Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes

Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes

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

They say cash 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 right into a 14-acre waterfront Miami distribute back in 2011 and then sprinkling millions more into pressuring state politicians to ‚adapt‘ a construction legislation to allow for a new $3 billion Resorts World Miami casino project, the Asian gambling conglomerate has largely met with nothing but resistance. Therefore they’ve now determined for a new, less direction that is cumbersome the Sunshine State: a slots-only project that would set them up with Gulfstream Park racetrack in Miami’s Key Biscayne area.

Antagonists Await

Of course, anytime a potential new casino operator shows up in a state, first thing that happens is some form of anti-gaming coalition forms; and Florida has been no exception compared to that rule. 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 gaming license that gets the possibility of use with in either Miami-Dade or Broward counties, as the track rests simply between the 2 areas. Gulfstream even brought house this aspect summer that is last a three-horse occasion that occurred on their property, which takes place to just discuss the Broward county line into Miami-Dade.
But the event might have backfired, as Florida video gaming commissioners later filed a complaint from the race track for said event, so the certification issue remains not clear, and unsupported by the abilities that could need 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 say it makes it a ‚game-changing‘ deal, saying ‚this is the first partnership where the revenue stream and investment would in fact go back into the horses.‘

Two-Hour Tours

Up until now, Genting was providing only ‚cruises to nowhere‘ in fact, thrice-daily sailings between Miami and the business’s Resorts World Bimini casino in the nearby Bahamas, which conveniently rests only 50 miles from the Sunshine State’s coast. During the two-hour trips, fast-acting gamblers could play any games they wanted to on board, and that included sports betting; in exchange for that business opportunity, Genting is to cough up $11 million to get towards fixing up Miami’s ports, plus a yearly $7 million rental fee that will extend for at least the next a decade.
A wrench was thrown in the day and evening cruise excursions late this past year, however, whenever the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Genting they certainly 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 would apply to other Miami-based cruiselines apparently do not apply once the ship does maybe not actually dock in a foreign slot and doesn’t need passenger passports, either.
With that decision, Genting scale back on its cruise operations out of Miami, saying they can’t manage to bring in an all-american crew.
And that is not most of the issues that have plagued the day-trippers either; pier issues in Bimini have meant Genting has to anchor off-shore and then ferry groups that are small and forth, a real possibility that do not only eats up time and manpower, but has proved to be unpleasant for passengers in inclement weather.
Despite all these obstacles and projected losses of $11 million for 2014 Genting is apparently not considering leaving the day cruise company. And clearly, regardless of how stormy the seas, they plan to stay the course in Florida, one way or another.

Maine Gambling Enterprises Oppose Expanded Gambling in State

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

We may not agree we know there are plenty of reasons that people may oppose more gambling in their state, from moral objections to worries about problem gambling with them, but. But in Maine, gambling is finding an opponent that is unusual the gambling enterprises on their own.

Read Our Lips: No New Casinos

Officials from the two Maine casinos presently in procedure talked to lawmakers this week and stated that they shouldn’t approve any expansion of the casino industry in the state. In this instance, it seems that the casinos believe that the market in the state is totally saturated already while others believe they’re simply afraid of a small competition.

The two properties under consideration the Hollywood and Oxford Casinos faced off at the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs against members of two indigenous American tribes in the state, along with the owner of the Scarborough Downs race track, over a number of bills that would serve to grow Maine’s gambling options.

Probably the most controversial of those is recognized as LD 1111. It would enable Scarborough Downs to become a ‚racino,‘ operating slot machines with their horse that is current racing. That issue has already been brought to referendum last year, whenever it received only 45 per cent of the vote statewide.

Factional Battles

According to track owner Sharon Terry, Scarborough Downs is struggling as a result of the competition it faces from the casinos within the state particularly Oxford Casino, that is just 45 minutes away and opened in June 2012. And even though Hollywood Casino may away be further, it features a friend racino, letting it offer everything Scarborough Downs can and more.

Terry says that revenues fell 21.8 % at her track since slots were allowed at the Bangor battle track, and that the problem is getting even worse considering that the opening of the Oxford Casino. The cut in revenue not only threatens the track, but also Maine’s entire horse racing industry since Scarborough Downs is responsible for 101 days of racing each year.

‚The Downs cannot survive underneath the laws that are current‘ Terry said.

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

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

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

Big Banks Refuse to Process Legal Online Gambling Transactions

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

Everything seemed so hunky dory: Nevada, Delaware and brand New Jersey all got legal online gambling or at poker that is least, in Nevada’s case up and running in 2013, and with the exception of a few problems with geo-location snafus, overall, the internet sites in all three states have been operating pretty smoothly. Except for just one fairly major bug that has nothing in connection with the sites themselves: major economic institutions like American Express, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase are refusing to process any cash interactions on these web sites, legal or not.

Your Transaction Has Been Denied

Whether credit or debit, several heavy-hitter credit card providers say they are not gambling with regards to honoring their cards on Internet video gaming sites. And demonstrably, that’s not sitting well with many players whom say, exactly what offers? But the banks included say they will not budge, not for online casinos, poker or also appropriate activities betting in Nevada.

‚We don’t allow credit card transactions for this activity,‘ said Steve O’Halloran, manager of public relations and public affairs for Chase Card and Merchant Services. And American Express spokeswoman Sanette Chao concurs, saying her business simply ‚prohibits the usage of the card for gambling services.‘

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

‚Gambling services, historically, account for a high number of card member 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, in the end, from a federal standpoint, it is still murky just how it is to be interpreted following a 2012 reinterpretation of the original 1961 Wire Act had been handed down from the Supreme Court that opened the entranceway to at state-by-state that is least lawful free pokies downloads indian dreaming Internet gambling.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Natalie Brown says that is the thinking behind her company’s decision to decline gambling deposits.

‚In compliance with regulation GG (illegal Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), we prohibit the usage of consumer credit cards for Web gambling,‘ said Brown, whom is vice president of customer financing communications with Wells Fargo. ‚The systems (Visa, MasterCard and Express that is american the merchant category codes and block costs that do not comply with federal laws.‘

While this may earn some sense from their perspectives, it can prove a reality that is frustrating online players in legal gambling states.

‚What the industry has done is take an approach that is conservative response 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 to ever go online with legal poker into the Silver State. ‚That can be frustrating, but we work with clients to get alternatives.‘

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

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