Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

January 5, 2013

Gaming Partners International Corp. Announces Dividend For All Company Shareholders

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , — OCE News @ 3:18 am

Gaming Partners International Corp. has now announced a special dividend that they are going to be releasing. The company announced that they were planning on returning a total of $1.48 million, to shareholders. The dividend is going to be paid out to her one-time special dividend of 18.25 cents per share, which is going to be made payable on December 18. The company is responsible for making gaming supplies, and has products that are used in a variety of different casinos throughout the area. There are responsible for making dice, playing cards, table game layouts, table games supplies, and a wide range of other products that are available in casinos around the world. The plans were approved by the Board of Directors, shortly after the earnings of the third quarter were returned.

The plan that was approved by the board of directors as part of a share buyback program, in which the company is looking to purchase back 88,561 shares of the company. This means that the number of shares authorized for repurchase will rise to 400,000. This equates to 4.9% of the company’s outstanding common stock, which some analysts were worried was too large of a number.

In a statement that was released by the CEO, Greg Gronau, he detailed exactly why the buyback was happening, and said that because the profitability that the company had seen over the course of the previous year, they had made the special cash dividend possible in 2012. The dividend utilizes cash that was provided by the company’s profitability, and increases the number of shares that were authorized under the share repurchase program that the company announced some time ago.

“The board determined that it is in the stockholders’ best interests to pay a special cash dividend for 2012. The dividend…utilizes cash provided by the company’s continued profitability during 2012,” CEO Greg Gronau said. “Additionally, the increase of shares authorized under our share repurchase program provides us with the flexibility to return additional value to our stockholders. After using funds for both the dividend and the share repurchase program, we will continue to have adequate resources for future initiatives.”

The announcement shows that GPI is one of a number of different companies that have been able to distribute cash to shareholders before the end of the year. Many believe that this was done in advance of the potential income tax hikes that could become available next month. In an attempt to avoid having the money fall under the new income tax, many companies have provided similar dividend programs, in order to avoid having the money more heavily taxed as the government continues to negotiate about the upcoming potential fiscal cliff.

Last month, GPI announced that it had been able to earn a total of $1.3 million, a total of $.15 per share in the third quarter. This was up from just $477,000, a total of six cents per share just a year ago. The company also announced a huge growth in revenue, from $13.8 million, to a total of $16.9 million overall.

January 4, 2013

Madrid Successfully Cuts Casino Tax for Las Vegas Sands Resorts

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:56 am

Recently, the Mayor of Madrid decided to cut casino tax all the way from 45 percent down to 10 percent. It was Sheldon Adelson who ultimately got the final word in and was able to negotiate with the Mayor and present financial knowledge, to convince him to lower the tax. Words from Sheldon say that when you are spending about €15 billion in order to develop a huge EuroVegas hotel and casino, which will potentially create as much as 250,000 jobs, politicians tend to start listening to you. Cutting the tax rate was something Sheldon wanted for the casino and hotel, and it had to be done in order for it to be possible.

In fact, this is expected to be exactly what happened when the Mayor of Madrid Ignacio Gonzales announced that he would indeed cut the tax from 45 percent down to 10 percent. There are huge unemployment rates in Spain, amounting to as much as 25 percent. Ignacio Gonzales was obviously convinced that cutting the tax rate for casinos would be a profitable decision and that it could benefit the economy throughout the entire nation. However, he only came to this conclusion because of Sheldon Adelson and the developments that were planned.

If Sheldon Adelson was not able to convince the governor, the casino and hotel would have likely never became a reality, and the casino would have been built in another country with lower tax rates. Madrid actually has the lowest casino taxes in all of the industry, but this shows you that they are even willing to go to the next step to make sure that the future of Madrid is profitable and successful.

This deal that was made is actually a very good thing for the city of Madrid, because EuroVegas wants to introduce as much as 19 theaters, six casinos, twelve resorts, three golf courses and even a very large sports stadium. All of this could be wildly profitable for the area and it could benefit the economy substantially. Making this negotiation was something that needed to happen and it means big things for the Madrid area. By reducing the tax rate for casinos, the mayor made a good decision. All of the benefits that these massive developments will provide for Madrid are going to be substantial. Casino developments will still go on for many years, so the tax rate will have to remain low throughout this time. We will have to see how all of this unfolds and how successful the developments make the area, but nevertheless, it was still a good decision by the mayor to do what he did. As for online gambling, it is still a mystery whether these Madrid casinos will expand onto the Internet. Of course, Internet gambling provides profitability opportunities for local businesses, and Madrid law would allow it, so we will have to see what comes of it. Be sure to stay tuned and keep up-to-date with what is coming in Madrid, these new casinos will hopefully change the economy and rejuvenate their casino industry.

January 3, 2013

Nevada Sports Operator Faces Regulatory Issues That Stifle New Business

Filed under: Casino — Tags: , , — OCE News @ 3:17 am

The State Gaming Control Board is an organization that oversees the gaming regulations and practices of all companies within the Las Vegas and Nevada area. They have now filed a complaint against the Old Leroy’s Race and Sports Book Chain after discovering that they had received unauthorized acceptance of a number of bets during the 2012 Kentucky Derby, by certain locations within the company. This represents a huge misstep on the part of the company, and is open them up to possible discipline being handed down by the Gaming Control Board.

The violations were first brought forward on November 29 and made public shortly thereafter. They have been self-reported, and reportedly took place before Leroy’s was acquired by William Hill PLC, a gaming company that is huge and the United Kingdom.

The takeover of the company was approved by the the Nevada gaming commission on June 21. Now, the Gaming Control Board is asking that a fine be applied to the company, for the violations that were spelled out clearly in the complaint. The complaint states that on May 9, Leroy is reported to the board that on May 5 that had accepted Kentucky Derby bets, at four different locations, all of which were licensed to accept sports wagers, but were not licensed to accept race wagers. These locations included Colorado Belle in Laughlin, Hooters in Las Vegas, Stockmen’s in Elko, and Poker Palace in Northern Las Vegas.

The complaint goes on to state that this appears to be a repeated theme throughout the history of the company. A similar incident took place in 2003, when the company also accepted Kentucky Derby bets set locations that were not authorized. The complaint also states that when the company found a scheme targeting betting kiosks at more than 30 locations, they made changes to their software without first gaining approval from the Gaming Control Board.

The scheme involved the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in March. Many of the kiosks had weaknesses in the betting software, and the schemer or schemers would repeatedly hit the deposit button on the kiosks after inserting cash, causing for multiple wagers to be placed. These double beds, meant that they were inserting an amount of cash, but were being treated as if they had that double or triple that amount, depending on how many times the deposit was registered in the kiosks. Before making software modifications, all gambling companies are required to speak with the Gaming Control Board and get all of those modifications approved before going into place. However, all of the bets that were placed on the Kentucky Derby were done so without the use of kiosks, and were direct violation of law. It will be interesting to see what kind of fine is handed down, and whether or not the new management is going to be held responsible for the past owners mistakes. With a history of mistakes revolving around the company, you can expect to find to be handed down at some point, to make it clear that the rules have to be followed and that even small software modifications must be approved and everything properly licensed.

January 2, 2013

Pennsylvania Lottery Considers Expanding onto the Internet

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:54 am

The Pennsylvania Lottery, a very successful lottery system which is currently state ran and located in Pennsylvania is considering expanding their presence onto the Internet, to offer online ticket sales and Keno opportunities.

Recent comments from state officials suggest that the expansion could actually increase revenue for the system and provide significant benefits for its long-lasting success. In fact, they even said that it would benefit seniors substantially, since they would be able to play the lottery while they are sitting at home and the money generated from the system would be put toward senior welfare. However, state employee unions are speaking up and saying “Not so fast!.” Some of the critics to this opportunity say that Governor Tom Corbett is secretly trying to privatize the lottery industry. Of course, some of these claims are far-fetched, but others have been supported with well-documented research.

If the expansion were to happen for the Pennsylvania Lottery system, then people would be able to purchase online lottery tickets. It would also allow businesses to have terminals for Keno and online lottery tickets within their business. This is something that the state of Illinois actually did last year, and it has been very successful for them and other states are expected to follow in their footsteps, but these complications are holding them back.

Lawmakers are saying that they just aren’t sure what the governors plan is here. Is he really trying to privatize the lottery system and why does he think that would be successful? They are also wondering whether or not outside vendors even have means to take over something that has previously been ran by the state, and has been successfully generating over $1 billion a year. They use some of this money for senior services and other types of welfare, so if it were to get privatized, where would all of this money go and what would it mean for the state of Pennsylvania?

Governor Corbett of Pennsylvania says that privatizing the lottery system would actually make it a better system, and it would be far more profitable. There a lot of free-market economists and politicians that believe that privatizing as much is possible is a better route for our government, but the government often holds back to retain control. A recent statement from the office of governor Corbett said that: “If we can ensure increased funding and protect our seniors who are the recipients of the lottery…then we have our obligation to take a look at privatizing.”

At the moment, there is no word on whether or not this issue can get resolved responsibly. Certainly privatizing the Pennsylvania lottery could be a good direction for the state. Often times, businesses are able to generate more profit and far more revenue than the government can. Governments do not run businesses successfully, they are not profit driven, and therefore, the amount of money that they can make off of running it through the state is far less. If they were to get privatized, more money could be made and jobs could be created throughout the industry, which is more than you can say for the lottery industry today.

January 1, 2013

Gaming CEO Takes Lawsuit Into Own Hands, Releases Open Letter

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 3:16 am

Galaxy Gaming Inc., is a gaming supply company that is responsible for supplying many of the casinos in the Las Vegas area. They are also a company that recently had a lawsuit filed against them by Bank of America. In order to respond to the lawsuit, the CEO of the company released an open letter on their website they complained about the legal action. The company, which makes table games and other gaming supplies, was sued in October in the Clark County District Court, by Bank of America. The bank claims that it was involved in a fraudulent transfer of assets, totaling $1.1 million. False information was submitted to the company, which caused them to be approved for a loan, that Bank of America says they otherwise would not have been approved for. The allegations have been strongly denied by both Galaxy Gaming Inc. and the CEO of the company, Robert Saucier, but the release of the open letter shows that they are looking to take their fight to the public.

The letter that was posted on the website was addressed to the Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. In the letter, he complained that the company had been up-to-date with all of the payments on the loan, and there were no miss payments at the time. He also stated that the allegations that they raised were misrepresentations of the truth, claiming that no fraudulent transfer had taken place. The suit also cited the declining property values in Las Vegas, to show that the collateral that the company had placed in the backing of the loan was not worth nearly as much as once was. The collateral that they had used include the Galaxy Gaming Inc. headquarters office space, that the company had been leasing from a trust.

Saucier, in the letter, went on to detail various aspects of why he believed the lawsuit to be needless. Nevada had the local real estate crash in 2008, which resulted in many foreclosures. The company, he said, was staying in a building that became worth a fraction of its former value, which greatly change the collateral that they put forward. He also stated that he was extremely troubled by the choices that Bank of America had made, given the conversations that he had had with executives at the company prior to the loan.

Saucier argues that since they had been able to keep up with the loan to this point, and had been loyal to Bank of America, there should be no issues between the two companies. He argued that the loyalty that his company had shown to Bank of America was not returned, when they decided to follow through with a lawsuit, despite the fact that Galaxy Gaming Inc. had never missed a payment on the loan, and were contributing to the growth of the local economy as best they could. Bank of America quickly responded to the letter stating “It would be inappropriate to comment because we are involved in litigation against Galaxy Gaming seeking payment of defaulted debt.”

It looks as though the lawsuit is destined to move forward despite the pleas from Saucier and the case that he laid out in the open letter that was released. It is clear that Galaxy Gaming Inc. would like to get ahead of the story, and shape the public opinion of the lawsuit moving forward.

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