Jerry Faychak wonders whether he’s already seen his best best days jackpot wins and casino gambling — and whether the IRS soon will make things worse for players and casinos alike. An Internal Revenue Service idea to require reporting of slot jackpots of $600, half the current threshold of $1,200, “doesn’t reflect reality,” says Faychak, who retired after 50 years with Westinghouse, most of that time in research and development. He and his wife, Shirl, have gambled throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean since the ’80s. “Thirty years ago, if you won $1,200 you were thrilled. We could…

International Game Technology (IGT), the new company formed by the recent merger of GTECH and Legacy IGT, is to provide technology for the new Niedersachsen Jackpot Wide Area Progressive (WAP) at Spielbanken Niedersachsen casinos in Germany. Under the agreement, which will feature 56 machines across 10 properties, IGT will work alongside Spielbanken Niedersachsen to provide the operator with tailor-made solutions for their players. IGT will brand games so that they harmonise with Spielbanken Niedersachsen’s own corporate identity, in addition to developing a new mathematic formula to fit in with the operator’s specific requirements. Once complete, customers will have access to…

Those of you rooting for the demise of Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson might have finally gotten your wish. On Friday, the Guardian published an article saying that Adelson will soon face graft accusations in a US court of law. If you have no idea what graft is, we’ll let a dictionary fill you in: “practices, especially bribery, used to secure illicit gains in politics or business; corruption.” According to the Guardian, the charges stem from allegedly nefarious actions at Adelson’s all-important casinos in Macau and, if prosecutors are successful, could spell the end of his gaming licenses in…

The second phase of Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd’s Galaxy Macau casino-resort is due to open tomorrow. The company says the development will add 150 gaming tables, a Ritz Carlton hotel with over 250 suites, a JW Marriott hotel with over 1,000 rooms and the Promenade Central shopping arcade to its inventory. Galaxy Entertainment is also due to open tomorrow its Broadway Macau, containing a 3,000-seat theatre which will show performances at least every weekend. Story on Macau Business

A judge in Las Vegas has ruled that a lawsuit involving accusations of graft and organised crime ties to casinos owned by the multibillionaire and Republican party funder, Sheldon Adelson, will be heard in the US. The decision raises the prospect of Adelson facing difficult questions about his business practices following allegations by a former chief executive of his highly profitable casinos in the Chinese enclave of Macau that a well-known triad crime figure was used to bring in high-rolling gamblers and of influence peddling with Chinese officials. The case potentially has implications for Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands casinos because…

At a gathering of the nation’s top law enforcement officers today, American Gaming Associations (AGA) President and CEO Geoff Freeman invited attorneys general, police chiefs and other top law enforcement officials to partner with the AGA in its “Stop Illegal Gambling – Play it Safe” initiative to crack down on illegal gambling operations across the country that harm consumers, steal jobs and deprive state and local governments of revenues that pay for vital public services. Freeman spoke at Beau Rivage in Biloxi during the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Presidential Initiative Summit. “Legal and regulated casino gaming in America is…

The Restoration of Americas Wire Act bill (known at RAWA) is in Congress and would ban Internet gambling. However, it could also inadvertently criminalize Nevada’s booming mobile sports wagering business, which has been credited with turning the Silver State’s sports books into a $3.9 billion-a-year industry. The measure, backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is aimed at reversing changes made in 2011 to the 1961 Federal Wire Act. If approved, the RAWA bill would end most forms of online betting, including interactive poker in Nevada. Because the bill would stop transmission of gambling information through wire communications…

The Sheldon Adelson-inspired Restoration of America’s Wire Act, introduced in the House of Representatives by Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), would deal a severe blow to the fight for online poker regulation in the US if it were to be enacted. Just how severe depends largely upon the final language itself, as there are expected to be several ‘carve outs’ before it could pass. But could an anticipated exemption for state lotteries leave a large door open for hopeful online poker players? Delaware was the first state to enact online gaming, and by approaching it through their state lottery, it would seem…