Author: Casino Connection Staff

Penn protecting its turf with mini-casinos

Penn National won its second license for a Pennsylvania mini-casino last week, after its $7,500,003 bid—$3 over the minimum $7.5 million bid set by November’s casino expansion law—was the only bid submitted in the sixth license auction. It was the fifth satellite casino license awarded by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

A successful bid on a mini-casino, a Category 4 casino under the law, gets the applicant a license to operate up to 750 slot machines. Another $2.5 million fee authorizes up to 30 table games. No mini-casino can be located within a 25-mile radius of an operating casino, and no new casinos can be placed within a 15-mile radius of a satellite casino.

Last week’s auction was conducted under expanded rules after the previous auction for the fifth satellite casino license drew no bidders. Under the rules set up by the gaming law, initial auctions are open only to current land-based Category 1 (racetrack) and Category 2 (stand-alone) licensees with no mini-casino licenses. With no bidders, the auction was opened up to include current satellite-casino licensees, and to the two Category 3 resort casinos, Lady Luck and Valley Forge. Any future no-bid auctions will result in a new auction including operators from outside the current Pennsylvania gaming industry.

Penn National identified the Reading area of Berks County—near its corporate headquarters—as the location of its new mini-casino. While the license fee was required to be submitted by Friday, Penn has six months in which to prepare a formal application including the precise location of its new casino.

It will be an industry-topping fourth Pennsylvania casino license for Penn National. In addition to its flagship Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course outside Harrisburg, Penn is in the process of acquiring Pinnacle Gaming, and its Meadows racino outside of Pittsburgh. Penn secured the first mini-casino license, for a casino within a radius centered in Yoe, York County.

“We’re very pleased to have won our second Category 4 casino license at the minimum required bid of $7.5 million,” said Eric Schippers, Penn National’s senior vice president for public affairs and governmental relations in a press statement. “The coordinates we’ve chosen for our 15-mile radius encompasses a portion of Reading, as well as Lancaster and as far east as Morgantown. While we have not settled on a specific site yet we have a number of viable options to explore in the weeks ahead.”

At $3 over the minimum $7.5 million bid, the new license is a bargain for Penn National, which won the state’s first Category 4 casino for a staggering $50 million bid. Auction bids went down from there until the no-bid auction, after which Penn saw an opportunity to increase its presence in east-central Pennsylvania as a defensive move against potential competitors.

The license for Berks County joins the York County license in Penn’s effort to create a buffer zone to prevent cannibalization of revenues from its flagship Hollywood Casino. Penn, in fact, has a lawsuit pending in the Pennsylvania courts challenging the entire mini-casino provision of the gaming law, on the basis that it creates an unfair competitive environment for its Hollywood property, which sits in an isolated location and draws most of its business from beyond the 25-mile limit specified in the law.

“As in choosing the coordinates for our first Cat 4 license in the York area, we had an eye on defense, as well as offense,” Schippers said. “We draw a lot of business to Hollywood Casino from the Reading and Lancaster areas, and this location will allow us to better protect our market while allowing us to penetrate further into the more populous areas in the western Philadelphia environs.”

The next Category 4 license auction is slated for Wednesday, April 18. If no licensees submit bids for that one, the subsequent auction will be open to bidders outside the state. While the biweekly auctions had been scheduled to end on May 16, more may be required to unload all 10 of the available mini-casino licenses.

Meanwhile, many municipalities are still actively lobbying operators to bid for a Category 4 casino in their areas—none more so than Mercer County, which was left in the cold after a $9.9 million bid from Sands Bethlehem was disqualified because its Mercer County location overlapped the zone of a mini-casino previously won by Mount Airy Resort.

Penn-Northwest Development Corp CEO Randy Seitz, who oversees Mercer County’s economic development agency, told the Sharon Herald the fact Sands (in the process of being sold to the Poarch Tribe of Creek Indians) did not submit a new bid for the area was “not surprising, but it’s disappointing. We’ve been sending letters out to casino license holders and doing everything we can to let folks know that Mercer County has an interest in casinos.”

The Virgin Group-led consortium that has bought Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel plans to outsource casino operations at the iconic off-Strip resort under a financing setup unique to the gaming industry.

Plans call for Virgin to manage the hotel, which will be rebranded as a Virgin property, while Warner Hospitality, the Hard Rock’s current casino management company, will lease the gaming space from the new owners.

The purchase, which closed last week for an undisclosed sum, transfers ownership of the Hard Rock to a group including Richard Bosworth, Juniper Capital Partners, Fengate Real Estate Asset Investments and Virgin Hotels, a division of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

“In this case the landlord is really a new financial structure,” said Bosworth, who heads the consortium. He said the outsourcing is designed to offset the high cost of casino financing in Las Vegas.

“When you look around town and you see there’s been so many stalled construction projects since the great recession, you have to wonder why. It’s certainly not because of the economic dynamics. This town has had record breaking hotel revenues, record breaking food and beverage revenues, record breaking entertainment revenues but it also has record low return on invested capital.

He described the purchase as a “capital-smart and a real estate-smart acquisition, so we can spend hundreds of millions of dollars to transform the property.”

“The property does have strong occupancy Sunday through Thursday,” he said. “But we will be tapping into one of greatest conference and meeting networks in the world that will be affiliated with us and Virgin to drive strong convention conference business. And that will give is a much more profitable lift.”

Details of the transformation are still being thought out, he said. At this stage, according to Virgin, plans for a redesign envision 1,504 rooms, suites and penthouse suites, a newly renovated 60,000-square foot casino, seven new restaurants and three nightclubs and bars.

Major work is slated to begin early next year, targeting back of the house and pool areas to minimize the impact on guests. Extensive renovations will follow in the spring with the makeover completed by late fall, Virgin said.

Visitation rates to Atlantic City continued to fall in 2017, according to transportation statistics.

Visit-trips to Atlantic City in 2017 were 24.1 million, a 1.2 percent decrease over the previous year’s 24.4 million, according to a report from the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University. The figures are compiled by the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

The total represents the lowest visit-trip figure since 1982, when there were 22.9 million visit-trips.

Though the visitation figures continue to decline, the city is hoping for a rebound in 2018 as two new casinos—The Hard Rock Atlantic City on the site of the former Taj Mahal casino and the Ocean Resort casino on the site of the former Revel casino—are scheduled to open this summer. A city campus for Stockton University is also scheduled to open this fall as well as other entertainment and tourist attractions.

“Both casino and hotel properties have supersized casino floors and ample space to include celebrity chef restaurants, exciting entertainment venues, conference and business facilities plus other amenities to attract non-gaming business,” the report said. “The new arrivals to the Atlantic City tourism market can certainly be expected to generate considerable publicity and large crowds. … The result of all this activity should be a significant surge in visit-trips to Atlantic City this summer.”

However, the report warned that the initial surge of interest in the city’s new attractions does not assure that they will continue to generate increased visitation going forward.

In other Atlantic City news, New Jersey State Senator Chris Brown sent a letter to Governor Phil Murphy asking state government to provide Atlantic County with 13.5 percent of the payments in lieu of property taxes that Atlantic City casinos, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

“All along, I have said we should not right-size the city’s budget off the backs of Atlantic County families,” Brown said in the letter. “That is why we were all very disappointed when Governor Chris Christie broke his promise by failing to provide the 13.5 percent in property tax relief. As I informed Murphy Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Kelley, this amounts to $4 million a year in property tax relief for our local families and retirees.”

Atlantic City casinos were put into the payment in lieu of taxes scheme under state law for 10 years in an effort to halt consistent tax appeals by the casino that were ravaging the city’s budget. Atlantic County says they were initially promised 13.5 percent of the collected money, but ultimately received only 10.4 percent.

While the county actually received more tax money from the casinos, they were removed from the county’s ratable base which resulted in higher taxes for other county municipalities, officials have said.

Atlantic County has since sued the state, arguing the PILOT is unconstitutional and that it should be repealed.

MGM Growth Properties, a spinoff of MGM Resorts International, has announced its purchase of the Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park in Northfield, Ohio, for $1.06 billion from Milstein Entertainment LLC. The company owned the racetrack prior to the opening of the Hard Rock Rocksino and will no longer be involved in the operations. The contract with Hard Rock International, which runs the property, was part of the sale, so it’s likely a new tenant will be recruited.

The rocksino has more than 2,300 video lottery terminals, retail, food and beverage, entertainment venues and a racetrack. The facility is licensed and managed by Hard Rock, which will continue under the ownership of MGM Growth Properties.

MGM Growth Properties, which owns a dozen MGM-branded casino properties, including three in Las Vegas, says it wants to sell the operating contract of the property to a willing operator (OpCo). It will rent the property for up to $60 million a year.

Union Gaming Group’s John DeCree says the deal makes sense for MGP and there should be no rush to find a new tenant.

“While we anticipate there are a number of interested parties in the Rocksino OpCo, we see no need for MGP to rush and sell the gaming license at a discount,” DeCree wrote in a note to investors. “First, MGP has ample TRS capacity, up to 20 percent of net income worth $55 million-$65 million based on our model and even more flexibility beyond that. The company could keep the asset on the books indefinitely without risking its REIT status. In addition, we believe MGM could serve as a backstop buyer if no one else is willing to pay a fair price. While regional casinos aren’t among MGM’s strategic priorities, MGM does own around 73 percent of MGP and has a significant economic interest in the deal being successful. If MGM did step in as the OpCo buyer, we believe the deal would be accretive and strategically beneficial, giving MGM access to a new and attractive presence in Cleveland.”

The plan is to close the deal in the second half of the year, using a mixture of cash and rent.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the change of control of the casino license for Valley Forge Casino Resort outside of Philadelphia from Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, L.P. to Boyd Gaming Corporation.

The approval authorizes Boyd Gaming’s first Pennsylvania casino license. Valley Forge is a Category 3 casino, which under the latest addition to the state’s gaming law is limited to 750 slot machines attached to a hotel.

Under the agreement approved by the board, the license held since March 2011 by Valley Forge Convention Center Partners, L.P. will be transferred to Las Vegas-based Boyd, which operates more than 20 casinos across the U.S.

The Board also included in its approval the requirement that Boyd Gaming must pay to the commonwealth a change-of-control fee of $1.35 million.

A PowerPoint presentation provided by representatives of Boyd Gaming is available as part of the April 4, 2018 information under the Meetings tab on the PGCB’s web site, gamingcontrolboard.pa.gov.

Commenting at the board’s hearing last week, Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smith said Pennsylvania’s recent approval of online gaming was a key reason the operator is entering the state.

Florida lawmakers are floating the idea of calling a special session on April 23 to address the possibility of losing more hundreds of millions dollars annually in casino revenue sharing payments from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. House Speaker Richard Corcoran said, “The Seminoles’ potential to completely walk away jeopardizes the stability of the state budget. We would be forced to cut between $390 and $441 million in general revenue, or we would have to allow our reserves to be drained, which could jeopardize our state bond rating.”

Senate President-designate Bill Galvano “no date has been set” for a special session, but if one were to be scheduled it would take place prior to the end of the fiscal year on June 30. McKinley Lewis, a spokesman for Governor Rick Scott, said Scott was “made aware that the legislature was looking at this issue” and “will review any proposal they put forward.”

In the last fiscal year, the Seminoles paid the state slightly more than $290 million as part of a 2010 agreement guaranteeing the tribe exclusivity to offer blackjack and other banked card games. The Seminoles sued the state because it allowed a hybrid of poker and blackjack the tribe claimed was too similar to blackjack, to which they have the exclusive right to offer in Florida.

The Seminoles and the state settled a lawsuit over blackjack, allowing them to offer the game until 2030. However, the Tribe’s continued payments to the state depend on state gambling regulators conducting “aggressive enforcement” against games that encroach on the tribe’s exclusivity. Tribal attorney Barry Richard said, “The tribe is satisfied” that the Department of Business and Professional Regulation has been “acting aggressively, closing down designated player games at parimutuels that operated them.”

The tribe and the state had agreed to a “forbearance period” which ended March 31. Now the tribe may stop making revenue sharing payments. Richard said, “They’re not just going to stop paying just because they have the right to.” However, he stated if legislators return with the same offers they made in the most recent session, “that won’t fly. They’ll look at what happens with pending litigation. If any of that fails to resolve the problem, and the problem becomes significant enough, then they might look at something. And that might not mean a complete termination of payments. The only reason the tribe would terminate payment is if they think there is a substantial impact on their financial circumstances, or they think they are paying too much money for the exclusivity — given that it’s been infringed upon. Then, they would terminate or reduce the payments.”

The Seminoles have sued 25 operators of so-called electronic gambling parlors in the Jacksonville area, claiming those operations violate the tribe’s exclusivity deal with the state. Richard said most likely the tribe will see how those cases are resolved before determining whether or not to cease payments to the state. A trial is set for June 27.

The Seminoles also are defending an appeal of a ruling by a Tallahassee judge that pre-reveal games are illegal slots.

Richard added the tribe remains open to talks with legislators. “If the legislature wants to bring them a proposal that’s been signed off on by everybody, they are happy to look at it,” he said. However, “The tribe doesn’t want to have non-productive conversation with one chamber or the legislature, or some members of leadership, and then have it go back to others who disagree with it.”

Richard summarized, “Knowing the tribe, they don’t act precipitously. They don’t want to change their relationship with the state. They’ll only do it if they perceive circumstances to be a meaningful threat to their economic well-being. Or if they think if they’re paying a lot of money and not getting what they’re paying for.”

The Seminoles and Disney Worldwide are the primary backers of a constitutional amendment that will appear on the November ballot, requiring voters statewide to approve any future expansion of gambling. If 60 percent of voters approve the measure, legislators will have less influence over all gaming decisions, though the amendment includes a carve-out to allowing lawmakers “to negotiate gaming compacts for the conduct of casino gambling on tribal lands.”

John Sowinski, president of No Casinos, the group behind the amendment, wrote in a letter to Corcoran and Senate President Joe Negron, “If ever there was an issue that the Legislature has already spent too much time, energy, intellectual capacity and political capital, it is gambling.” He said the idea of calling a special session was a “last ditch effort by gambling interests” and “a fictional crisis manufactured by gambling lobbyists. You can tell the gambling interests and assure the people of Florida that public policy is not for sale in Tallahassee by resisting gambling lobbyist pressure for a special session. Convening a special session that will be seen as a genuflection to the gambling industry would provide voters with a perfect illustration of why Amendment 3 is so badly needed.”

In February, MGM Chairman & CEO Jim Murren denied that his company was interested in buying Wynn Resorts, which at that time was in disarray following accusations against its former chairman, Steve Wynn. Since that time, Wynn has resigned from the company and sold all his shares, thereby severing all ties. This could relieve regulatory pressures, particularly in Massachusetts and Macau.

Wynn successor, CEO Matt Maddox, has said the company isn’t for sale.

But last week, the New York Post ran a story quoting anonymous sources that said MGM has approached Wynn executives via back-channel means to probe whether the company interest in selling. One source told the newspaper that he thought Maddox would sell “if the price were right”

One of the regulatory issues that still faces Wynn Resorts is the fact that there have been few changes to a board that was loyal to Steve Wynn, and supposedly should have known about a $7.5 million harassment settlement made by Wynn personally, but not revealed in regulatory filings in Massachusetts. That lack of movement could mean a sale in imminent, said the Post story.

“That inference corroborates to me that there will be a sale,” said a gaming source quoted in the story.

A perceived hurdle, however, would be the situation in Macau, where MGM and Wynn, along with Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands, are the only American operators. With a trade war ramping up between the U.S. and China, these licenses could be pulled starting in 2020, when they begin to expire.

The stock price for both companies rose briefly on the report, before settling back to their normal levels.

Although the $2.4 billion Wynn Boston Harbor continues to rise towards its planned mid-2019 opening, it does so under an “at risk basis,” according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. While that sword hangs over the project’s neck the commission’s investigators continue their months long investigation to find out whether Wynn Resorts was in on the effort to hide the sexual harassment charges against Steve Wynn and the payments he made as a result. Wynn has publicly denied all of the charges made against him, saying, “The idea that I ever assaulted any woman is preposterous.”

It makes a difference whether it was Wynn only who kept that secret, or whether the company that bears his name colluded to keep the commission from finding out when it was deciding what company to award a gaming license to for the Boston metro gaming zone.

Meanwhile, now that Wynn has resigned and has sold off all his stock interests, the company is trying to move forward. Although few think the casino won’t be completed, there is a definite possibility it could be finished by another developer and the almost certainty that it won’t be called Wynn Boston Harbor when it opens for business.

The company continues to operate two prime properties in Las Vegas and three in Macau.

Regarding the ultimate fate of the casino last week Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby stated, “I have said repeatedly that for now we must proceed with the Everett project as planned and be thoughtfully mindful of the thousands of people whose jobs may be affected by this issue and of the long-term economic benefits envisioned by this project, but as a practical matter… Wynn Resorts proceeds with this project on an at-risk basis.”

The casino is more than half completed. While the company could operate the high-rise hotel and convention center without the casino license, it wouldn’t be a fully completed resort. In that event Wynn would probably sell the building—possibly at a loss— and property to another casino company that would be able to get the commission’s approval.

Meanwhile, the company is moving towards changing the casino’s name. Last week the casino’s President Robert DeSalvio told the commission “We are absolutely considering a re-branding of the project, and we’ll have an announcement on that at a later date. It’s under active consideration right now.”

Last week the commission held one of its regular quarterly reviews of the project’s construction. Commissioner Edward Bedrosian reminded those present that giving this a pass wasn’t the same thing as a “prejudgment” on the investigation, which he said he expects to conclude by the summer.

That investigation was sparked by a Wall Street Journal report in January that said many Wynn employees had spoken of “behavior that cumulatively would amount to a decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Wynn.” One accusation was that in 2005 Wynn forced a manicurist to have sex with him and later paid her a $7.5 million settlement.

In a follow up story last week, the Journal reported that high ups in the company “enabled” Wynn’s activities.

DeSalvio told the panel that the project is on schedule for a June 2019 opening but that it needs financing. That may not have been helped by Crosby’s “on an at-risk basis,” comments.

One of the possible branding names under consideration may be a variation on “Encore,” a company that is also owned by the Wynn company.

On the question of whether high ups in the company knew about Wynn’s sexual accusations, Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn told a court hearing last week that in 2009 she had given the Wynn Resorts general counsel information about the rape accusation. The attorney denies this. Investigators for the commission attended the hearing.

There have been repeated public calls for removing the Wynn name from the company, including an opinion piece published by Attorney General Maura Healey and a public statement by Governor Charlie Baker.

MGM Springfield

MGM Resorts International is pulling out all the stops in its efforts to fill positions in advance of the September opening of its $960 million MGM Springfield. Last week the developer posted more than a thousand job openings on its website.

The casino developer has committed to hiring more than a third of the workforce from Springfield. This could make a dent in the city’s 6.6 percent unemployment, which compares to 4 percent for the state.

Most of the listings are in food and beverage, such as cooks and servers, cooks and chefs, bartenders, waiters, hosts, managers, kitchen staff and a banquet manager. But there is a “wide range” of jobs available, according to vice president of human resources Marikate Murren, including locksmiths, carpenters and painters. Needing employees are the hotel, restaurants, a bowling alley, cinema, spa and retail shops. Most of the jobs are fulltime. Most of them will be union-friendly. The average annual salary for the jobs is $40,000.

Last week MGM held an open house where potential workers met representatives of the restaurants and other vendors who will be selling food and beverages at the casino such as Cal Mare restaurant, Chandler Steakhouse, TAP Sports Bar and the South End Market, which is sort of a large food court. That included Anthony Caratozzolo, vice president of food and beverage for MGM Springfield, and executive chef Nate Waugaman.

MGM spokesman Saverio Mancini told the Republican, “There was a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of excitement. People are eager and looking forward to the job opportunities. People can’t wait to apply and we’re excited for them.”

One of the more public hires has been veteran Springfield police officer Sgt. John Delaney, who was once an undercover drug cop and now, after 35 years on the force, will be a top security executive in the casino’s. He started on April 2.

On the day of his retirement Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno proclaimed “Sgt. John Delaney Day.” The retired cop served from the age of 19 in 1980 to the present. He told an assembled crowd, “I wanted to be a cop ever since I was 11 years old. I never wanted to be anything else.”

Some of his career was high profile and was chronicled in the Springfield Daily News. Others was under the radar as an undercover detective living among the lowlifes. Working under eight chiefs and commissioners, eventually Delaney earned titles like “Hometown Hero,” from the American Red Cross and “Friendliest Cop” from the local newspaper. He eventually became an executive aide and spokesman for one commissioner who had once been his partner until a few years ago when the commissioner retired.

The casino project in the city’s South End will cover three city blocks, including 2 million square feet of new construction mixed with restoring and renovating historic structures or parts of structures.

It will offer 125,000 SF of gaming space, a 250-room hotel, cinema, bowling alley, dining and retail.

None of the hiring that MGM does is haphazard. Before MGM was awarded the license to build in Springfield it analyzed the labor market to determine where it would hire the 3,000 workers it would need.

It noted, for instance that the area has a higher than normal percentage of single parents and people with criminal records. In response MGM included a day care center in the resort and asked lawmakers to amend the law that authorized gaming in the state to make it easier to hire ex-cons. As result many classes of jobs were exempted from the ban on former offenders being hired by casinos. It also started a school for poker and blackjack dealers because the area had few who had experience in that line of work.

MGM also sent recruiters to area senior centers, veterans clubs, vocational schools and even churches to drum up interest. They even studied unemployment data and layoffs to find potential recruits.

One of the primary reasons the city got behind the MGM casino was to revive a city that had been badly mauled by a 2011 tornado and a long decline in manufacturing.

That’s a cause MGM President Michael Mathis can get behind. Last week at the Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute gaming school, which is on the ninth floor of MGM Springfield’s administrative offices, Mathis declared, “We’re looking for a renaissance.”

He watched while students who ranged in age from early 20s to 70s, learned how to deal blackjack. One of them, a 71-year old Springfield resident born and raised, says he always wanted to work in a casino. He told the Boston Globe, “I have a knee issue. But . . . you can just put that aside, take a couple of Tylenol, and we’re all set to go.”

The school is a collaborative effort between MGM and two area community colleges and helps address the casino’s need for 450 table game dealers and 100 poker dealers. One of the colleges also opened a culinary school to address the shortage of cooks in the area after MGM gave it a $500,000 grant.

The casino has been conducting classes for dealers since February. Even so, the school is operating at half capacity. The school’s director told the Boston Globe that this might be because of the “novelty” of the jobs, the fear of math-related jobs and anxiety about background checks. Also, it costs $400 a week to attend, although those who ultimately are hired will be reimbursed.

To further address the cost factor MGM is working with local agencies, such as the New England Farm Works Council, to obtain scholarships for those who can’t afford classes.

Blackjack class takes 160 hours to complete.

Besides learning about such things as where to keep your hands to avoid looking suspicious, students also learn how to develop a friendly “gift for gab” and keep the players entertained.

Says one trainer, “We only want you to be cordial, have fun and enjoy yourselves with the customers. In return, we want that return business. There’s a lot of places people can go. They want to go somewhere where they can enjoy themselves, have fun and become part of the family.”

Good dealers can make two or three times their hourly pay in tips.

The New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority—saying they were taking advantage in a renewed interest in development in Atlantic City—has sold more than 90 properties in the resort at auction for more than $570,000.

The live public auction at the Atlantic City Convention Center saw a total of 92 properties sold in 23 packages and grossed $574,000, according to the Press of Atlantic City. The auction included 16 packages, or 84 lots, with developable land and seven packages, or eight lots, of nonconforming lots. The sales are subject to CRDA board approval.

“It’s just the right time for us to do this,” CRDA Executive Director Christopher Howard told the paper. “There’s a lot of excitement in the city, a lot of great projects coming in. So, it’s a good time for us to unload some of these properties, get them back on the tax rolls and encourage further development.”

Maximillian M. Spann Jr., president and CEO of Max Spann Real Estate and Auction Co which handled the auction for the authority told the Press the company has been involved with several urban property sales in recent years, including in Atlantic City, Jersey City and Newark.

“What we’ve been seeing, in places like Atlantic City, is there’s a definite movement back toward the urban areas,” he said. “Which is wonderful. We’re starting to see places that have been in decline all of a sudden have renewed interest and younger people wanting to come here. I think it’s great on a bunch of different levels.”

Spann also auctioned properties in the resort on behalf of the city itself in December. That sale netted more than $1.6 million in revenue.

Resorts Casino Hotel announced that IGT’s Dynasty Electronic Tables Games blackjack, roulette and baccarat are now live on property. The new technology delivers traditional table games via one live dealer facing multiple individual players, each equipped with an individual touchscreen betting terminal, the casino said in a press release.

This installation also features IGT’s Live Dealer solution that allows players to sit at one of the touchscreen terminals and connect to live table games taking place throughout the casino floor.

“We’re excited to be the first casino in Atlantic City to offer IGT’s Dynasty Table Games,” said Joe Cavilla, vice president of casino operations for Resorts. “They enable novice and experienced players to enjoy their favorite table games in a unique environment. Each player can create their own unique way of playing multiple games at once, or just one game at a time.”

As its September opening approaches, the MGM Springfield is releasing more details on its $960 million casino resort. However, on one phase it is requesting an extra year from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.

Last week it released more details to the MGC, including plans for free downtown shuttle and a request to add more gaming tables and cut back on some slots.

It asked for an extra year to work with the city to partially fund at $11 million the restoration of an historic building on Elm Street to provide 54 units of market rate housing in the South End.

However, nothing appears to be standing in the way of a successful opening in September.

MGM President Michael Mathis told the panel, “The stars are aligned for really a wonderful opening and we are incredibly excited.”

He revealed that the casino and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority are negotiating a free shuttle bus that would serve the downtown with electric power buses.

MGM wants to change its focus toward more table games, poker and interactive slots that appeal to millennials, cutting the number of gaming “positions” by 333.

MGM is planning to use the restored historic State Armory building as a multipurpose space for events, food, beverage and retail.

All such changes must be approved by the MGC.

Negotiations between Florida House and Senate lawmakers over a gambling bill fell apart on the last day of the session, March 9. That could have been state legislators’ last chance to have input on gambling issues, because if 60 percent of voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment in November, voters will have to approve any future gambling laws. That means voters would determine the legality of fantasy sports, pre-reveal games, greyhound racing and the expansion of slot machines.

The failed legislation would have renewed the state’s compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which pays the state $300 million a year for the exclusive right to offer blackjack and other games. Barry Richard, who represents the tribe, said the Seminoles had hoped lawmakers would preserve the tribe’s exclusivity in any gaming deal.

“Beyond that, I think it’s just a matter of whether or not the legislature proposes a deal that makes sense to the tribe. They would be able to make the same deal with the tribe that they could have made before, except they can’t expand gaming outside of the tribal lands,” Richard said.

The current Seminole Compact extends to 2030. The proposed voter amendment, if it passes, would not affect any future deal with the tribe.

Operators of the three struggling racinos in Delaware hoping for a quick passage to Senate Bill 144 to get tax relief were disappointed last week when the state Senate Finance Committee decided to shelve a bill that would have returned $20 million annually to the racinos through tax cuts and breaks on annual fees.

Committee members agreed to set the bill aside at the request of Governor John Carney, who asked that the lawmakers wait until after revenue reports are in to the state on franchise and personal income taxes.

The bill would have changed the state slot revenue tax from 43 percent to a sliding scale ranging from 32 percent to 43.5 percent, slash the revenue tax on table games from 30 percent to 15 percent, and eliminate the annual $3 million table-game licensing fee.

The three racinos have been begging the state for tax relief for years, as they have been struggling against new competition in Maryland and Pennsylvania. So far, the legislature has shot the request down every year since the formation of a blue-ribbon panel of state and industry officials first proposed the tax breaks four years ago.

According to a report at Calvinayre.com, state Finance Secretary Rick Geisenberger assured the lawmakers that the Carney administration is open to changing the tax structure, but wants to wait until its exact cost to the state is known.

“It’s premature before we have a better sense of our March collections from corporate franchise tax and our April collections from personal income tax to be resolving this issue,” Geisenberger said, according to the news outlet. “But once we have that better picture, it would be more timely.”