ï»¿Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes

A rendering of just one portion of the proposed Resorts World Miami Genting casino resort project; the $3 billion project still hasn’t received a high sign from Florida lawmakers.

They state money talks, but in Genting Resorts World’s case, it’s perhaps not been speaking as loudly as the ongoing company might like.

The asian gambling conglomerate has largely met with nothing but resistance despite pouring $236 million into a 14-acre waterfront Miami spread back in 2011 and then sprinkling millions more into pressuring state politicians to ‘adapt’ a construction law to accommodate a new $3 billion resorts World Miami casino project. So they’ve now decided for a new, less direction that is cumbersome the Sunshine State: a slots-only task that would pair them up with Gulfstream Park racetrack in Miami’s Key Biscayne area.

Antagonists Await

Of course, anytime a potential brand new casino operator appears in a state, first thing that happens is some type of anti-gaming coalition forms; and Florida has been no exclusion compared to that guideline. Anti-casino group NoCasino.org is even releasing a movie mid-January called Pushing Luck that claims to show a ‘sobering glimpse’ of ‘broken claims’ from casino operators.

According to Genting’s new partner Gulfstream, the racetrack holds an as-yet-unused video gaming license that gets the possibility of use with in either Miami-Dade or Broward counties, as the track rests just between the 2 areas. Gulfstream even brought house this time last summer with a three-horse occasion that took place on their property, which takes place to just review the Broward county line into Miami-Dade.

But the function may have backfired, as Florida gaming commissioners later filed a complaint contrary to the race track for said event, so the certification issue remains unclear, and unsupported by the capabilities that could need to accept it. The proposed Genting project would also break precedent, as until now, only Native American tribes have already been in a position to offer slots without a actual racetrack on the property.

With horse racing still an important factor of Florida’s economy, the new pairing came up with a creative providing to tempt both lawmakers and regulators to bless their new union; Genting and Gulfstream say they would share some of their profits with Florida’s breeders, trainers and owners, an offer that sits mighty well using the Florida Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. FTHA CEO Lonny Powell has even gone so far as to state this makes it a ‘game-changing’ deal, saying ‘this is the very first partnership where the income flow and investment would really get back in to the horses.’

Two-Hour Tours

Up to now, Genting was providing only ‘cruises to nowhere’ in fact, thrice-daily sailings between Miami and the business’s Resorts World Bimini casino in the nearby Bahamas, which conveniently rests just 50 miles from the Sunshine State’s coast. During the two-hour trips, fast-acting gamblers could play any games they wanted to on board, and that included sports betting; in exchange for that business opportunity, Genting is always to cough up $11 million to go towards fixing up Miami’s ports, plus a yearly $7 million fee that is rental will extend for at least the next ten years.

A wrench was thrown within the time and evening cruise excursions year that is late last nevertheless, when the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Genting these people were only to use U.S.-based workers on the trips. a legal battle ensued; but Genting ultimately had to concede, as maritime laws and regulations that will apply to other Miami-based cruise companies apparently never apply when the ship does not actually dock in a foreign port and doesn’t require passenger passports, either.

With that decision, Genting scale back on its cruise operations out of Miami, saying they can’t pay for to generate a crew that is all-american.

And that’s not most of the issues that have actually plagued the day-trippers either; pier issues in Bimini have meant Genting needs to anchor off-shore and then ferry small groups back and forth, a real possibility that not only eats up time and manpower, but has proved to be unpleasant for passengers in inclement weather.

Despite all these hurdles and projected losses of $11 million for 2014 Genting is apparently not considering leaving the day cruise business. And clearly, regardless of how stormy the seas, they plan to remain the course in Florida, some way.

Maine Gambling Enterprises Oppose Expanded Gambling in State

A lot of people think of Maine like this, but a small casino contingent is trying to hold their own there since well. (Image: Katarina Neef/atpm.com)

We possibly may not agree we know there are plenty of reasons that people may oppose more gambling in their state, from moral objections to worries about problem gambling with them, but. But in Maine, gambling is finding an opponent that is unusual the gambling enterprises by themselves.

Read Our Lips: No New Casinos

Officials from the two Maine casinos presently in procedure talked to lawmakers this and said that they shouldn’t approve any expansion of the casino industry in the state week. In this instance, it seems that the casinos think that the marketplace in the state is completely saturated already while others believe they’re simply afraid of a competition that is little.

The two properties under consideration the Hollywood and Oxford Casinos encountered off in front of the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs against members of two native tribes that are american the state, as well as the owner of the Scarborough Downs race track, over a number of bills that would serve to expand Maine’s gambling options.

The most controversial of those is called LD 1111. It might enable Scarborough Downs to become a ‘racino,’ operating slot machines along with their current horse racing operations. That issue had been brought to referendum in 2011, whenever it received only 45 percent of the vote statewide.

Factional Battles

According to track owner Sharon Terry, Scarborough Downs is struggling as a result of competition it faces from the casinos in the state particularly Oxford Casino, that will be simply 45 minutes away and opened in 2012 june. Even though Hollywood Casino may be further away, it has a friend racino, and can offer everything Scarborough Downs can and more.

Terry says that revenues fell 21.8 % at her track since slots were allowed at the Bangor battle track, and that the problem is getting even worse considering that the opening of the Oxford Casino. Since Scarborough Downs is in charge of 101 days of rushing each year, the cut in revenue perhaps not only threatens the track, but also Maine’s entire horse racing industry.

‘The Downs cannot endure beneath the current laws,’ Terry said.

But, the general supervisors of both casinos in addition to several business people into the Oxford area disagreed, opposing slots that are allowing the Scarborough Downs facility. In basic, the gambling enterprises feel that any new gambling in their state threatens to ‘cannibalize the industry,’ as Maine is a relatively small state without enough gamblers to help more venues.

That helps explain why in addition they opposed three other bills being considered by their state. Those incorporate a bill that would allow charities to operate up to five slots at their headquarters in order to raise funds, in addition to two bills that would allow Indian tribes to expand their gambling operations: the one that would let the Houlton Band of Maliseets to operate slots and table games, and another that would let the Passamaquoddy Tribe apply to run table games and slots at a current bingo facility.

‘Should further facilities open or expand, we would see erosion that is further of customer base,’ said John Osborne, general manager of the Hollywood Casino.

Big Banks Refuse to Process Legal Online Gambling Transactions

Major credit card issuers like Chase, Wells Fargo and United states Express will not process online that is even legal gambling, they state. (Image: Jason Hindley/money.cnn.com)

Everything seemed so hunky dory: Nevada, Delaware and brand New Jersey all got legal online gambling or at least poker, in Nevada’s situation up and running in 2013, and aside indian dreaming slots free play from a few issues with geo-location snafus, overall, the web sites in all three states have actually been running pretty smoothly. Except for just one fairly major bug that has nothing in connection with the sites themselves: major financial organizations like United states Express, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase are refusing to process any cash interactions on these sites, legal or otherwise not.

Your Transaction Is Denied

Whether credit or debit, several heavy-hitter card issuers say they aren’t gambling regarding honoring their cards on online video gaming web sites. And clearly, that’s not sitting well with many players whom say, what offers? But the banks included say they will not budge, not for online casinos, poker or sports that are even legal in Nevada.

‘We never let credit card transactions for this task,’ said Steve O’Halloran, manager of advertising and affairs that are public Chase Card and Merchant Services. And American Express spokeswoman Sanette Chao concurs, saying her business simply ‘prohibits the usage of the card for gambling services.’

While some may conclude that this will be some type of moral imperative, it turns out that it is more of a simple bottom-line business choice than anything else.

‘Gambling services, historically, account for a large number of card member credit losses and customer service disputes,’ noted Chao.

UIGEA Still Directs Banks’ Positions

And some banks do still hold onto the old UIGEA model (illegal online Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), because, most likely, from the federal standpoint, it is still murky how it is become interpreted following a 2012 reinterpretation of the initial 1961 Wire Act ended up being handed down from the Supreme Court that opened the doorway to at state-by-state that is least lawful online gambling.

Wells Fargo spokeswoman Natalie Brown claims this is certainly the reasoning behind her company’s decision to decline gambling deposits.

‘In compliance with regulation GG (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), we prohibit the application of consumer credit cards for Internet gambling,’ said Brown, who is vice president of customer lending communications with Wells Fargo. ‘The companies (Visa, MasterCard and American Express) monitor the merchant category codes and block charges that don’t conform to federal laws.’

While this may make some sense from their views, it could prove a reality that is frustrating online players in appropriate gambling states.

‘What the industry has done is take a conservative approach or a reaction to the legalization of online gambling,’ said Tobin Prior, CEO of Ultimate Gaming, which is really a subsidiary of Station Casinos, a land-gaming proprietor in Nevada and the first ever to go online with legal poker in the Silver State. ‘That can be frustrating, but we work with customers to locate options.’

Certainly one of the advantages of this brick-and-mortar/Internet symbiosis is that clients can both fund and cash down at any of these land video gaming properties, in either Southern Nevada or at Station’s land video gaming partner the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Players can also use e-checks or cable transfers to prior make deposits noted.

While legal online sites might wish that banks had been more within their court right now, Caesars WSOP site’s spokesperson Seth Palansky claims it’s what it really is.

Genting Gambles in Florida with Uncertain Outcomes