Facial recognition has arrived in the Scientific Games’ Las Vegas showroom. Chief product officer Tim Bucher walks up to a baccarat table with two iPad-sized screens attached at the ends. The displays show the title of the game and easily blend into the background amid the lights and sounds of slot machines. But with the press of a button, live camera footage of Bucher appears on the screen, with digital blue dots lining his mouth, eyes and face. Below him is a line of text: Existing user found. Male. Over 21. “You wouldn’t see this,” Bucher said, pointing to a…

D.C. sports betting has been delayed by a Superior Court judge who has issued a two-week restraining order. That order would block the District from moving forward on it’s $215 million no-bid sports gambling contract with Intralot, the company that was hired to establish sports gambling in D.C. The order, issued last Thursday, was requested by tech developer Dylan Carragher, who said the single-source Intralot contract would prevent him and other vendors from being able to participate in the gambling and violated the District’s procurement laws. But the controversy over sports betting isn’t new to the District. After the Supreme…

MGM Resorts International is in talks to sell its Circus Circus Casino property to real estate mogul Phil Ruffin, according to Bloomberg. An agreement could be announced which would also include the sale of Bellagio and the MGM Grand. Those properties may be sold to Blackstone Group. MGM has been restructuring under pressure from activist investors. The company has cut and reorganized management, and previously sold all but four of its wholly-owned casinos to MGM Growth Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust it created three years ago. The company is in talks to sell two Las Vegas top properties,…

When the Hard Rock Casino transitions to Virgin Hotels, Las Vegas Tribal Gaming will officially arrive on The Strip. The developer of the Mohegan Sun, Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment, will operate the casino pending approval by Nevada regulators. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. This is a first for Las Vegas. Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, said aligning the Mohegan brand with Virgin will extend the property’s brands into a “legendary global entertainment capital”, adding that Mohegan’s participation in the project is a major milestone for all tribes. The Hard Rock will close in February for…

The Rio Casino sold for over $516 million. The Las Vegas-based venue has served as the home of the World Series of Poker since 2005. It was sold to a company controlled by a principal of real estate investment vehicle Imperial Companies, and the deal expected to conclude in the fourth quarter of this year. Caesars Entertainment will continue to operate the property for at least the next two years and pay rent of $45m per year. At the end of the two year period, Caesars may continue to operate the Rio or provide transition services to the buying company…

The 2018 Triple Crown winner failed a drug test weeks before the Kentucky Derby and should not have been allowed to race. The New York Times reported that Justify failed a drug test. That test was reviewed by the California Horse Racing Board which took almost a month to come back with the results. The board should have filed a public complaint but instead moved to drop the case against the horse and lighten the penalty for any horse with the substance found in their system. A failed drug test would usually mean disqualification and forfeiture of both the prize…