Daily Archives: February 5, 2022

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) Theyre already planning for the warm summer months at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort and they recently announced their first outdoor concert of the season!

TheZac Brown Bandis coming to the outdoor venue on July 30th a great idea for a girls weekend! On March 11th, actor, comedian and TV host Joel McHalewill be at Soaring Eagle and tickets are already on sale! Tickets also went on sale last week to seeStyxin concert on March 19th. The first show of 2022 is this Friday, January 21st Air Supply with special guest Orleansat the Entertainment Hall. This a big one comedianChris Rockwill be at Soaring Eagle on February 11th. You can also grab tickets to seeChicagoin concert on April 9th. At the beginning of May, you can enjoyEarth, Wind and Firein concert at the Entertainment Hall. You can check out the full list of concerts and showshere.

Looking for a tropical escape? Its always warm inside theSoaring Eagle Waterpark, which is just a short drive or shuttle bus ride from the casino and hotel. Theyve also got some specials going on right now justclick here. Make reservations for their upcoming themed weekends this weekend the fun centers all around friendship.They also have great Valentines Day specials, justclick here to see what they have going on!

Sponsored bySoaring Eagle Casino.

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Heres whats coming to Soaring Eagle Casino! - WOODTV.com

Rolling the Dice: A look at the impact of casinos on communities, and the politics of the decision-making process.

RICHMOND What was supposed to be a meeting among the Petersburg NAACP chapter, Sen. Joe Morrissey and Del. Kim Taylor to discuss Petersburg casino referendum legislationdescended into chaos over a social-media post that resulted in the Capitol Police being called, a protective order filed by the Petersburg chapter president, and aNAACP representativeissuing an affidavit calling for the chapter presidents removal.

Dr. Lafayette Jefferson, the chapter president who has publicly opposed the casino, and Morrissey, one of the two General Assembly patrons of the legislation, exchanged heated words over a 2019 Facebook post about Morrisseys relationship several years earlier with Myrna Pride, his then-17-year-old legal assistant who is now his wife and mother of his children. Morrissey, then 55years old and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, was later convicted of delinquencyinvolving a minor and served three months of a 12-month sentence. They have publicly denied having sex before Pride turned 18, even though prosecutors possessed their alleged texts about their sexual relationship.

Last month, then-Gov. Ralph Northam pardoned Morrissey on the conviction.

At one point after the meeting became heated, Morrissey told Jefferson he would rip your f***ing heart out if Jefferson ever postedanything else about his family. The meeting ended with the Virginia Capitol Police being called to address the issue.

"If I don't think I could walk up into General Assembly and actually speak with my representatives without being harassed and threatened by someone that considers themselves a state senator, what kind of actual justice can I expect from the state legislature?" said Jefferson.

Morrissey, D-Richmond, confirmed he made that statement. He also confirmed that prior to the meeting, his legislative assistant gave him a copy of Jeffersons Facebook post.

The meeting Monday night in Taylors office had originally been called to address the issue of Petersburg holding a referendum on the possibility of bringing a casino to town. Last November, Richmond voters rejected a referendum that would have brought a $565 million casino and entertainment complex to the citys southside. Morrissey, whose Senate district also includes southside Richmond, then began pushing to have Petersburg as a potential host city.

Jefferson opposes the casino coming to Petersburg, saying it would promote predatory gambling that would drastically affect low-income families inPetersburg.

Jefferson, accompanied by Petersburg NAACP vice president Chioma Adaku-Griffin and chapter legal adviser Bekura Shabazz, met with Morrissey and Taylor to discuss the legislation.

During the meeting, Jefferson presented a talk sheet he wrotedetailing a casino's potential harm to the community.

"Studies show that casinos targets those who can least afford to lose and earn most of its living from people for whom gambling has become an addiction," it said."For the past several years, the City of Petersburg has ranked last of the 133 municipalities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The reasons for the last placed ranking are also why Petersburg is attractive to casino owners."

Among the questions he asked was how Morrissey could be makingpromises right now aboutwhat benefits the casino would bring, including the alleged $52,000 annual salary per job.

"I actually spoke with the CEO of the casino company that he was referencing to and he assured me they have made no deals with the city of Petersburg," said Jefferson.

According to Jefferson, Morrissey repeatedly said that there were no downsides or additional expenditures needed in bringing a casino into the locality.

More: What happens when a casino is built? Gambling addiction rises, study shows

Thirty minutes into the meeting, Morrissey unexpectedly showed a Facebook post Jefferson wrote about Morrissey and his wife in 2019. Tempers then began flaring.

Jeffersons post read, "Thomas Jefferson, for all the great things he did and accomplished, he accomplished those things while concurrently and continually raping a 14-year-old enslaved African girl. Joe, educated at Jefferson's home follows closely in Jefferson's footsteps. In a moment of complete transparency, when I think of him as a man 10 years older than I am (51), and then think of his wife who at that time was younger than my daughter (19). I cannot support that."

Jefferson also posted that Morrissey, who was running for the state Senate at that time, is smooth, personable and very polished, but game always recognizes game. Based on the legal issues, Jefferson posted, I will not cast my vote for him, nor would I ever.

Morrissey reportedly asked Jefferson twice if he made the posts. Jefferson looked at him the first time he asked, then confirmed authorship when asked again.

Morrissey then said, 'If you ever harmmy wife or my family again, I'm gonna rip your f***ing heart out your chest!According to Jefferson, Morrissey then got up from his seat and walked towards him while directingprofanities at him. That was when the meeting abruptly ended and authorities intervened.

Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, whose office hosted the meeting, told The Progress-Index she felt the meeting was moving toward its end when the confrontation happened.

The conversation became heated, and I was taken out of the room by a [legislative assistant], Taylor said. At that point, the Capitol Police were called and everyone dispersed.

Taylors office said she would have no further comment.

After the altercation, Jefferson filed a complaint with the CapitolPolice and then got a protective order.

When TheProgress Index asked why the senator would bring up a Facebook post about his wife in a meeting that was meant to talk about the casinos, Morrissey replied,The word family came up (i.e. the casino would be family friendly) and I said something to the effect of speaking of family, did you place these posts on FB about my family.

Morrissey needs to understand this is not me placing his family in a historical context, he placed his family in historical context with his actions, said Jefferson.

The next day, Petersburg NAACP Vice President Chioma Adaku-Griffin, who was present at the meeting, filed an affidavit calling for the resignation of Jefferson as president.

Morrisseys legislative assistant Matt Wheeler wrote the affidavit after takingstatements from Adaku-Griffin.

The document, which was provided by Morrissey's office, reads: "I personally thought Mr. Jefferson's post was extremely rude and offensive. As a result of his posting about Senator Morrissey's wife being raped, I as a member of the Petersburg NAACP am calling for him to immediately relinquish his Chairmanship from the Petersburg NAACP."

"I'm disappointed," said Jefferson, who found out about the affidavit after reading the news. "We called each other cousin because her ancestors are from Nigeria and belong to the Igbo tribe and so do mine."

Adaku-Griffin says that her opposition to Jeffersons leadership also comes from the NAACP Petersburg chapter failing to vote on the issue of the casino before taking a public stance. She says she is personally neutral about bringing a casino into Petersburg.

His objection has been in the name of NAACP. We didnt vote to have that as a campaign issue of NAACP. My stance has always been, let me get more information, Adaku-Griffin said.

Im not stepping down, said Jefferson. Within the bylaws, if I do something wrong or trifling, yeah you could take me out. But I havent done anything like that.

Morrisseys and Taylors casino bills are still being debated in the Senate and House respectively.

Morrisseys Senate Bill 203 passed out of the Senate General Laws & Technology Committee Wednesday and was re-referred to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee for further study before possibly advancing to the Senate floor. Taylors House Bill 1134 is scheduled to be debated by the House General Laws Committee sometime next week.

More: State senator says Petersburg casino referendum bill unaffected by Richmond plan to revote

More: Technical amendments to Petersburg casino vote bill could cancel Richmond's plan to revote

Both bills add Petersburg to the list of host cities for future casinos located in strategic points in southwest, central and Tidewater Virginia.

They alsoinclude language that would prohibit any city where a casino vote failed from scheduling any more re-votes for five years from the date of the rejection. Since Richmond was the only one of the original five to not pass the referendum, the bill if passed would not allow a revote until at least 2026.

If the General Assembly approves the bills, Petersburg City Councilwill vote to ask the Circuit Court to approve the referendum for the ballot.

The rest is here:

Protective order and affidavit: Casino meeting with Petersburg NAACP ends in political chaos - Progress Index

Posted on: February 4, 2022, 10:07h.

Last updated on: February 4, 2022, 02:04h.

Cape Verde doesnt have a very large casino market. In fact, the island nation in the Atlantic Ocean has just one casino. However, its revenue saw a huge year-on-year growth of 122% in 2021.

COVID-19 forced Cape Verde to put the brakes on tourism, just like everywhere else. However, it was able to find new ground last year. The countrys gaming regulator reports that its gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2021 was 1.06 million (US$1.21 million). Thats a significant improvement over the $547,000 a year earlier.

A small part of that stability can be attributed to the only casino currently active. It is located on the island of Sal, the countrys top tourist island.

In 2019, Cape Verdes GGR was $1.68 million, so theres still room for improvement. With relaxed travel restrictions starting to appear around the globe, 2022 could be an even better year.

Cape Verde is a group of 10 volcanic islands spanning a total of 1,557 square miles in the Atlantic Ocean. It belonged to Portugal until 1975, when it gained its independence. About 420 miles west of the westernmost point of the African continent, it has successfully developed its own economic stability since it became independent.

There are two casino concessions issued in Cape Verde. One covers the Sal gaming zone and the other, the Santiago gaming zone. A total of five gaming zones have been designated in the country, with the other three in So Vicente, Boavista, and Maio. However, none has a casino.

The Ministry of Tourism has begun to develop plans for casinos and resorts as a way to build sustainable tourism in the country.

Gaming is a sector in which we want to continue to invest, respecting all international rules and good practices, because it attracts a type of customer that has a very reasonable purchasing power, Carlos Santos, the Tourism Minister, explained two years ago.

The plan received a lot of attention and enthusiasm. Supporting it was a project that had been in the works, which would become the anchor of gaming across the entire archipelago. However, the future of that project is now in jeopardy.

In 2015, Macau Legend Development (MLD) reached an agreement to build a large, $290-million casino resort in Praia, on Santiago Island. Construction began in 2016 with a simple groundbreaking ceremony. Since then, work has been sporadic, and the project is still incomplete. At the time, the resort had a target inauguration of 2019.

Now, with the recent arrest of Levo Chan, the project may face more delays. Chan was the head of the Tak Chun junket, as well as the CEO of MLD.

MLDs board has stated that its business as usual, despite the Chan scandal. The company had originally made its arrangement with Cape Verde through its founder and cochair, David Chow. However, Chow has continued to reduce his stake in the company.

Its still possible that Cape Verde can realize its dream of increasing its footprint in the global gaming market. For now, with no work being done on the MLD property, it has to rely on its Sal casino to recover lost ground.

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Island Nation of Cape Verde Rebounds in 2021 as Casino Revenue Jumps... - Casino.Org News

High Stakes: Lim Kok Thay stepped down as chairman CEO of Genting Hong Kong last month but still has plenty to cheer about.

TheCrystal Symphony, a luxury cruise liner owned by Crystal Cruises, a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong,was supposed to arrive in Miami on Saturday, January 22. But at 1 p.m. on Friday, the Captain told the passengers that the ship would instead dock in the Bahamas.

The change of plans was so the Crystal Symphony could avoid seizure by the U.S. Marshals. If the cruise liner had docked in Miami, the authorities wouldve taken the vessel as part of a lawsuit filed by Peninsula Petroleum Far East, claiming the company racked up $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills since 2017.

On Monday, a second ship, Crystal Serenity, docked in the Bahamas to avoid seizure in the U.S., the Associated Press reports.

The fugitive cruise liners are symptoms of the problems plaguing Genting Hong Kong, which is run by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay.

In early January, Genting Hong Kongs German shipyard unitMV Werftenfiled for bankruptcy after failing to come to an agreement with the German government and its creditors. A week later, Genting Hong Kong filed a petition to wind up the company. Lim promptly resigned as chairman and CEO from Genting Hong Kong.

Troubled Waters: Two of Genting's Crystal cruise ships have become high seas fugitives over unpaid fuel bills.

One of Malaysias richest men, Lim Kok Thay, has seen his fortune drop 30% since last year. In April 2021, Lim was worth $2.7 billion, making him Malaysias 11th richest person. Today, his net worth is $1.9 billion. His $250 million stake in Genting Hong Kong is now worth zero as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings. The share price in Genting Berhad, which Kim owns a 44% stake in, dropped 15% since June and 8.5% last month alone.

But Lim still presides over the Genting Group, a complex organization his father started in the late 1960s. Genting and its subsidiaries own casinos in Egypt, Malaysia, Singapore, the U.K. and the U.S., as well as palm oil plantations and oil and gas operations.

Despite the troubles at the cruise line, and a battering from the pandemic, Gentings casino empire is on its way out of rough waters.

Erlin Salim, a Singapore-based analyst who covers Gentings properties in Malaysia and Singapore for Fitch Ratings, says Genting Singapore, which operates the resort casino Resorts World Sentosa, managed the downturn quite well.

Thanks to strong demand from local gamblers and cost cutting measures, Resorts World Sentosa is in a positive net cash position and maintains a positive EBITDA of $290 million through the first nine months of 2021.

Last year, Sentosa generated 55% of pre-pandemic revenue$592 million in gaming revenue, up 16% from the same time last yearand Salim expects the property to generate 75% of pre-pandemic revenue in 2022.

Jennifer Song, a Morningstar analyst based in Hong Kong, says Sentosa is on its way to a recovery because the Singapore government chose to live with Covid. But the recovery will require international gamblers30% of Sentosas gross gaming revenue came from Chinese gamblers and 50% from international visitors.

We think a full recovery will likely be in 2025, she says.

Maybank Kim Eng cuts its net profit forecast for Genting Singapore by 72% for 2022 and 54% for 2023. The firm believes the company will post flattish earnings for another year and face tough competition from Marina Sands, the only other casino in Singapore, for the premium mass market customer.

New Jewel: The $4.2 billion Resorts World Las Vegas opened with great fanfare in June 2021.

Resorts World Genting, which is the groups flagship location perched on a hill outside of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, is still struggling to rebound from the pandemic. It was closed between June and September and its revenue is down 78% during the first nine months of 2021 compared with 2020.

The casino has a steep hill to climb. The next six months will be critical as the government decides whether casino and tourism operations can return to normal and if cross-border travel restrictions will stay in place.

We think slower-than expected recovery will be the key credit risk for the Genting group, says Salim. The groups rating is on Negative Outlook, which signals pressure for downgrade in the next 6 to 12 months if it is unable to improve EBITDA meaningfully in 2022.

In the U.S., Gentings strategy is coming into focus but has yet to hit paydirt. In June, Resorts World Las Vegas became the first casino to open on The Las Vegas Strip in 10 years. The sprawling resort, with 117,000-square-foot casino floor, a 5,000-seat concert venue, two clubs, a 70,000-square foot mall, and 40 restaurants, cost $4.2 billion to build.

According to Gentings third quarter results, Resorts World Las Vegas brought in $175 million in revenue and nearly $27 million in profits during its first full quarter in operations. Hotel occupancy rate for the same quarter was 55%, beating the citys average hotel occupancy for the year at 42%, according to a report by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Colin Mansfield, an analyst from Fitch Ratings, says the Vegas property is impressive, but it has not yet hit its stride.

With big properties like this, in markets that have a lot of competition, you're not going to open your doors on day one, and immediately be hitting your full potential, says Mansfield. It takes a couple of years.

The property should hit 30% cash flow margins by 2024, he says.

Brendan Bussmann,partner and director of government affairs with Global Market Advisors, who covers the gaming industry, says Resorts World isnt benefitting from Sin Citys recovery as much as other properties.

Right now, you see a property that's still evolving as things progress, says Bussmann.

For the time being, theyre doing all the things a global casino operator should, including owning two of the most coveted licenses in the industryNevada and Singapore. They're positioned well for the future, he says.

House Money: Lim Kok Thay plays baccarat at Singapore's first casino, Resorts World Sentosa complex, in 2010.

The Empire State is the heart of Gentings U.S. gambling empire. Resorts World Casino New York City, which is at the storied Aqueduct, the thoroughbred horse track in Jamaica, Queens, has historically been one of the best-performing casinos in the U.S. In 2019, the casino, which only has video slots and video table games in addition to horse racing, brought in $626 million.

In 2021, Resorts World Casino New York City brought in $480 million in revenue, or 77% of pre-pandemic levels. In states like Nevada, casino revenue has peaked above pre-pandemic levels.

Two hours north of the city in Monticello stands Resorts World Catskills, which opened in 2018 and cost $1.2 billion. It is starting to do better after years of lackluster results, says Mansfield.

Today, things have turned around. Despite the pandemic, it is the best performing full casino in the state, according to revenue reported by the New York State Gaming Commission, and is on pace to match or beat pre-pandemic revenue levels.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called for the state to award three additional casino licenses, which can be located statewide, including in New York City.Nick Antenucci, a lawyer and lobbyist at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron who has worked in the states gaming industry for years, says Resorts World should have a leg up on the competition.

The Aqueduct facility is a prime candidate to get one of those three licenses, says Antenucci. It should be looked at as one of the front runners simply because it's already there.

While Gentings casino empire is still in recovery mode, Mansfield doubts that it is going anywhere but up.

Theyre here to stay in the global gaming industry, says Mansfield. Genting is a well-established and recognized global gaming operator with successful properties across the globe and is a formidable competitor with traditional bigger players like Las Vegas Sands, Wynn, Galaxy.

At 4 p.m. on a wintery Friday, the crowd is heating up near the video slot machines at Resorts Worlds casino in Queens. Early bird gamblers, mostly older folks, some nursing cocktails, and others being pushed in wheelchairs, tap buttons on the video slot machines.

Carlos, a 73-year-old retired janitor, says hes been coming here since it opened in 2011 but hes been spending a lot more time here since his wife died. One time I won $13,000, took home $7,000 after taxes, but we all mostly lose, says Carlos.

In August 2021, the casino opened a $400 million hotel on the property. When asked how he think Resorts World is doing financially, Carlos nods his head towards the direction of hotel.

Theres so many people losing that theyve built a hotel, says Carlos. This casino is making so much money.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Burgos.

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Billionaire Behind Troubled Crystal Cruises Is Moving Ahead With Bigger Casino Bets - Forbes

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Knightscope, Inc. [Nasdaq: KSCP], a developer of advanced physical security technologies focused on enhancing U.S. security operations, today announced that it has another new casino client.

When the threat of criminal activity is as high as the stakes at the card table, its important that facilities are properly monitored. The flow of people and money is constant, upping the risk of incidents. But with the proper tools, like the K5 Autonomous Security Robot (ASR) that will soon patrol this new California casino, such worries are curbed, and the thrill and enjoyment of the gaming experience prevails.

About Knightscope

Knightscope is an advanced security technology company based in Silicon Valley that builds fully autonomous security robots that deter, detect and report. Knightscopes long-term ambition is to make the United States of America the safest country in the world. Learn more about us at http://www.knightscope.com. Follow Knightscope on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements about Knightscopes future expectations, plans, outlook, projections and prospects. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as should, may, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, projects, forecasts, expects, plans, proposes and similar expressions. Although Knightscope believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading Risk Factors in the offering circular filed with the SEC on January 26, 2022. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the document in which they are contained, and Knightscope does not undertake any duty to update any forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

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Knightscope Lands Another Casino Contract - Business Wire

Once regarded as one of the most exciting young strikers in Europe, Nicklas Bendtner never managed to fulfil his potential at Arsenal.

Back in 2018, he was arrested after breaking a taxi driver's jaw, while four years earlier another driver accused him rubbing his genitals against his taxi. Even prior to that, back in 2013, he was arrested for drink driving.

Bendtner videos his shirtless girlfriend as she goes around on a suitcase

In an interview with BBC Sport in 2020, Bendtner revealed that he used to be addicted to betting in casinos, as he looked to get a similar rush of adrenaline to what he experienced during football matches.

"At times it could seem like an addiction", Bendtner said. "I always felt I had it under control but that night was the sort of turning point for me. I knew this isn't the lifestyle I want.

"When I had a lot of injuries on the pitch, I couldn't find that excitement level of going on, playing in front of 60,000. There wasn't anything that lived up to that. The only time I could get that competitive feeling was going to the casino.

"The higher the stakes, the higher the adrenaline rush.

"I was 400,000 pounds down but ended up winning quite a lot of it back and only ended up losing 20,000 pounds on the night.

"It felt terrible but after I won it back I had a really hard think at the hotel when I got home and just knew that was the end of my big gambling nights.

"I didn't want to be just another guy who played football and lost all his money and didn't use his brain.

"It was important for me to go back to my roots and re-gather. Looking back now I'm happy that it happened as I may not have got that wake-up call."

Bendtner's inaccurate shooting during a Copenhagen training session went viral

After leaving Arsenal, Bendtner went on to play for Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest and Rosenborg before he decided to hang up his boots in 2019 after a short spell at Copenhagen.

Link:

Bendtner's struggles: Drink driving, casino addiction and taxi driver assault - Marca English