Harrah’s New Orleans Blames Cigarette Ban for Declining Profits, Pennsylvania Casinos Set Record

Harrah’s New Orleans says the cigarette ban imposed by the town an ago this week has negatively impacted its gambling revenues and needs to be held accountable for the casino’s downward spiral year.
Harrah’s New Orleans say the citywide smoking ban is shuffling up revenues in the incorrect direction.
Statistics provided by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board seem to back up those claims. Gross gambling revenue at Harrah’s New Orleans totaled $23.9 million in March, down nearly 21 percent through the $30.2 million the casino generated in the month that is same 2015.
Since 2007, all Louisiana workplaces and restaurants have already been smoke-free, but the law did not use to casinos and bars. Carrying out a unanimous New Orleans City Council vote and Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s (D) signature, a city ordinance went into influence on April 22, 2015, that banned smoke smoking and vaping on the casino floor.
‘ Slot revenue, Harrah’s largest source of revenue, happens to be affected probably the most with slot income down 17 per cent in the period following ordinance’s impact in comparison to prior year,’ Harrah’s spokeswoman Jade Brown-Russell reported. ‘In the 12 months impacted by the smoking ban, Harrah’s has skilled gaming income declines in 10 of the 12 months.’
Clash of the Ash
Supporters of the clean air ordinance state Harrah’s is merely looking for a scapegoat to position blame.
‘That’s been a trend throughout the couple that is last of,’ Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free residing Associate Director Tonia Moore said of the financials. ‘I know lots of people want for connecting that utilizing the ordinance that is smoke-free but regrettably we still cannot connect that to being the sole purpose for his or her revenues declining.’
Underneath the legislation, gamblers must keep a slot machine game or table game to smoke cigarettes a cigarette in an area that is designated.
Moore’s position is also with merit, as Boomtown New Orleans, located south of this town in Jefferson Parish and not in the smoking cigarettes ban, also saw its revenues go south. Year-over-year, Boomtown reported an earnings decline of 2.3 percent.
Pennsylvania Sets Record
Smoking in Pennsylvania’s 12 land-based casinos is still permitted, though in certain smoker-friendly gaming areas. Instead of a ban that is outright Keystone State lawmakers and local government officials opted to allocate up to 50 percent associated with casino floor to smokers, though all dining areas are 100 % smoke-free due to the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act.
The compromise appears to be working.
In March, Pennsylvania video gaming facilities reported a month that is record dining table revenues as the gambling enterprises raked in $77.9 million. That figure is the absolute most ever into the state’s six-year history blackjack that is permitting roulette, poker, as well as other tables.
Sheldon Adelson’s Sands Bethlehem once again led the real method by posting $19.6 million in table receipts.
Slots also claimed higher revenues in March, with the casinos publishing a combined $211.2 million from the machines. In total, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said gaming rose 4.2 percent during the month that is 31-day.
Considering gambling enterprises pay a tax that is effective of 55 percent on slots and 14 percent on table games, one associated with highest tariffs of any state with legalized gambling, Harrisburg politicians are undoubtedly welcoming the increased income because they continue in an attempt to find new how to fund swelling expenditures.
Bangladeshi Police Hunting 20 People in Fed Bank Heist
Kim Wong, who is facing money laundering costs in the Philippines, has now returned $9.8 million for the money stolen from the Fed Bank. (Image: conceptnews.central.com)
Bangladeshi police have identified 20 individuals they believe of having involvement in the $101 million Federal Reserve Bank of ny heist. The list comprises eight Filipinos and 12 Sri Lankans.
On February 5 hackers flooded the Fed Bank with requests for transfers totaling almost $1 billion from a merchant account owned by the Bangladeshi federal government. The hackers posed as officials of this Bangladesh Central Bank, having introduced malware in to the Bangladesh bank’s server, which allowed them to process and authorize the transactions
Some $20 million of this $101 million successfully withdrawn was traced to Sri Lanka and has since been restored, although the remaining $81 million was transferred to Philippine bank RCBC, and from there made its means using a remittance firm to the gently regulated Philippine casino industry. Much of this remains unrecovered.
Concrete Proof
The lead authorities investigator in the instance, Shah Alam, said he wants to trace ‘at least 20 people from multiple countries that are foreign in relation to the heist.
‘we have discovered evidence that is concrete these folks were involved with the heist,’ he stated Monday. ‘We cannot disclose their identity during the minute as it might hamper our investigation.’
Alam said that they had found no evidence that employees of the Bangladesh Central Bank were involved with installing the spyware on its personal computers. However, he said that police were investigating whether a service that is third-party to the bank was in fact negligent in building adequate cyber-security systems.
Investigators would seek the help of Interpol in apprehending the individuals, stated Alam, adding that he’d passed the findings associated with investigation to the government that is philippine.
Wong Makes Appropriate
Meanwhile, Kim Wong, a Chinese national residing in the Philippines who was initially identified by Philippine politicians being the ‘mastermind’ and ‘missing link’ in the heist, has returned an additional $4.34 million of the stolen funds, on top of the $5.5 million he relinquished month that is last.
Wong, who is the supervisor of the Eastern Hawaii Casino in the Cagayan Economic zone in the Philippines, has freely attended government hearings in the nation in an effort to explain how $21 million of the taken money fundamentally ended up in various reports he controlled.
He claims the money was brought into the Philippines by two casino that is high-rolling agents named Gao Shuhua and Ding Zhize. These men owed him $10 million in gambling debts, he said, which they paid him even though the rest was converted into chips for VIP gamblers.
Whenever asked why he previouslyn’t enquired in regards to the way to obtain the money, he said, ‘You do not ask, it’s disrespectful.’
It isn’t known whether Wong or his two high-rolling friends are among the 20 sought by Bangladesh.
Connecticut DFS Legislation Could Endanger Tribal Rev Sharing Compacts, Says AG
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who warned that there surely is a ‘high amount of doubt’ surrounding the notion that DFS contests are not gambling. (Image: stamfordadvocate.com)
Connecticut’s plans to pass through legislation authorizing daily fantasy sports hit a snag this week when lawyer general George Jepsen warned that the proposal may be in violation associated with the state’s revenue-sharing compact with its tribal operators.
At issue is the 8.75 percent surcharge on total entry costs that Connecticut’s DFS bill desires to charge sites like DraftKings and FanDuel for the privilege of offering contests to state residents.
Also at issue is the concern of whether or not daily dream recreations constitutes gambling. Supporters of this bill state it willn’t; that the contests certainly are a game of ability, and for that reason exempt from Connecticut’s criminal gambling laws and regulations.
Place for Doubt on DFS
But as Jepsen emphasized this week, there was a great amount of room for question on this point. He additionally noted that if DFS games are indeed games of skill, there is no need to pass a bill to exempt them.
Connecticut’s tribal operators, the Mohegans plus the Mashantucket Pequots, which run Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods respectively, are the only entities permitted to offer commercial gambling in the state beyond the pari-mutuel wagering available at racetracks.
Connecticut has permitted the two casinos on tribal lands that are sovereign early nineties in exchange for a 25 percent cut of the profits.
Nevertheless the tribes tend to strongly object to your state sanctioning operations that could be construed as gambling, especially whenever these operations are paying a smaller cut, although it should be noted that tribal officials haven’t testified at tribal hearings, nor have they offered any official opinion on the DFS legislation.
Legislation Unlikely to pass through This Year
‘There presently exists a high degree of uncertainty about whether fantasy that is daily contests constitute games of skill or games of chance,’ had written Jepsen.
‘ No one can predict with any known level of certainty what sort of court, if confronted with these issues, would rule. With that doubt comes the chance that legislation of the kind proposed could place in danger the state’s revenue-sharing arrangements using the Tribes.’
The General Assembly’s Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee, which recently passed an income tax plan that factored in the DFS surcharge, had hoped that the scheme would generate $9.5 million as component of a strategy to plug a $922 million deficit within the state budget. But in the light of this AG’s reviews this week, lawmakers are conceding that this will be now unlikely to occur.
‘Due to the risk and doubt that could result from a potential legal challenge, the possibility of moving legislation this session is not likely,’ Senate President Martin Looney, (D-New Haven).
MGM Springfield Uproots Historic Church While Massachusetts Lawmakers Advise Against Southeast Commercial Casino
The MGM Springfield has successfully relocated the 129-year-old First that is historic Spiritualist in Springfield, Massachusetts, in order to make way for its $950 million casino resort scheduled to open in 2018.
200 yards and five-and-a-half hours later, land previously occupied by this church that is historic now clear for the MGM Springfield. (Image: Dina Rudick/Boston Globe)
The church was moved on Tuesday some 200 yards from where it stood since 1887 after weeks of preparation. The trip took hours that are five-and-a-half or a blistering 1.8 feet each minute.
Of course, rate was of small concern as conservation for the eminent building and assurance of its integrity was vital for the team that is moving. When all was said and done, the 200-yard voyage cost MGM $800,000.
‘Today’s church relocation marks a milestone that is exciting this task,’ MGM Springfield VP of Construction and Development Brian Packer told reporters.
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno (D) placed a fun twist on his remarks by stating, ‘I think if you look at the meaning now of ‘Holy Roller,’ that might fit the bill.’
Maintaining History
One of many primary concerns among regional residents with building the MGM Springfield in the location developers and MGM professionals preferred was how the mega-resort might impact the area’s historical structures.
MGM committed to both the Springfield Historical Commission and Massachusetts Historical Commission that it would take every step possible to assure the region that it couldn’t be bulldozing its method through the city. Rather, MGM claims its objective is protect the history that is rich of.
‘Once visitors pull off the highway and into our strategically located parking garages, those who want to feel the many historic, cultural, company, and academic draws that Springfield is offering, will be associated with Union Station and other central areas by a trolley system,’ the MGM Springfield web site explains.
Lawmakers Warn Gaming Commission
The Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act passed in 2011 called for the issuance of licenses for three commercial resort gambling facilities in three separate regions.
The Wynn Everett, now known as Wynn Boston Harbor, and MGM Springfield claimed the first couple of spots representing the main and sections that are western. But Region C, the part that is southeast of state comprising Bristol, Plymouth, Nantucket, Dukes, and Barnstable counties remains up for grabs.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is presently constructing a $1 billion casino on its land that is native in. The tribe, which does not need state approval to build such a facility on its own reservation, would pay a 17 per cent income tax on its gambling revenues unless Massachusetts violates the gaming lightweight and allows a commercial casino to be built within 25 kilometers of Taunton.
Rush Street Gaming has proposed a $677 million gambling resort in Brockton and ended up being expected to receive approval by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) when the governing body meets week that is next talk about area C.
Seven state lawmakers are advising the MGC to vote against the Brockton resort as the Mashpee would be allowed by it Wampanoag Tribe to use a casino tax-free.
‘ We now have serious concerns that total revenue collection by the Commonwealth is not being given the consideration it deserves,’ the coalition published in a letter to the MGC this week.
