Gambling in the USA

Pennsylvania House passes massive gambling bill

Published

6 years ago

October 30, 2017

The biggest gambling expansion in Pennsylvania since it first authorized casinos more than a decade ago cleared the last hurdle Thursday to get to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk, where it awaited an uncertain fate.

The bill, a couple years in the making, emerged Wednesday evening, and won quick passage in the Legislature, despite opponents’ protests that they barely had a chance to read it, warnings that it carried unforeseen consequences and complaints that it was packed with sweetheart deals.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Thursday, 109-72, with support from Republican and Democratic leaders.

Wolf, a Democrat, will work in the next few days to evaluate and make a decision on the gambling legislation, his office said Thursday.

The plan would expand casino-style gambling to truck stops, online portals, airports and 10 new mini-casino sites.

It would make Pennsylvania the first state to allow both casino and lottery games online, in a quest for money from new and younger players. It also would pave the way for the struggling Pennsylvania Lottery – which funds programs for the elderly – to begin offering keno.
The bill was part of a broader package to break a four-month budget stalemate over how to stitch together Pennsylvania’s deficit-riddled finances.

Lawmakers hope to squeeze another $200 million a year or more from casino license fees and taxes on gambling losses. New gambling cash would also flow to decade-old property tax rebates and local government treasuries, institutions and development projects.

Pennsylvania is already the nation’s No. 2 commercial casino state, netting $1.4 billion in taxes from the industry in the most recent fiscal year.

New Jersey, which has the nation-leading internet gambling market, would welcome the expansion of player pools and prizes, if it reaches a reciprocal agreement with Pennsylvania gambling regulators.

The expansion of casino sites throughout Pennsylvania, however, could further damage Atlantic City’s casinos, whose loss of five of its 12 casinos began when Pennsylvania casinos started opening in 2006.

Opponents warn that the measure will cause an “explosion” of gambling.

“We will become a gambling state without parallel,” said Rep. Steve McCarter, D-Montgomery.

It also drew complaints from lawmakers that they had had little opportunity to understand the implications of the complicated, 470-page bill and that it is packed with pet provisions for certain casinos or lawmakers.

Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware, called it “corporate welfare for casinos and special carve outs for special people.”

For instance, one provision that would repeal a long-standing limit on casino ownership in Pennsylvania could moot a lawsuit that has held up construction of the Live! Hotel & Casino in Philadelphia for nearly three years.

Another provision would protect much of northeastern Pennsylvania around Mount Airy Casino Resort – founded by billionaire Louis DeNaples – from the construction of a mini-casino that could potentially compete for gamblers. Delaware County would get greater control over a portion of the taxes from Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino that goes toward area development projects.

Yet another provision would effectively direct an extra pot of cash to counties with lower performing casinos this year.

The provision allowing truck stops to operate up to five slot-machine-style machines, called video gaming terminals, caught the attention of House Gaming Oversight Committee Chairman Scott Petri, R-Bucks. He said the bill carried a raft of unintended consequences, including a definition of truck stops that is “so broad, anything you think of as a convenience store is a truck stop.”

“You literally could drive a truck through the definition and its ability to be misused,” he said.

Pennsylvania-headquartered Penn National said it will consider suing over the gambling package, if it becomes law, because of the “uniquely punitive impact” on the Hollywood Casino it owns in suburban Harrisburg.

That prompted Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, to question why Mount Airy Casino would get special protection from the competition of a new mini-casino, but Hollywood Casino would not.

The bill would allow each of Pennsylvania’s casinos to bid on a mini-casino license allowing up to 750 slot machines and 30 table games. Bidding would start at $7.5 million, with a table games certificate costing an extra $2.5 million.

It would also restore a requirement that casinos pay roughly $140 million annually to their host communities, a mandate struck down by the state Supreme Court last year because it treated casinos differently.
___

Associated Press reporter Wayne Parry in Atlantic City, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

Source

George Miller

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

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Gambling in the USA

Boom In 2021 March Madness Wagering Reflects Expansion of Legal Betting Market

Published

3 years ago

March 24, 2021

George Miller

Boom In 2021 March Madness Wagering Reflects Expansion of Legal Betting Market

Online sports betting operators are set to see record-breaking wagering on March Madness this year.

The three-week long, single-elimination, seven-round NCAA college basketball tournament got underway in Indiana on March 18 and runs until the Championship final on April 5.

The dramatic growth of sports betting popularity over the last two years has been attributed to the ever-expanding US legal market which has seen 14 new legal jurisdictions open up and offer legal sports gambling. This equates to almost 74 million more Americans being able to safely and legally bet on March Madness this year.

The latest state to offer sports betting was North Carolina which went legal on March 18 just in time for bettors to get involved in the March Madness action.

17.8 million say they will place a bet online, up 206% from 5.8 million in 2019.

According to a report published by the American Gaming Association (‘AGA’) $8.5 billion was gambled on March Madness in 2019 by 5.8 million people.

With 45% of American adults now living in a state with legalized sports betting the number of people doing their March Madness betting online is expected to top 17 million in 2021.

Offline bets are also estimated to increase this year with the number of Americans placing their college basketball bets at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks nearly doubling.

March Madness Key Dates:

March 18-19: First Round
March 20-21: Second Round
March 25-26: Sweet 16
March 27-28: Elite Eight
April 3: Final Four
April 5: National Championship

2021 March Madness Wagering Estimates

47.4 million American adults are expecting to bet on March Madness this year. That’s more than 20% of the population!

Although that’s about the same number that indicated they would bet on the tournament in 2019, the number of people betting with a sportsbook is set to rise dramatically.

Other key findings reported by the American Gaming Association:

30.6 million Americans expect to place more traditional NCAA March Madness bets with sportsbooks on this year’s tournament, up from 17.8 million in 2019.
8.3 million expect to place a bet at a physical sportsbook, up 79% from 2019.
36.7 million Americans say they will fill out a bracket, down 8 percent from 2019.

Bill Miller, President and CEO, American Gaming Association said “The sports betting landscape has changed dramatically since 2019 – and as a result, tournament betting has transformed. With more legal, regulated options than ever before, millions of customers now have safer ways to enjoy all the fun and suspense only March Madness provides.”

This year, due to the global pandemic, the tournament will be held entirely in a single state (Indiana) with the Championship final game scheduled for April 5 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

According to Vegas-Odds.com futures betting data from online sportsbooks – the teams most likely to take home the Championship trophy are the Gonzaga Bulldogs (+170), Baylor Bears (+375) and the Houston Cougars (+800).

More March Madness Facts & Stats:

Gaming analysts Eilers & Krejcik estimated that if all 50 U.S. states had legal online sports betting, sportsbooks would handle $15.2 billion in total bets for March Madness alone, grossing about $1.2 billion of revenue.
Interest in this NCAA men’s college basketball tournament is up slightly from 2019 with 26% of Americans saying they are very interested in March Madness, compared to 23% two years ago.
Regulated Vs International Sportsbooks : $3.9 billion of bets will come mostly by way of international websites and bookmakers, though 4.1 million people will also place legal wagers through licensed U.S based casinos & sportsbook operators.
The betting odds of predicting all 63 March Madness games correctly is 1 in 9.2 quintillion!
The longest winning streak of NCAA tournament bracket picks to start the March Madness tournament stands at an astonishing 49, with an Ohio bettor correctly predicting the entire 2019 NCAA tournament into the Sweet 16 stage.

casino

California to compete with Las Vegas

Published

6 years ago

December 22, 2017

George Miller

Casino operators in California are investing in the business to be able to compete with Las Vegas.

Casino operators in the State of California are innovating the market to strengthen its potential and be able to compete with the neighbouring city of Las Vegas, the most renowned gaming hub of the country. According to a recent study, 27 percent of tourists in Las Vegas come from the state of California.

Therefore, local native tribes that operate casinos in the region decided to further invest in innovative gaming services for residents and boost the regional economy. The operators are planning to improve current casino services by adding “integrated resorts, complete with shops, restaurants, spas and various other entertainment activities.”

Katherine Spilde, director of Sycuan Institute on Government Gaming at San Diego State University, explained: “The tribes are really responding to a mature tourist market.” And added: The integrated resort is the evolved model of gaming where the gaming is just one part of the larger experience.”

Meanwhile, the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians has recently held a pre-inauguration event celebrating the upcoming casino in California. The ceremony was held last Monday and authorities lifted white beams containing the signatures of tribal members, casino employees and construction workers to the top of the frame of the six-story hotel.

Gambling in the USA

Pollard Equities Limited to support Scientific Games/NYX Gaming merger

Published

6 years ago

December 21, 2017

George Miller

Canadian investment firm, Pollard Equities Limited has announced it has reached an agreement with NYX Gaming Group and Scientific Games Corporation to support the proposed acquisition of NYX by Scientific Games for $631m.

A shareholders meeting to discuss the proposed acquisition is scheduled for the 20 December in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The acquisition can proceed if a majority in number of NYX shareholders present and voting, either in person or by proxy, represent at least 75% in value of the NYX ordinary shares held by those NYX shareholders present and voting, either in person or by proxy (excluding those shares already held by Scientific Games) or by a simple majority of the votes cast by the holders of NYX ordinary shares.

At present Pollard Equities Limited owns 8,621,300 ordinary shares of NYX and 4,000,000 warrants having upped its number of warrants last month in a CDN$120,000 deal bringing its potential stake in NYX Gaming up to 11.2%.