
The Delaware land-based casino sector has been struck hard by increased competition from brand new markets 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 only publicly traded racino, but high domestic taxes and increased competition throughout the state line means crisis for the property plus 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 National Harbor, which launched 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’re begging legislators for help.
Taxed Out 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 through a casino relief measure.
However the racinos will need to wait. VLAC will maybe not publish its guidelines before the fall, and until then, it is maintaining tight-lipped.
Legislation that will have provided relief by creating advertising and capital credits, while quashing the dining table game fee and lowering the income tax rate on table games, received shrift that is short the typical 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 to be done, says Ed Sutor, president and CEO of Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, as he urged VLAC to throw the racinos a lifeline.
Sutor told the Delaware State Information that a concession that is simple could be easily enacted should be to allow the racinos to operate on Christmas and Easter, which may make an estimated $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 throw in the towel, people, so we can’t sit out another year of not doing anything.’
Impossible Chances? Betting Sites Offer Lines on Political, Celebrity Absurdity
Governmental betting markets are doing their best to keep relevant because the highly engaging 2016 campaign that is presidential by offering online bettors unique lines on occasions that seem to have little potential for occurring.
Lines on Kid Rock and also The Rock’s future in government are two markets to be had 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 The Rock making a serious bid for the White home in 2020, political betting networks are attempting to keep a connection between celebrity entertainment and influence that is political. It definitely worked in 2016 with Donald Trump.
Betting on governmental results is illegal throughout the US (also in nevada), but American politics is a popular wager that is exotic Europe and elsewhere on the planet.
PredictIt.org provides change betting, which is really a slightly different variant of wager that trades stocks in genuine time on predicted outcomes of governmental events. (Exchanges charge a commission on trades in the place of establishing odds.)
Kid Rock for Senate?
Musician and avid Trump supporter Kid Rock has recently teased a bid to run for Michigan’s US Senate chair in 2018 against incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow (D). Nevertheless, betting money is currently against Rock officially running.
PredictIt shares of Kid Rock, aka Robert Ritchie, running can sell for 40 cents, while no, he won’t run shares are at 60 cents. Following a tweet in early July from rap star that revealed a yard indication reading ‘Kid Rock for people Senate,’ shares laying claim to the idea he would indeed run soared to 70 cents.
Rock observed the image with a statement of political philosophy that read, ‘I believe you will be able to easily navigate the laws, tax codes, health care, and whatever else the federal government puts in place that affects us all. in the event that 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 did not stop the current American president. Ritchie apparently has yet to file campaign that is official, however, which undoubtedly factors into why the PredictIt line remains open.
President The Rock
Bettors, of course, have to be cautious never to confuse Kid Rock with The Rock. PredictIt is asking whether actor Dwayne Johnson will throw their name to the ring for the US presidency in 2020.
A campaign committee called ‘Run the Rock 2020’ recently did file documents using the Federal Election Committee, which appeared like a more impressive step in a direction that is serious. The Rock, nonetheless, isn’t actually behind the company wanting to elect him. It’s instead the work of a fan whom merely 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’ can 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 which has no opportunity of hitting are a revenue that is popular for the exchange.
ElectionBettingOdds.com, meanwhile, provides the actor a 3.5 % chance of actually winning the White home, comparable odds it offers for Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, that will turn 35, the age that is minimum allowed for A united states president by the Constitution, in 2019.
Exactly What Hath Paddy Energy Wrought
Sites and areas such as for example PredictIt may be seeing the value of offering opportunities for wagering on wishful thinking and irrational fears, but really they are just following in the footsteps of Paddy Power.
The Irish that is infamous bookmaker the conventional for allowing people 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 for the 2020 election feature Trump as the favorite (2-1), 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 chances 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 couple of the picks designed for those who think they could see something in an extreme longshot.
Macau Police Bust Scam ‘Pop Up’ VIP Casino Op
Director of Judiciary Police Chau Wai Kuong said that gaming related criminal activity in the gambling hub remained ‘serious’ despite the apparent recovery that planet 7 oz coupon is economic. (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, in line with the South China Morning Post.
The police investigation started in after a man told authorities he had been defrauded of HK$4 million (around $500,000) june.
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’re accused of luring high-rollers to hotel rooms which the gang had gone to elaborate lengths to disguise as bona fide 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, security guards and shill gamblers in order to trick their prey.
Four ‘customers’ were based in the process of being scammed whenever authorities swooped on according to Macau’s public broadcaster, TDM wednesday.
A lot more than HK$75 million ($9.6 million) worth of gaming chips were found at the scene. While reports did not specify, it is likely these were ‘rolling chips,’ non-redeemable tokens issued to rollers that are high casino as credit to gamble with, in the place of the type of chips which can be exchanged directly for cash. HK$200,000 in difficult currency was additionally seized, around US$25,600.
The suspects, aged between 35 and 53, are facing numerous charges, ranging from fraud to managing a criminal syndicate.
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 three years ago. The crackdown on the junket industry has put the squeeze in the gambling hub’s criminal underbelly, with reports of a increase that is sharp triad-related crime.
Police have said that the true quantity of illegal detentions, which mainly 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 half last 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 escalation in how many cases 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 an individual day.’
Macau’s Judiciary Police recorded a total of 734 suspected gaming-related crimes in the 1st five months of this 12 months, up by 74 cases in contrast to the corresponding amount of 2016.
Nj’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 could prohibit individual states from authorizing and regulating online gambling.
New Jersey State Representative Vincent Mazzeo has authored a bill that asks federal leaders to push back against any measures that would impede states’ right in the online gambling arena, and it’s really 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 inform the president and Congress how internet gambling enterprises are playing a vital role in the recovery of Atlantic City. Of course, it’s an opinion only and one that carries no given fat, as state governments don’t have any 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 opinion that said the longstanding Wire Act applied just to recreations betting, and perhaps 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 wire communication of any bet or wager … including internet video gaming.’
A copy associated with the legislation that is signed 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 support Mazzeo’s bill. Atlantic City’s remaining seven casino operators are finally publishing gains, and online gambling is playing a leading part in the fiscal recovery.
Through June, land-based gaming win is up 1.5 percent. However, internet gambling has soared over 28 percent, 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 these people were this time a year ago.
‘A federal prohibition against internet video gaming would directly and negatively impact brand New Jersey by dismantling the investments that hawaii and Atlantic City casinos have actually already made,’ Mazzeo explained.
iGaming’s prominent part in revitalizing Atlantic City is excatly why Mazzeo had small trouble in garnering support for the joint resolution. Just a single ‘nay’ vote came 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 House and Senate didn’t change the fact that most in Congress just aren’t terribly invested in discussing gaming that is internet at the federal level, 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 former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). It’s largely 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 New Jersey, made a decision to play their first World Series of Poker tournament a few days ago, the 2017 Main Event. It turned out to be a pretty good decision, as late into Saturday evening, Blumstein survived an original field of over 7,200 entrants to get hold of $8.15 million and also a jewel-encrusted champion’s bracelet worth another half-million.
WSOP 2017 Main Event winner Scott Blumstein, now in a much higher tax bracket than he was whenever he joined the planet Series of Poker’s most prestigious tournament fourteen days ago, says fame and fortune will not change whom he is. (Image: ABCNews.com)
It 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 even put it into words.’
First Time’s the Charm
Despite earning money as an on-line grinder back home in nj-new jersey, this is the initial time Blumstein had ever ventured to the Rio in Las Vegas to play reside in a World Series event.
Utilizing 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 began the new structure final table with a commanding chip lead. It had been a lead he relinquished only once over the program of the match, whenever 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 final nights 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 achieve and was ready to get his chips in and gamble. Ultimately, however, he hit the rail right after 9 o’clock PT, after some intense three-way action.
Pollack shoved from the button with Q-T, while Ott lived up to their title, coming over the most effective (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, as well as 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 final moment ended up being postponed for another 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, although the money is nice, it will not alter his lifestyle all that much. The Temple University graduate, whom holds an accounting degree, told WSOP officials after their win:
‘Just two weeks ago I was a New Jersey online grinder and nothing has really changed.