Maryland Live Back at the Top After Using Wind Out of MGM Nationwide Harbor’s Sails

Maryland Live is once again the top casino in hawaii after the Arundel Mills resort generated more gaming revenue during the month of February than its new rival MGM National Harbor.
Maryland Live, billed as the family friendly casino in comparison to MGM nationwide Harbor, saw the gambling money that is most come through its doors during February.
Collectively, the state’s six casinos pulled in $128.7 million in gross gaming win, Maryland’s second-best performance that is all-time. The record mark came in December after the opening that is grand of Harbor led up to a win of $133.5 million.
Maryland Live’s revenue totaled $46.29 million last month, 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 income, with Horseshoe Baltimore coming in a distant third with $22 million.
Three smaller regional gambling facilities, Hollywood Casino Perryville, Rocky Gap Casino Resort, and also the Casino at Ocean Downs, posted a combined $14.6 million.
The Cordish Companies, the parent organization of reside that is headquartered in Maryland, credited its ‘family approach’ for the property retaking the top spot. In a statement the group additionally says being locally owned permits it to provide a better experience to clients, in what’s truly a slight jab at MGM.
Mixed Results
The February gambling report represents a 38 percent increase on the month that is same 2016. Casinos took $35.4 million additional money throughout the quickest 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 %. Even though 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 contrasted to last February. And conditions could not have now been riper for strong revenues, as the month was one of the warmest on record.
Since MGM announced its intends to build National Harbor, Maryland Live has been scrambling to make sure its property stayed competitive from the behemoth outside of DC in Oxford Hill. Live and nationwide Harbor are about 35 miles apart, but both are competing for the wealthy DC and Northern Virginia demographic.
Maryland Live announced the construction of the 17-story hotel tower with 310 guest spaces summer that is last. MGM National Harbor offers 308 hotel rooms.
Nationwide Harbor Underwater?
MGM’s casino that is latest to start in the US ended up being downright packed during its starting month. The resort asked visitors that are would-be stay away unless they’d a reservation.
Just three months 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 since low as $229, though weekends are still in the range that is prior.
MGM likely isn’t too concerned with the February gaming report. While Live continues to fret over the competition, MGM CEO Jim Murren has repeatedly stated that the house seeks become a destination resort for not just gamblers but also visitors to your country’s capital.
Casino Bus Crash Kills Four, Charter Safety Concerns Continue
A casino bus crash in Mississippi has killed four passengers and injured 40 more, seven critically.
A casino bus crash in Mississippi presumably 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 following the coach reportedly became stuck while attempting 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 legs before coming to a stop.
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 immediately clear whether or not the bus incurred mechanical problems, the area where the accident happened has road signs warning drivers of low ground clearance.
The names associated with the victims, and whether the driver was one of the fatalities, wasn’t released.
Charter Gambling
The casino bus crash comes lower than five months after a California gambling trip ended in tragedy. In October, 13 passengers aboard a trip coach had been killed after the driver slammed in to the straight back of a semi-truck that is 18-wheeler Interstate 10 near Palm Springs.
In that incident, passengers paid around $30 for round-trip fare and free slot cash from Los Angeles to a remote casino near Salton City called Red Earth.
Tour companies and regional casinos frequently reach agreements where gambling establishments provide slot money to people arriving on certain charters and spend the coach company a small stipend that is per-customer.
This is why busses like the one mixed up in Palm Springs accident drive lengths that are great passing multiple casinos in the process, to arrive at a location like Red Earth.
Growing Concern
Following last fall’s tragedy in California, the National Transportation protection 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 passengers. But fatalities aboard chartered busses continue to be relatively unusual compared to many other modes of transportation.
In line with 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 fatalities.
The NTSB is in Mississippi to investigate this week’s crash. Back home at its Washington, DC, headquarters, the agency is wanting to determine if more oversight that is stringent of charter companies is needed.
In 2013, the NTSB publicly scolded inspectors during the Federal engine Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for failing to detect clear and safety that is significant on busses that passed inspections.
‘Our investigators discovered that in many cases, poor people performing company ended up being on FMCSA’s radar for violations, but ended up being permitted to continue operating . . . until they had crashes that are deadly’ the NTSB said 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 risks’ in regards to the state’s proposal to permit the construction of a tribal casino outside sovereign tribal lands.
Ken Salazar, former US Secretary to your Interior, now MGM consultant, believes that Connecticut will struggle to receive federal approval for a new casino deal with the Mohegan and Mashantucket tribes. (Image: Politico.com)
Salazar, who is a paid up consultant for MGM Resorts International, informed the governor that the proposed ‘satellite’ casino could jeopardize the state’s revenue-sharing agreements using the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, which run the Foxwoods and Mohegan Casinos in south Connecticut, that could cost their state billions within the run that is long.
MGM is desperate to stop Connecticut’s plans to just establish a casino 13 miles south for the MGM Springfield, presently under construction over the border in Massachusetts.
The Connecticut casino has been conceived purely as a way to blunt MGM Springfield’s competitive edge from the Connecticut casino sector and to protect Connecticut jobs.
MGM has made no key 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 would need to pass a law permitting the 2 tribes, known collectively as MMCT, to operate the state’s first ever casino outside tribal lands. The tribes would be the entities that are only by legislation to operate casinos in their state.
MGM has sued Connecticut on the grounds that this is unconstitutional plus in violation of the Commerce Clause as it bars out-of-state rivals from contending to build up casinos in the state, discriminating, claims MGM, in benefit of the 2 tribes.
The casino giant also attempted to get an amendment added up to a federal defense bill that would have prohibited indigenous American tribes from operating casinos in their home state outside their reservations nonetheless 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 an official viewpoint in the legal ramifications of the proposal and to measure the possibility of MGM successfully blocking it within the courts.
Substantial Risk
Salazar’s intervention on behalf of MGM, then, is well-timed. Writing in a letter that is open to Malloy, dated March 7, he writes that the 25 % revenue share who has existed between the state and the tribes for just two years is threatened, regardless of the fact that MMCT has proposed amendments towards the agreements that will make sure the payments to your state wouldn’t normally stop.
‘Under federal law … amendments to a tribal gaming compact need approval by the U.S. Department of Interior, which I led for five years throughout the Obama Administration,’ wrote Salazar.
‘Based on that experience ( as well as on my work on Native American legal issues), I believe there is a risk that is substantial the tribe’s proposed amendments wouldn’t normally receive the requisite approval, by which situation Connecticut’s entitlement to the 25-percent income flow would likely terminate.’
AN MMCT spokesman had been unmoved by the contents for the letter. ‘MGM is willing to cover anyone and every person to stop our project from moving forward because they know our proposal is going to keep revenue and jobs in Connecticut,’ he stated.
Glenn Straub Ups Attacks on Atlantic City, Says New Jersey ‘Rapes’ Organizations
Glenn Straub states whenever you come to New Jersey, business owners ‘have to take all your clothes off’ and enable the state to take full benefit. ‘They don’t understand how exactly to perhaps 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 does not suggest the Florida-based businessman is going to play by New Jersey’s guidelines. (Image: Atlantic City Primetime)
Yep, Straub just went there. The developer that is florida-based officially eliminated any politically correct buffer he might have had in describing Atlantic City. Speaking because of the Associated Press, Straub lambasted the national government and casino regulators in the Garden State.
Asked why he isn’t prepared to play by https://myfreepokies.com/cleopatra-queen-of-slots/ the rules which have been set forth, such as participating in the PILOT program ( re payment in place of taxes), Straub responded, ‘I’d be broke. They’re trying to create me do just what my predecessors did.’
Straub purchased the shuttered Revel Atlantic City, a resort that cost $2.4 billion to make, for $82 million in bankruptcy court. But since his acquisition nearly two years ago, the businessman has engaged in a few fights with hawaii’s Casino Control Commission (CCC) and Atlantic City’s regional leaders.
Straub argues he doesn’t require a casino license since he’s likely to be leasing their gambling floor to a third-party that is currently in the process of obtaining a CCC permit.
But that does not stick to Atlantic City laws. Morris Bailey received a license on their behalf for their Resorts Casino despite also hiring a vendor to operate the gaming space.
Layers of Bureaucracy
Straub’s frustrations aren’t out of the norm with regards to business that is doing Atlantic City. The beachfront gambling town is infamous for the complicated environment that is regulatory.
The Casino Control Commission, Division of Gaming Enforcement, and Casino Reinvestment Development Authority are all involved in licensing properties, but incoming owners are often confused as to which agency is actually in control. Muddying the process is the known proven fact that the town it self is responsible for building inspections and infrastructure jobs.
Mayor Don Guardian (R) is trying to help owners navigate the burdens that are complex. The controversial mayor who is at the center for the state’s takeover associated with local government claims he regularly meets with owners who have invested at least $1 million in the city.