
Maryland Live is once again the casino that is top the state after the Arundel Mills resort generated more gaming revenue during the month of February than its new rival MGM nationwide Harbor.
Maryland Live, billed as the family friendly casino in comparison to MGM nationwide Harbor, saw the most gambling money come through its doors during February.
Collectively, the state’s six gambling enterprises pulled in $128.7 million in gross gaming win, Maryland’s second-best performance that is all-time. The record mark came in December after the opening that is grand of Harbor led up to a win of $133.5 million.
Maryland Live’s revenue totaled $46.29 million last month, narrowly edging MGM’s property that sits just outside Washington, DC, at $45.77 million. The two casinos represented the lion’s share of gaming income, with Horseshoe Baltimore coming in a distant third with $22 million.
Three smaller gambling that is regional, Hollywood Casino Perryville, Rocky Gap Casino Resort, as well as the Casino at Ocean Downs, posted a combined $14.6 million.
The Cordish Companies, the parent organization of Live that is headquartered in Maryland, credited its ‘family approach’ for the home retaking the spot that is top. The group also says being locally owned allows it to provide a better experience to customers, in what’s certainly a slight jab at MGM in a statement.
Mixed Results
The February gambling report represents a 38 percent increase on the month that is same 2016. Casinos took $35.4 million more cash through the month that is shortest of the season, but the information also highlights plenty of issues for Maryland gaming.
Excluding MGM’s $1.4 billion resort, gambling was actually down more than 11 per cent. Even though Maryland Live is championing its victory, in truth the casino amassed 14.3 percent less revenue year-over-year february.
Maryland Live’s $46.29 million is down $7.72 million contrasted to last February. And conditions couldn’t have now been riper for strong profits, as the month had been certainly one of the warmest on record.
Since MGM announced its intends to build National Harbor, Maryland Live has been scrambling to make sure its property stayed competitive from the behemoth outside of DC in Oxford Hill. Live and nationwide Harbor are about 35 kilometers aside, but both are competing for the wealthy DC and Northern Virginia demographic.
Maryland Live announced the construction of a 17-story hotel tower with 310 guest rooms summer that is last. MGM National Harbor offers 308 hotel rooms.
Nationwide Harbor Underwater?
MGM’s casino that is latest to start in america had been downright packed during its starting month. The resort asked would-be visitors to stay away unless they had a reservation.
Just 90 days later, enthusiasm and excitement has seemingly calmed.
Into the opening weeks, a nightly stay at the hotel ran between $399 and $599. But midweek rates are now as low as $229, though weekends are still in the prior range.
MGM likely isn’t too worried about the February gaming report. While Live continues to fret throughout the competition, MGM CEO Jim Murren has over and over stated that the property seeks to be a destination resort for not merely gamblers but also visitors towards the nation’s capital.
Casino Bus Crash Kills Four, Charter Safety Concerns Continue
A casino coach crash in Mississippi has killed four passengers and injured 40 more, seven critically.
A casino bus crash in Mississippi allegedly became stuck on a railroad track, and tragedy struck whenever an approaching train collided with the charter vehicle. (Image: Kevin McGill/Associated Press)
The incident occurred in Biloxi after the bus reportedly became stuck while trying to get a cross train tracks. Moments later, a freight train traveling at boosts to 45 MPH collided with the bus and pressed it some 300 foot before coming to an end.
According to reports that are local the coach was touring regional gambling enterprises in Mississippi and Louisiana.
At that time of this crash, the coach had been traveling from the Hollywood Gulf Coast Casino in Bay St. Louis to the Boomtown Casino in Biloxi. That’s about an hour’s drive east.
The excursion that is weeklong organized by a senior citizens’ center in Texas. While investigators say it’s not instantly clear whether or not the bus incurred mechanical problems, the region where the accident happened has road signs warning motorists of low ground clearance.
The names associated with victims, and whether the driver was one of the fatalities, was not released.
Charter Gambling
The casino bus crash comes less than five months after a California gambling trip ended in tragedy. In October, 13 people aboard a tour bus were killed after the driver slammed into the back of an 18-wheeler semi-truck on Interstate 10 near Palm Springs.
In that incident, passengers paid around $30 for round-trip fare and free slot cash from Los Angeles to a remote casino near Salton City called Red Earth.
Tour organizations and regional casinos frequently reach agreements where gambling establishments provide slot money to passengers arriving on certain charters and pay the bus company a little stipend that is per-customer.
This is why busses like the main one involved in the Palm Springs accident drive lengths that are great passing multiple casinos into the process, to reach at a location like Red Earth.
Growing Concern
After fall that is last tragedy in California, the National Transportation protection Board (NTSB) confirmed that the rise of casino bus accidents was a serious concern to the federal agency that is tasked with investigating civil accidents.
In mid-January, a Greyhound motorcoach crashed in San Jose, California, and killed two people. But fatalities aboard chartered busses remain relatively unusual contrasted to many other modes of transportation.
According to the NTSB, in 2015 just 49 bus passengers were killed in highway accidents. Passenger cars and trucks that are light vans accounted for over 22,400 deaths.
The NTSB is in Mississippi to investigate this week’s crash. Straight Back home at its Washington, DC, headquarters, the agency is attempting to determine if more stringent oversight of bus charter companies becomes necessary.
In 2013, the NTSB publicly scolded inspectors at the cleopatra free slot game Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for failing to detect evident and significant safety problems on busses that passed inspections.
‘Our investigators discovered that oftentimes, the indegent doing company was on FMCSA’s radar for violations, but ended up being permitted to continue operating . . . until they had crashes that are deadly’ the NTSB stated at the time.
Former US Secretary of the Interior Salazar Warns Connecticut Over Satellite Casino
Kenneth Salazar, US Secretary to the inside under Barack Obama, has warned Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy over ‘legal risks’ regarding the state’s proposal to permit the construction of the tribal casino outside sovereign tribal lands.
Ken Salazar, former US Secretary towards the Interior, now MGM consultant, believes that Connecticut will struggle to receive approval that is federal a brand new casino deal with the Mohegan and Mashantucket tribes. (Image: Politico.com)
Salazar, who is a paid up consultant for MGM Resorts International, informed the governor that the proposed ‘satellite’ casino could jeopardize the state’s revenue-sharing agreements utilizing the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, which run the Foxwoods and Mohegan Casinos in south Connecticut, which may price the state billions in the long run.
MGM is desperate to halt Connecticut’s plans to establish a casino just 13 kilometers south of the MGM Springfield, currently under construction over the border in Massachusetts.
The Connecticut casino has been conceived purely as a means to blunt MGM Springfield’s competitive edge against the Connecticut casino sector and to protect Connecticut jobs.
MGM has made no key of the fact it expects a large percentage of footfall for its own new casino to come from Connecticut residents.
Borderline Legal
The satellite casino is controversial plan because the Connecticut legislature will have to pass a law permitting the 2 tribes, known collectively as MMCT, to operate the state’s first ever casino outside tribal lands. The tribes will be the only entities permitted by law to operate casinos in hawaii.
MGM has sued Connecticut on the grounds that this is unconstitutional plus in violation of the Commerce Clause since it bars out-of-state rivals from contending to produce gambling enterprises within the state, discriminating, says MGM, in favor of the 2 tribes.
The casino giant also attempted to obtain an amendment added to a federal defense bill that would have prohibited indigenous American tribes from operating gambling enterprises within their home state outside their reservations however it had been scuttled by vigilant congressman from Connecticut.
But the concern of legality lingers, and last week Governor Malloy requested that the state AG George Jepsen prepare an official viewpoint in the legal ramifications of the proposal and to assess the likelihood of MGM successfully blocking it in the courts.
Substantial Risk
Salazar’s intervention on behalf of MGM, then, is well-timed. Writing in an open letter addressed to Malloy, dated March 7, he writes that the 25 % revenue share who has existed between the state and the tribes for 2 decades are going to be threatened, despite the fact that MMCT has proposed amendments towards the agreements that could ensure the payments to your state wouldn’t normally stop.
‘Under federal law … amendments to a tribal gaming compact need approval by the U.S. Department of Interior, which I led for five years throughout the Obama Administration,’ wrote Salazar.
‘Based on that experience ( as well as on my work on Native American legal things), in my opinion there is a substantial danger that the tribe’s proposed amendments would not receive the requisite approval, in which situation Connecticut’s entitlement to the 25-percent revenue stream would likely terminate.’
AN MMCT spokesman was unmoved by the articles regarding the letter. ‘MGM is willing to pay anybody and everybody else to stop our project from moving forward he said because they know our proposal is going to keep revenue and jobs in Connecticut.
Glenn Straub Ups Attacks on Atlantic City, Says New Jersey ‘Rapes’ Businesses
Glenn Straub claims once you come to nj-new Jersey, business owners ‘have to take all your clothing off’ and allow hawaii to take advantage that is full. ‘They do not know how exactly to not rape you,’ he opined.
Glenn Straub (middle), seen right here at a Casino Control Commission meeting last month, is not used to Atlantic City, but it doesn’t mean the Florida-based businessman is going to play by New Jersey’s guidelines. (Image: Atlantic City Primetime)
Yep, Straub just went there. The Florida-based developer has officially eliminated any politically correct buffer he might have had in describing Atlantic City. Chatting with all the Associated Press, Straub lambasted the national government and casino regulators in the Garden State.
Asked why he isn’t ready to play by the rules which have been set forth, such as taking part in the PILOT program ( re payment in lieu of taxes), Straub replied, ‘I’d be broke. They’re trying to produce me do exactly what my predecessors did.’
Straub purchased the Revel that is shuttered Atlantic, a resort that cost $2.4 billion to create, for $82 million in bankruptcy court. But since his acquisition nearly two years ago, the businessman has engaged in a series of fights with their state’s Casino Control Commission (CCC) and Atlantic City’s regional leaders.
Straub argues he doesn’t require a casino license since he’s likely to be leasing their gambling flooring to a third-party that is presently in the act of obtaining a CCC permit.
But that does not adhere to Atlantic City laws. Morris Bailey received a license on their behalf for their Resorts Casino despite also hiring a vendor to operate the video gaming area.
Layers of Bureaucracy
Straub’s frustrations aren’t out of the norm in terms of business that is doing Atlantic City. The beachfront gambling town is infamous for its complicated regulatory environment.
The Casino Control Commission, Division of Gaming Enforcement, and Casino Reinvestment Development Authority are all involved in licensing properties, but owners that are incoming often confused as to which agency is truly in control. Muddying the procedure may be the proven fact that the city itself is responsible for building inspections and infrastructure tasks.
Mayor Don Guardian (R) happens to be attempting to help owners navigate the complex burdens. The controversial mayor who is at the center for the state’s takeover of the regional government states he regularly meets with owners who have invested at the least $1 million in the town.
