There has been a lot of friction in the casino news this week, whether it’s casinos battling each other or players having a beef with the casinos. We’ll start our weekly roundup of the news with a woman who feels she was cheated out of a big payday playing slots.
Woman Sues Casino Over Slots Jackpot
A woman is taking a casino to court after claiming that they’re trying to back out of giving her a giant jackpot payday. Katrina Bookman was playing the Sphinx slot machine at Resorts World Casino when she hit the jackpot, which was supposed to pay out a whopping $43 million. Instead, the casino claims that it was a glitch with the machine. They say that these types of flaws happen from time to time and are written out as disclaimers of which players have to be aware. As a result, they’ve decided to offer her a steak dinner instead for her troubles, but won’t be offering the big payday.
Bookman declined the dinner, and now she is suing the casino for the full jackpot. She took a selfie of herself with the winnings as well. The official suit also takes in the parent company, Genting New York LL, but keep in mind that the casinos are usually very well protected when it comes to these glitches.
MGM National Harbor Helps Maryland Casino Numbers Climb
MGM National Harbor made a lot of noise in the casino industry when it opened back in December and it has largely lived up to the hype. It continues to generate a ton of money and in March 2017 it posted revenues of $141 million. That helped the monthly casino revenues for the state of Maryland go up from last year by over 37%. However, the other casinos in Maryland are suffering because of the MGM National Harbor. Maryland Live has seen a decline of 16.6% to their casino while the Horseshoe Casino has seen a dip of 9.4%. That’s no coincidence as these are the two casinos that are closest to the MGM National Harbor.
Maryland officials say that they’re not worried about this and that it’s something that they saw coming. The MGM National Harbor is not only the newest casino and resort in the area, it also boasts a Las Vegas-like feel to it with a constant flow of top-notch music and entertainment acts along with a dining program headlined by several star chefs.
Officials from Maryland Live also believed that this would happen, which is why they’re gearing up to fire back at the MGM National Harbor. This includes a massive renovation that is going to cost about $200 million with a hotel, new dining spots and a spa. The Horseshoe is looking to ride its loyalty program to higher revenues. Remember that the other two casinos are also getting lower tax rates than the MGM National Harbor, specifically for their slots revenue. Overall, the big winners here are the state, which is using this revenue for educational programs.
Canadian Casinos In Trouble With Gambling Lending
Lending money to gamblers is always a risky business. Four casinos in Ontario are finding that out the hard way after losing nearly $10 million they doled out to players in interest-free loans. Caesars Windors, Casino Rama, Casino Niagara and Fallsview Casino have been giving out credit to 605 players, who are now in default. That boils down to about $17,000 per player.
The companies have pursued all viable routes, including collection companies. They are now going to have to file this large amount as “uncollectible” since they never got collateral and never created proper repayment plans. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes.