Trends, News & Interesting Reads

As casino entertainment expands in Europe the Catalonian Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it has granted approval to Hard Rock Entertainment World to build an integrated casino resort in Spain's Catalan region. The resort will include Vegas games, luxury hotel rooms, shopping and entertainment.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tarragona is scheduled to be completed in 3 years and the project will begin to be built as soon as HRI secures the necessary building permits and submits a €10m deposit.

Hard Rock is working with the Banyan Tree Holdings to develop a $2 billion casino along Vietnam's eastern seaboard. The Cu Du Village site will operate with deposit and no deposit gaming options so that each visitor can play in a way that meets his or her individual gaming level and betting level.

Rumors of the casino project have been floating around since the beginning of the year. Plans call for Hard Rock to contribute approximately $100 million to cover costs for the gaming and entertainment sections of the complex which also includes residential hill villas built at Cu Du Village. 

In a ruling with wide-ranging applications the United States Supreme Court ruled on May 14^th that the Grande Vegas casino and other gambling operations can offer sports betting in all states outside of Nevada. The court based its ruling on the 10^th Amendment, saying that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional. The SCOTUS ruling paves the way for legalized sports betting across the U.S.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, wrote “Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not. PASPA ‘regulate[s] state governments’ regulation’ of their citizens…..the Constitution gives Congress no such power.”

Artificial Intelligence is a natural fit for gaming designers who use the technology to design entirely new types of Vegas online games and other video adventures that stretch the bounds of human imagination.

AI isn't bound by tradition and precedent. These are distinct advantages in game design that sets the stage for new types of creativity and innovation. Best of all, designing games with AI may lower the cost of game development.

The astounding success of existing Asian casinos is causing developers to do everything that they can to expand. The casinos being built include small, intimate casino sites and large, opulent venues. While no deposit gaming is still offered by online casino sites, Asian casinos present gamers with options for high stakes gaming as well as casual gambling activities.

Japan is getting its feet wet in the world of casino entertainment while in the Philippines a project that could have a massive positive impact on the region stalled. Some highlights of recent happenings:  

Today there are only 2 women among the 34 highest-paid executives in Nevada's Vegas games industry. There are only 3 women among the 50 most senior executives at the 10 most prominent gaming companies. The percentage of women board members of these companies is only slightly better. Why?

A court ruling in Austria regarding a casino's responsibility for a gambling addict's losses may compel other countries to review their own policies. Most countries protect the casino businesses by limiting casino's culpability for gambling addicts' losses.  Now there's more pressure on the Grande Vegas casino and other land-based and online casinos to act more carefully to exclude compulsive gamblers from the games.

The Austrian Appeals Court has ruled that the two casinos where compulsive gambler Christian Hainz lost almost half a million pounds must reimburse him for his losses, based on their failure to keep the known gambling addict out of the casino. Courts in other countries are reviewing the Austrian case as they consider who bears responsibility for fueling a gambler's obsessive gambling behaviors.  

Over the last few months things have been moving quickly for Elaine Wynn. Ms. Wynn was embroiled in a court case with her husband for many years as he tried to exclude her from the decision-making process in the Vegas games company that she helped him start.

But since December, when news of Steve Wynn's sexual misconduct became public and he was forced to step down as company CEO, Elaine's star has been rising. First, Ms. Wynn finalized an agreement with Wynn that resolved all outstanding legal issues and allowed both parties to sell their shares in Wynn Resorts. Steve Wynn immediately sold his entire portfolio of Wynn shares, making Elaine Wynn the majority shareholder in Wynn Resorts.

A bill that would have allowed MGM to build a new Bridgeport casino was shot down last week in the Connecticut State Senate, leaving the state with only its online Vegas casino for online gamers as well as two Indian casinos that are operated by the Mohegan and Pequot tribes. 

For thieves, getting your hands on a state lottery jackpot is like breaking the bank at an Vegas online casino. The cash is there and the opportunities are present. Since lotteries were made legal in the United States and Canada, numerous incidents have come to light to indicate that people are coming up with increasingly sophisticated methods of defrauding the lottery.

We know about those who have been caught. Are there others? One case study in the complexities of catching a lottery thief: