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February 10, 2013

Las Vegas Downtown is Doing Well

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 3:18 am

The year 2012 was a good year for the downtown area of Las Vegas. It has been reported that the area brought in some $754 million in both private and public projects that actually came about and some $355 million in new developments are now under construction. These new projects are scheduled to be completed sometime in 2013.

Keep in mind that downtown Las Vegas does not include the world famous Las Vegas Strip. In fact, downtown is located a few miles to the north of the strip. It is where the $485 million performing arts center is located as well as the new city hall and two impressive museums are there as well. And of course there are tons of stores and new businesses in the area as well.

According to reports, some 57 projects were wither completed, are currently under construction or will be upgraded in the area during 2013. This new energy was brought about through years of strategic redevelopment efforts that now seem to be paying off.

According to the mayor of Las Vegas, Carolyn G. Goodman, the new redevelopment progress has been able to help downtown to reinvent itself into one of the region’s most impressive communities. Planned for this year are the Zappos $40 million upgrades and renovations to the once Las Vegas City Hall. The upgrade is expected to be able to accommodate 1200 employees of the company. Also, there is the $56 million Discovery Children’s Museum that is currently scheduled to swing open its doors sometime this spring. And there is also the old Lady Luck Hotel and Casino and its estimated $100 million in renovation. It will reopen as the Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino sometime in late 2013. The old Travelodge is being repurposed and will become a temporary housing as well as a new resource center for local vets.

It was also reported that Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, is planning to invest an estimated $350 million into the area as venture capital for startup companies. Some of the money, his own by the way, will also be used for community improvements.

Any city would be proud of these numbers. All of this new work has brought about some 5200 construction jobs and another 1500 jobs that are permanent. As of right now, there are over 1700 construction workers who are working on various projects which, once completed, will bring in over 1900 permanent jobs.

It has also been reported that many younger families, as well as professionals have been working hard and are contributing to the area’s growing population. These individuals are now moving into apartments, high-rises, and are also making improvements to the downtown neighborhoods. This area is known for its unique homes, many of which were built back during the 50s and 60s.

Also, the downtown high-rise buildings, which a few years ago suffered with low occupancy rates of less 40 percent, have now filled up and are very near to being completely occupied. Yes, 2012 has been a very good year for downtown Vegas.

February 8, 2013

Pennsylvania Takes Second Place, NJ Falls

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 3:16 am

It is good news for Pennsylvania as the state, with its fast-growing gambling industry, has now surpassed famous New Jersey in the annual casino revenue and is now considered the second-largest betting hub in the US. Nevada holds the top spot.

According to the Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board, gross casino revenues for the state increased by 4.4 percent, hitting $3.16 billion. The state was able to surpass Atlantic City even though it has less casinos that New Jersey and has not been in the gambling business nearly as long. New Jersey, on the other hand, as reported revenues for its world famous Atlantic City casinos are down 8 percent, coming in at $3.05 billion.

New Jersey is not going down without a fight as its Governor Chris Christie as said that he wants to revitalize Atlantic City and still opposes expanding gambling to go outside of the city. For last year, Atlantic City’s casinos have now reported $3.3 billion. This represents a decrease of some 37 percent from its high of $5.2 billion way back in 2006. This was also the year that Pennsylvania slots first opened in that state. No information was given as to how exactly the Christie plans to bring back customers to AC. But knowing the Governor, it is all but certain that he is working on an aggressive plan of action to help stabilize and expand business and revenues in Atlantic City.

These new numbers only press home the many challenges that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is facing as he plans to boost the gambling and tourism industries in the city. The fact that the city has seen year after year declines does not help. Superstorm Sandy added more problems as it caused a stiff decline in revenues as well. And add to all of that the fact that New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland are all expanding their gambling operations and it is easy to see why AC is struggling.

Many experts say that Pennsylvania represents a good growth story and that if it continues to manage its gambling operations as it currently does, it should only increase in status.

On the other hand, casino revenues for New Jersey are now being reported as having decreased for six straight years. In 2011, Pennsylvania was ranked third in the US in terms of casino spending. It was behind both Nevada and New Jersey. This is according to information put out by the American Gaming Association. That, of course, has all changed now as it moves up the chain to take second place over New Jersey. Whether or not it can keep that position next year, or years beyond, is yet to be seen, but there are high hopes that it will continue to expand its gambling revenues as time goes by.

Currently, the state of New Jersey has some 12 casinos since the newly opened Revel came onto the scene last year. Pennsylvania currently has casinos numbering 11. According to reports, Parx Casino and Racing had the most in earnings totaling almost $500 million.

February 6, 2013

New Canadian Polymer $20 Are Headache

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 3:15 am

It is being reported, and quite a bit, that many vending machine operators in Canada are urging the Bank of Canada to perform a much better job of it when they begin to introduce the country’s new $5 and $10 bills. This is expected to happen later this year. The reason they are doing so is because they are having to upgrade their vending machines in order to accept the new polymer $20 bill which is already in circulation and is proving to be a headache.

Back in November, the Bank of Canada sent out some 145,000 brand new $20 polymer bank notes. Since then, an estimated half a million vending machines that normally scan such bank notes (and these include food, drink, parking, slots, and self-serve machines) have had to be reprogrammed in order to accept the redesigned bills. The $20 is also the most popular bill denomination in Canada making matters even worse.

The president of the Canadian Automatic Distribution Association has been reported as saying that the Bank of Canada sent out the bills without allowing vending machine operators time to get their machines ready. He said that they could have used a lot more time to get ready for the flood of new bills. He also said that upgrading the machines has been expensive and annoying to customers.

In its own defense, the Bank has put out that it did all that it could to get machine manufacturers to upgrade prior to the release. They said that they included providing manufacturers with sample bills far ahead of the bill’s public release. It was reported that they gave machine vendors as much as six months to get ready before they sent the new currency into public circulation back in November.

According to Francois Bastien’s company Ventrex, which currently operates over 3,000 vending machines within the Ontario and Quebec areas, is company has already spent much of the previous year making their machines capable of accepting Canada’s new coins. He says that now they have to deal with new bills.

Generally, most of the machines will need a simple upgrade to their software. But some vending machines may need to be replaced entirely. Bastien has reported that in his case his company has already spent $100,000 to fixe machines to take the new $20 bills. He also estimated that for the entire industry, which includes casinos and slots, the cost could reach a quarter of a billion dollars. And that cost will go higher as the new $5 and $10 bills reach the public.

According to the Bank of Canada, the new $5 and $10 bills will come out at the same time, and that they are now scheduled for release into the public sector sometime in late 2013. No other details were given as to how or if the Bank would be able to further assist vending machine operators. No details were provided by the gaming industry itself as to how much the new currency change over has affected them.

February 4, 2013

FBI Looking Into Okada-Pagcor Deal

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 3:13 am

It has been reported that FBI agents are now in Manila with the task of investigating alleged illegal payments that may amount to millions given by Universal Entertainment Japan. The funds are alleged to have gone to a former Philippine gaming regulator consultant and are said to be in relation Universal Entertainment Japan’s Manila casino project.

On Jan 12, it was reported that FBI agents from Las Vegas have been investigating alleged bribes. The agents had been looking into the matter along with the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), a law enforcement agency of the Philippines. The FBI had started its investigation in the United States. The agency decided that it needed to widen and expand its probe due to what it said was the slowness of the NBI’s investigation.

During their week in the Philippines, FBI agents are said to have visiting several locations along with NBI officials. These locations are said to be, among others, properties that belong to Efraim Genuino who is a former chairperson for Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation which is also known as Pagcor. They have also visited properties owned by Rodolfo Soriano who was a Pagcor consultant. The current investigation is said to be focusing on an estimated $40-million transfer that went to Soriano while Universal was trying to get (and did get) key concessions associate with its Manila Bay casino. The transfer took place in 2010.

It was also reported that Malacañang says it had now idea that FBI agents were visiting. According to a Palace spokeswoman, the Palace does not have any information as to whether or not the FBI is looking into the matter. If the bribes did take place, it may lead to the entire project being halted.

Kazuo Okada, who founded Universal and is a majority owner, along with his son, deny any wrongdoing and say that they carried out their dealings in the Philippines in a lawful manner. The project in Manila Bay broke ground in Jan 2012. Cristino Naguiat, who is the chair for Pagcor, has already said that they will revoke Universal’s license if it is shown that bribery took place.

Benigno Aquino III, Philippine President said back in November that they had opened an official investigation into the matter to see if any bribes had been paid in order to secure the needed license. The estimated value of the resort casino is said to be $2-billion.

In it defense, Universal has said that 3 of its former employees had paid an estimated $15 million of the alleged $40 million and that they did so without any authorization from the Universal board. They also said that they have since taken the former employees to Tokyo court to settle the matter. That Tokyo trial is ongoing and its outcome is uncertain at this time. It was also reported that the Japanese firm is planning to begin its own investigation which it says will be conducted by various experts who do not work for the firm. No other details were given about this investigation or when it is expected to begin.

February 2, 2013

Atlantic City Loses Alliance Chairman Marrandino

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 3:12 am

It has been reported that Don Marrandino has stepped down as chairman of the Atlantic City Alliance. This occurred when he left Caesars Entertainment Corp. The Alliance is said to be temporarily without a chairman but plans to name a new one on 22 January when the seven-member board meets again. The board is composed exclusively of casino executives, and the board is tasked with a variety of high-profile jobs that focus on promoting Atlantic City and the casinos and resorts that are in the city. It is also tasked with providing public information on occasion.

As Marrandino departed, the four Caesars Entertainment casinos that are located in Atlantic City are reported to be represented by John Smith who is Harrah Resort general manager. According to the president of the alliance, Liza Cartmell, the chairman is responsible for overseeing board meetings and also is tasked with acting as spokesman for the Alliance. However, the chairman does not have any more power than other board members.

Cartmell went on to say that even with Marrandino leaving she is confident that the board will be capable of meeting its 2013 mission statement goals. As of this writing, Marrandino’s replacement is not known but, as mentioned above, it has been suggested that the board will begin finding a new chair at is upcoming meeting. No further details were given as to who might be the forerunner.

It was reported, however, that two of the board members, Bob Griffin and Tony Rodio, are busy with other duties associated with the casino sector and are not expected to take on the ACA chairmanship. While the chairmanship does not require full time attention, it is a position that can take up a lot of time of the person holding the chair.

Tony Rodio is Tropicana Casino and Resort chief executive officer. He serves as well as the president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, which is a notable industry trade group. Bob Griffin is the CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts. He also acts as one of the gambling industry representatives that serve on the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority board.

Some $30 million a year is contributed by the various casinos to the Alliance. This is used for advertising, marketing, promotional events and a variety of other projects, all which are aimed at benefiting Atlantic City. As a private, nonprofit organization the alliance operates to promote tourism in Atlantic City. Cartmell gave Marrandino much praise saying that he had been a staunch supporter of the alliance and had made a major impact on its early-days success. He was known for recognizing the potential of the alliance in terms of promoting AC as well as helping to expand its growing visitor and customer base.

For three years, Marrandino served as the president for Showboat, Bally’s, Caesars, and Harrah’s Resort, all of which are owned by the Caesars Entertainment. It was reported that he departed in order to look into new opportunities. No other details were given.

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