
The Delaware land-based casino sector has been struck 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 just publicly traded racino, but high domestic taxes and increased competition over the state line means hard times for the property and the state’s two other racinos.
The sector, which comprises Harrington Raceway, Dover Downs, and Delaware Park, peaked in 2006, the Pennsylvania began issuing its first casino licenses, when slot revenues hit more than $650 million year. By 2016, slots and table revenues combined had plunged to $398 million.
Meanwhile, outfall from the brand 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 simply because they spend higher state taxes than their counterparts across the edge, and they’re begging legislators for help.
Taxed From the Market
This week, the Delaware’s Video Lottery Advisory Council (VLAC) met to talk about the status of Diamond State’s three casinos. The council is tasked with advising federal government policy on gambling and could urge lawmakers to pass a casino relief measure.
However the racinos will have to wait. VLAC will not publish its recommendations before the fall, and until then, it’s keeping tight-lipped.
Legislation that could have provided relief by creating marketing and capital credits, while quashing the dining table game fee and lowering the taxation rate on table games, received shrift that is short the General Assembly in 2015 and 2016.
Begging for a Lifeline
While there is sympathy for the racinos’ plight in the legislature, a sizable spending plan deficit has made it problematic for a bill advocating tax relief to gain much traction. Nevertheless, something has become done, says Ed Sutor, president and CEO of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, as he urged VLAC to toss the racinos a lifeline.
Sutor told the Delaware State News that a simple concession that could be easily enacted should be to allow the racinos to operate on Christmas and Easter, which would make an approximated $2.25 million more.
‘We’re the casinos that are only the country that shut down completely on Easter and Christmas,’ said Sutor. ‘We can not call it quits, people, and now we can’t sit out another 12 months of not doing anything.’
Impossible Odds? Wagering Sites Offer Lines on Political, Celebrity Absurdity
Governmental betting markets are doing their best to stay appropriate since the highly engaging 2016 presidential campaign, by providing online bettors unique lines on events that appear to have little potential for occurring.
Lines on Kid Rock and also The Rock’s future in government are two markets being offered at political betting sites. (Image: Terry Renna/Associated Press/WWE/Collage by Casino.org)
From Kid Rock’s operating for the United States Senate to talk regarding the Rock making a serious bid for the White House in 2020, political betting networks are trying to keep a connection between celebrity entertainment and influence that is political. It undoubtedly worked in 2016 with Donald Trump.
Betting on political outcomes is illegal through the US (also in Las Vegas), but American politics is a popular exotic bet across Europe and elsewhere on the planet.
PredictIt.org offers trade wagering, which is really a slightly different variant of wager that trades shares in genuine time on predicted outcomes of governmental events. (Exchanges charge a commission on trades in the place of 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 seat in 2018 against incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow (D). Nevertheless, betting money is currently against Rock officially operating.
PredictIt shares of Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie, operating are selling for 40 cents, while no, he won’t run shares are at 60 cents. Carrying out 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 certainly run soared to 70 cents.
Rock adopted the image with a statement of political philosophy that read, ‘we believe if you work your butt off and pay taxes, you should really be able to easily navigate the laws, tax codes, wellness care, and whatever else the government puts in place that affects us all.’
The 46-year-old singer from Michigan hasn’t run for or held elected office, but that didn’t stop the current 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 never to confuse Kid Rock with The Rock. PredictIt is asking whether actor Dwayne Johnson will throw his name into the ring for the presidency that is US 2020.
A campaign committee called ‘Run the Rock 2020’ recently did file paperwork aided by the Federal Election Committee, which appeared like a bigger step in a serious way. The Rock, but, isn’t really behind the organization attempting to elect him. It’s instead the ongoing work of a fan whom 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 also considering a 2020 run recommend that celebrity lines with virtually no opportunity of hitting are a revenue that is popular for the exchange.
ElectionBettingOdds.com, meanwhile, provides the actor a 3.5 per cent chance of actually winning the White home, similar odds it offers for Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, that will turn 35, the minimal age for allowed for A us president by the Constitution, in 2019.
Exactly What Hath Paddy Energy Wrought
Sites and areas such as PredictIt may be seeing the value of offering opportunities for wagering on wishful thinking and fears that are irrational but really they are just after in the footsteps of Paddy energy.
The Irish that is infamous bookmaker the typical for allowing individuals to bet the unthinkable, at onetime asking clients whether or not then-President Barack Obama would be assassinated.
Paddy Power’s current odds on the winner of this 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 odds sheet. Leonardo DiCaprio (80-1), Kanye western (100-1), Beyoncé (200-1), fictional home of Cards president Kevin Spacey (200-1), and Kim Kardashian (275-1) are just a few of the picks available for those who think they could see something in a 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 stayed ‘serious’ despite the apparent economic recovery. (Image: Macau Regular Times)
Macau authorities have busted a bogus ‘pop-up’ VIP casino racket that bilked high-rollers out of millions in allegedly baccarat that is crooked, based on the South China Morning Post.
The police investigation started in June after a man told authorities he had been defrauded of HK$4 million (around $500,000).
Officers from the Judiciary Police raided an unidentified hotel in the gambling hub on Wednesday, arresting 15 men and four women, all from the mainland that is chinese.
They’ve 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 was indeed in operation since 2015, was intricately executed and planned, with members of the gang posing as dealers, VIP hosts, VIP room operators, protection guards and shill gamblers to be able to trick their prey.
Four ‘customers’ were based in the procedure of being scammed whenever authorities swooped on according to Macau’s public broadcaster, TDM wednesday.
Significantly more than HK$75 million ($9.6 million) worth of gaming chips were found at the scene. While reports failed to specify, it is likely these were ‘rolling chips,’ non-redeemable tokens issued to high rollers by casino as credit to gamble with, as opposed to the kind of chips that can be exchanged directly for cash. HK$200,000 in difficult money was additionally seized, around US$25,600.
The suspects, aged between 35 and 53, are facing numerous charges, ranging from fraud to running a criminal syndicate.
Last week, 15 mainlanders had been detained and accused of owning a high-interest loan-sharking ring focusing on casino gamblers on the Cotai Strip.
Taking Crime Seriously
Gaming-related crime has risen into the enclave since Beijing’s anti-corruption drive almost 36 months ago. The crackdown on the junket industry has put the squeeze on the gambling hub’s criminal underbelly, with reports of a razor-sharp upsurge in triad-related crime.
Police have stated that the quantity 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 2nd 50 % 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 actually witnessed an upsurge in the amount of cases of unlawful detention related to operations that are loan-sharking’ he included. ‘As such, police have strengthened patrols, having detected 20 situations of gaming-related unlawful detention in a single day.’
Macau’s Judiciary Police recorded a total of 734 suspected gaming-related crimes in the first five months of this 12 months, up by 74 cases compared with 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 late a week ago that urges President Donald Trump, members of his management, and Congress to oppose any legislation that could prohibit individual states from authorizing and managing online gambling.
New Jersey State Representative Vincent Mazzeo has authored a bill that asks federal leaders to rebel 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 gambling enterprises are playing a vital role in the recovery of Atlantic City. Of program, it’s an opinion only and something that holds no given weight, as state governments do not have input that is direct federal laws.
The main issue is again the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), legislation that would reverse a 2011 US Department of Justice viewpoint that stated the longstanding Wire Act applied only 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 administration, would prohibit the transmission of wire communication of any bet or bet … including internet gaming.’
A copy of this signed 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 plenty of reason to guide Mazzeo’s bill. Atlantic City’s staying seven casino operators are finally posting gains, and online gambling is playing a leading part in the fiscal data recovery.
Through June, land-based gaming win is up 1.5 percent. However, internet gambling has soared over 28 percent, bringing the casinos’ bottom line to 3.5 percent.
Web gambling has delivered $121.4 million to operators through June, about $26.6 million ahead of where these people were this time a year ago.
‘A federal prohibition against internet gaming would directly and negatively impact brand New Jersey by dismantling the investments that the State and Atlantic City casinos have actually already made,’ Mazzeo explained.
iGaming’s prominent part in revitalizing Atlantic City is just why Mazzeo had small difficulty in garnering support for the joint quality. Just a single ‘nay’ vote arrived in from either chamber, State Senator Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) being the lone opponent.
Not Biting
There doesn’t appear to be much enthusiasm in Washington to take up RAWA, or similar gambling legislation that is anti-online. Previous committee hearings in the home and Senate did not change the proven fact that most in Congress just are not terribly spent in discussing internet gaming prohibitions at the federal level, a matter that the Republican-controlled Congress would seemingly prefer to leave up to each state to choose for themselves.
RAWA had been introduced into their respective chambers by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). It’s largely thought that those actions came during 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 hasn’t been re-introduced to Congress because of 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 his first World variety of Poker tournament a couple of days ago, the 2017 Main Event. It switched out to be a pretty decision that is good as late into Saturday night, Blumstein survived an original field of over 7,200 entrants to collect $8.15 million along with a jewel-encrusted champ’s bracelet worth another half-million.
WSOP 2017 Main Event winner Scott Blumstein, now in a 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 absolutely was 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 also place it into words.’
First Time’s the Charm
This was the first time Blumstein had ever ventured to the Rio in Las Vegas to play live in a World Series event despite making a living as an online grinder back home in New Jersey.
With the November Nine concept scrapped in favor of three consecutive sections of final-table play, broadcast with a 30-minute wait by ESPN on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Blumstein began the new format final table with a commanding chip lead. It had been a lead he relinquished only one time over the course regarding the match, whenever crowd that is jovial and British granddad John Hesp briefly wrestled top spot through the chip-stacking juggernaut.
Hesp busted out in fourth, establishing up a final night of three-handed action between Americans Blumstein and Ott, and France’s Benjamin Pollack.
Two Plus Two Equals $8.15 Million
The Pollack that is short-stacked had to achieve and was ready to have his chips in and gamble. Ultimately, though, he hit the rail soon 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 top (OTT in poker parlance), re-raising all-in from the blind that is small K-9. Blumstein saw potential to go all down right there, and called from he big blind with A-Q. Blumstein was ahead pre-flop, and also the tournament that is entire have ended then and there. Instead, a master on the flop Ott that is tripled-up and Pollack to the rails.
The ultimate moment had been postponed for the next 60-odd hands, and when it came, it came via a slice of luck for Blumstein, who played solidly throughout the event that is 10-day. With all of the chips going in pre-flop, Ott was ahead with A-9 versus Blumstein’s A-2, but one of three remaining deuces hit regarding the river, ending the Main Event and assuring Blumstein a spot in poker history.
The champ that is new that, while the money is nice, it’s not going to change his lifestyle all that much. The Temple University graduate, who holds an accounting level, told WSOP officials after their win:
‘simply two weeks hence I became a New Jersey online grinder and nothing has really changed.
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