction to the legalization of online gambling,’ said Tobin Prior, CEO of Ultimate Gaming, which is really a subsidiary of Station Casinos, a land-gaming proprietor in Nevada and the first ever to go online with legal poker in the Silver State. ‘That can be frustrating, but we work with customers to locate alternatives.’

One of the benefits of this brick-and-mortar/Internet symbiosis is that clients can both fund and cash out at any of the land video gaming properties, in either Southern Nevada or at Station’s land gaming partner the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Players can also use e-checks or wire transfers to make deposits, Prior noted.

While legal websites might wish that banks were more within their court right now, Caesars WSOP site’s spokesperson Seth Palansky claims it is what it really is.

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