Gaming solutions provider Scientific Games has extended its contract with Dutch national lottery De Lotto for an additional four years. Under the deal, which came into effect on April 1, Scientific Games will continue to provide De Lotto with instant games and a Cooperative Services Program (CSP). The CSP section of the agreement includes instant game design, planning and production, in addition to call centre ordering services for De Lotto retailers, instant product training workshops and strategic marketing support. The deal will also include the provision of consulting services for De Lotto’s marketing and sales departments plus a ‘train the…

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…