With 2019 set to bring in new casino records, how can one forget the eventful year that 2018 has been! Hop on the ride as you go through the casino news 2018 where gambling world did astound everyone with its happenings!
Casino News 2018 Of The World
In this casino news 2018, while an allegation was settled for $7.5 million against the former casino manicurist for having an affair with the casino mogul, other allegations against Steve Wynn were denied and reported to be a strategy by his ex-wife who is currently seeking a revised-divorce settlement. Ever since there have been piles of lawsuits pending to be addressed while Steve Wynn has moved out of his duplex Villa in Las Vegas after staying there for over a decade.
Further, there were investigations against the Wynn Resorts to find visible reporting of the allegations made by the employees. In Massachusetts too Wynn filed a complaint against the regulator who tried to report on the resort’s suitability on the integration of a unit in Greater Boston area. Least to say, Wynn had a lot of lawsuits to pay attention to!
In casino news 2018, Japan’s government finally passed the Integrated Resort Implementation Bill where the rules and principles of operating the country’s first nascent casino have been laid down. There have been contemplations of granting a maximum of three licenses for the integrated resort. This includes the rule of the casino being offered only 3% of the resort area for operation. While the bill has been passed and deals for the three casinos have been made, Japan is still years away from witnessing its first land-based casino!
Europe government and state regulators took charge of the erring operations happening at the UK casinos in a casino news 2018. As a result, strict rules, hefty fines and tough license system have come into operation! There were violations which attracted hefty fines like that of £1 million on the video slots, £5.85 million on Casumo and £7.1 million on Daub Alderney.
US Supreme Court announced the annulment of the federal ban that had long been practised in states except for Nevada on Casino news 2018. Now the states are allowed to start sports betting, parlay betting, racetracks etc. soon. The industry is known to be valued at about $150 billion by the American Gambling Association! To follow the suit Delaware launched 3 casinos in June, New Jersey followed with Borgata and Monmouth Park Racetrack in mid-June and Mississippi, Virginia, Mexico, Rhode Island Pennsylvania followed suit opening up legal sports betting units soon thereafter.
In the Merger and Acquisition front too, there was an ever-changing wave driving giants to make some investment and build up their portfolio. The biggest in the race was The Stars Group from Canada spending quite a lot on enhancing its portfolio the most. PokerStars took an 80% stake in Australia’s CrownBet with a hefty deal of $315 million in cash. CrownBet was then rebranded as BetEasy for the Australian Gambling Industry!
In casino news 2018, April the Canadian gambling giant took over SkyBet, the online trading company which created waves around UK, Germany and Italy. The deal was made for an amount of $4.7 billion and is expected to create a wave of $70 million in the gambling industry alone. This also provides the Canadian giant with an opportunity to cater to the large customer base of SkyBet that comes from UK, and Germany.
GVC Holdings came up with another acquisition deal this post-spring taking over the British Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral for a price estimated at more than £3 billion states Casino news 2018. This has deeply enhanced the portfolio of the GVC holdings making it create a synergy of more than £100 million this year!
As the deal between the British Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral and GVC Holdings was pertinent much before 2018, the government policies were yet to be announced. The move made by the British Bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral thus came out to be a profitable one for the company as it gave it potential to tie-up with the online gambling industry giant while getting a good price for it. The clampdown would thus be a loss of the GVC Holdings if the policies bite back!
As the year came to an end, in casino news 2018, The British Bookmaker William Hill has been known to be embarking on a deal to acquire a Malta-based online casino – Mr. Green & Co for a deal of SEK2.8 billion. In the post-Brexit time, this deal gives the bookmaker an office in Malta and increases its visibility on the online casino platform. However, the deal is yet to be finalized waiting for its completion in 2019.
Casino news 2018 indeed was rewarding for the news hunters of the casino industry! And it is expected that the contingencies left will soon be awarded to the giants in the coming year.