Massachusetts Swings Both real Ways with Casino Vote

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

This previous week saw lots of voting happening across Massachusetts, including two key votes on proposed casino projects in the state. The outcomes had been split, giving both casino proponents and their opponents something to crow about.

Hard Rock Hits the Skids

The larger vote came in town of West Springfield, where there had been a proposal to build an $800 million complex Rock casino. The casino ended up being likely to be one of the competitors that are key the Western Massachusetts casino license.

But that project was dealt exactly what could possibly be a fatal blow on Tuesday, after the voters of western Springfield decided to reject the plan in a public referendum. About 55% of voters here voted against the casino, with 4,165 coming out against the project versus just 3,413 for this. The loss came as a surprise to many, due to the fact campaign saw supporters of this casino drastically outspend opponents.

That rejection narrows the competition for the casino that is sole in Western Massachusetts. During the brief moment, it seems that only two candidates have a chance at that license: an MGM task in Springfield, and a Mohegan Sun proposal that would 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 Investing No Help

The West Springfield casino would have been built on the web site of this Eastern States Exposition, home to the Big E the largest agricultural fair in New England. In early stages, it appeared as though Hard Rock had chance that is little overcome initial opposition to the project. That changed a little as the casino string invested nearly $1 million campaigning for the project and made promises about the total amount of income they would make for western Springfield yearly.

Ultimately, however, opposition teams could actually make their case better, plus the project was soundly defeated. The victory had been regarded as a win that is big anti-casino teams across the state, all of that are badly financed in comparison with their pro-casino opponents.

The other vote within the state may have had a much more surprising result. A plan to develop a slot parlor at Plainridge Racecourse was overwhelming approved with 76% of the vote in the town of Plainville. A complete of 1,582 voters came out in support of the master plan versus only 502 against.

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

Needless to say, not everybody was pleased because of the racino’s approval.

‘ The process isn’t working,’ said Mary-Ann Greanier, a known member of No Plainville Racino. ‘The safeguards we were told to anticipate are not happening.’

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

A Wynn Resorts casino project in Everett, and a Suffolk Downs project in East Boston along with these projects, there are also three applicants for a license in the Greater Boston area: a Foxwoods proposal in Milford. There is also a license that is single in Southeastern Massachusetts, but at the time of yet, no developers have applied for a license in 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 area of attention is on pari-mutuel wagering: the betting that goes on during the state’s race tracks and jai-alai frontons throughout their state. But industry insiders state that the very first draft of guidelines that have actually been proposed by state regulators just will not 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 week that is last. The rules are made to eliminate a number that is growing of methods that are clearly outside of what the state intends to allow at such venues. And while some of those new rules work, those into the industry say that numerous simply show that regulators aren’t familiar sufficient with Florida’s gambling industry to make such changes that are sweeping.

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

One of many big areas covered in the draft guidelines is horse racing regulations designed to eradicate 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 were seen by some operators in an effort to cheaply make payments that will also enable them to provide card spaces or slots alongside those races.

The newest rules would help put a conclusion to such practices. They might bar ‘the racing animal to alter course in response to any hurdles regarding the surface that is racing and make certain that jockeys conform to uniform and fat requirements that willn’t be an issue for legitimate racing operations.

Disagreement Over Acceptable Race Lengths

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

For instance, the regulations that are new require that most races have reached minimum six furlongs in length something that might make sense in the event that you’ve only seen the Triple Crown races or the Breeder’s Cup, but which makes no sense for the industry all together.

‘[The guideline that] no competition must be faster than…six furlongs…is a killer,’ Stirling said, noting that such races would be too long for two-year-old horses rushing within the summer. ‘That’s silly. We run child races at 4.5 furlongs and we’ve been doing it for a hundred years. I know they truly are in Tallahassee, but we’ve these things called phones.’

He additionally objected to a rule that states that each and every race must have at least six horses a guideline that may cause races to be canceled as a result of minute that is last.

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

While there might be issues with the rules, division director Leon Biegalski says there shouldn’t be a issue, and that the workshops were created to help iron out these problems using the industry’s help.

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

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Could Mean Gaming Industry Gold

Casino industry leaders were most likely just like excited as these citizens that are japanese news for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

It is hard to believe that 2020 is just seven years away, but that’s just how long we’ve before the Tokyo that is newly-granted summer will be upon us. But athletes-in-training will not end up being the only ones reaching for gold, because the worldwide casino industry is likewise trying to accomplish what until recently has felt nearly insurmountable: getting legal casinos sanctioned, developed, built, and up and operating in time to ride the tourism wave that those Tokyo games are bound to bring in. With Japan the very last great untapped Asian video gaming market, it’s a prize that numerous within the video gaming industry are inspired to obtain.

Could the Games be the required drive?

Japan infamous for decades of foot dragging on the legal casino issue now has extra motivation to produce it all happen too; the island nation must find a way to foot the expected $1.53 billion bill they are going to be underwriting to generate the venues and infrastructure necessary to host a season that is olympic. To that particular end, two feasible casinos on the drawing boards, one in Tokyo and one other in Osaka, could make $10 billion in yearly gambling revenues, making them exactly the bucks cows that the city needs to pay its way. Japan industry that is gambling Grant Govertsen principal of Las Vegas-based Union Gaming Group says that amount would be more than 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 % indian dreaming slot per casino for Tokyo, not to mention licensing that is additional and local municipal fees. Govertsen told investors he is bullish about all of it.

‘ We think the government should give consideration to incorporated resort development, at least in Tokyo, as a means to assist the related Olympics infrastructure come to fruition,’ he told investors following Tokyo games announcement. And Govertsen isn’t the only one who smells money in the Asian metropolis; many of the video gaming industry’s biggest players made tracks to Tokyo as soon if they could scout out land for potential casino developments as they heard the announcement to see.

Industry Leaders Scouting Websites

Word is going that Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. has its attention for a Tokyo Bay site, on an item of reclaimed land, and he’s maybe not alone riding their covered wagon across the prairie to stake some land out. American behemoths MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. (the latter of whom’s death appears to be grossly exaggerated for a daily basis) happen spotted in Japan, as has overseas industry giants SJM and Melco Crown Entertainment. Everyone generally seems to want in on the potential Gold Rush of 2020.

‘Japan represents a historic chance of tourism expansion in a nation with an incredibly rich social heritage,’ said MGM Resorts Executive Vice President Alan Feldman. ‘Tokyo is in an extraordinary position to re-energize the whole country’s tourism and entertainment industry.’ Feldman says MGM has been monitoring happenings in Japan for nearly 2 yrs, and both talking about feasible business alliances also 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 simply the fire they require to bring the gambling cooking pot up to a boil at final.

‘In the way it is of Tokyo, we think there would be significant federal government help to accomplish an integrated resort in time for the opening of 2020 Olympics,’ Govertsen stated.