About the Author
Emile Avanessian
Latest articles
Jay Z, Floyd Mayweather Jr. Among Celebrities to Back NYC Caesars Palace Bid
It appears that “Brooklyn’s Finest“ has designs for the heart of Times Square. Manhattan-based mega-developer SL Green announced to investors on Monday it and Caesars Entertainment have a new partner for the joint bid for a New York City casino. The new partner is billionaire businessman Shawn Carter, better known as rap icon Jay-Z. The […]
Harris Poll Shows American Public Favors Betting, Not Ads
Ads are repetitive, and so is history. In 2015, sports betting wasn’t yet legal in the US. The federal government, sports league commissioners, and other power brokers had worked together to keep it that way. Even so, Americans found themselves inundated with ads for the companies that would come to dominate that space five years […]
UK Financial Institution Lloyds Bank Experiments With New Gambling Controls
In late November, the UK financial institution Lloyds Bank announced the trial of a new budgeting tool for gamblers. It will allow customers with debit cards to set personalized limits on their monthly gambling expenditures. This isn’t the first attempt by Lloyds to try to encourage safer gambling. In early 2020, it struck a partnership […]
The Complicated World of Social Media Gambling Policies
Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) recently updated pages regarding its policies for the marketing of iGaming products. While the policies themselves aren’t new, the company apparently felt the need to emphasize them in light of the ever-growing popularity of online gambling – both regulated and not. Facebook requires such companies to obtain its written permission before […]
How HookMotion Uses Computer Vision to Offer Digital Advantages to Physical Casinos
Human error being what it is, retail casinos are always at risk of leaving money on the table, literally and figuratively. According to some estimates, preventable losses for the industry could be as high as $12 billion annually. Table games are particularly problematic due to the need for human dealers and pit bosses. Casino workers […]
Simultaneous Crises in Gambling and Crypto Highlight the Importance of Regulation
Every so often, we get a reminder of the extent to which financial systems rest on confidence and faith. In the digital era, money is more abstract than ever. Events of the past week have perhaps rattled that faith for some and highlighted the importance of regulation in preserving it. Several US operators, including BetMGM […]
Change of Plans Creates Regulatory Confusion for Encore Boston Harbor
Questions are swirling around Wynn Resorts’ proposed expansion to its Encore Boston Harbor property in Everett, Massachusetts. Can a massive shopping and entertainment development claim total independence from a casino to which it’s physically tethered? Conversely, just how connected to a casino must one be in order to be permitted to offer gaming activities? Does […]
Will PlayAGS Be Better Off Without Apollo’s Involvement?
Last week, news broke that Apollo Global Management is selling its final 22% stake in American Gaming Systems (AGS), known these days as PlayAGS. For much of the past decade, Apollo was the largest shareholder of the Las Vegas-based AGS and, at one time, its sole owner. For some time now, casinos have served as a […]
A Closer Look at Claudio Fischer and His Las Vegas Ambitions
Events of recent weeks have reminded us that two things are inevitable on the Las Vegas Strip: Ambition and change. On November 13, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Chilean business mogul Claudio Fischer is poised to complete the purchase of ten acres of land on the Strip. It’s a deal nearly three years in […]
Behind the Scenes of California’s Soon-to-Expire Moratorium on Cardroom Expansion
The 2022 midterm elections have come and gone. They take with them the latest – and most expensive – failed attempt to bring legalized sports betting to California. Voters in the Golden State had potential options. Despite roughly half a billion dollars in advertising, they rejected both emphatically. Unofficial voting results show that Prop 26, […]
