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April 12, 2013

Online Poker Bill On Hold, Federal Action Expected

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:47 am

Online poker has been waiting in the wings for a number of years now. It has long been thought that an online gaming bill would have no problem passing in Las Vegas, and is also very close to passing in New Jersey as well, as long as a few considerations can be made to avoid another veto from Gov. Chris Christie. However now, in Las Vegas, online poker bills have been placed on the temporary hold, and it appears that federal action is expected by most. Nevada did recently passed their own online gambling law, the congressional delegation has made it clear that they are looking to get a bill done on a federal level, so that they can be more confident with moving forward with their current plans. The group is looking to avoid passing their own bill, and setting their own laws, only to have the investment be a waste if federal legislation quickly follows.

Online poker laws have come under fire Nevada recently. Oftentimes, the congressional seat within Nevada would state that they would move to get online gambling quickly done during their term, only to backtrack once they were attempting to win votes for an upcoming term. This makes the fact that the online poker building stalled in the congressional voting phase not all that surprising, and actually almost expected by many. It will be interesting to see if it is ever able to be quickly pushed through, without interference.

The hope was that the federal government would pass a bill regulating online poker, and rendering all other forms of Internet gambling to be illegal. Of course, there was opposition to this measure, on both sides of the ticket. Some did not want online gambling to become legal in any form, including poker. Others wanted there to be a broader spectrum of games available online, and to lessen the prohibition of different gambling ask online.

However, the window for them to get a bill such as that passed is quickly closing, and partisan disagreements at the federal level make it almost impossible to have any sort of confidence in a bill getting done. It is thought by many, that if action is not being taken on the bill by June or July, running it through the various subcommittees that would have to have a look at the bill before having a go of for general vote, and get it put in front of the Senate, it would take far too long to expect the bill to get done at any time in 2013.

As many as seven states have considered implementing their own measures which legalize gambling within their state. Many think that states will be allowed to open their own online gambling websites, reaping the benefits of the tax dollars that will be produced, only by individuals that are citizens within their own state. It will be interesting to see if the states begin to pass their own bills despite the fact that many are waiting for federal legislation, or to see if federal legislation begins to pick up the pace, and regulated online poker becomes a reality.

April 10, 2013

Bill Favors Untaxed Comped Meals for Casino Staff

Filed under: Casino — OCE News @ 2:45 am

Although things appear to be on the up and up, the state of Nevada was hit very hard by the economic collapse in 2008. Even today, with casinos recovering quickly, the state of the economy within the status much worse than it is in many other states. As a result, a new bill has been proposed that would take a little bit of strain off of the employees of Las Vegas. The bill was of originally introduced by assemblyman Harvey Munford, a Democrat located in Las Vegas, and states that companies would be able to serve their employees complementary meals that would be tax-free, comped by the company themselves. The measure is a way for companies to increase the value that they give their employees, and lesson the chances that companies choose not to provide meals, based on the tax issues that they may run into.

The legislation is expected to go in front of the Nevada Supreme Court, which is going to hear the case and the assertions that it can collect tax on meals letter provided by companies. The legislation is one of a number of different decisions that have gone in front of the Supreme Court. On March 1, Carson City District Judge Todd Russell ruled that untaxed meals for employees should remain tax-free, but meals that are provided to patrons should be subject to sales tax, just like any other transaction that was conducted at the business. Another similar ruling was also reached on March 1 in Las Vegas, and involve Caesars entertainment.

This is a fight that is been drawn out for many years, along many different types of legislation, including in 2008 when the Nevada Supreme Court ruled that the state actually owed rebate to Sparks Nugget, a Las Vegas-based casino. As a result of their positive ruling, a number of other companies and politicians jumped on board with the cause.

The original idea behind the bill was that many of the casino employees do not have a choice but state the casino during their breaks, which means that they are forced to eat meals of the casino. If they do not make it easy for the companies to provide free meals to the employees, this means that they must spend a large portion of their daily earnings paying for food at the casino, which may not always have cheap and efficient options available to employees. Many casino workers are on board the legislation, and are hoping that the Supreme Court continues to rule in the way that they have thus far.

Untaxed meals provided by employers is a policy that has taken hold in the number of different states as well. It also appears to be well on its way toward being the norm for most areas across Nevada. With the number of Nevada Supreme Court rulings that we’ve seen recently, it would be surprising not to see some broad legislation come down that gives some sort of ruling on the matter across the board, instead of dealing with it through several different Supreme Court cases.

April 8, 2013

Strip Megaresort in Planning Phase By Malaysian Company

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:42 am

The Genting Group announced some very ambitious plans on Monday for the Las Vegas strip that had the city abuzz. The company announced on Monday that they have plans to develop a resort, to become the largest located in Las Vegas, that will have more than 3500 different hotel rooms and be located on the Las Vegas strip. The Malaysian company’s plans for Resorts World Las Vegas will include a number of different hotels.

It is estimated that the resort will contain more than 175,000 ft.² of gaming space overall. There will be multiple different casino floors, which may have different themes, or provide different types of games. The resort will also have more than 210,000 ft.² of restaurant space, with many different restaurants, 250,000 ft.² of retail space and shopping that will be available anyone including resort guests, and more than 500,000 ft.² of convention’s face. Along with this, there will be more than 300,000 where feet of pools, water slides, and other water park additions.

The property will also be decorated in a number of different items, including a replica of the Great Wall of China, and an enclosure for panda bears. Many people reacted positively to the news of the huge make the resort that was being planned. However, the resort was not positive across the board. One thing is for sure, visitors to the Las Vegas area are certainly going to enjoy the new mega-resort, which should bring many new attractions of the Las Vegas area. The resort will also support some of the largest buildings located on the strip, helping it to stand out.

One group that did take kindly to the news was the northern Las Vegas strip. The area has become a graveyard for shutdown casinos, and casinos that appear to be on their last legs. It is there hope that the opening of the new mega-resort will create an economic boom in northern Las Vegas. The area has been neglected in recent years, with most of the focus being on the southern part of the strip. It will also be a huge win for developers, as the resort is going to be huge and require huge investment from the company. For existing casinos, the announcement of the mega-resort is a bit of a mixed bag. While on one hand some resorts will benefit from the increase in traffic to the northern Las Vegas strip, it will also likely take some business from the southern Las Vegas strip. It remains to be seen how it will pan out in the long-term for existing companies.

With this announcement, the Genting Company has shown that they are completely serious about making a huge investment in the Las Vegas area. With the revenues looking up for casinos across the board on the strip and throughout Las Vegas, the area seems to be going through a bit of a rebirth, following the economic collapse of 2008. It is clear that the Genting Company has faith that things will continue to recover, planning the most ambitious Las Vegas-based project in many years.

April 6, 2013

Costs of Building a Strip Resort Examined Following Mega Resort Announcement

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:40 am

With the recent announcement of the $1 billion mega resort on the Las Vegas strip, it has raised a number of questions about exactly how much it cost companies to build a resort on the strip. Although the $1 billion mega resort is the largest resort planned in recent memory, there’ve been many resorts that have been built for less. The costs of building a strip resort can range greatly depending upon the location, and amenities that are going to be included within the deal. Some of the more common resorts in the price tags that were associated with their creation include;

Flamingo

The Flamingo is a staple of the Las Vegas strip, and just happens to be one of the most cheaply built casinos. Of course, this is partially because the casino was built in 1947, but even adjusted for inflation the flamingo was relatively cheaply built resorts. The resort was originally built by Bugsy Siegel, and the investors within the Mafia that had funded the creation of the resort were so upset with the $4 million price tag, that they had him killed in Beverly Hills. All of the original buildings that were built for the flamingo have since been torn down and rebuilt, with one renovation taking place in 1976 and 1 Taking Pl. In 1993. The flamingo is a 15 acre resort that today has 3626 hotel rooms and 77,000 ft.² of casino space.

Tropicana

The Tropicana originally opened in 1957, and cost a total of $15 million to build. Since that time, the hotel has gone through numerous different ownership groups, and also many different renovations, greatly changing the look of the hotel. In 2009, the hotel transferred ownership in was purchased for a total of $450 million. A renovation took place that cost $180 million, following the new purchase. The hotel has a total of 1500 hotel rooms available, and over 50,000 feet of casino floor space.

Caesars Palace

Quickly after opening, Caesar’s Palace has become a mainstay on the Las Vegas strip. It originally opened in August of 1966, four years after it was originally constructed. It cost a total of $35 million to make, and was obtained from the Teamsters pension fund. Originally, the hotel was only 14 stories tall, and had a total of 680 rooms. Later, there would be many additions and renovations to the property, which has increased its value over time, changing ownership several times since it originally opened.

Mirage

Steve Wynn is most known for being the financier behind the $620 million mirage. It originally opened in November 1989, and since that time has become a staple in Las Vegas. In 2000, MGM bought the property as part of the $6.2 billion deal. That deal also included the Bellagio, as well as treasure Island.

The history of development on the Las Vegas strip is a long and storied one, with great changes in the amount that developers can expect to spend as time goes on. As real estate in Las Vegas became more scarce, the prices went up considerably.

April 4, 2013

Las Vegas Casino Lab Adding 100 Jobs In Two Years

Filed under: Casino — Tags: — OCE News @ 2:39 am

In the last legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill that stated that private gaming test labs would be able to conduct and review casino games, on behalf of the state. This was a job that was largely run by the state prior to the passing of the new law. There was a huge backlog for the state, and allowing private businesses to conduct the test would allow them to remove a great portion of that backlog. One of the biggest recipients from the legislation was BMM Testlabs, which opened a new world headquarters in Las Vegas. The company would not have done so, at the legislation not come through, and was celebrating the opening of test lab use through private companies, for casinos in Las Vegas.

A total of about 100 gaming professional showed up and toured the company’s new headquarters. The headquarters as an expanded 22,000 ft.² facility at 815 pilar wrote. This is located in the warehousing and manufacturing area south of McCarran international Airport.

The company is expecting to grow rapidly over the course of the next five years, as the private companies begin to work through the backlog that the state has piled up in recent years. It will also allow for more efficient testing, which will benefit the casinos as well. Prior to moving into the new headquarters, the company had a 7500 square-foot building on Eastern Avenue in Las Vegas. The company originally arrived in Las Vegas in the year 2000, and with the new legislation the lab quickly outgrew the facility. They needed new space for a wide range of different slot machines that manufacturers had been sending to the company, in order to gain the regulatory approval they require.

The company does testing on a wide range of different devices, from slot machines, Bill validator’s, as well as security systems. It is important that casinos have bodies that review the equipment before it is printed place. The company is looking to change the corporate culture, with the expanded workload that they’ve been bringing on.

The open house was an opportunity for not only the company to celebrate the new legislation, before gaming professionals to celebrate a greatly expedited process. Prior to this, having machines appropriately tested would require months of waiting, as the state attempted to work through the backlog that they had produced. By allowing private companies to do the testing, the process has been greatly expedited, which has allowed the testing companies to expand rapidly, taking advantage of the new testing laws.

Among the attendees at the open house for some of the biggest names in Las Vegas including Bo Bernhard the executive director of UNLV’s international gaming, Steve Sisolak, Gov. Brian Sandoval’s representatives, and a host of other professionals throughout the gaming industry. It will be interesting to see if the new laws allow test labs and facilities to continue to expand rapidly, with more companies moving into the area in order to capitalize. It has greatly expedited the process, and the amount of private companies licensed to operate in the area will likely expand.

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