Автор: genom

MGM Resorts International won a license for a large casino and resort in Maryland near the nation’s capital.
A state commission voted 5-2 in favor of Las Vegas-based MGM’s proposal to build a $925 million resort near the Potomac River at National Harbor with a 300-suite hotel, casino and seven restaurants. The casino plan includes 3,600 slot machines and 140 table games such as blackjack and roulette.
“I want to build the most beautiful, iconic and successful resort,” said Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International. “I think outside of Las Vegas, this will be the most profitable commercial resort in the United States, and I want to bring that here.”
Murren said the resort will create 2,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent jobs.
Maryland voters approved a casino in the county last year after lawmakers agreed to expand gambling in a special session. Before the vote, MGM spent about $40 million to help get the ballot question passed, while Penn National spent more than $42 million to defeat the expansion – a move largely viewed as an effort to protect a large casino in West Virginia owned by the company near Maryland’s border.
The license is the sixth granted in five years in Maryland, and four casinos have already opened. This casino could not open until July 2016, or 30 months after a casino being built in Baltimore opens. A Harrah’s casino there is expected to open next year, not far from where the Baltimore Orioles and the Baltimore Ravens play.
Penn National, based in Wyomissing, Pa., had proposed a $700 million casino at the company’s Rosecroft Raceway in Prince George’s County, about 13 miles from Washington. The Hollywood Casino Resort at Rosecroft Raceway would have included slot machines, live table games and a poker room. The plan also included a hotel with a pool and spa and a multipurpose event center. Rosecroft also would have featured horse racing.
Maryland Casino LLC, a subsidiary of Greenwood Racing, proposed the $800 million Parx Casino Hotel & Spa on a 22-acre parcel in Fort Washington with a hotel and entertainment venue. Greenwood Racing owns and operates Pennsylvania’s highest revenue-generating casino, Parx Casino.
Don Fry, the chairman of the state’s Video Lottery Facility Location Commission, said he believed the amenities at the MGM proposal were stronger. Commissioners who supported the MGM proposal also said it would raise more money for the state.
“I think that it is truly a destination resort, which is one of the criteria that we take into consideration, and the infrastructure is far superior,” Fry said after the vote.
The MGM plan includes a luxury spa and rooftop pool at the hotel. It also includes plans for high-end retail, as well as fine and casual dining. The plan calls for a 1,200-seat theater venue, 35,000 square feet of meeting and event space and a 5,000-space parking structure.
National Harbor already is a 300-acre development of shops and restaurants and waterfront hotels that first started opening in 2008 on the Potomac River across from Washington, where the monuments of the nation’s capital are visible from the development’s parking garages.
Commissioners expressed concern about economic projections by consultants for Penn National and had questions about transportation infrastructure near the proposed Parx casino. Commissioners also noted that they were pleased with the casino design proposed by MGM. They said MGM also stood better to draw customers because of their casinos in other parts of the country, like Las Vegas.

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Tribesmen that are interested in knowing whether the Menominee tribe will be able to build an $800 million casino in Kenosha may have to wait until after Gov. Scott Walker runs for re-election next November to hear his decision.
That was hinted over the weekend by Walker’s administration secretary, Mike Huebsch, who said that the state’s attorneys and financial adviser may need more time to examine the tribe’s off-reservation project.
Actually, the plans call for locating the casino on the grounds of a defunct greyhound racing facility.
When he first received the plans, Walker said he would give his approval provided all 12 tribes in the state approved. All did approve, except for two that run casinos. Fear of competition had them screaming their disapproval.
Now, that “veto” power, granted to the tribes by Walker, may be rescinded, the secretary said.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, Huebsch hinted that Scott may go along with the Menominee casino despite objections from the two dissenting tribes. But, all probably will have to await next November’s elections.

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The Affinity Gaming company warned over the weekend that its system used to process customer credit and debit cards was hacked during a period of several months.
Involved are the company’s dozen casinos, including the three in Primm, Nevada, and another on Flamingo Road in Las Vegas.
The company also operates casinos in Iowa, Missouri and Colorado.
Company officials said they regretted the inconvenience but warned customers to check their bank statements.

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The New York Post newspaper on Friday reported that Hard Rock International is interested in acquiring the financially-troubled Revel Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City.
Such a move could save the property from having to face a second bankruptcy hearing.
Unfortunately, the $2.4 billion Revel was built for a price that far exceeded its potential during a period when the city’s 11 other casinos were struggling to regain some of the momentum the city enjoyed prior to the recession.
Casino expansion in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland, and racinos in New York have applied competitive pressures that have seriously impacted Atlantic City’s properties.
According to the Post, the Seminole Nation’s Hard Rock International, already the operator of eight casinos, has been looking for a way to enter the Atlantic City market.
Officials said if they are successful in acquiring the property they probably would shut it down while making the necessary changes to brand it as a Hard Rock property.

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South Dakota legislators see the potential for multi-state linked casino slot machines that would offer “Powerball-type” jackpots and doesn’t want to be left behind.
Last week, the South Dakota legislature’s Rules Review Committee voted unanimously to authorize progressive slot machines in the Black Hills gambling town of Deadwood. It would permit slot machines there to be linked to other states, a move that already has the approval of the state Gaming Commission.
Officials noted that gaming regulators in Nevada and New Jersey also are looking seriously at permitting slot machines to be tied to machines in other states to develop multi-state progressive jackpots.

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As the country moves toward online gambling, either through Congressional approval or by the entry of individual states, some entrepreneurs have been anticipating the expansion by preparing vehicles that would make them a part of the movement.
One such individual is Andrew Pascal.
With two Las Vegas experiences behind him, that of a casino executive at the Golden Nugget and later as president and chief operating officer of the two Wynn Resorts properties on the Strip, Pascal has a gaming background that places him in a forward position when it comes to anticipating the country’s mood toward gambling.
And, with experience in the Silicon Valley, where he developed and later sold Silicon Gaming, Pascal knows the importance of technology and its involvement with the future.
So it was no surprise he would develop, through a new Silicon Valley company called PlayStudios, an applications platform that combines traditional slot machine play with elements of social gaming, which Zynga made popular on Facebook.
With funding assistance from MGM Resorts International, Pascal’s company has developed an app called myVegas. The app permits players to accumulate comps and rewards, such as free rooms and buffets, for gambling with play chips.
Recently, in an interview with Andy Vuong of the Denver Post, Josh Swissman, vice president of corporate marketing for MGM, said, “The mobile launch (of myVegas) has exceeded everyone’s expectations. We’re in the millions of downloads now. Just a few weeks ago, it was the No. 1 casino application in the iTunes App store. It was the No. 8 overall game application. And we got it as high as No. 14 for all apps overall in the entire iTunes app ecosystem.”
The reason for the Denver Post interest in Pascal’s myVegas is because the State of Colorado is strongly considering entering the online gaming field. In its most recent legislative session, Colorado’s lawmakers reviewed a bill that would authorize Internet poker. Nothing came about but another push for Internet poker, or even a full gambling slate, is expected in the next legislative session.
Officials have taken notice that the Pascal technology platform can easily be converted from non-gambling to real money play.
Like other states, Colorado could use the revenue online gambling would generate. Thus, state officials are closely monitoring Internet gambling currently in play in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.
Many believe California will be the next state to approve Internet gambling but Colorado might not be far behind.

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