Chicago - With its acquisition of Coast Casinos closing Thursday morning, Boyd Gaming will climb another big link up the casino industry food chain. The combination, overshadowed in recent weeks by the pending blockbuster merger of MGM Mirage (MGG) and Mandalay Resort Group (MBG), will not only make Boyd (BYD) the fifth-largest gambling company but also secure its place among the red-hot Las Vegas locals market while giving it a near 50/50 revenue split between Nevada and other states.
Biloxi - Coast casinos, souvenir shops and beach vendors have high hopes for the 4th of July holiday, traditionally one of their busiest weekends of the year. "We should make 3,000 USD a day in sales," said Daniel Norton, a beach vendor who works across U.S. 90 from Edgewater Mall. That stands in contrast to the three customers Norton said he saw Wednesday afternoon. "People love Jet Skis, so we'll be renting a lot of them."
Brussels - Casino Austria, which operates some 70 gambling establishments on five continents, has been chosen to run the Belgian capital’s first casino, it was reported on Tuesday. According to the Belga news agency, Brussels city council has selected Casino Austria from among four leading candidates to run the city’s first casino, based on a list of 13 criteria.
The Las Vegas monorail is back on track for a scheduled July 15 opening after nearly six months of costly delays during which engineers worked out various kinks that threatened the rail system's reliability. "This has been a very difficult time for us," said James Gibson, chief executive of Transit Systems Management, the private company that will operate the monorail for the nonprofit Las Vegas Monorail Co.
Sweeping law changes that will control the growth of gambling venues and restrict internet gambling come into effect tomorrow. It will harder to get gambling licences and easier to lose them, the Department of Internal Affairs said in a statement today. The Gambling Act, which was passed last year and comes into effect tomorrow, does not allow for any more casinos and stops the six existing ones expanding their operations.
New York (Reuters) - Philadelphia already has the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross House, but by 2006, it could get two gaming parlors with slot machines. Pennsylvania's Senate is expected to approve a bill on Wednesday that would legalize slot machines at 12 locations, including two in Philadelphia, a spokesman for a state senator said on Tuesday.
With the new gaming compact signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and five Indian tribes expected to lead to a new wave of casinos, don't start looking for big losers on Northern California casino floors. The big losers are all in Reno. As Indian gaming expands in Northern California with Las Vegas-style casinos that rival those in Reno, the biggest little city in the world is seeing its gaming industry shrink. Money that used to cross the state line is expected to stay closer to home.
Vienna - Brussels City Council yesterday voted to award its hotly contested new casino license to Casinos Austria International (CAI).
Albany, NEw York - The agreement that allowed a billion-dollar New York casino to be built a decade ago was ruled invalid Monday. Acting Supreme Court Justice James McCarthy ruled that then-Gov. Mario Cuomo "exceeded his authority" by entering into the 1993 compact with the Oneida Indian Nation without legislative approval.
Melbourne (Reuters) - Tabcorp Holdings Ltd, Australia's largest gaming group, on Tuesday extended its 2.2 billion AUD (1.5 billion USD) takeover offer for wagering group Tab Ltd by another two weeks to July 21. Tabcorp, which increased its offer by 10 cents a share in cash last month, has received acceptances for 42.4 percent of Tab shares, according to the latest Australian Stock Exchange records.
Valley Center, California, Rincon Indian Reservation - A new economic study conducted by Business Research and Economic Advisors (BREA) provides an in-depth market analysis of the unintended negative consequences of the recently announced new Indian gaming compacts with the State of California. The study was commissioned by the Rincon Luiseno Band of Indians, who has repeatedly expressed concerns over the closed door negotiations between the state and five Indian gaming tribes with large casinos in major metropolitan areas who signed the new compacts.
Baton Rouge - With three state and federally recognized Indian tribes now operating casinos and a fourth tribe seeking a compact with Gov. Kathleen Blanco to open another gambling operation, state lawmakers are leery of granting state recognition to more tribes. However, they should not be afraid of granting state recognition, said Nedra Darling of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is federal recognition that authorizes casino gambling.
