The publication of the RFP for the new casino license in the Hellinikon project in Athens has been delayed. It was supposed to have been issued last month, but the delay is not surprising given the complexity of this RFP…. [continue reading]
The publication of the RFP for the new casino license in the Hellinikon project in Athens has been delayed. It was supposed to have been issued last month, but the delay is not surprising given the complexity of this RFP…. [continue reading]
The European Commission has finally decided to drop its action for illegal State aid against the Greek government in a case about entry fees payable by visitors to the Greek casinos. The background to the case is that each Greek… [see full article]
Given the success that integrated resorts have found elsewhere in the world, I am often asked why they seem to fail in Europe. Integrated resorts often generate taxes, employment, in-bound tourism and the like. To be clear, an integrated resort… [see full article]
Something has been happening in Paris, and few in the international gaming industry have heard about it. Casino gambling has historically not been legal in the city of Paris. In 1920, a French government decree stated that no casinos could… [see full article]
As most of you may know, the long-awaited decision on whether to cut the maximum bet on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) has been pushed back again. Some of you, though, may well be asking: what, exactly, are these FOBTs, Continue Reading
With the impending Supreme Court of the United States opinion regarding whether the States have the right to offer sport betting, and whether Congress overstepped its powers with PAPSA in 1992 in limiting the number of States that can do… Continue Reading
Guillermo Fernández Vara, President of the Spanish region of Extremadura, has recently proposed legal changes which would allow for fast track planning consents and lower gambling taxes for the development and operation of large scale leisure complexes – those with a minimum investment of €1 billion. These complexes could feasibly include hotels, spas, conference centres, […]
The Gambling Commission of Great Britain has released its annual report on participation rates and the perception of gambling for 2017. Every year, the Gambling Commission ask approximately 8,000 people (4,000 men and 4,000 women) about their gambling in the last four weeks, with the report usually published in February of the following year. Continue […]
That is ICE, now the largest gaming show in the world, over for another year. It is funny to think that this all started in 1987 when Jeff Lindsay, the founder of John Huxley Casino Equipment, decided to exhibit at the Amusement Trades Exhibition, the only casino supplier amongst “Whack-A-Mole” games, fairground rides and pub […]
The French land-based casino industry saw another year of growth in 2017. Overall gross gaming revenues (GGR) increased by 2.4% to €2.3 billion, but within that there were definite winners and losers. Lucien Barriere, the country’s largest operator by GGR, saw its gaming revenues increase by 3.6% to €695 million. Groupe Partouche, the second largest […]
The European gambling industry is seeing several sizable developments with ownership changes in recent months. Firstly, it looks as if the Czech-based Sazka Group will become the largest shareholder of Casinos Austria AG (CASAG), which owns the Austrian Lotteries Group as well as Casinos Austria’s domestic and overseas casinos. Continue Reading
The European gambling landscape is quite mature, with very few opportunities for meaningful expansion. There are still ways to grow profits, such as improving revenues through better marketing programs and doing cost reductions, but without new licenses becoming available the only way to substantially increase profits is to acquire other businesses. All three options have […]
The latest buzz to hit the slot floor is about games of skill, slot machine games that contain an element of skill – and the key word is “element”. The element of skill needs to allow the player to believe that they can affect the outcome, yet not enable the player to win consistently. That’s […]
No, this is not a piece about the rise of Donald Trump or nationalism in Europe or even Brexit. It is about the move against gambling machines in Europe where we are seeing a rise in opposition to the expansion of gambling similar to what we have seen in the last few decades, specifically, in […]
A few weeks ago I was on a panel at a breakfast briefing organised by my old friend, David Schollenberger from Healys. It was a lively debate on the topic of Fantasy Sports and eSports and the part of the briefing with the most divergent views was whether Fantasy Sports will be a main stream betting […]
The big news recently is the filing by Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), in the Chicago courts for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The filing is not for the whole of Caesars Entertainment Inc. but for one of its many subsidiaries. This subsidiary owns a large part of the Caesars’ empire, mainly the competitively challenged older properties […]
The European land based casino industry is not in a good place. Many countries have seen revenues contract sharply since the glory days of 2007/2008. For example, in 2013 in Greece total casino GGR has dropped almost 60% from the €744 million won in 2008. In the Netherlands GGR in casinos has declined from €627 […]
There have been, in the past few years a number of initiatives to develop large scale casino destination resorts. The success or failure of these initiatives is usually a matter of geography. In Asia they have, thus far,been hugely successful. I am not talking about the commercial success of the facility but of the initiative; […]
Nobody Harmed
Recently I attended an event entitled “Nobody Harmed by Gambling”, organised by the bookmakers William Hill. The intent of the meeting was to start a conversation about how to reduce, to a bare minimum, the harm caused by abnormal gambling… [continue reading]