
The Delaware casino that is land-based happens to be hit hard by increased competition from new areas in neighboring states, as the newer and shinier casinos of Pennsylvania and Maryland outperform its three struggling, and highly taxed, racinos.
Dover Downs is Delaware’s biggest and morechillipokie.com only publicly traded racino, but high domestic taxes and increased competition over the state line means hard times for the property therefore the state’s two other racinos.
The sector, which comprises Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs, and Delaware Park, peaked in 2006, the year Pennsylvania began issuing its very first casino licenses, when slot revenues hit more than $650 million. By 2016, slots and table revenues combined had plunged to $398 million.
Meanwhile, outfall from the new MGM nationwide Harbor, which exposed in Maryland year that is late last stands poised to be the final nail in the coffin. That property caused other casinos in Maryland and West Virginia to ramp up their own marketing drives, drawing even more customers away from Delaware’s ailing properties.
The three racinos cannot compete because they pay higher state taxes than their counterparts across the edge, and they are begging legislators for help.
Taxed From the Market
This the Delaware’s Video Lottery Advisory Council (VLAC) met to discuss the status of Diamond State’s three casinos week. The council is tasked with advising federal government policy on gambling and could urge lawmakers to pass a casino relief measure.
But the racinos will need to wait. VLAC will perhaps not publish its suggestions until the fall, and until then, it is keeping tight-lipped.
Legislation that could have supplied relief by producing advertising and capital credits, while quashing the table game fee and lowering the taxation rate on dining table games, received shrift that is short the General Assembly in 2015 and 2016.
Begging for a Lifeline
A large budget deficit has made it difficult for a bill advocating tax relief to gain much traction while there is sympathy for the racinos’ plight in the legislature. Nevertheless, something has become done, says Ed Sutor, president and CEO of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, as he urged VLAC to put the racinos a lifeline.
Sutor told the Delaware State Information that a concession that is simple could be easily enacted is to allow the racinos to operate on Christmas and Easter, which will generate an approximated $2.25 million more.
‘We’re the only casinos in the country that shut down completely on Easter and Christmas,’ said Sutor. ‘We can not surrender, people, and now we can’t sit out another year of not doing anything.’
Impossible Odds? Wagering Sites Offer Lines on Political, Celebrity Absurdity
Political betting markets are doing their best to stay appropriate because the highly engaging 2016 campaign that is presidential by offering online bettors unique lines on events that seem to have little possibility of occurring.
Lines on Kid Rock and also The Rock’s future in government are a couple of markets on offer at governmental sites that are betting. (Image: Terry Renna/Associated Press/WWE/Collage by Casino.org)
From Kid Rock’s running for the United States Senate to talk of this Rock building a serious bid for the White home in 2020, political betting networks are trying to keep a connection between celebrity entertainment and political impact. It truly worked in 2016 with Donald Trump.
Betting on governmental results is illegal throughout the US (also in Las Vegas), but American politics is a well liked wager that is exotic Europe and elsewhere in the world.
PredictIt.org provides exchange wagering, which really is a slightly different variant of wager that trades shares in real time on predicted outcomes of political events. (Exchanges charge a commission on trades as opposed to setting odds.)
Kid Rock for Senate?
Musician and Trump that is avid supporter Rock has recently teased a bid to run for Michigan’s US Senate chair in 2018 against incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow (D). However, betting money is currently against Rock officially running.
PredictIt shares of Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie, running are available for 40 cents, while no, he won’t run shares are at 60 cents. Adhering to a tweet in early July from rap star that showed a yard indication reading ‘Kid Rock for US Senate,’ shares laying claim to the concept that he would indeed run soared to 70 cents.
Rock adopted the image with a statement of political philosophy that read, ‘we believe you will be able to easily navigate the laws, taxation codes, health care, and whatever else the us government places in place that affects us all. if you work your butt off and pay taxes,’
The 46-year-old singer from Michigan hasn’t run for or held elected office, but that don’t stop the present American president. Ritchie reportedly has yet to file campaign that is official, however, which undoubtedly factors into why the PredictIt line remains open.
President The Rock
Bettors, of program, have to be careful not to confuse Kid Rock with The Rock. PredictIt is asking whether actor Dwayne Johnson will throw his name in to the ring for the US presidency in 2020.
A campaign committee called ‘Run the Rock 2020’ recently did file paperwork because of the Federal Election Committee, which appeared like a bigger action in a direction that is serious. The Rock, nonetheless, isn’t actually behind the company wanting to elect him. It’s instead the ongoing work of the fan who just hopes he’ll run.
Even though the seed’s been planted, enthusiasm for a Rock presidency is rather low on PredictIt. Shares that Johnson will run are trading for 25 cents, while owning ‘no’ will cost you three quarters.
PredictIt’s willingness to offer the market on Johnson despite his public declaration that he is not even considering a 2020 run suggest that celebrity lines with without any opportunity of striking are a revenue that is popular for the exchange.
ElectionBettingOdds.com, meanwhile, gives the actor a 3.5 % chance of actually winning the White home, comparable odds it offers for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who will turn 35, the minimal age for allowed for A us president by the Constitution, in 2019.
Exactly What Hath Paddy Power Wrought
Sites and areas such as for instance PredictIt may be seeing the value of offering opportunities for wagering on wishful thinking and fears that are irrational but really they truly are simply after in the footsteps of Paddy Power.
The infamous Irish bookmaker set the standard for allowing people to bet the unthinkable, at one time asking customers whether or not then-President Barack Obama would be assassinated.
Paddy Power’s present odds regarding the champion associated with the 2020 election feature Trump as the(2-1 that is favorite, followed by Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and current Vice President Mike Pence at 15-2.
But a slew of ridiculous names are included on the chances sheet. Leonardo DiCaprio (80-1), Kanye western (100-1), Beyoncé (200-1), fictional House of Cards president Kevin Spacey (200-1), and Kim Kardashian (275-1) are just a few of the picks readily available for those who think they could see something in an longshot that is extreme.
Macau Police Bust Scam ‘Pop Up’ VIP Casino Op
Director of Judiciary Police Chau Wai Kuong said that gaming related crime in the gambling hub remained ‘serious’ despite the apparent financial recovery. (Image: Macau Constant Times)
Macau authorities have busted a bogus ‘pop-up’ VIP casino racket that bilked high-rollers out of millions in presumably crooked baccarat games, based on the South China Morning Post.
The police investigation began in after a man told authorities he had been defrauded of HK$4 million (around $500,000) june.
Officers through the Judiciary Police raided an unidentified hotel in the gambling hub on Wednesday, arresting 15 males and four women, all from the mainland that is chinese.
They have been accused of luring high-rollers to hotel rooms that the gang had gone to elaborate lengths to disguise as genuine VIP rooms.
Ruse Meticulously Planned
Police said the ruse, which have been in operation since 2015, was intricately executed and planned, with members of the gang posing as dealers, VIP hosts, VIP room operators, safety guards and shill gamblers to be able to trick their victim.
Four ‘customers’ were based in the procedure of being scammed whenever authorities swooped on Wednesday, according to Macau’s public broadcaster, TDM.
More than HK$75 million ($9.6 million) worth of gaming chips were bought at the scene. While reports would not specify, it’s likely these were ‘rolling chips,’ non-redeemable tokens issued to high rollers by casino as credit to gamble with, rather than the type of chips which can be exchanged directly for cash. HK$200,000 in difficult currency ended up being also seized, around US$25,600.
The suspects, aged between 35 and 53, are facing numerous charges, ranging from fraud to owning a syndicate that is criminal.
Last week, 15 mainlanders were detained and accused of running a loan-sharking that is high-interest focusing on casino gamblers regarding the Cotai Strip.
Taking Crime Seriously
Gaming-related crime has risen in the enclave since Beijing’s anti-corruption drive almost 3 years ago. The crackdown on the junket industry has place the squeeze on the gambling hub’s unlawful underbelly, with reports of a sharp increase in triad-related criminal activity.
Police have stated that the true number of illegal detentions, which largely involve the forced collection of gaming debts by loan-sharking triads, are up 11.8 percent year-on-year, after having almost doubled between 2014 and 2015.
‘Although the performance of Macau’s video gaming industry has stabilized since the second half of final year, the gaming-related crime situation remains serious,’director of Judiciary Police Chau Wai Kuong said this week in a statement.
‘We have witnessed an increase in the amount of instances of unlawful detention related to operations that are loan-sharking’ he included. ‘As such, police have strengthened patrols, having detected 20 cases of gaming-related unlawful detention in a single day.’
Macau’s Judiciary Police recorded an overall total of 734 suspected gaming-related crimes in the first five months of this 12 months, up by 74 situations in contrast to the period that is corresponding of.
New Jersey’s Chris Christie Urges President Donald Trump and Congress to Support States’ Rights in Online Gaming Battle
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) put his signature on a bill later a week ago that urges President Donald Trump, members of his administration, and Congress to oppose any legislation that would prohibit individual states from authorizing and regulating online gambling.
Nj State Representative Vincent Mazzeo has authored a bill that asks federal leaders to push back against any measures that will impede states’ right in the gambling that is online, and it’s gained the support of Governor Chris Christie. (Image: Jackie Schear/Press of Atlantic City)
Introduced by State Rep. Vincent Mazzeo (D-Northfield) in January, the joint resolution seeks to notify the president and Congress on how internet casinos are playing a vital role into the recovery of Atlantic City. Of program, it’s an opinion just and another that carries no given weight, as state governments have no input that is direct federal laws.
The main issue is once again the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), legislation that would reverse a 2011 US Department of Justice opinion that stated the longstanding Wire Act applied just to recreations betting, and not other forms of gambling.
Mazzeo’s resolution explains, ‘Recent federal measures, such as [RAWA], introduced within the 114th Congress, if pursued by the 115th Congress and supported by President Trump and his management, would prohibit the transmission of cable communication of any bet or bet … including internet gaming.’
A copy associated with the finalized legislation is being sent to the president, United States House and Senate leaders, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and different other political powers in Washington, DC.
Internet Gaming Wins
Garden State politicians have lots of reason to support Mazzeo’s bill. Atlantic City’s staying seven casino operators are finally posting gains, and online gambling is playing a leading role in the recovery that is fiscal.
Through June, land-based gaming win is up 1.5 percent. However, internet gambling has soared over 28 %, bringing the casinos’ main point here to 3.5 percent.
Internet gambling has delivered $121.4 million to operators through June, about $26.6 million ahead of where they were this time around last year.
‘A federal prohibition against internet gaming would directly and negatively impact brand New Jersey by dismantling the investments that hawaii and Atlantic City casinos have already made,’ Mazzeo explained.
iGaming’s prominent part in revitalizing Atlantic City is why Mazzeo had small trouble in garnering support for the joint resolution. Just a single ‘nay’ vote arrived in from either chamber, State Senator Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) being the opponent that is lone.
Not Biting
There doesn’t appear to be much enthusiasm in Washington to take up RAWA, or similar anti-online gambling legislation. Past committee hearings in the home and Senate did not change the fact that most in Congress simply are not terribly invested in discussing internet gaming prohibitions at the federal degree, a matter that the Republican-controlled Congress would seemingly prefer to leave up to each state to opt for themselves.
RAWA was introduced into their particular chambers by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah that is former). It’s mostly thought that those actions came at the behest of Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, A gop that is powerful financier has made it his life’s work to block iGaming.
After lingering for just two years, RAWA has not been re-introduced to Congress for its 115th session.
Scott Blumstein Wins $8.15M at World Series of Poker Main Event with Three-Outer on River
Scott Blumstein, a 25-year-old medium stakes poker pro from nj, decided to play their first World number of Poker tournament several days ago, the 2017 Main Event. It switched out to be always a pretty good decision, as late into Saturday night, Blumstein survived an original industry of over 7,200 entrants to get hold of $8.15 million plus a jewel-encrusted champion’s bracelet worth another half-million.
WSOP 2017 Main Event winner Scott Blumstein, now in a much higher tax bracket he entered the World Series of Poker’s most prestigious tournament two weeks ago, says fame and fortune will not change who he is than he was when. (Image: ABCNews.com)
It had been not long after midnight Pacific Time on Sunday morning, readily available 256 of the WSOP Main Event final table, Blumstein defeated Pennsylvanian Dan Ott to become poker’s « » new world « » champion.
‘I’m still in shock,’ Blumstein told reporters afterwards. ‘ I thought I would get even more emotional that what I got in real time but it’s just the feeling that is best, I can’t even put it into terms.’
First Time’s the Charm
Despite making a living as an on-line grinder back house in nj, this was 1st time Blumstein had ever ventured to the Rio in nevada to play live in some sort of Series event.
Using the November Nine concept scrapped in favor of three consecutive sections of final-table play, broadcast with a 30-minute delay by ESPN on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Blumstein started the brand new structure last table with a chip lead that is commanding. It was a lead he relinquished just once over the program for the match, when jovial crowd favorite and British granddad John Hesp briefly wrestled top spot through the chip-stacking juggernaut.
Hesp busted out in fourth, establishing up a last night of three-handed action between Americans Blumstein and Ott, and France’s Benjamin Pollack.
Two Plus Two Equals $8.15 Million
The short-stacked Pollack had everything to gain and was prepared getting his chips in and gamble. Ultimately, though, he hit the rail right after 9 o’clock PT, after some intense action that is three-way.
Pollack shoved from the button with Q-T, while Ott lived as much as his title, coming over the utmost effective (OTT in poker parlance), re-raising all-in from the small blind with K-9. Blumstein saw potential to go on it all down right there, and called from he big blind with A-Q. Blumstein had been ahead pre-flop, plus the tournament that is entire have ended then and there. Alternatively, a master on the flop tripled-up Ott and sent Pollack to the rails.
The ultimate moment was postponed for the next 60-odd hands, and when it came, it arrived via a piece of luck for Blumstein, who played solidly throughout the event that is 10-day. A spot in poker history with all the chips going in pre-flop, Ott was ahead with A-9 versus Blumstein’s A-2, but one of three remaining deuces hit on the river, ending the Main Event and assuring Blumstein.
The champ that is new that, whilst the cash is nice, it will not alter his lifestyle all that much. The Temple University graduate, who holds an accounting level, told WSOP officials after his win:
‘Just two weeks hence I became a New Jersey online grinder and nothing has really changed.