
Maryland Live is once again the casino that is top hawaii after the Arundel Mills resort generated more gaming revenue during the thirty days of February than its new rival MGM nationwide Harbor.
Maryland Live, billed as the family friendly casino when compared with MGM nationwide Harbor, saw the most gambling money come through its doors during February.
Collectively, their state’s six gambling enterprises pulled in $128.7 million in gross gaming win, Maryland’s second-best all-time performance. The record mark arrived in December after the grand opening of National Harbor led to a win of $133.5 million.
Maryland Live’s revenue totaled $46.29 million month that is last narrowly edging MGM’s property that sits just outside Washington, DC, at $45.77 million. The two casinos represented the lion’s share of gaming earnings, with Horseshoe Baltimore coming in a distant third with $22 million.
Three smaller regional gambling facilities, Hollywood Casino Perryville, Rocky Gap Casino Resort, as well as the Casino at Ocean Downs, posted a combined $14.6 https://myfreepokies.com/cleopatra-queen-of-slots/ million.
The Cordish Companies, the parent organization of Live that is headquartered in Maryland, credited its ‚family approach‘ for the property retaking the spot that is top. In a statement the group also claims being locally owned enables it to provide a better experience to clients, in what’s undoubtedly a slight jab at MGM.
Mixed Outcomes
The February gambling report represents a 38 percent increase on the month that is same 2016. Casinos took $35.4 million more income through the shortest month of the season, but the info also highlights plenty of issues for Maryland gaming.
Excluding MGM’s $1.4 billion resort, gambling was actually down more than 11 percent. And while Maryland Live is championing its victory, in truth the casino amassed 14.3 percent less revenue year-over-year february.
Maryland Live’s $46.29 million is down $7.72 million compared to final February. And conditions could not were riper for strong revenues, as the month had been certainly one of the warmest on record.
Since MGM announced its plans to build nationwide Harbor, Maryland Live has been scrambling to make sure its property stayed competitive against the behemoth outside of DC in Oxford Hill. Live and National Harbor are about 35 kilometers apart, but both are competing for the wealthy DC and Northern Virginia demographic.
Maryland Live announced the construction of a 17-story resort tower with 310 guest rooms summer that is last. MGM National Harbor offers 308 hotel rooms.
National Harbor Underwater?
MGM’s casino that is latest to start in america had been downright packed during its opening month. The resort asked would-be visitors to stay away unless they’d a reservation.
Just 90 days later, excitement and enthusiasm has seemingly calmed.
A nightly stay at the hotel ran between $399 and $599 in the opening weeks. But midweek rates are now because low as $229, though weekends are nevertheless in the range that is prior.
MGM likely isn’t too concerned with the February gaming report. While Live continues to fret on the competition, MGM CEO Jim Murren has over and over stated that the home seeks to be a destination resort for not merely gamblers but also visitors towards the country’s money.
Casino Bus Crash Kills Four, Charter Safety Concerns Continue
A casino coach crash in Mississippi has killed four passengers and injured 40 more, seven critically.
A casino bus crash in Mississippi allegedly became stuck on a railroad track, and tragedy struck whenever an approaching train collided with the charter vehicle. (Image: Kevin McGill/Associated Press)
The incident occurred in Biloxi after the bus reportedly became stuck while wanting to get a cross train tracks. Moments later, a freight train traveling at boosts to 45 MPH collided with the bus and pushed it some 300 foot before coming to an end.
According to reports that are local the bus was touring regional gambling enterprises in Mississippi and Louisiana.
The bus was traveling from the Hollywood Gulf Coast Casino in Bay St. Louis to the Boomtown Casino in Biloxi at the time of the crash. That’s about one hour’s drive east.
The weeklong excursion was organized by a senior citizens‘ center in Texas. While investigators say it’s not instantly clear perhaps the bus incurred mechanical problems, the location where the accident happened has road signs warning drivers of low ground clearance.
The names associated with victims, and whether the driver was one of the fatalities, wasn’t released.
Charter Gambling
The casino bus crash comes not as much as five months after a California gambling trip ended in tragedy. In October, 13 people aboard a tour bus were killed after the driver slammed to the back of an semi-truck that is 18-wheeler Interstate 10 near Palm Springs.
In that event, passengers paid around $30 for round-trip fare and slot that is free from Los Angeles to a remote casino near Salton City called Red Earth.
Tour businesses and regional casinos frequently reach agreements where gambling establishments provide slot money to passengers arriving on certain charters and pay the bus company a little stipend that is per-customer.
This is why busses like the main one active in the Palm Springs accident drive great lengths, passing multiple casinos within the process, to arrive at a location like Red Earth.
Growing Concern
After last fall’s tragedy in California, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed that the rise of casino bus accidents was a severe concern to the federal agency that is tasked with investigating civil accidents.
In mid-January, a Greyhound motorcoach crashed in San Jose, California, and killed two people. But fatalities aboard chartered busses are still relatively rare contrasted to other modes of transportation.
According to the NTSB, in 2015 just 49 bus passengers were killed in highway accidents. Passenger cars and trucks that are light vans accounted for over 22,400 deaths.
The NTSB is in Mississippi to investigate this week’s crash. Straight Back home at its Washington, DC, headquarters, the agency is attempting to determine if more oversight that is stringent of charter companies is necessary.
In 2013, the NTSB publicly scolded inspectors during the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for failing to detect evident and significant safety problems on busses that passed inspections.
‚Our investigators unearthed that most of the time, the indegent performing company was on FMCSA’s radar for violations, but was allowed to continue operating . . . until they had crashes that are deadly‘ the NTSB stated at the time.
Former US Secretary of the Interior Salazar Warns Connecticut Over Satellite Casino
Kenneth Salazar, US Secretary to the inside under Barack Obama, has warned Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy over ‚legal dangers‘ concerning the state’s proposition to permit the construction of a tribal casino outside sovereign tribal lands.
Ken Salazar, former US Secretary to the Interior, now MGM consultant, believes that Connecticut will struggle to receive approval that is federal a new casino deal with the Mohegan and Mashantucket tribes. (Image: Politico.com)
Salazar, who is a paid up consultant for MGM Resorts Global, informed the governor that the proposed ’satellite‘ casino could jeopardize the state’s revenue-sharing agreements with the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, which run the Foxwoods and Mohegan gambling enterprises in south Connecticut, which may price hawaii billions into the long run.
MGM is desperate to halt Connecticut’s plans to establish a casino just 13 kilometers south of this MGM Springfield, presently under construction across the border in Massachusetts.
The Connecticut casino has been conceived purely as a means to blunt MGM Springfield’s competitive edge from the Connecticut casino sector also to protect Connecticut jobs.
MGM has made no secret of the fact it expects a big portion of footfall because of its own casino that is new come from Connecticut residents.
Borderline Legal
The satellite casino is controversial plan because the Connecticut legislature will have to pass a law permitting the two tribes, understood collectively as MMCT, to operate the state’s first ever casino outside tribal lands. The tribes would be the only entities permitted by legislation to operate casinos in hawaii.
MGM has sued Connecticut on the grounds that this is unconstitutional as well as in violation of the Commerce Clause because it bars out-of-state rivals from competing to build up casinos in the state, discriminating, states MGM, in favor of the two tribes.
The casino giant even attempted to obtain an amendment added to a federal defense bill that would have prohibited indigenous American tribes from operating casinos inside their home state outside their reservations however it was scuttled by vigilant congressman from Connecticut.
But the concern of legality lingers, and last week Governor Malloy requested that their state AG George Jepsen prepare a formal viewpoint regarding the legal ramifications of the proposal and to gauge the odds of MGM successfully blocking it into the courts.
Substantial Danger
Salazar’s intervention on behalf of MGM, then, is well-timed. Composing in an open letter addressed to Malloy, dated March 7, he writes that the 25 percent revenue share that has existed between the state therefore the tribes for just two years are threatened, despite the fact that MMCT has proposed amendments to your agreements that could ensure the payments towards the state will never stop.
‚Under federal law … amendments to a gaming that is tribal require approval by the U.S. Department of Interior, which I led for five years throughout the Obama management,‘ wrote Salazar.
‚Based on that experience ( and on my work on Native American legal issues), in my opinion there is a risk that is substantial the tribe’s proposed amendments will never receive the requisite approval, in which instance Connecticut’s entitlement to the 25-percent revenue flow would probably terminate.‘
AN MMCT spokesman ended up being unmoved by the contents of this letter. ‚MGM is willing to pay for anybody and everybody to stop our task from moving forward because they know our proposal will probably keep income and jobs in Connecticut,‘ he said.
Glenn Straub Ups Attacks on Atlantic City, Says New Jersey ‚Rapes‘ Companies
Glenn Straub states when you come to nj-new Jersey, business owners ‚have to take all your clothes off‘ and enable their state to take full benefit. ‚They don’t understand how exactly to maybe not rape you,‘ he opined.
Glenn Straub (middle), seen here at a Casino Control Commission meeting last month, is new to Atlantic City, but that doesn’t suggest the Florida-based businessman is going to play by New Jersey’s rules. (Image: Atlantic City Primetime)
Yep, Straub just went there. The Florida-based developer has officially eliminated any politically correct buffer he might have had in describing Atlantic City. Talking utilizing the Associated Press, Straub lambasted the national government and casino regulators in the Garden State.
Asked why he isn’t ready to play by the guidelines which have been set forth, such as participating in the PILOT program ( payment instead of taxes), Straub answered, ‚I’d be broke. They’re trying to produce me do just what my predecessors did.‘
Straub purchased the shuttered Revel Atlantic City, a resort that cost $2.4 billion to create, for $82 million in bankruptcy court. But since his acquisition nearly two years ago, the businessman has engaged in a number of fights with their state’s Casino Control Commission (CCC) and Atlantic City’s regional leaders.
Straub argues he doesn’t require a casino license since he’s going to be leasing his gambling floor to a third-party that is presently in the act of obtaining a CCC permit.
But that does not stay glued to Atlantic City laws. Morris Bailey received a license on their behalf for his Resorts Casino despite also hiring a vendor to operate the video gaming room.
Layers of Bureaucracy
Straub’s frustrations aren’t from the norm regarding doing business in Atlantic City. The beachfront gambling town is infamous for its complicated regulatory environment.
The Casino Control Commission, Division of Gaming Enforcement, and Casino Reinvestment Development Authority are all involved in licensing properties, but owners that are incoming often confused as to which agency is actually in charge. Muddying the process may be the known proven fact that the city it self is responsible for building inspections and infrastructure tasks.
Mayor Don Guardian (R) is attempting to assist owners navigate the burdens that are complex. The controversial mayor who is during the center of this state’s takeover of the neighborhood federal government says he regularly meets with owners who have invested at least $1 million in the town.