In The News: International Gaming Institute
For decades a small, landless tribe in Northern California has been on a mission to get land, open a casino and tap into the gaming market enjoyed by so many other tribes that earn millions of dollars annually. The Koi Nation’s chances of owning a Las Vegas-style casino seemed impossible until a federal court ruling in 2019 cleared the way for the tiny tribe to find a financial partner to buy land and place it into a trust to make it eligible for a casino.
The Innovation Group, organizers of the Emerging Leaders of Gaming (ELG) program, and Global Gaming Business magazine (GGB) have announced the honorees of the Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40, a program that recognizes professionals under the age of 40 already making significant impacts in the casino gaming industry.
Women in the Project W community are changing the face of gaming by putting women in the C-Suite, making play safer and more inclusive, building community, and telling stories with strong female protagonists. By doing so, they are putting women at the forefront of the multi-billion-dollar gaming industry.
London-based not-for-profit ESG Gaming has announced that founder Lee Willows will be part of the Esports Betting and Gambling panel being held as part of the ESI Lisbon festival, set to take place at the MEO Arena in Lisbon from September 23 to 25. Drawing on his experience as the founder of safer gambling charity YGAM, Lee will provide expert insight alongside Darius C. Gambino, Partner Saul Ewing LLP; Brett Abarbanel, Executive Director UNLV International Gaming Institute; and Urim Bajrami, Partner Stadler Völke.
When Alan Feldman got the call from American Gaming Association President and CEO Bill Miller, he thought it might be about a project he’d been working on with AGA team members. He was wrong. AGA President and CEO Bill Miller was calling to inform Feldman he was new member of the Gaming Hall of Fame.
As we mark the start of responsible gaming education month, this seems the appropriate time to reflect on the relative merits and the challenges of the term “responsible gambling) itself. Responsible gaming (RG) was brought into the world hoping to communicate a message that was both positive and preventative. It seems clear that 30 years on, it has done neither.
It started with a loophole. Attempting to curtail offshore gaming, Congress passed legislation in 2006 preventing gambling businesses from accepting payments related to illegal online bets or wagers. Exempted from the bill, however, were fantasy sports competitions.
September is Responsible Gaming Education Month, and the industry’s efforts to promote that cause are now in their 35th year due, in no small part, to one of the largest casino operators on the Las Vegas Strip. Caesars Entertainment was the first commercial casino company to advance responsible gaming with the launch of its Project 21 initiative in 1989.
Recreational cannabis has been legal in Nevada since 2017. By most measures legal pot has been a success, serving the public while generating nearly a billion dollars in sales and more than $130 million in tax revenue annually without causing significant societal harm.
Can the major industries of gaming and cannabis ever co-exist in Nevada? Policy experts, industry insiders and local leaders are discussing the possibilities within state law, all to give tourists and locals more consumer options. UNLV’s Cannabis Policy Institute and the UNLV International Gaming Institute recently held a panel on federal regulations, state and local laws, and interest from industry leaders in gaming and cannabis.
Nevada has held itself as the “gold standard” in gaming regulation for more than three score. And now, for nearly a decade, the state has used that model to claim its stake as a leader in cannabis regulation, too. But bringing those two together has been more like oil and water than chocolate and peanut butter.
Nevada has held itself as the “gold standard” in gaming regulation for more than three score. And now, for nearly a decade, the state has used that model to claim its stake as a leader in cannabis regulation, too. But bringing those two together has been more like oil and water than chocolate and peanut butter.