Massachusetts Swings Both Ways with Casino Vote

The MGM Springfield is one possible casino coming to Massachusetts in the long run; it got a thumbs up from local voters this week

This week that is past a good amount of voting taking place across Massachusetts, including two key votes on proposed casino projects in the state. The results had been split, giving both casino proponents and their opponents something to crow about.

Hard Rock Hits the Skids

The larger vote arrived in the town of West Springfield, where there had been a proposal to build an $800 million intense Rock casino. The casino ended up being anticipated to be one of many competitors that are key the Western Massachusetts casino license.

But that task had been dealt just what could possibly be a fatal blow on Tuesday, after the voters of western Springfield decided to reject the plan in a referendum that is public. About 55% of voters here voted against the casino, with 4,165 coming out against the project versus just 3,413 because of it. The loss came as a surprise to many, as the campaign saw supporters associated with casino opponents that are drastically outspend.

That rejection narrows the competition for the casino that is sole in Western Massachusetts. During the moment, it would appear that only two applicants have a chance at that permit: an MGM project in Springfield, and a Mohegan Sun proposition that would be located in Palmer. The Palmer proposal still needs to be voted on by residents, while the MGM plan was approved by Springfield voters.

Heavy Investing No Help

The western Springfield casino would have been constructed on the site associated with Eastern States Exposition, home to your Big E the largest agricultural fair in New England. Early on, it showed up as though Hard Rock had chance that is little overcome initial opposition to the project. That changed a bit as the casino chain invested almost $1 million campaigning for the task making promises about the amount of revenue they would generate for western Springfield yearly.

Ultimately, however, opposition teams could actually make their situation better, while the project was soundly defeated. The victory had been viewed as a big win for anti-casino groups across the state, all of which are badly financed when comparing to their pro-casino opponents.

The other vote into the state may have had a much more result that is surprising. A plan to develop a slot parlor at Plainridge Racecourse was overwhelming approved with 76% of the vote in the town of Plainville. An overall total of 1,582 voters came out in support of the master plan versus just 502 against.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for Plainridge. Just last thirty days, state regulators determined that the track’s ownership group was unfit to compete for the solitary slots parlor permit which was available. But Penn National produced move that is last-minute purchase the track, taking over the slots parlor proposal as well. That was enough to satisfy the Gaming Commission, which offered their approval for the task.

Needless to say, not everyone was happy utilizing the racino’s approval.

‘ The process isn’t working,’ said Mary-Ann Greanier, a known member of No Plainville Racino. ‘The safeguards we were told to expect aren’t taking place.’

The Plainville task will compete against racino proposals in Raynham and Leominster, though the Leominster project must be approved by still voters.

Along with these projects, there are additionally three applicants for a license into the Greater Boston area: a Foxwoods proposal in Milford, a Wynn Resorts casino project in Everett, and a Suffolk Downs project in East Boston. There’s also a single license available in Southeastern Massachusetts, but as of yet, no developers have used for a license in that region.

Gambling Industry Criticizes Very First Draft of Florida Pari-Mutuel Rules

Parimutuel wagering and jai-alai are getting the focus as Florida reviews its racetrack and betting rules.

In an effort to reform their state’s gambling industry, Florida is working on several fronts towards clarifying and changing most rules that govern betting in the Sunshine State. One part of attention is on pari-mutuel wagering: the betting that goes on at the state’s race tracks and jai-alai frontons throughout the state. But industry insiders say that the first draft of rules that have been proposed by state regulators just will not work.

Workshop to Hammer Out Wagering Rules

Those rules will ultimately be discussed at a workshop with the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering on October 16, but were first released in a draft form last week. The rules were created to eliminate a number that is growing of practices that are clearly outside of what the state intends to enable at such venues. And while some of these new rules work, those in the industry say that numerous merely show that regulators aren’t familiar sufficient with Florida’s gambling industry to produce such sweeping changes.

‘Some of those sound right,’ said Ken Stirling, executive director of the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. ‘ Some of them haven’t been thought out really well. One or two are pretty silly.’

Among the big areas covered in the draft guidelines is horse racing regulations designed to expel non-standard racing. Many in the industry consent that this is a good clear idea, as ‘barrel racing’ and ‘flag-drop’ racing have been seen by some operators as a way to cheaply earn payments that may also permit them to offer card spaces or slot machines alongside those events.

This new rules would help put a conclusion to such practices. They’d bar ‘the rushing animal to alter course in response to virtually any hurdles regarding the racing surface’ and make certain that jockeys conform to uniform and fat requirements that wouldn’t be a problem for legitimate racing operations.

Disagreement Over Acceptable Race Lengths

But the regulations don’t stop there, and that’s where some feel that the rules go wrong. According to Stirling, some of these guidelines could devastate the racing industry if they aren’t changed.

As an example, the regulations that are new require that all races are at minimum six furlongs in total a thing that might make sense in the event that you’ve only seen the Triple Crown races or the Breeder’s Cup, but making no sense for the industry in general.

‘[The guideline that] no competition must be shorter than…six furlongs…is a killer,’ Stirling said, noting that such races would be too long for two-year-old horses rushing within the summer time. ‘That’s silly. We run infant races at 4.5 furlongs and we’ve been doing it for a 100 years. I know they truly are in Tallahassee, but we have these things called phones.’

He also objected to a rule that states that every battle must have at the least six horses a rule that may cause races become canceled as a result of eleventh hour scratches.

Jai-Alai would also be affected by the regulations that are new. For instance, each place could be required to own eight certified players in rotation. This rule comes in response to a debate at Ocala Poker and Jai-Alai, which started the 2012 season with just two players.

While there might be problems with the rules, division director Leon Biegalski says there shouldn’t be described as a nagging problem, and that the workshops are designed to help iron out these issues utilizing the industry’s assistance.

‘They’re draft rules. They’re a starting point. We want to make sure that all the permit holders and all sorts of the stake holders are on the page that is same terms of what the regulation is that’s out there and what should really be out there,’ Biegalski said.

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Could Mean Gaming Industry Gold

Casino industry giants were probably just as excited as these Japanese residents by news associated with the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

It’s difficult to think that 2020 is just seven years away, but that’s the length of time we’ve before the Tokyo that is newly-granted summer will be upon us. But athletes-in-training will not end up being the only ones reaching for gold, since the worldwide casino industry is likewise attempting to achieve what until recently has seemed very nearly insurmountable: getting legal casinos sanctioned, developed, built, and up and running in time and energy to drive the tourism revolution that those Tokyo games are bound to bring in. With Japan the last great untapped gaming that is asian, it’s a prize that numerous into the video gaming industry are motivated to accomplish.

Could the Games end up being the Needed Push?

Japan infamous for decades of foot dragging in the legal casino issue now has extra motivation to produce it all happen too; the island nation must find a way to foot the expected $1.53 billion bill they’ll be underwriting to produce the venues and infrastructure necessary to host A olympic season casino-online-australia.net/. To that particular end, two casinos that are possible the drawing boards, one in Tokyo and the other in Osaka, could bring in $10 billion in annual gambling revenues, making them exactly the bucks cows that the city needs to pay its way. Japan industry that is gambling Grant Govertsen principal of Las Vegas-based Union Gaming Group claims that amount would be much more compared to the $6.2 billion that the whole nevada Strip took set for 2012; so it ain’t chump change.

Those profits would produce an estimated 10 percent per casino for Tokyo, not to mention additional licensing fees and local municipal fees. Govertsen told investors he is bullish about all of it.

‘ We think the government should start thinking about incorporated resort development, at the least in Tokyo, being a methods to help the related Olympics infrastructure visited fruition,’ he told investors following Tokyo games announcement. And Govertsen isn’t the only person who smells profit the Asian metropolis; lots of the video gaming industry’s biggest players made tracks to Tokyo just as they heard the statement to see if they could scout out land for possible casino developments.

Industry Leaders Scouting Websites

Word is going that Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. has its eye on a Tokyo Bay web site, on a bit of reclaimed land, and he is not the only one riding his covered wagon across the prairie to stake some land out. American behemoths MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corp. (the latter of whom’s death is apparently grossly exaggerated on a basis that is daily happen spotted in Japan, as has overseas industry giants SJM and Melco Crown Entertainment. Everyone appears to want in regarding the Gold Rush that is potential of.

‘Japan represents an opportunity that is historic tourism expansion in a nation with an incredibly rich cultural heritage,’ stated MGM Resorts Executive Vice President Alan Feldman. ‘Tokyo is in an extraordinary position to re-energize the entire country’s tourism and entertainment industry.’ Feldman says MGM has been monitoring happenings in Japan for nearly 2 yrs, and both discussing business that is possible also testing the temperature for legislative passage.

And while Japan wasn’t noted for moving quickly in this arena, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics could possibly be just the fire they want to create the gambling cooking pot up to a boil at final.

‘In the way it is of Tokyo, we think there would be significant government support to complete an integral resort with time for the opening of 2020 Olympics,’ Govertsen said.