Ny Attorney General Looking Into Casino Bidding Process

Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural is among anyone who has been approached by state investigators questions that are asking ny’s casino licensing process.
The ny state attorney general’s office has apparently exposed an inquiry into exactly how the three internet sites that had been suggested by the Gaming Facility Location Board were selected, and whether the bidding process as a whole had been fair.
Based on different reports, investigators for brand New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman have actually met with some associated with the bidders who were a part of the casino selection process, seemingly to investigate whether conflicts of interest or other problems were present during the selection.
According to a report by Central New York Media, the 3 bidders that are winning had ties to Taft, Stettinius & Hollister.
That company merged with law practice Shefsky & Froelich year that is last after which it became the lead gambling consultant for the location board. In total, five of the 16 casino bids mentioned ties to the organizations as a conflict that is potential of.
Gural States Investigators Approached Him About Process
According to Tioga Downs owner Jeff Gural, he has spoken to investigators about the bidding process. But though Gural has previously reported about the tier that is southern passed over and has lobbied for his proposed casino to acquire a 2nd look, he claims he had not been wanting to allege any illegal activity in the process.
‘I did not get in touch with the AG,’ Gural said. ‘It wasn’t my intent to grumble.’
Gural stated that while he told investigators that he didn’t believe any laws was broken during the putting in a bid process, he did have questions about the potential conflict of great interest caused by a winning bidder’s connections compared to that casino consulting firm, something he feels might not have been fair.
James Featherstonhaugh, an Albany lobbyist who worked with two bidders that are losing also said that state investigators had contacted his clients in recent days. However, he offered comments that were even softer compared to those of Gural, saying that while he was disappointed within the results, he wasn’t accusing the location board of any impropriety.
‘We thought that the process was managed fairly and skillfully,’ Featherstonhaugh told the New York occasions. ‘We wish we had won. But we didn’t.’
Location Board Says Process Was Fair and Clear
According to location board spokesperson Lee Park, Taft’s role along the way was only to compile submitted materials into more easily comparable summaries that board members can use.
‘Taft had no direct input into decision-making of the board members,’ Park stated month that is last.
In a statement problems Monday, Park reiterated that the method was fair and followed the principles established by New York’s casino legislation.
‘The casino sitting process strictly followed the provisions of the Upstate ny Gaming Economic Development Act, which called for unprecedented transparency,’ Park said. ‘All material regarding the process, including legally required disclosures of potential disputes of interest, are available on our website for anyone to examine.’
The investigation comes because the location board is preparing to supply a final report on the three sites chosen for casinos on Friday. On that day, the board can also be expected to look at a formal request for allowing brand new proposals from the Southern Tier region, potentially allowing a fourth unused casino license become granted to a task here.
The three recommended casino projects in upstate New York include Montreign Resort and Casino in Thompson (located in the Catskills), https://casino-bonus-free-money.com/titanic-slot/ Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, and Lago Resort Casino in Tyre, near the Finger Lakes at the moment.
Revel Sold To Florida Billionaire Straub For $82 Million
Right Back from the dead: Glenn Straub finally gets his fingers regarding the shuttered Revel casino resort, which he plans to show into a casino-cum-center devoted to life extension science. (Image: wsj.com)
Sold, to the eccentric Florida billionaire into the front row: one gigantic, doomed casino resort that leaks $2 million a week. Stunning views of the coastline.
Yes, after months of tortuous appropriate wrangling, property developer Glenn Straub has finally got his mitts regarding the stricken Revel Casino Resort in Atlantic City. He will pay $82 million for the building, a fraction of the $2.4 billion it cost to build.
His plans? Well, Revel will NOT become an elite university where the brightest minds on earth can wander down and up the boardwalk ruminating on answers to global issues, such as ‘famine, cancer and waste that is nuclear,’ as Straub previously proposed.
Instead, it will be some kind of strange center devoted to the pursuit of eternal youth, or ‘life-extension science,’ to make use of the preferred terminology. We imagine this is certainly very big in Florida.
Oh, and a casino.
Life Extension for Revel
Yes, despite, previous statements that he dislikes ab muscles idea of Atlantic City as a casino town and that he would feel uncomfortable about profiting from gambling (although, given Revel’s history, there would seem to be little chance of that), Straub has tantalizingly revealed that the failed casino property will reopen as a casino. Albeit a strange one. This week: ‘It’s a shame not to own some entertainment. after all, as he explained to Bloomberg’
‘ I think we are able to help a large amount of people,’ added Straub of Revel’s forthcoming life-extension facilities. ‘We’ll provide you with a week of knowledge and maybe extend yourself.’
An issue that might have been instrumental in Straub compromising his convictions about casinos is the energy that is crippling that’s tagged onto Revel. While Straub had been the original ‘stalking horse’ in Revel’s bankruptcy auction, establishing the base bid at $90 million, the auction was eventually won by the Canadian company Brookfield Asset Management, having a bid of $110 million.
Energy Bills from Hell
But Brookfield balked and bolted whenever it saw the energy that is annual of $36 million. In contrast, the Borgata, which has two times as numerous hotel spaces and a more substantial casino floor, paid $11.7 million year that is last energy costs.
The property gets its power from an adjacent plant, owned by ACR Partners LLC, which was built specifically for that function and with Revel is its sole customer. Revel AC Inc started building the power plant when work began on the home, in 2008.
When the ongoing business ran out of money, however, the plant was taken over by ACR, which demanded a 15 per cent return on its equity within the first five years and 18 percent from then on. Revel’s obligations to ACR constitute equity payments totaling $20.1 million annually, plus $4 million for operations and maintenance.
Resorts Casino Hotel Joins New Jersey On Line Gambling Fray
Resorts will get to be the casino that is fifth in Atlantic City to start an online gambling site in the state of New Jersey. (Image: Donald Kravitz/Getty Photos)
Resorts Casino Hotel may rank last among the Atlantic that is remaining City in terms of income, but that is not stopping them from jumping right into the online gambling world.
This week, Resorts becomes the 5th Atlantic City casino company to offer online gambling in the state of the latest Jersey. With a luck that is little they could also be joined by a really powerful partner within the months or months to come.
Resorts will end their testing that is five-day period Wednesday, the second of two full times of operation that follow three partial days of gaming.
Meaning the casino’s online gambling sites is totally operational on Thursday, just per week Resorts received their waiver that is transactional from nj-new Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE).
Resorts Boasts Variety of Casino Games, No Poker at Launch
‘As New Jersey’s first casino destination, Resorts is committed to delivering the best-in-class online video gaming experience in the Garden State by partnering with gaming leaders, including SNG Interactive, which houses Sportech and NYX Gaming Group,’ said Mark Giannantonio, CEO and president of Resorts Casino Hotel.
‘With SNG’s versatile gaming solutions and exclusive game content, we’re excited to introduce European countries’s industry-leading casino slots and dining table games towards the United States market for the best online user experience.’
Resorts joins the Borgata, Golden Nugget, Tropicana and Caesars Entertainment in offering casinos that are online New Jersey. Right now, just the Borgata (partnered with partypoker) and Caesars (with 888 Holdings) offer online poker.
That’s not something which Resorts can boast right from the gate. Nonetheless, they’re likely to enter the web poker landscape sooner rather than later on. Resorts has a partnership that is existing utilizing the Rational Group, the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt that is now owned by Amaya Gaming.
A formidable competitor in the online poker sphere while Amaya’s licensing application has been delayed, there have been signs that the company could gain a New Jersey license soon, which would likely make resorts.
PokerStars, Complete Tilt Could Provide Games if Licensed
‘Resorts has built an exclusive relationship with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, two of the most extremely popular and effective online gaming brands on the planet,’ reads an FAQ page for Resorts. ‘This means Resorts will be supplying brand New Jersey with the best online casino and poker web sites with the industry’s most acceptable products.’
For the time being, though, the focus shall be on providing casino services and products. According to Resorts, their web site will ‘feature the biggest selection of casino slots and table games in their state of New Jersey in addition to exclusive titles and highly coveted content being unavailable somewhere else.’
Resorts Casino Hotel was the casino that is first in Atlantic City, opening in 1978. Resorts was a heavy contributor to the campaign to legalize gambling in brand New Jersey, supporting the referendum on the issue that had been passed away by state voters in 1976.
Resorts are going to be entering an online gambling market in New Jersey that has been growing in recent months. In January, the state’s online gambling sites brought in $11.6 million, up over 22 % when compared to similar month last year.
The sole section of the state’s Internet gambling framework that appears to be struggling is online poker, which could receive a major boost if PokerStars is allowed to begin operations in partnership with Resorts.
