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This week's Inside Gaming starts with the acquisition of a Miami property by a well-known Las Vegas casino owner, shares a new study about gambling's effects conducted in Massachusetts, tells of increased competition in New England caused by MGM Springfield, and reports on a sportsbook deciding to pay out college football national championship wagers more than a month before the title is even decided.
Discover the Latest News from the world of US Poker in 2019. Breaking stories on Legislation, Poker Sites and Scandals to keep any poker fan up to date. Jan 19, 2011 Melanie Brenner, Executive Director of Poker Voters of America, told the Miami Herald that there are about 900,000 online poker players in Florida spending $600,000 per day on the virtual felts.
Billionaire Phil Ruffin Purchases Casino Miami
The November elections happened only a month ago, but the results of some votes have already led to some industry deals being made. An example of such happened this week with reports that Phil Ruffin, the 83-year-old billionaire businessman and owner of the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, has purchased Casino Miami in Florida located near the Miami International Airport for an undisclosed sum.
As The Miami Herald reports, last month's passage of 'Amendment 3' by Florida voters had a direct effect on the deal, since one consequence of the amendment's passage will be new licenses might prove harder to come by in Florida given that they will each require voter approval.
'Ruffin believes existing licenses like Casino Miami's are now that much more valuable,' explains The Miami Herald. The property has generated 'about $60 million in revenues through the first 10 months of 2018' according to The University of Nevada-Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research.
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'We plan to bring Las Vegas to Florida,' Ruffin told The Miami Herald.
Formerly known as Miami Jai-Alai Fronton, the property still hosts jai-alai events seven days a week while also frequently hosting musical acts in its 6,500-seat indoor arena. Ruffin, who purchased the property from Fronton Holdings, shared plans to add hotel rooms and expand offerings, intentions that were amenable the seller.
'This is someone who can bring strong brands and ideas to Miami,' said David Jonas, president of Fronton Holdings. 'He could create something Hard Rock-like,' Jonas added, referring to the successful Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
In addition to Treasure Island, Ruffin co-owns the Trump International Tower in Las Vegas with U.S. President Donald Trump. He was the owner of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino in Vegas from 1998 to 2007. A bid by Ruffin to acquire The Mirage from MGM Resorts Internationalfell through in November 2015.
Readers of PokerNews might recall Ruffin's participation in the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop at the 2012 World Series of Poker (pictured above). Ruffin also appeared on High Stakes Poker during the popular series seventh and final season in 2011.
Study Finds Social Effects of Casino Gambling Not Negative
The Boston Heraldthis week shared findings from a new study by the University of Massachusetts Amherst concluding the social and economic effects of casino gambling are not as harmful as some might think.
'At the state level, there is no compelling evidence that negative impacts related to problem gambling have increased as a result of casino introduction,' said the study's lead researcher Rachel Volberg, a Research Associate Professor in the university's School of Public Health and Health Science who has studied problem gambling since the mid-1980s.
In its analysis of 'socioeconomic impacts' of casino gambling the study looked at incidences of 'bankruptcy, divorce, restraining orders and cases of child welfare' as potential indicators of gambling's negative impact.
The study focused on the effects upon surrounding neighborhoods of a single casino, the Plainridge Park Casino that opened in 2015, as well as statewide effects. Researchers found 'no evidence that the introduction of casino gambling has had any impact on crime rates' statewide, although locally there was 'an increase in credit card fraud, lost property, reports of suspicious activity, and traffic complaints in the town of Plainville that 'can likely be attributed' to the casino.'
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission was keen to learn of the study's findings given the recent opening of MGM Springfield in August and next year's opening of Encore Boston Harbor, currently scheduled for June 2019.
MGM Springfield Affecting Connecticut Casino Revenue
Speaking of MGM Springfield, there were other items of interest in the news this week related to the newly opened property.
Yesterday The Hartford Courant reported that MGM Springfield has inexpensive round-trip buses available to enable Connecticut residents to come gamble — just $20 (plus a $20 gambling voucher) to and from several CT cities. And NBC Connecticut today was letting its readers know the casino now has massage therapists available to them while they grind the slots and table games.
Uncoincidentally, one of Connecticut's casinos, the Mohegan Sun, is reporting that MGM Springfield is already starting to hurt its profits, reports CBS Boston.
Yesterday the company reported that revenues at Mohegan Sun had decreased by three percent during the most recent quarter ending on September 30, earning about $275 million compared to $284 million during 2017 Q3. 'New competition in the New England region' was listed as a cause for the decline by the company, an obvious reference to MGM Springfield.
FanDuel Sportsbook Pays Off Alabama Title Bets Early
Finally, many college football fans have been watching the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide routinely crush all comers this season on its way to securing a spot yet again in the four-team College Football Playoff National Championship, this time as the top seed.
Currently 13-0 on the season, Alabama is the defending national champion and has won five titles in the last nine years.
One sportsbook decided last week to end the suspense early for bettors wagering on the Tide to win again this year. FanDuel, operator of the sportsbooks at Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment in New Jersey (as well as a mobile app in NJ) and the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia is paying out bets to anyone who has wagered on Alabama to win it all prior to last Friday afternoon at 5 p.m.
According to the Associated Press, FanDuel stated 'it wants to reward customers for betting on a team with odds that were so lopsided it was difficult to make money.'
After opening at almost 2-to-1 to win it all (+195), Alabama's season-long dominance saw its price fall to -280, meaning one would have to bet $280 to win $100. By paying off the bets early, FanDuel says it risks losing about $400,000 should a team other than Alabama win the title.
Interestingly, less than 24 hours after FanDuel made the decision, Alabama nearly lost its first game of the season to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Southeastern Conference title game, having to overcome a two-touchdown deficit to win 35-28.
The semifinals of the College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Saturday, December 29, with No. 1 Alabama taking on the No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners and the No. 2 Clemson Tigers squaring off against the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The winners will then compete in the final on Tuesday, January 7.
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This week's Inside Gaming shares news regarding a brand new bill in Florida that if passed would significantly expand gambling in the Sunshine State, reports on current efforts both for and against the building of a third casino in Connecticut, and passes along news of a Las Vegas poker room's impending closing.
Florida Senate Committee Passes Gambling Bill
Some legislative news from Florida to share as a state senate committee on Wednesday unanimously to approve a new plan to expand gambling in Florida, reports the Miami Herald.
Having only been introduced a couple of weeks before by Sen. Bill Galvano, the bill was approved by Florida's Senate Regulated Industries Committee as the state continues to negotiate a new compact with the Seminole Tribe. Among the items covered by the bill is to provide two additional casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, to expand gaming options in existing casinos, and to add slots to racetracks and jai alai frontons in other counties where voters have approved doing so.
The fact that the bill was swiftly approved without any amendments at the very start of a new legislative session is an encouraging indicator that lawmakers are serious about advancing it up the legislative ladder without delay. If it does ultimately become law, the bill's sponsors say it will enable the state 'to recover as much as $525 million in revenue sharing from the Tribe this year.'
'The Senate's passage of a gaming bill this early in the year is a gigantic first step,' said Rep. Jose Felix Diaz who chairs the House Commerce Committee and is currently leading the state's negotiations with the Seminoles on the new compact. 'The fact that we are seeing forward progress in January is a testament to Sen. Galvano's willingness to continue a conversation with multiple interested parties, including the governor, the Seminole Tribe and the Florida House,' Diaz added.
A new compact had been proposed last summer, but it initially failed to get required legislative approval as Florida lawmakers disagreed over particulars. Then once the compact was amended, the tribe was no longer willing to agree to it.
The news follows a contentious conclusion to 2016 between the state and the Seminoles marked by lawsuits filed by both parties related to the terms of a new compact. Combined into a single case, Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida,U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ultimately ruled in favor of the Seminoles, thereby paving the way for the newly introduced bill.
As the Sun Sentinel explains, the Seminoles had sued the state for allowing racetrack casinos to offer 'designated player games' the tribe deemed to be too similar to blackjack 'which the tribe was supposed to have the sole right to offer under a five-year agreement signed in 2010.' Per that agreement, the Seminoles had paid the state $1 billion over that five-year period.
The state countersued, stating the tribe had continued offering blackjack even after the five-year agreement had ended, but the tribe maintained it did so because the state had failed to uphold its end of the deal by allowing the games at the racetrack casinos. Judge Hinkle's ruling means 'the tribe can now offer blackjack through the year 2030 and the state can't expect any further payments from the tribe.'
The bill approved by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee would provide 'access to expanded gaming options' to the Seminoles, explains the Miami Herald. According to the bill, the tribe would keep a monopoly on slot machines in Tampa but not elsewhere in the state, and 'would also lose its exclusive right to offer blackjack in South Florida because the bill allows Miami-Dade and Broward slots casinos to also offer 25 blackjack tables.'
That just scratches the surface, with numerous other provisions outlined by the bill covering other casino games, horse racing, fantasy sports, and more.
Learn more about the new Senate bill and its potential impact on Florida gaming at the Miami Herald.
Coalition Formed to Oppose Third Connecticut Casino
We'll stick with the theme of gaming expansion and Native American tribes, this time moving up the east coast to pick up a story developing in Connecticut involving the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes.
It was last spring we reported here how the two tribes — as well as the state's lawmakers — were considering adding a third casino to go along with the Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun. We shared how legislation to conduct a study regarding the cost of revenue of a third casino had been voted down, a move considered a victory for the tribes and their desire to move ahead on the construction of a third casino.
The two tribes had formed a company together called MMCT Venture, and had begun reviewing site proposals. Following lengthy consideration, it was announced three weeks ago that the tribes had eliminated several possibilities and 'narrowed the choices down to East Windsor and Windsor Locks,' the Hartford Courant reports.
However on Tuesday a new, non-partisan coalition led by state Sen. Tony Hwang was introduced whose purpose will be to oppose an additional casino, the Easton Courier reports. The 12-member group is appropriately called the Coalition Against Casino Expansion in Connecticut and includes representation from numerous churches and faith-based organizations.
At a news conference introducing the coalition, the group shared 12 specific arguments against casino expansion in the state covering both economic costs and what the coalition considers to be potential societal harms including enabling the spread of gambling addiction.
The building of an additional casino would need approval from the state's legislature, with the momentum-slowing delay in selecting a possible location having lessened earlier enthusiasm from some regarding the expansion.
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For more on the coalition and their opposition to a third CT casino, visit the Easton Courier.
Monte Carlo Poker Room to Close in April
Finally, this week came word that the poker room at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas will be closing on April 25, 2017.
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We haven't too many details to share other than that announcement, but it appears the room closing is a consequence of the upcoming rebranding that will see the Monte Carlo split into two hotels, the Park MGM and NoMad Las Vegas.
The Park MGM will be the larger of the two with around 2,700 rooms to the 300 or so in the NoMad. The ongoing reconstruction project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
Photo: 'Seminole Hard Rock,' Bob B. Brown, CC BY-ND 2.0.
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