Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes

Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes

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

They say money talks, but in Genting Resorts World’s case, it’s maybe not been speaking as loudly as the ongoing business might like.

The asian gambling conglomerate has largely met with nothing but resistance despite pouring $236 million 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 project. So they’ve now decided for a new, less cumbersome direction for the Sunshine State: a slots-only project that would pair them up with Gulfstream Park racetrack in Miami’s Key Biscayne area.

Antagonists Await

Of course, anytime a potential brand new casino operator shows up in a state, first thing that happens is some sort of anti-gaming coalition forms; and Florida has been no exception compared to that rule. Anti-casino group NoCasino.org is also 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 has the prospect of use in either Miami-Dade or Broward counties, as the track rests just between the two areas. Gulfstream also brought house this time summer that is last a three-horse occasion that occurred on their property, which takes place to just look at the Broward county line into Miami-Dade.
But the function may have backfired, as Florida gaming commissioners later filed a complaint up against the race track for said event, so the licensing issue remains ambiguous, and unsupported by the capabilities that could require to approve it. The proposed Genting project would also break precedent, as so far, only Native American tribes have already been in a position to offer slots without a actual 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 partnership that is first the revenue stream and investment would really go back to the horses.’

Two-Hour Tours

Up until now, Genting has been offering only ‘cruises to nowhere’ in fact, thrice-daily sailings between Miami and the company’s Resorts World Bimini casino in the nearby Bahamas, which conveniently rests only 50 miles off 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 activities betting; in exchange for that business opportunity, Genting would be to cough up $11 million to go towards fixing up Miami’s ports, plus an annual $7 million fee that is rental will extend for at least the next 10 years.
A wrench had been thrown into the time and evening cruise excursions late last year, but, whenever the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Genting they certainly were only to use U.S.-based workers on the trips. a battle that is legal; but Genting ultimately had to concede, as maritime laws that will connect with other Miami-based cruiselines apparently do not apply whenever ship does maybe not actually dock in a foreign slot and does not need passenger passports, either.
With that decision, Genting cut back on its cruise operations away from Miami, saying they can’t afford to generate a crew that is all-american.
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 small teams back 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 obstacles and projected losses of $11 million for 2014 Genting is apparently not thinking about leaving the cruise business day. And clearly, irrespective of how stormy the seas, they plan to stay the course in Florida, one way or another.

Maine Casinos Oppose Expanded Gambling in State

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

We might not agree using them, but we understand there are lots of reasons that individuals may oppose more gambling in their state, from moral objections to worries about problem gambling. However in Maine, gambling is finding an unusual opponent: the gambling enterprises on their own.

Read Our Lips: No New Casinos

Officials from the 2 Maine casinos currently in procedure spoke to lawmakers this week and stated which they shouldn’t approve any expansion of the casino industry into the state. In this situation, it would appear that the casinos believe that the marketplace in the state is wholly saturated already while others believe they’re just afraid of a small competition.

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

The absolute most controversial of these is known as LD 1111. It would enable Scarborough Downs to become a ‘racino,’ operating slot machines with their horse that is current racing. That problem has already been 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 within the state particularly Oxford Casino, which is simply 45 minutes away and opened in 2012 june. Even though Hollywood Casino may be further away, it features a companion racino, allowing it to offer everything Scarborough Downs can and more.

Terry says that revenues fell 21.8 percent at her track since slots were allowed during the Bangor race track, and that the problem gets a whole lot worse since 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 endure underneath the laws that are current’ Terry said.

Nonetheless, the general supervisors of both casinos along with several business owners within the Oxford area disagreed, opposing allowing slots at the Scarborough Downs facility. In basic, 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 support more venues.

That helps explain why in addition they opposed three other bills being considered by their state. Those add a bill that would allow charities to perform up to five slots at their headquarters in order to raise funds, as well as two bills that would allow Indian tribes to grow their gambling operations: the one that 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 available or expand, we would see further erosion of our customer base,’ said John Osborne, general manager of the Hollywood Casino.

Big Banks indian dreaming pokies download Refuse to Process Legal Online Gambling Transactions

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

Every thing seemed so hunky dory: Nevada, Delaware and brand New Jersey all got legal online gambling or at least poker, in Nevada’s case up and running in 2013, and with the exception of a few dilemmas with geo-location snafus, overall, the internet sites in all three states have actually been operating pretty smoothly. Except for starters bug that is fairly major has nothing at all to do 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 sites, legal or otherwise not.

Your Transaction Is Denied

Whether credit or debit, several heavy-hitter credit card providers say they aren’t gambling in terms of honoring their cards on Web gaming sites. And demonstrably, that’s not sitting well with many players whom say, just what offers? But the banks involved say they’ll not budge, not for online gambling enterprises, poker or sports that are even legal in Nevada.

‘We do not allow credit card transactions for this task,’ stated Steve O’Halloran, manager of pr 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 type of moral imperative, it ends up that it’s more of a bottom-line that is simple decision than anything else.

‘Gambling services, historically, account for a number that is high of 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 Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), because, all things considered, from the federal standpoint, it’s still murky how it’s to be interpreted following a 2012 reinterpretation of the first 1961 Wire Act had been handed down from the Supreme Court that opened the door to at least state-by-state lawful Internet gambling.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Natalie Brown claims this is certainly 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 utilization of consumer credit cards for Web gambling,’ said Brown, who is vice president of customer lending communications with Wells Fargo. ‘The companies (Visa, MasterCard and American Express) monitor the merchant category codes and block costs that don’t conform to federal laws.’

While this may earn some feeling from their views, it could prove a reality that is frustrating online players in appropriate gambling states.

‘What the industry has done is take a conservative approach or 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 ever to go online with legal poker into the Silver State. ‘That can be frustrating, but we work with customers to locate alternatives.’

One of some great benefits of this brick-and-mortar/Internet symbiosis is that customers can both fund and cash out at any of their land 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 had been more within their court right now, Caesars WSOP site’s spokesperson Seth Palansky states it really is what it really is.

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