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Moving up Troy Simpson has been named Executive Vice President and Assistant General Manager of Barona Resort & Casino in San Diego, California. A veteran of nearly 20 years in the sector, he has most recently been Barona’s Senior Vice President of Innovation.
Number-crunching Gaming regulators in Republika Srpska, the country sometimes known as the Serb Republic, are to use the Central Monitoring system from ComTrade to collect accounting data from gaming venues. The system is based on open standards from the Gaming Standards Association.
Into europe The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has opened its first European office in London, and named Tracy Cohen as Director of Europe. She will also continue in her role as Marketing Manager at TCSJohnHuxley while working for AGEM part-time. Sixteen of the association’s 108 members are based in Europe and another 12 have “significant operations” there, said AGEM.
Live online Scandinavian online operator Betsafe is to use technology from Evolution Gaming to provide players with TV-quality video streaming of casino games to their PCs. A two-year deal will involve Evolution delivering Blackjack, Baccarat and Roulette games with live dealers, real tables and real cards.
Standard bearers Bulgaria’s Euro Games Technology and Multimedia Games of Texas have joined the Gaming Standards Association.
Signed up Signs4U has inked a deal with Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies of the Phillipines, which will market its casino signage in Asia.
Gli island Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) has opened a Caribbean office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, led by former local regulator Luis de Valle. The Puerto Rico Tourism Company recently engaged GLI as its exclusive supplier of testing services for gaming.
Unhappy valley Authorities in Nepal are considering relocating the country’s casinos out of the Kathmandu Valley. Currently there are eight casinos in hotels in Kathmandu, the capital, as well as two in Pokhara, but they have recently been subject to police raids – Nepali citizens are prohibited from gambling in them – and have come under fire for not paying monies due to the government.
Together at last The merger of brewer SAB Miller’s South African gaming operation Tsogo Sun with the gaming firm Gold Reef Resorts has been completed. The merged Tsogo Sun now has 14 casinos in six provinces.
No to natives New York state’s Interior Department has rejected plans by the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohicans to develop an Indian casino in the Catskills, although they had been approved by former Governor David A. Paterson.
Expo-nential Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas last year saw attendance rise to just under 25,000, according to organisers. This year, the event moves from the Las Vegas Convention Center to the Sands Expo and Convention Center; 248 exhibitors have already signed up.
New in nola Penn National Gaming has begun work on a $145 casino development in New Orleans.
Vegas, europe Las Vegas Sands is considering spending $20bn in Spain on creating what Chairman Sheldon Adelson calls a “mini Las Vegas Strip”, located in either Madrid or Barcelona. The proposed project could have as many as 20,000 hotel rooms.
The guys have it Nine percent of British men and two percent of women play in land-based casinos, according to the third Gambling Prevalence Survey conducted by the country's Gambling Commission. Altogether, however, 73 percent of the over-16 population gambles in some way – mostly on the National Lottery. The survey looks comprehensively at all kinds of gaming in Britain.
On the menu Chef Judy Joo is to head the kitchen at the relaunched Playboy Club in London. The Korean cook, who has worked at restaurants including The French Laundry and Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck, will oversee the club’s dining room when the venue opens at the beginning of June.
Golden opportunity Golden Nugget operator Landry’s is buying the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City from Trump Entertainment Resorts for $38m, and plans to rename it as the Golden Nugget Atlantic City. The firm, whose previous Golden Nugget-branded casino in the New Jersey gambling centre closed in 1987, plans to add new bar and restaurant facilities to its new acquisition this year.
Hello hull Hull City Council in England has granted a licence for a large casino to Apollo Resorts & Leisure, the only company which applied for it. Work on a £100m ($163m) facility including a 185-room hotel and 23-storey apartment block is planned to start this year on a derelict site. It is hoped the development will help revitalise the long-depressed North Sea port.
Positive penn Pennsylvania’s Gaming Control Board says January was the second-best month for table games in the state since they were introduced last year. At $43.3m, revenue was only slightly below December’s $44m and it is speculated that it might have beat that figure had it not been for the effect of bad January weather. The number of tables increased from 783 in December to 841.
Nice little earner Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa casino resort generated pre-tax earnings of about $307m on revenue of about $610m during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Please sir, may we have some more? The Sands Bethlehem casino in Pennsylvania is seeking regulatory approval for nearly 30 more table games, including 20 Blackjack tables, eight Baccarat tables and one additional Roulette game.
