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January 9, 2013

Notorious Macau Gaming Leader Set to Be Released From Prison

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 3:22 am

The Macau area has always been quite famous for the notorious gangs that run the gaming district throughout Hong Kong. When one of the most notorious leaders of the Macau crime syndicates, known as Broken Tooth Koi was arrested 15 years ago, the arrest was received much celebration by individuals in the area that had been forced to experience the reign of the mob leader throughout the area. After serving nearly 15 years in prison, the notorious leader is now set for release from prison. He will hardly recognize the city that he and his associates terrorize throughout the 1990s with their brutal war. He is scheduled to walk free from a Coloane Prison soon after being behind bars for more than 15 years, according to a Macau government official.

When he was originally sent to prison, he was convicted of loansharking, money laundering, and being a gang leader. This was in 1999, a month before Portugal handed control over the colony that it had been in charge of for nearly 40 years, back over to China. He had been responsible for brutal war with rival triads, and various organized crime gangs that were present throughout the area during that time. He also had a dominance of the lucrative casinos throughout the area, collecting money for many.

He was arrested shortly after a bomb was used in the car, which went on to attempt to kill the director of investigative police, Antonio Marques Baptista, who had been investigating the gangs. He had been jogging when the bomb went off, and was not hurt in the attack.

According to reports, officials in the area have been warning casinos and advising them to invest in security, and keep close eye on him after he gets out. The worry is, is that he will attempt to seize control of the organized crime in the area again, which has seen an uptick in recent years after number of brutal wars between rival gangs. Leaders in the area have also warned Wan to behave himself following his release, and it is reported that a close I will be kept on him to make sure that he does not rekindle the ties to organized crime that he once had.

The fear is that his return to the area would lead to the gang violence that rocked the area and claimed hundreds of lives during the 1990s in Macau. Some worry that he is scheming, attempting to get in on the junkets, which is in operation allows money to big-time gamblers, and make big profits by collecting on the debt that is created. Analysts say that when he leaves prison, you will find that he has lost much of the power and influence that he had in the 1990s, during his time in prison. Of course, the environment throughout the area is quite different than when he went to prison as well, with organized crime not having the same stranglehold that it once did on the whole of Macau.

January 7, 2013

Small Time Resorts and Casinos Struggle During Third Quarter of 2012

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 3:20 am

Although many companies have seen a serious uptick in their revenues from recent years, many of the budget resorts, locals casinos, and smalltime resorts have been struggling mightily during the third quarter of 2012. The third-quarter financials have come in, and show continued difficulties for two of the three main casino sectors. Most of the high-end and top resorts have seen the profits of the third-quarter rise when compared to profits over previous quarters. However, some of the smaller locations have struggled mightily to increase their revenue in the same way that some of their larger counterparts have.

Does properties that are working on a budget on the strip, faced an uphill battle attempting to get customers that are still recovering from a dangerous recession, to agree to spend money at some of the smaller casinos. It is thought that some of the larger casinos were able to profit by bringing individuals in from around the country who are looking to vacation in the area. However, many of the large casinos were not as frequented by locals throughout Nevada, which is where some of the smaller resorts and casinos were able to win their business. With many of the locals still weary about the recession, some of the smaller resorts have underperformed during the third quarter of this year.

The unemployment and foreclosure rates remain elevated in Nevada, when compared to the rest of the nation. This means that individuals from around the United States are much more likely to visit the larger casinos, then locals are to visit some of the smaller casinos throughout the Nevada area. The luxury resorts turned in a good performance, with both Wynn Resorts and the Las Vegas Sands handing out strong numbers overall.

Other companies, such as Station Casinos, have reported good numbers as well with a revenue of $295.7 million during the third quarter, which was up 4.7% over the previous year. The company reported a net profit of $11.2 million, which was also well. These numbers were a bit inflated, and were likely due to a number of small, one-time transactions that are not likely to be reflected during next year’s report.

Local smalltime company Cannery Casino Resorts reported that its to properties fell almost $2 million you over the previous year. The overall revenue of both properties fell a total of 4.4%, with a net revenue decline from $145.9 million, down to $138.8 million. This has raised concerns about the local market moving forward, and whether or not individuals throughout Nevada are ever going to begin gambling enough to support the number of casinos that the state currently has open for individuals in the local area.

“We remain wary of the locals market recovery,” Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Zarnett wrote in a report on Station’s earnings, shortly after the numbers were made publicly available. “We continue to believe the locals market will continue to experience a period of slower growth through 2013 as consumer spending moderates and comparisons (to previous periods) get more difficult.”

January 5, 2013

Gaming Partners International Corp. Announces Dividend For All Company Shareholders

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

Gaming Partners International Corp. has now announced a special dividend that they are going to be releasing. The company announced that they were planning on returning a total of $1.48 million, to shareholders. The dividend is going to be paid out to her one-time special dividend of 18.25 cents per share, which is going to be made payable on December 18. The company is responsible for making gaming supplies, and has products that are used in a variety of different casinos throughout the area. There are responsible for making dice, playing cards, table game layouts, table games supplies, and a wide range of other products that are available in casinos around the world. The plans were approved by the Board of Directors, shortly after the earnings of the third quarter were returned.

The plan that was approved by the board of directors as part of a share buyback program, in which the company is looking to purchase back 88,561 shares of the company. This means that the number of shares authorized for repurchase will rise to 400,000. This equates to 4.9% of the company’s outstanding common stock, which some analysts were worried was too large of a number.

In a statement that was released by the CEO, Greg Gronau, he detailed exactly why the buyback was happening, and said that because the profitability that the company had seen over the course of the previous year, they had made the special cash dividend possible in 2012. The dividend utilizes cash that was provided by the company’s profitability, and increases the number of shares that were authorized under the share repurchase program that the company announced some time ago.

“The board determined that it is in the stockholders’ best interests to pay a special cash dividend for 2012. The dividend…utilizes cash provided by the company’s continued profitability during 2012,” CEO Greg Gronau said. “Additionally, the increase of shares authorized under our share repurchase program provides us with the flexibility to return additional value to our stockholders. After using funds for both the dividend and the share repurchase program, we will continue to have adequate resources for future initiatives.”

The announcement shows that GPI is one of a number of different companies that have been able to distribute cash to shareholders before the end of the year. Many believe that this was done in advance of the potential income tax hikes that could become available next month. In an attempt to avoid having the money fall under the new income tax, many companies have provided similar dividend programs, in order to avoid having the money more heavily taxed as the government continues to negotiate about the upcoming potential fiscal cliff.

Last month, GPI announced that it had been able to earn a total of $1.3 million, a total of $.15 per share in the third quarter. This was up from just $477,000, a total of six cents per share just a year ago. The company also announced a huge growth in revenue, from $13.8 million, to a total of $16.9 million overall.

January 4, 2013

Madrid Successfully Cuts Casino Tax for Las Vegas Sands Resorts

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:56 am

Recently, the Mayor of Madrid decided to cut casino tax all the way from 45 percent down to 10 percent. It was Sheldon Adelson who ultimately got the final word in and was able to negotiate with the Mayor and present financial knowledge, to convince him to lower the tax. Words from Sheldon say that when you are spending about €15 billion in order to develop a huge EuroVegas hotel and casino, which will potentially create as much as 250,000 jobs, politicians tend to start listening to you. Cutting the tax rate was something Sheldon wanted for the casino and hotel, and it had to be done in order for it to be possible.

In fact, this is expected to be exactly what happened when the Mayor of Madrid Ignacio Gonzales announced that he would indeed cut the tax from 45 percent down to 10 percent. There are huge unemployment rates in Spain, amounting to as much as 25 percent. Ignacio Gonzales was obviously convinced that cutting the tax rate for casinos would be a profitable decision and that it could benefit the economy throughout the entire nation. However, he only came to this conclusion because of Sheldon Adelson and the developments that were planned.

If Sheldon Adelson was not able to convince the governor, the casino and hotel would have likely never became a reality, and the casino would have been built in another country with lower tax rates. Madrid actually has the lowest casino taxes in all of the industry, but this shows you that they are even willing to go to the next step to make sure that the future of Madrid is profitable and successful.

This deal that was made is actually a very good thing for the city of Madrid, because EuroVegas wants to introduce as much as 19 theaters, six casinos, twelve resorts, three golf courses and even a very large sports stadium. All of this could be wildly profitable for the area and it could benefit the economy substantially. Making this negotiation was something that needed to happen and it means big things for the Madrid area. By reducing the tax rate for casinos, the mayor made a good decision. All of the benefits that these massive developments will provide for Madrid are going to be substantial. Casino developments will still go on for many years, so the tax rate will have to remain low throughout this time. We will have to see how all of this unfolds and how successful the developments make the area, but nevertheless, it was still a good decision by the mayor to do what he did. As for online gambling, it is still a mystery whether these Madrid casinos will expand onto the Internet. Of course, Internet gambling provides profitability opportunities for local businesses, and Madrid law would allow it, so we will have to see what comes of it. Be sure to stay tuned and keep up-to-date with what is coming in Madrid, these new casinos will hopefully change the economy and rejuvenate their casino industry.

January 3, 2013

Nevada Sports Operator Faces Regulatory Issues That Stifle New Business

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 3:17 am

The State Gaming Control Board is an organization that oversees the gaming regulations and practices of all companies within the Las Vegas and Nevada area. They have now filed a complaint against the Old Leroy’s Race and Sports Book Chain after discovering that they had received unauthorized acceptance of a number of bets during the 2012 Kentucky Derby, by certain locations within the company. This represents a huge misstep on the part of the company, and is open them up to possible discipline being handed down by the Gaming Control Board.

The violations were first brought forward on November 29 and made public shortly thereafter. They have been self-reported, and reportedly took place before Leroy’s was acquired by William Hill PLC, a gaming company that is huge and the United Kingdom.

The takeover of the company was approved by the the Nevada gaming commission on June 21. Now, the Gaming Control Board is asking that a fine be applied to the company, for the violations that were spelled out clearly in the complaint. The complaint states that on May 9, Leroy is reported to the board that on May 5 that had accepted Kentucky Derby bets, at four different locations, all of which were licensed to accept sports wagers, but were not licensed to accept race wagers. These locations included Colorado Belle in Laughlin, Hooters in Las Vegas, Stockmen’s in Elko, and Poker Palace in Northern Las Vegas.

The complaint goes on to state that this appears to be a repeated theme throughout the history of the company. A similar incident took place in 2003, when the company also accepted Kentucky Derby bets set locations that were not authorized. The complaint also states that when the company found a scheme targeting betting kiosks at more than 30 locations, they made changes to their software without first gaining approval from the Gaming Control Board.

The scheme involved the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March. Many of the kiosks had weaknesses in the betting software, and the schemer or schemers would repeatedly hit the deposit button on the kiosks after inserting cash, causing for multiple wagers to be placed. These double beds, meant that they were inserting an amount of cash, but were being treated as if they had that double or triple that amount, depending on how many times the deposit was registered in the kiosks. Before making software modifications, all gambling companies are required to speak with the Gaming Control Board and get all of those modifications approved before going into place. However, all of the bets that were placed on the Kentucky Derby were done so without the use of kiosks, and were direct violation of law. It will be interesting to see what kind of fine is handed down, and whether or not the new management is going to be held responsible for the past owners mistakes. With a history of mistakes revolving around the company, you can expect to find to be handed down at some point, to make it clear that the rules have to be followed and that even small software modifications must be approved and everything properly licensed.

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