ï»¿Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Results

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

They say cash speaks, but in Genting Resorts World’s case, it’s perhaps not been speaking as loudly as the business might like.

Despite pouring $236 million right into a 14-acre waterfront Miami spread back in 2011 and then sprinkling millions more into pressuring state politicians to ‘adapt’ a construction law to accommodate a new $3 billion Resorts World Miami casino task, the Asian gambling conglomerate has largely met with nothing but resistance. Therefore they’ve now determined for a new, less cumbersome direction for the Sunshine State: a slots-only task that would pair them up with Gulfstream Park racetrack in Miami’s Key Biscayne area.

Antagonists Await

Of course, anytime a potential casino that is new shows up in a state, the first thing that happens is some kind of anti-gaming coalition forms; and Florida has been no exception to that guideline. 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 video gaming license that gets the prospect of use with in either Miami-Dade or Broward counties, as the track rests just between the two areas. Gulfstream also brought house this aspect summer that is last a three-horse event that happened on their property, which takes place to just review the Broward county line into Miami-Dade.

But the big event may have backfired, as Florida gaming commissioners later filed a complaint from the race track for said event, so the licensing issue remains not clear, and unsupported by the capabilities that will require to accept it. The proposed Genting project would also break precedent, as until now, only Native American tribes are able to offer slots without a real racetrack on the property.

With horse racing still an important aspect of Florida’s economy, the brand new pairing created a creative providing to tempt both lawmakers and regulators to bless their new union; Genting and Gulfstream state they would share some of their profits with Florida’s breeders, trainers and owners, an offer that sits mighty well because of the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. FTHA CEO Lonny Powell has even gone so far as to state this makes it a ‘game-changing’ deal, saying ‘this is the very first partnership where the income stream and investment would actually go back to the horses.’

Two-Hour Tours

Up to now, Genting happens to be providing only ‘cruises to nowhere’ in actuality, thrice-daily sailings between Miami and the company’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 always to cough up $11 million to go towards fixing up Miami’s ports, plus a yearly $7 million fee that is rental will extend for at least the next ten years.

A wrench ended up being thrown into the day and evening cruise excursions late this past year, however, whenever the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Genting these were only to use U.S.-based employees on the trips. a legal battle ensued; but Genting ultimately had to concede, as maritime laws that will connect with other Miami-based cruise lines apparently never apply when the ship does perhaps not actually dock in a foreign slot and doesn’t need passenger passports, either.

With that decision, Genting cut back on its cruise operations away from Miami, saying they can’t pay for to generate an all-american crew.

And that’s not most of the issues that have actually plagued the day-trippers either; pier issues in Bimini have actually meant Genting needs to anchor off-shore and then ferry groups that are small and forth, a real possibility that not only eats up time and manpower, but has proved to be unpleasant for passengers in inclement weather.

Despite all these hurdles and projected losses of $11 million for 2014 Genting is evidently not planning on getting away from the day cruise business. And clearly, irrespective 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

Most people think about Maine like this, but a small casino contingent is trying to hold their own there because well. (Image: Katarina Neef/atpm.com)

We might 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 operation talked to lawmakers this and said that they shouldn’t approve any expansion of the casino industry in the state week. In cases like this, it seems that the casinos think that industry in the state is totally saturated already while others believe they’re just afraid of a little competition.

The two properties in question the Hollywood and Oxford Casinos faced off while watching Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs against members of two native tribes that are american the state, as well as the owner of the Scarborough Downs race track, over a number of bills that would serve to expand Maine’s gambling options.

The most controversial of those is recognized as LD 1111. It might allow Scarborough Downs to become a ‘racino,’ operating slot machines along with their horse that is current racing. That problem was already brought to referendum in 2011, whenever it received only 45 percent of the vote statewide.

Factional Battles

According to track owner Sharon Terry, Scarborough Downs is struggling because of the competition it faces from the casinos into the state particularly Oxford Casino, which will be just 45 minutes away and opened in June 2012. Even though Hollywood Casino may be further away, it features a companion 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 race track, and that the specific situation is getting a whole lot worse considering that the opening of the Oxford Casino. Since Scarborough Downs accounts for 101 times of racing every year, the cut in revenue perhaps not only threatens the track, but also Maine’s entire horse racing industry.

‘The Downs cannot endure underneath the laws that are current’ Terry said.

Nevertheless, the general supervisors of both gambling enterprises in addition to several companies within the Oxford area disagreed, opposing slots that are allowing the Scarborough Downs facility. In basic, the casinos feel that any gambling that is new their state threatens to ‘cannibalize the industry,’ as Maine is a relatively small state without enough gamblers to support more venues.

That helps explain why additionally they opposed three other bills being considered by hawaii. Those incorporate a bill that would allow charities to operate up to five slots at their headquarters to be able to raise funds, along with two bills that would allow Indian tribes to expand their gambling operations: one that would let the Houlton Band of Maliseets to operate slots and table games, and another that would let the Passamaquoddy Tribe apply to run table games and slots at a bingo facility that is existing.

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

Big Banks Refuse to Process Legal Online Gambling Transactions

Major credit card issuers like Chase, Wells Fargo and American Express won’t process even legal on line gambling transactions, they do say. (Image: Jason Hindley/money.cnn.com)

Every thing seemed so hunky dory: Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey all got legal online gambling or at poker that is least, in Nevada’s case up and running in 2013, and aside from a few issues with geo-location snafus, overall, the sites in all three states have actually been operating pretty smoothly. Except for just one fairly major bug that has nothing in connection with the sites on their own: major economic organizations like United states Express, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase are refusing to process any cash interactions on these web sites, legal or perhaps not.

Your Transaction Is Denied

Whether credit or debit, several card that is heavy-hitter say they aren’t gambling with regards to honoring their cards on Web gaming web sites. And clearly, that’s not sitting well with many players who say, what provides? But the banks included say they’ll not budge, not for online casinos, poker or even appropriate activities betting in Nevada.

‘We do not allow credit card transactions for this activity,’ said Steve O’Halloran, director of advertising and public affairs for Chase Card and Merchant Services. And American Express spokeswoman Sanette Chao concurs, saying her company simply ‘prohibits the usage of the card for gambling services.’

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

‘Gambling services, historically, account for a large number of card user 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 Web Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), because, most likely, from the federal standpoint, it is still murky just how it is become interpreted after having a 2012 reinterpretation of the first 1961 Wire Act was handed down through the Supreme Court that opened the doorway to at state-by-state that is least lawful online gambling.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Natalie Brown says this is the reasoning 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, who is vice president of consumer lending communications with Wells Fargo. ‘The companies (Visa, MasterCard and Express that is american the merchant category codes and block charges that don’t conform to federal laws.’

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

‘What the industry has done is take an approach that is conservative reaction play free pokies indian dreaming to the legalization of online gambling,’ said Tobin Prior, CEO of Ultimate Gaming, which is a subsidiary of Station Casinos, a land-gaming proprietor in Nevada and the first to go online with legal poker into the Silver State. ‘That can be frustrating, but we work with clients to find options.’

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

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