Los Angeles Times – Obama administration policies stimulating an expansion of tribal gambling have touched off new battles over proposed tribal casinos in California and elsewhere. Since President Barack Obama took office, the Department of the Interior has recognized dozens of new tribes and approved requests from a handful of others to acquire land that could house a casino, contingent on deals between the tribes and their home states. The department rejected nearly all such applications under President George W. Bush. The federal decisions are causing a ripple effect in California, home to 109 federally recognized tribes, 62 of which…

Macau Daily Times – As Macau’s gambling revenue hits the remarkable value of USD45 billion, casino operators also need to go beyond gambling and closed-door VIP rooms to draw the Chinese upper middle classes’ attention toward other forms of entertainment. According to a feature story published yesterday in UK newspaper The Guardian, “investors say Macau’s bet on the continued prosperity of the middle class is a safe one.” A special correspondent – sent to investigate how this peculiar economy has been shaped around the casino industry over the past years – describes Macau as “a fitting Chinese counterpoint, a temple…

Finance Asia – Asia’s gaming industry is on a roll and attracting a wider array of investor as dominant centre Macao continues expanding and as rival locations emerge. Because casino developments are capital-intensive and can take 2-3 years to complete, gaming companies have historically tended to attract different types of investors with different needs over different phases of a development. They have tended to raise funds in a cycle by issuing equity first and then high-yield or convertible bonds and, finally, by getting syndicated bank loans, industry experts say. But what’s evident from the gaming sector’s capital raising efforts in…

Mondaq – In our article “Gaming Machines and Pre-Commitment: National Gambling Reforms Become Law“1 we summarised the Federal legislation2 (the National Gambling Reform Package) regulating the operation and use of gaming machines and addressing other issues associated with problem gambling. The National Gambling Report Package, among other things, required: all gaming machines to be equipped with pre-commitment capability by 31 December 2014; ATM’s located at gaming venues to have a 24 hour $250 withdrawal limit; and the introduction of a ‘double voluntary’ pre-commitment system by 31 December 2018 (or 2022 for smaller venues). Victoria has chosen to take a more…

Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer filed suit Thursday against a internet cafe software developer, accusing it of supplying these cafes in Los Angeles with illegal gambling programs. The company, Figure 8 Technologies Inc. in Greenville, N.C., is one of the major developers of software used by Internet “sweepstakes” cafes across the country. The increasingly popularity of the internet cafe claims to offer promotional sweepstakes, but have been accused of violating gambling laws. In addition to Figure 8, the City Attorney’s suit also names owners of five Internet cafes in Los Angeles. Though they are no longer operating, the suit…

Tulsa World – The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe is betting on the outcome of a federal lawsuit to re-establish its Internet gambling website. The tribe, based in Concho, north of El Reno, wants to operate pokertribes.com with international players, which the state agreed to under its gaming compact. But the U.S. Department of the Interior put a stop to it last month. The site is currently inactive. The tribe filed the lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Oklahoma City, asking a judge to prevent the Department of the Interior from interfering. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary…