BizJournals.com – For Jonathan Blue, the issue of expanded gaming in Kentucky isn’t about gambling. It’s about jobs. Blue, the owner of Louisville-based Blue Equity LLC, spoke about the issue Tuesday morning during a meeting of ACG Kentucky at the Marriott Louisville Downtown. As previously reported, Blue and attorneys Terry McBrayer and Ed Glasscock launched Kentucky Wins last month. It is a grassroots effort focused on allowing a public vote on expanded gaming. Blue told the assembly of local deal makers and deal facilitators that allowing the creation of as many as seven casinos statewide would create up to 10,953…

Reuters – Chinese tycoon Tony Fung has offered to pay A$214 million ($199 million) to buy Reef Casino Trust, which owns the only casino in the Australian city of Cairns near the Great Barrier Reef, in a bid to enter the country’s gambling and tourism market. Shares in Reef Casino surged 42.6 percent to six-year highs after the announcement. Fung, a billionaire son of one of the founders of Hong Kong conglomerate Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd, has previously proposed a A$4.2 billion ($3.8 billion) casino and resort project in Cairns, which has yet to get approval from the…

Bloomberg – Crown Resorts Ltd., the Australian gaming company controlled by billionaire James Packer, won final approval from the New South Wales state government to develop a casino in Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct. The agreement between the state and Crown is consistent with the conditions set down in the government’s initial approval in July, New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell said in a statement yesterday. Melbourne-based Crown Resorts will operate a gaming resort restricted to “VIP” clients and will provide tax payments of at least A$1 billion ($938 million) in the first 15 years of operation, according to the statement. Crown’s…

The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, a move that is part of a plan to put its Atlantic City gambling business up for auction, according to sources familiar with the matter. California buyout firm Colony Capital LLC is the latest in a long string of owners of the casino, which is suffering along with the rest of the Atlantic City Boardwalk casinos from increased gambling competition in neighboring states. Atlantic Club pursued a marketing scheme designed to a steady stream of local gamblers with modest prices. The strategy paid off in the form of…

iGaming Business – The Reuters news agency said that the tender process was launched earlier this month. In 2009, Turkey abandoned plans to privatise the lottery after the two bidders involved were unable to meet the $1.6 billion (€1.2 billion) minimum asking price. Capital city Ankara instead opted to sell licences for games operated by the lottery. SOURCE

The Sydney Morning Herald – The champion of Barangaroo’s southern cove, Paul Keating, says its function as a landmark can be ”swapped” with the proposed site for James Packer’s $1.5 billion hotel casino. The cove is to shrink by about 2000 square metres under the latest design changes, endorsed by the Barangaroo Delivery Authority this week. These would also shift parkland inland from the harbour – a consequence of Lend Lease agreeing to relocate its hotel from a site approved over the water to Mr Packer’s preferred location. Mr Keating, a strong advocate for the two harbour coves and naturalistic…