While the casino world focuses on fighting an IRS plan to track slot jackpots starting at $600, a little-noticed companion proposal would benefit gamblers, a tax expert says. The proposed change in Internal Revenue Service procedure would establish a “playing session” concept, which could allow players to report less gambling income on their tax return than what is listed on a W2-G the casino issues to jackpot winners and the IRS. “The IRS is actually doing something that’s taxpayer-friendly with the session method,” says Marissa Chien, co-author of “Tax Help for Gamblers” (Huntington Press) and president of Advantage Tax Plus…

Casino tycoon and billionaire Steve Wynn is no stranger to lawsuits or controversy as Wynn Resorts and Steve Wynn have had their fair share of battles over the years. What Wynn is not accustomed to is losing and that is exactly what happened with his lawsuit against James Chanos, a hedge fund manager and the founder of Kynikos Associates. It all started on the UC Berkeley campus in 2014 during the Logan Symposium investigative journalism conference where Chanos said he had shorted Macau casino operators because he was worried about violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws and the general way business was done…

With proposals to expand casino gambling to other parts of New Jersey gaining momentum, Atlantic City is faced with an existential choice: fight to the end to try to keep it from happening, or accept it as inevitable and extract the most concessions it can from new, in-state competitors. It’s a question the city and its political and business supporters need to answer soon. Two bills that would ask voters whether to amend the state constitution and expand gambling beyond Atlantic City have been proposed, and lawmakers are touting casino projects in the Bergen County Meadowlands, Jersey City, Newark and…

Facing a cash crisis, Puerto Rico is turning to desperate measures to pay the bills: It’s delaying tax refunds, borrowing from its insurance company and may even legalize the black-market slot machines in grocery stores. Lawmakers have yet to agree on a budget, with less than two weeks before the start of the new fiscal year. Without a spending plan in place, the junk-rated commonwealth won’t be able to raise as much as $1 billion from investors to keep the government running as it waits for tax revenue to flow in. “I have to prioritize,” Treasury Secretary Juan Zaragoza said…

The $240 billion U.S. gambling industry is looking to bolster its political influence with a national effort to mobilize workers behind its policy agenda heading into the 2016 elections. The American Gaming Association (AGA), a trade group representing mainly casinos and lotteries, boasts a growing membership covering 40 states, and the trade group’s leadership vowed Wednesday to increase its clout in Washington, despite the loss of retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), an influential congressional ally. “We’re going to be more active in political discussion,” MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren told reporters Wednesday at the AGA’s shiny new D.C. digs….

Following the reintroduction of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the entire iGaming world expected Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to reintroduce RAWA into the U.S. Senate. Graham has indicated he would be reintroducing the legislation he and Chaffetz first pushed for in 2014, presumably at the behest of Sheldon Adelson, who is widely believed to be the driving force behind RAWA. But up to this point, RAWA hasn’t returned for an encore appearance in the U.S. Senate. There are several reasons Graham may have flinched on reintroducing an online…