Massachusetts Swings Both real Ways with Casino Vote

The MGM Springfield is one feasible casino coming to Massachusetts in the longer term; it got a thumbs up from local voters this week

This week that is past plenty of voting occurring across Massachusetts, including two key votes on proposed casino projects in the state. The results were split, giving both casino proponents and their opponents something to crow about.

Hard Rock Hits the Skids

The bigger vote arrived in the town of West Springfield, where there had been a proposition to create an $800 million rough Rock casino. The casino was likely to be one of the competitors that are key the Western Massachusetts casino license.

But that project had been dealt just what could be a deadly blow on Tuesday, after the voters of western Springfield decided to reject the plan in a referendum that is public. About 55% of voters here voted against the casino, with 4,165 coming away against the project versus just 3,413 for this. The loss came as a surprise to many, because the campaign saw supporters associated with casino drastically outspend opponents.

That rejection narrows the competition for the casino that is sole in Western Massachusetts. During the moment, it would appear that only two candidates have a chance at that permit: an MGM task in Springfield, and a Mohegan Sun proposition that might be located in Palmer. The Palmer proposal nevertheless needs to be voted on by residents, while the MGM plan was approved by Springfield voters.

Heavy Spending No Help

The West Springfield casino would have been built on the site regarding the Eastern States Exposition, house to your Big E the biggest agricultural fair in New England. In the beginning, it appeared as though Hard Rock had little chance to overcome initial opposition to the project. That changed a little as the casino chain invested almost $1 million campaigning for the task and made promises about the total amount of income they would make for western Springfield annually.

Ultimately, though, opposition teams were able to make their instance better, as well as the project was soundly defeated. The victory ended up being seen as a big victory for anti-casino groups across the state, all of that are badly financed in comparison to their pro-casino opponents.

One other vote within the state might have had an even more result that is surprising. Into the town of Plainville, a plan to develop a slot parlor at Plainridge Racecourse free indian dreaming slot games was overwhelming authorized with 76% associated with the vote. A complete of 1,582 voters arrived in support of the plan versus just 502 against.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for Plainridge. Just month that is last state regulators determined that the track’s ownership group was unfit to compete for the single slots parlor license which was available. But Penn National produced move that is last-minute purchase the track, overtaking the slots parlor proposal as well. That was enough to satisfy the Gaming Commission, which offered their approval for the project.

Of course, not everybody was delighted with all the racino’s approval.

‘ The process isn’t working,’ said Mary-Ann Greanier, a known user of No Plainville Racino. ‘The safeguards we were told you may anticipate are not taking place.’

The Plainville task will compete against racino proposals in Raynham and Leominster, though the Leominster project must still be approved by voters.

Along with these projects, there are also three applicants for a license within the Greater Boston area: a Foxwoods proposal in Milford, a Wynn Resorts casino task in Everett, and a Suffolk Downs project in East Boston. There’s also a license that is single in Southeastern Massachusetts, but as of yet, no developers have used for a license for the reason that area.

Gambling Industry Criticizes Very First Draft of Florida Pari-Mutuel Rules

Parimutuel wagering and jai-alai are getting the focus as Florida reviews its racetrack and betting rules.

In an effort to reform the state’s gambling industry, Florida is working on several fronts towards clarifying and changing most rules that govern betting in the Sunshine State. One section of attention is on pari-mutuel wagering: the betting that goes on during the state’s race tracks and frontons that are jai-alai their state. But industry insiders say that the first draft of guidelines that have actually been proposed by state regulators simply won’t work.

Workshop to Hammer Out Wagering Rules

Those rules will ultimately be discussed at a workshop with the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering on October 16, but were first released in a draft kind final week. The guidelines were created to eliminate a growing number of questionable methods that are demonstrably outside of what the state intends to enable at such venues. And even though some of these new rules work, those within the industry say that many just reveal that regulators aren’t familiar sufficient with Florida’s gambling industry to help make such changes that are sweeping.

‘Some of them make sense,’ said Ken Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. ‘ Some of them haven’t been thought out really well. One or two are pretty silly.’

Among the big areas covered in the draft rules is horse racing regulations designed to eliminate racing that is non-standard. Many in the industry agree that this is an idea that is good as ‘barrel racing’ and ‘flag-drop’ race have already been seen by some operators in an effort to cheaply earn payments that may also enable them to provide card rooms or slots alongside those events.

The brand new rules would help put an end to such practices. They would bar ‘the racing animal to alter course in response to any hurdles regarding the racing surface’ and make sure that jockeys conform to uniform and fat requirements that couldn’t be a problem for legitimate racing operations.

Disagreement Over Acceptable Race Lengths

But the regulations don’t stop there, and that’s where some feel that the rules go wrong. According to Stirling, some of these rules could devastate the race industry if they aren’t changed.

For instance, the new regulations would need that most races are in minimum six furlongs in total something that will make sense if you’ve only seen the Triple Crown races or the Breeder’s Cup, but making no sense for the industry all together.

‘[The rule that] no competition must be reduced than…six furlongs…is a killer,’ Stirling said, noting that such races would be too long for two-year-old horses racing into the summer time. ‘That’s silly. We run baby races at 4.5 furlongs and we’ve been doing it for a century. I know they’re in Tallahassee, but we’ve these things called phones.’

He additionally objected to a rule that states that each race must have at least six horses a guideline that could cause races to be canceled because of eleventh hour scratches.

Jai-Alai would also be affected by the new regulations. For instance, each place could be required to have eight players that are certified rotation. This rule comes in response to a controversy at Ocala Poker and Jai-Alai, which began the 2012 period with just two players.

While there may be problems with the rules, unit director Leon Biegalski says there shouldn’t be a issue, and that the workshops are designed to help iron out these issues utilizing the industry’s help.

‘They’re draft rules. They’re a kick off point. We want to make sure that all the license holders and all the stake holders are on the page that is same terms of just what the regulation is that’s around and what is out there,’ Biegalski stated.

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Could Mean Gaming Industry Silver

Casino industry leaders were most likely just like excited as these Japanese residents by news of this Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

It is difficult to think that 2020 is only seven years away, but that’s just how long we have before the newly-granted Tokyo Summer Olympics will be upon us. But athletes-in-training will not end up being the only ones reaching for silver, since the worldwide casino industry is likewise trying to accomplish what until recently has felt very nearly insurmountable: getting legal casinos sanctioned, developed, built, and up and running in time for you to drive the tourism revolution that those Tokyo games are bound to bring in. With Japan the final great untapped Asian video gaming market, it’s a prize that many within the video gaming industry are inspired to accomplish.

Could the Games end up being the Needed drive?

Japan infamous for decades of foot dragging regarding the legal casino issue now has extra motivation to make it all happen too; the island country must find some way to foot the expected $1.53 billion bill they’ll be underwriting to produce the venues and infrastructure necessary to host A olympic season. To that particular end, two feasible casinos on the drawing boards, one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka, could bring in $10 billion in yearly gambling revenues, making them exactly the cash cows that the city has to pay its way. Japan gambling industry expert Grant Govertsen principal of Las Vegas-based Union Gaming Group claims that amount would be much more compared to the $6.2 billion that the entire Las Vegas Strip took set for 2012; so it ain’t chump change.

Those revenues would produce an estimated 10 % per casino for Tokyo, not to ever mention additional licensing fees and local municipal fees. Govertsen told investors he could be bullish about all of it.

‘ We think the government should think about integrated resort development, at the least in Tokyo, as a means to help the related Olympics infrastructure come to fruition,’ he told investors following the Tokyo games announcement. And Govertsen isn’t the only one who smells profit the Asian metropolis; many of the gaming industry’s biggest players made tracks to Tokyo just while they heard the announcement to see if they are able to scout out land for prospective casino developments.

Industry Leaders Scouting Websites

Term is going that Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. has its eye for a Tokyo Bay site, on a bit of reclaimed land, and he’s not the only one riding their covered wagon across the prairie to stake out some land. American behemoths MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. (the latter of who’s death seems to be grossly exaggerated for a basis that is daily are spotted in Japan, as has overseas industry giants SJM and Melco Crown Entertainment. Everybody generally seems to want in regarding the Gold Rush that is potential of.

‘Japan represents a historic window of opportunity for tourism expansion in a country with an incredibly rich social history,’ said MGM Resorts Executive Vice President Alan Feldman. ‘Tokyo is in an extraordinary position to re-energize the entire nation’s tourism and entertainment industry.’ Feldman says MGM has been monitoring happenings in Japan for almost two years, and both talking about feasible business alliances in addition to testing the temperature for legislative passage.

Even though Japan wasn’t noted for moving quickly in this arena, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could possibly be just the fire they need to create the gambling pot to a boil at last.

‘In the situation of Tokyo, we think there would be significant federal government help to complete an integral resort in time for the opening of 2020 Olympics,’ Govertsen said.