The numbers are in, and Resorts Casinos is about to make a change. They have netted a profit from 2014, raking in over $139 million. However, they are still short of the next ranked casino by about $45 million. To close this gap, it has been announced that they are opening a trial period for online gambling. It will be the fifth casino in AC to begin online offerings. While that $45 million looks like a steep goal, they have been steadily improving, up over 6% from 2013. Internet gambling has been increasing too, though it is a far ways from what Governor Christie projected. For more info, check out NJ.com’s coverage.
Casino Feature: Genting Highlands Resort
High above Malaysia’s Titiwangsa Mountains lies the Genting HIghlands Resort, a huge gaming complex occupying over 200,000 square feet. It turns 50 years old this year, and is operated by Genting Malaysia Berhad. What’s exceptionally cool about this resort is getting there: the drive is scenic, but those looking for fun can also choose to ride Genting Skyway, a gondola that for a time was Southeast Asia’s fastest!
While Genting Highlands Resort is a gamer enthusiast’s dream, it offers more than card tables and slot machines. It’s an all inclusive venture, that has a number of attractions and accommodation options. Currently, five hotels are located on the grounds– including The First World Hotel, which was for a time the largest hotel in the world. It will flex it’s accomodation muscle again though, because 2013 saw the announcement of a 1500 room expansion to the massive hotel.
Genting has the unique status of being the only legally operated casino in Malaysia, so it can constantly beef itself up without worrying too much about outside competition. So how does a resort like that stay ahead of the Game and give visitors all they could ask for and then some? The folds at Genting Malaysia Berhad thought adding a theme park was a good idea. It’s proved a success, as this isn’t a run of the mill theme park. It operates both indoors and outdoors and features a number of family rides and games.
If you were to go there now, you’d find the theme park closed. But that’s not because of failure. Genting is doing away with the old and introducing a new park into the area, a 20th Century Fox World. This will be the first Fox theme park as well. It will be around 25 acres inside and feature as many thrill rides inspired by a number of films from Fox Studios.
If you ever find yourself at Genting, no matter where you turn, you are bound to find something that catches your eye.
Casinos: Europe and Middle East
Casino Lisboa is one of the most popular casinos of the world. Located in Portugal, it was built in the parish known as the Park of Nations and publicly opened in mid-April of 2006. The magnificent casino has space for 1000 slot machines, four bars, 22 gaming tables, 3 restaurants, and a theater!
Although the casino lies on the water in Lisbon, it is actually owned by Chinese gaming mogul Stanley Ho. Ho in turn owns a large gaming company called Estoril-Sol. Interestingly, Ho and Estoril-Sol operate another casino called Lisboa in the Chinese special administrative region of Macau.
When the Portuguese Casino Lisboa first opened, business boomed. Early projections had 6,000 visitors a day pouring through the doors. However, business topped almost 10,000 visitors– over 1.5 times the projection! And within the first 5 months, the casino raked in 30.2 million euros, which was equal to the 15 year concession fee the company paid to build it. It has also proved to be a solid boost for surrounding malls and shops in the area. It really does seem to be a huge boost to the surrounding economies. If you plan on going, be prepared to mingle with a younger crowd: no tuxes or gowns here. Keep it smart and casual!
If you find yourself in the Middle East, be sure to check out some casinos in Israel. Interestingly, casinos are illegal in the middle eastern nation’s most populous city, Jerusalem, but there is a way around it. What are allowed, are floating casinos that dock nearby and keep close to the coast. While they are usually frequented by tourists, locals and residents are allowed to hop on board, too. Some popular ones include the Royal Iris Cruise Casino and the Flamingo Casino. Though Israel has the most casinos, the Lebanese capital of Lebanon has the biggest: Casino Du Liban.
Which of these are you excited to visit?
5 Portrait Photography Tips and Techniques
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Showboat Casino to Become a College Campus
Spokesperson for the southern New Jersey College announced they are soon to have a new satellite campus located in Atlantic City’s iconic Showboat Casino. From March, 1987 to August, 2014, Showboat and its Mardi Gras themed atmosphere has been one of the most famous casinos of Atlantic City, shifting ownership a few times over the years, but never losing its glamor.
After the abrupt closing of Showboat this year, from its 2100 employees, roughly 470 were reincorporated in other Caesar casinos. Stockton College’s President says he hopes to not only fuel the college’s educational growth, but also bring about new academic opportunities to the untapped area of Atlantic City. The deal is still in the early stages for detailed information and due to a confidentiality agreement, the price and closing date could not be disclosed.
Showboat is one of the four Atlantic City casinos to be shut this year with a loss of approximately 8,000 jobs. Showboat, still profitable, was shut down regardless by Caesars Entertainment to cope with the falling revenue and the rising competition in Atlantic City. Showboat is not the first of its kind to be repurposed in the Atlantic City area; the former Claridge casino is now a non-gambling hotel while Atlantic Club is now owned by TJM Properties who are yet to announce their intentions for it.
The Chairman and CEO of Caesar’s Entertainment, Gary Loveman explains that Caesar’s opts for deed restrictions which prevent the casinos being reopened as casinos because Caesar’s is striving towards a transformed Atlantic City which offers a diverse array of reasons for people to visit. And of course, there is the added benefit of no new competitions!
He believes the Stockton campus, with all of its 28 acres and 1,425,000 square-foot building, will play an instrumental role in the City’s diversification. Atlantic City is known for its its gambling scene and casino lifestyle and Mr. Loveman may be on the right track in predicting that having a college campus may help change its somewhat notorious reputation.
For full article, click here.
Greg Roselli – Genting construction to begin in 2014
Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli
Last week, the Nevada Gaming Commission found Malaysian conglomerate Genting Berhad suitable to do business in the state; and company officials reported that construction would begin in summer 2014 on the $4 billion Resorts World Las Vegas, which will be located on the 87-acre north Las Vegas Strip site of the former Stardust casino hotel and the stalled multi-billion dollar “Echelon” development, on which construction was halted due to the recession.
Gaming Commissioner Tony Alamo Jr., who noted that he has ruled on 17 gaming industry debt restructuring and reorganizations since starting at the Commission in 2008. Genting told executives the company would be a “welcome addition to the Strip and Nevada market.”
Gaming Commission Chairman Peter Bernhard added that Genting, which benefits from significant cash flows and limited debt, “clearly has the financial stability and business probity” to build Resorts World Las Vegas; “It will be a game changer.”
As outlined in Genting’s presentation, construction is expected to take several years and includes “at least two or three phases.”
The first phase will feature a 3,000-room hotel, a casino with an aggregate of 3,500 slot machines and table games, 30 restaurants and bars, a 4,000-seat entertainment venue, an “elaborate garden attraction” that will serve as the property’s front door to the Strip and a 50,000 sq ft, 58” tall aquarium that will feature a variety of exotic fish. The first phase is expected to create 8,500 direct jobs and 3,300 indirect jobs.
Greg Roselli-Genting Singapore, Landing Int’l propose $2.2 billion casino in South Korea
Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli
International casino operator Genting Singapore announced in a joint statement last week that it will team up with the Chinese property group Landing International Development Ltd. to construct and run a $2.2 billion casino resort on Jeju Island in South Korea.
The project, expected to open in 2017 on a 2.3 square meter site in Jeju, will include casinos, luxury hotels, a theme park and shopping mall, among other amenities.
South Korea currently has 16 casinos limited to foreigners only, whose primary customers come from Japan and China. The country forbids citizens from gaming in casinos outside of Kangwon Land, an isolated resort three hours from Seoul.
Genting affiliates own and operate casinos in Malaysia, Singapore and New York; and have purchased land in Las Vegas and Miami, FL for potential future developments (subject to legislation in Florida). The company’s Resorts World Sentosa, just off the southern coast of Singapore , opened in early 2010 and cost just under US$5 billion. In New York, Resorts World NYC opened at the site of the former Aqueduct racetrack in Queens in October 2011.
Greg Roselli-Miami Casino Bill Headed Toward Another Quiet Death in Tallahassee
Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli
As reported by the Miami New Times, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford has admitted that it is looking “more and more likely” that neither the House nor Senate will take action on a bill to add more casinos to the state in the 2014 session despite the completion of a 2013 study on additional casino supply. The gaming expansion bill floated this year would have allowed the construction of two “destination casinos” in Miami-Dade and Broward counties; however lawmakers are unlikely to begin debate on the topic unless a new compact is negotiated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Weatherford would also like to see gaming expansion decided by voters via a constitutional amendment.
The current compact with the Seminoles was inked in 2010 between the Tribe and Gov. Charlie Crist; and sections of it begin to expire in August 2015. Governor Rick Scott has started closed-door negotiations with the Tribe although there has been little speculation that he’ll reach an agreement by the end of the 2014 legislative session. The Governor would have to reach a new agreement with the Seminoles that would allow for the destination casinos in order to maintain the current level annual revenue-sharing payments with the state, which are speculated at hundreds of millions of dollars.
Greg Roselli-Gaming operators lobby for expansion in Florida
Re-Blogged By Greg Roselli
According to Bloomberg, casino operators including Las Vegas Sands and Genting have sent more than 100 lobbyists to Florida to push for expanded gaming in the state against heavy opposition from Disney and other interests. Florida current limits its casino gaming to slot parlors in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and Native American casinos with slots and limited card-based table games. A study commissioned by the state last year found that full-casinos, their hotels and other amenities could generate $1.5 billion in new annual spending in Florida, making the fourth-most populous state attractive to casino operators amid limited new development opportunities elsewhere in the country.
In addition to entertainment, large-scale gaming investments would compete with existing facilities for convention business – pitting Disney’s 700,000 square feet of meeting space, and other venues in-and-out-of Orlando, against the 750,000 square foot facility in Miami proposed by Genting and what would likely be a similar proposal from Las Vegas Sands.
While the industry has pushed for resort casinos in Florida since the 1970s, the debate was revived in 2011, when Genting began to buy more than $400 million of real estate for its proposed $3.8 billion “Resorts World Miami” development; legislation for which was ultimately rejected by state lawmakers in 2012.
Gaming expansion is expected to be debated in the legislature in 2014; however, going in to the gubernatorial election later in the year, any large-scale change to Florida’s gaming landscape is expected to be pushed into 2015.
Greg Roselli: New Bill on Internet Cafe “Gaming”
Re-Blogged by Greg Roselli
Following similar legislation in Florida, Ohio and other states, California Assemblyman Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) has submitted a bill that would outlaw the quasi-legal “Internet Café” gambling operations in the state. Assembly Bill 1439, which was introduced on Jan. 6, would add “sweepstakes” to the list of unfair business practices prohibited under state law. The bill would also prohibit “gambling-themed” or “simulated gambling electronic video” monitors in a business that awards “sweepstakes cash” or other prizes of value. “Any time you try to mimic a casino-style game like slot machines, it is illegal,” Salas noted, referring to “Internet Cafes” that use terminals and software to mimic slot machines under the umbrella of a legal contest. “This bill will bring clarity to the law to make these illegal.”
Internet cafe-owner Phillip Walker, who has also created the Internet Cafe Association of California, reiterated his stance that legislators need to wait for an appellate court ruling on the legality of the Cafes before acting, adding, “…it is no different than Albertsons or Rite-Aid. All those places have sweepstakes. Coca-Cola has sweepstakes.”
Bakersfield Police Chief Greg Williamson told the press that the city has 15 Internet cafes currently operating (up from 13 in November) and considers them “magnets for related criminal activity.”