The Lucky Dragon, after closing its casino and restaurants this month, now faces foreclosure. The off-Strip, Chinese-themed hotel was hit with a default notice months ago and is scheduled to come. LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — In front of Nevada Legal News on 4th, I was wondering if some of the maybe two-dozen people standing by a podium may hold the key to the Lucky Dragon’s future. We were here. Thank you /r/Vegas! The actual original Las Vegas subreddit run by people who live in Las Vegas. Locals and visitors welcome. Local to Vegas? None currently scheduled; The large meetups are posted here in the sidebar, but many ad-hoc events are created in the Facebook group and not posted here. Check out the Facebook. Lucky Dragon, which closed its restaurants and casino earlier this month, heads into foreclosure after just over a year in business. The resort received a default notice in September for a $90.
This week's Inside Gaming shares news of the imminent opening of what will be New York's largest casino, tells of the theft of millions' worth of chips from a Macau casino, updates the situation involving the still-closed Lucky Dragon in Las Vegas, and passes along some recent bad beat jackpot headlines.
Resorts World Catskills Announces February Opening
The opening date for New York's newest and largest casino has been moved up, as this week came the announcement that Resorts World Catskills will be opening its doors on February 8. That's three weeks ahead of the previously planned-for March 1 opening.
Located 90 miles north of New York City near Monticello, the $1.2 billion property looks to revive the once popular 'Borscht Belt' region as a tourist destination.
The casino will feature 150 table games and 2,150 slots, while the resort will have a hotel with 332 luxury suites, numerous restaurants, an entertainment village, an indoor waterpark lodge, and an 18-hole golf course.
'We look forward to driving tourism to the Catskills, stimulating the economy and making meaningful contributions that help put the Catskills back on the map as a premier getaway and true destination,' said casino VP Charles Degliomini, as reported by USA Today.
Majority owned by the Genting Group, the new casino hopes to avoid the recent struggles of the three other upstate casinos — Rivers Casino & Resort, del Lago Resort & Casino, and the Tioga Downs & Casino — each of which have all performed below expectations of late.
$6 Million Worth of Chips Stolen from Wynn Macau
Just last week we passed along reports of two more robberies occurring at Las Vegas casinos, incidents which followed an earlier robbery at the Bellagio poker cage in late November.
This morning CNNMoney is reporting news of another casino heist, this one occurring in Macau. And it appears in this case it was an inside job.
Authorities are searching for $6 million worth of missing casino chips, allegedly stolen from the Wynn Macau by one of its own employees, reports CNNMoney.
Two suspects — a dealer and an accomplice — have been arrested, with Macau police stating they are currently not looking for anyone else in the case. While police didn't share details on how the theft occurred, 'local media reported that the suspect allegedly stuffed [the chips] into a bag in a VIP room and simply carried them out.'
The chips remain missing. Of course, whoever presently possesses them would have to return to the casino in order to attempt to use them in games or convert them to cash.
Lucky Dragon Casino Reportedly Facing Foreclosure, Auction in Early February
Two weeks ago we mentioned here how the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino located west of the Las Vegas Strip on West Sahara Avenue abruptly shut its doors barely a year after opening. At the time its owners indicated the shutdown would only be temporary, part of a cost-cutting plan that also included reducing staff.
It appears today the closing of the Asian-themed property may be more than temporary, however, with news that the casino is reportedly facing foreclosure. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the property was delivered a default notice last September with a foreclosure auction already scheduled for February 6.
While the sale of the casino via auction doesn't mean it won't be reopening, it is nonetheless 'another sign of financial distress at the year-old boutique resort,' explains the LVRJ.
The auction notice specifies that $48.9 million remains owed on a $90M loan taken out in early 2016 by the casino's developer Andrew Fonfa.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Delays Red Rock Casino BBJ Ruling
Finally, and in case you missed it, there was recent news regarding the disputed bad beat jackpot that occurred at the Red Rock Casino last July.
You may recall the case involved dozens of players at various Station Casinos poker rooms thinking they had each won a portion of a $120,000 BBJ only to discover Red Rock Casino ruled the hand to have been invalidated due to one of the players involved showing his cards early.
An initial ruling in favor of the players resulted in an appeal by Station Casinos. That appeal led to a hearing in December before the Nevada Gaming Control Board regarding the situation.
Last week the NGCB held its first meeting of the new year, also the first following the resignation of former Chairman A.G. Burnett in December. There the board decided it still needed more time to consider details related to the case, and so delayed making any final ruling just yet.
For those who are curious, our Valerie Cross provides a detailed history of the case including the latest update in her article from yesterday, 'Red Rock Casino Bad Beat Jackpot Payout Dispute Continues.'
Meanwhile, there was some happier bad beat jackpot news this week as well from the Motor City CasinoNevada gambling destinations. in Detroit. That's where players in a six-handed no-limit hold'em cash game were the lucky recipients of the biggest BBJ in history, dividing an incredible $1,068,590 after a player lost a quads-over-quads hand.
Read more about the Motor City miracle here: 'Poker Players in Detroit Hit Biggest Bad Beat Jackpot in U.S. History.'
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This week's Inside Gaming gives an update from the 'mini-casino' bid auctions in Pennsylvania, visits Macau to talk Chinese New Year tourism, looks in on the latest regarding the embattled Lucky Dragon in Las Vegas, and reports on a UK betting giant being fined by regulators.
Fourth Pennsylvania 'Mini-Casino' Bid Goes to Greenwood Gaming
There was a bit of drama this week in the latest auction for 'mini-casino' licenses in Pennsylvania.
Yesterday it was announced another such license would be awarded to Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment Inc. who submitted a bid of $8.1 million to place a satellite casino in the south central part of the state.
However, Greenwood's bid was actually not the highest this week, as Sands Bethworks Gaming, LLC, owner of the Sands Casino Resort Bethlethem, had submitted the highest bid of $9.9 million on Wednesday.
As it happened, the Sands' bid intruded on an area already claimed by Mount Airy Casino Resort, winners of an earlier auction.
'Since the location does not meet the requirements of Act 42 — Pennsylvania's 2017 gaming expansion law that authorized the mini-casinos — Sands' bid [was] invalidated,' explains Lehigh Valley Live.
Greenwood currently operates Parx Casino in Bensalem. Like other auction winners, the company has two days to pay the full bid price, then six months to submit an application for the Category 4 slot machine licence. Such applications will include specific details regarding locations and development plans.
'The new casinos are, by the statute, designed to have between 300 and 750 slot machines and up to 30 table games,' notes Penn Live.
Greewood's accepted bid — the fourth so far — pushes the total close to the $120 million mark, well over the $100M goal the state initially targeted from the issuing of the 10 licenses.
Macau Tourism Up During Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year was recently celebrated (from February 15-20), and according to the Macau Government Tourism Office the Special Administrative Region enjoyed a 7.9 percent increase in tourists over a year ago reports GGRAsia.
Of that total, 73.8 percent of those visiting were from mainland China, a 14.5 percent increase from last year.
How those figures will affect the month's gaming revenue remains to be seen, although many analysts are quick to minimize expectations of a correlation between increased tourism and casino spending. 'This is because research indicates that high-stakes play by a relatively small number of visitors is still an important component of the market,' GGRAsia explains.
January saw another healthy increase in gaming revenue among Macau's casinos, up 36.4 percent year-over-year according to the Gaming, Inspection, and Coordination Bureau Macao SAR. That's the 18th-straight month of increases following just over two years' worth of revenue decreases from 2014 to 2016.
Lucky Dragon Las Vegas Hotel
Lucky Dragon Opens Hotel (For Now), Casino Remains Closed
First came the abrupt closure of the Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino in early January, said to be temporary. Two weeks later came reports the casino that had only opened a little over a year before was facing foreclosure.
While there was no foreclosure auction, on Wednesday a Nevada bankruptcy judge ruled that while the Lucky Dragon hotel will be staying open through March 27 (the date of the next bankruptcy hearing), the casino will remain closed. Free let it ride poker game.
The company owning the Lucky Dragon filed for bankruptcy last week. KVVU-TV in Las Vegas reports that during Wednesday's hearing the company's lawyers 'said the property was appraised at $143 million in November, however creditors said it was appraised at $60 million.'
According to the casino's representatives, should the property located on the north end of the Strip be put up for sale, there are 'a number of interested bidders' although specifics regarding possible buyers were not shared.
UK Regulators Fine William Hill £6.2M
This week the London-based bookmaker William Hill was hit with a £6.2 million fine by the UK Gambling Commission for 'failing to protect consumers and prevent money laundering,' according to The Guardian.
According to regulators, the sports betting giant 'failed to spot obvious signs of problem gambling, and in doing so breached anti-money laundering and social responsibility regulations.'
More specifically, the UKGC charged the company with 'a systemic failing' to seek information about customers' fund sources or to monitor whether or not they were problem gamblers.
One example cited described a customer having deposited £541,000 over a 14-month period with William Hill having been under the impression he earned £365,000 per year. In fact, the individual earned a £30,000 annual salary 'and was funding his gambling habit by stealing from his employer.'
The fine total includes £5M for failing to follow regulations plus another £1.2M for money earned from 10 customers over a two-year period. The £6.2M fine is the second-largest ever levied by the commission.
More on the story can be found at PokerNews UK.
Photo: 'Slot Machine,' Jeff Kubina, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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