At 550 feet, it’s the highest point on the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, Tony Anouvongs takes a selfie and sends it to his 16-year-old daughter. “My daughter requested it,” he says of the High Roller wheel. “She seemed so excited to have me ride it and take a selfie for her.” Everyone around him is snapping Smartphone photos of the 360-degree view of the sun setting over Vegas and the mountains surrounding it. One woman is Face Timing with her mother. Once the sun sets, the High Roller’s 2,000 LED lights turn on, and the tallest Ferris Wheel,…

Bloomberg – Roughly 100 percent of lottery tickets are currently sold by retailers—gas stations, supermarkets, or convenience stores—that do little more than print tickets with numbers. It was only a matter of time before someone made apps for that process. Shoutz, an Austin (Tex.)-based startup, announced an agreement Tuesday with the Mega Millions lottery that will bring the game to its LotteryHUB mobile app, which launched in September with the rival Powerball lottery game. Now the two largest forces in the $78 billion per year U.S. lottery industry will share a mobile platform that covers the vast majority of the country,…

The Guardian – In the budget, George Osborne reduced the tax burden on land based bingo halls and raised it for betting shop fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Two gambling sectors treated very differently. The basis of this tax hike on FOBTs, as Osborne put it, was to “bring their profitability more in line with other gaming machines on the high street.” The chancellor has underestimated the disparity between FOBTs and other gaming machines. It is far bigger than a 5% tax adjustment can address. In 2013 FOBTs – or “B2” gaming machines as they are categorised – generated more…

Forbes – Slumped in white oversize chairs in an enormous suite at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Australian casino billionaire James Packer and Hollywood movie director Brett Ratner are exhausted. They look like two hungover frat boys after a hard night—but these guys haven’t been partying. They’re jet-lagged after visiting Russell Crowe’s film set in South Australia, watching Chinese tennis star Li Na win the women’s Australian Open in Melbourne and toe-touching in the Philippines to open Asia’s first Nobu restaurant at a new casino resort in Manila. It sounds like a pleasure cruise from Packer’s earlier life as…

iGaming Business – The Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, owner and operator of various racetrack and casino gaming venues in Canada, has signed agreements with five Ontario racetrack operators and the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC) in support of the Horse Racing Partnership Plan. The company said the agreements will establish a ‘Standardbred Alliance’ amongst a core group of racetracks centered around the concentrated horse supply in Central and South Western Ontario, as well as providing stability and clarity for all industry stakeholders. The Standardbred Alliance presents a three-tier racing hierarchy of Gross Roots, Signature and Premier. Clinton Raceway and Hanover Raceway…

Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire head of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, made an appearance in Asia recently to ask the government of Singapore for additional land in order to expand his casino resort there by roughly 60%, the Jewish Business News has reported. The plans Mr. Adelson laid out include making space for an additional 1,500 rooms at the Marina Bay Sands, which currently has about 2,500 rooms. Extra space was also requested for meeting rooms, exhibitions and ballrooms. According to the Jewish Business News, Sheldon Adelson said “we need more rooms,” and added that the hotel is “running at…