Dover Downs, Twin River casino groups plot merger

Casino – CalvinAyre.com

Dover Downs, Twin River casino groups plot merger

Two US regional casino operators in newly legalized sports betting states have agreed to merge their operations.

On Sunday, Delaware-based Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc and Rhode Island-based Twin River Worldwide Holdings Inc announced that they’d entered into a definitive merger agreement. The deal will transform the privately-held Twin River into a publicly traded company via a listing on the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange.

The deal’s terms involve Dover Downs stockholders to exchange their shares for Twin River common shares equaling 7.225% of the equity of the combined company. Each Dover Downs share will be exchanged for 0.0225 shares of Twin River stock.

Dover Downs operates the Hotel & Casino of the same name in Delaware, which has recorded annual operating losses in two of the last four years. Dover Downs CEO Denis McGlynn said the Twin River deal would be “transformational” via the creation of a “more stable, standalone entity” that will allow for greater investment in its facilities.

Twin River operates two casinos in Rhode Island and is in the process of building a new gaming venue in Tiverton to replace the Newport Grand property it sold to Carpionato Group in May. The company also has gaming assets in Mississippi and Colorado. Twin River reported net income of $63.5m on revenue of $429m last year and is currently carrying $381.4m of debt.

Delaware launched legal sports betting at Dover Downs and the state’s two other casinos in June, while Rhode Island says Twin River will likely commence legal wagering sometime in October. Scientific Games Corp provides the technological underpinnings for Delaware’s sports betting operators while International Game Technology has the tech responsibility in Rhode Island.

Twin River exec chairman John E. Taylor Jr. hailed the deal’s capacity to expand his company’s geographic footprint, and claimed Dover Downs’ betting experience “will be helpful as we introduce that amenity at our properties, and in the online gambling sector which continues to evolve nationwide.”

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Posted by Editorial Team on 5:36 PM in

Thai Police Continue Clamping Down on Illegal Betting after World Cup

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Thai Police Continue Clamping Down on Illegal Betting after World Cup

Thai and Chinese police busted last week another illegal online gambling operation in Thailand, Thai police officers announced earlier today.

In a joint operation, police from the two countries arrested 34 individuals, most of whom Chinese nationals, on illegal gambling charges as well as for the alleged operation of an illegal financial operation.

Thai Deputy Tourism Police Chief Pol Maj-Gen Surachet Hakpal disclosed more details about the latest nabbing of an illegal gambling ring in the country at a press conference held today at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police. The official said that Chinese police cooperated in catching the 34 suspects, of whom 24 were Chinese nationals.

Thai police raided last Friday as many as 14 locations in Bangkok, Phuket, Nonthaburi, and Chon Buri. Nineteen of the arrested individuals were suspected to be part of call center gangs; 17 of them were from China, one was from Vanuatu and the other from Myanmar.

Another 15 individuals were detained for their alleged ties with online gambling gangs. Nine of them were Chinese nationals, while three were from Myanmar and the other three were from Northern Thailand.

Most of the arrested suspects were based in Phuket, which is known to be among Thailand’s largest tech hubs. Pol Maj-Gen Surachet said today that they targeted mostly Chinese victims via the WeChat messaging app.

Record Number of Gambling-Related Arrests During World Cup

Football and betting on football matches is particularly popular in Thailand, even though the latter activity is strictly prohibited under the country’s gambling laws. Gearing up for the expected increase in betting activity, Thai police set up a special center that was tasked with clamping down on illegal gambling ahead of and during the Russia World Cup.

Police officers announced last week that three times as much gambling arrests were made during the 2018 edition of the major sporting event than four years ago when it took place in Brazil. As many as 15,007 gamblers, including three individuals under 18, were arrested in the period between May 1-July 15, 2018, Thai police revealed. In addition, 695 illegal gambling operators and 166 gambling ticket runners were also nabbed during the above period. Assets and cash seized by police during raids totaled BHT51.2 million.

The largest number of bettors who were wagering money with illegal gambling operations were caught ahead of and during the World Cup final between France and Croatia. A total of 1,000 people were nabbed on illegal gambling charges related to that match, police revealed.

In comparison, the 2014 World Cup saw the arrest of 4,679 gamblers, 258 individuals providing illegal sports betting services, and 127 ticket runners. Police also seized THB12.4 million in cash during gambling-related raids.

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Posted by Editorial Team on 11:39 AM in

Yumi Bui Enters WPT Gardens Poker Festival Main Event Day 2 as Overall Chip Leader

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Yumi Bui Enters WPT Gardens Poker Festival Main Event Day 2 as Overall Chip Leader

Yumi Bui, a player from San Diego, California, is the overall leader from Days 1A and 1B of the WPT Gardens Poker Festival $5,000 Main Event. She bagged the largest stack last night after Day 1B of the tournament to cement her top spot for a chance to win her first major poker title.

Bui put 207,300 worth of chips in her bag to top the leaderboard of the event’s second starting flight as well as of the overall field that is set to head into Day 2. A look at the player’s HendonMob profile shows that she has just over $12,000 in live tournament earnings, but this could very soon change if she keeps her momentum from Day 1B into the next stages of the Main Event at Gardens Casino in Southern California.

Bui said that she accumulated most of her chips after a key hand that saw her on the winning end of a battle involving aces versus kings. Her aces held up to help her secure a lead into Day 2. Despite locking the overnight chip advantage, Bui is followed closely by Alexander Assouline with 206,200.

Notables who also advanced into the next phase of the tournament on Day 1B included Barry Hutter, who bagged a comfortable stack of 180,900, Martin Kozlov, Benny Glaser, Chance Kornuth, and Chris Klodnicki, among others. Popular pros who did not make it through the day included Chino Rheem, JC Tran, and John Hennigan.

Day 1B Field

Day 1B saw 248 entries register into the event. Just as on Day 1A, there were eight one-hour levels scheduled for the day. After all those were completed, there were just 150 players to bag and tag for the night. They will be joined by the 100 survivors from Day 1A for Day 2.

The second playing day of the tournament is scheduled to kick off today at noon local time at the host casino. Registration will remain open until the start of Level 11, so more players are expected to join the hefty field of the tournament.

The overall field from Days 1A and 1B counts 457 entries. The prize pool generated so far amounts to more than $2.3 million. That amount includes the $200,000 contributed by the Gardens Casino to the prize pool. The casino will also award a brand new Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster to the event’s champion. The overall prize pool and the places paid are expected to be announced later today after registration into the Main Event closes.

This is the first time the Gardens Casino in Southern California plays host to WPT’s Main Tour. The popular card room last year opened its doors to the WPT500 brand for an exciting festival. Dang Le topped the hefty 3,266-strong field of the $565 buy-in Main Event to collect $224,500 from the prize pool totaling $1.633 million.

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Posted by Editorial Team on 6:12 AM in

Galaxy Entertainment pays bonus to almost all non-management staff

Casino – CalvinAyre.com

Galaxy Entertainment pays bonus to almost all non-management staff

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. announced last Friday that it is giving a little something extra to a large percentage of its non-management staff. The company said that it will give a “one-off special discretionary bonus” to about 97% of the employees, all of whom hold positions of senior manager or lower. The exact number of employees that would receive the bonus, however, was not mentioned.

The bonus will be equal to one month’s base salary. Where applicable, guaranteed tips will also be included. Galaxy intends on making the payments on August 13 and those qualified employees who joined the company on or after August 2 last year will have their bonuses calculated on a pro-rate basis.

According to Galaxy, “This one-off special discretionary payment is made in special consideration of market competitiveness and the company’s satisfactory business performance in 2018.” Galaxy saw its first-quarter EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization) increase by 36%, reaching $548 million.

However, Galaxy executives may not necessarily be motivated simply by the increased performance. A labor activist group said last week that it was organizing a petition by Galaxy staff to push for a summer bonus. The petition was drafted over concerns by Galaxy employees that they would not receive their annual bonuses this year.

Wynn Macau announced a similar bonus on July 13 that is equal to one month of an employee’s salary. That bonus is only for non-executive staff and will paid on August 15, but Wynn said that 95% of its workforce was eligible. From 2014 to 2017, Wynn offered a bonus program for all non-senior management personnel that was paid twice annually. However, there was no indication if this latest bonus is a continuation of that plan, or if it was just a one-time payment.

A discretionary bonus was paid to eligible Galaxy employees this past February for anyone at a senior manager level or below. That bonus was also equal to one month’s salary. At the same time, the company announced that it would increase salaries for eligible employees as of April 1, with the increase ranging from 2.5% to 8% for employees earning up to $3,000. Employees who earn more than $3,000 were entitled to a 2.5% increase only.

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Posted by Editorial Team on 11:51 PM in

Australian Racing Rolls Out New Rules to Combat Illegal Online Gambling

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Australian Racing Rolls Out New Rules to Combat Illegal Online Gambling

Australian horse racing trainers and owners could have their computers and mobile devices seized if they are suspected of gambling with illegal betting websites, under a new set of rules by Racing Australia, local news outlet The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Racing Australia is the regulatory body tasked with overseeing Australia’s thoroughbred racing industry. The regulator has adopted speedily a fresh wave of rules aimed at clamping down on illegal offshore operators targeting Australian bettors.

Although Australians are allowed to wager on legal websites, they often prefer black market operators to regulated ones, tempted by the promise of a better product and odds. According to a 2015 report by the former Australian Council, the country’s illegal betting market was worth around A$400 million at the time and was expected to reach A$900 million by 2020.

A study by Racing Wagering Australia, the body that represents the nation’s online wagering sector, claims that the black market could be worth up to A$1.3 billion. The money goes to illegal operators who do not contribute back to Australia’s horse racing industry unlike regulated businesses.

New Regulations

The new rules are set to come into effect from August 1, 2018. They will apply to racing horse owners and trainers. Participants in the nation’s horse racing industry could thus have their electronic devices seized for forensic image if they are suspected to be wagering with non-licensed operators.

Racing Victoria, the regulatory body responsible for the racing industry of the state of Victoria, has previously implemented a similar rule to prevent participants from engaging into illegal operations. Racing Australia will now expand that rule so that it applies to all racing authorities in Australia.

Local regulators, including Racing New South Wales, have said they welcome the new approach to illegal betting as the growing betting market poses a great threat to Australia’s horse racing industry.

News about Racing Australia implementing new rules against illegal operations come shortly after a rollout of announcements from various Australian states and territories that they would implement a point of consumption tax on regulated betting operations.

Most recently, New South Wales confirmed that it would be taxing licensed operators at 10% on their revenue from the state. The new tax would be implemented from January 1, 2019.

Queensland has, too, recently announced that a new taxation regime on betting would take effect on October 1, 2018. Operators servicing customers from the state will be required to pay 15% on revenue from their local operations.

It became known earlier this year that the Australian Capital Territory will introduce a 15% point of consumption tax on January 1, 2019. Victoria will, too, roll out its new regime early next year, but it will tax licensed betting operators on 8% of their revenue from local wagering customers.

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Posted by Editorial Team on 6:06 AM in