The Star Entertainment Group announced that it has formalized the previously announced aspects of the arrangements agreed in principle with the NSW Treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, securing the company’s jobs commitment and cashless trial.

In line with the initial agreement from August 11, 2023, The Star entered into a Jobs Guarantee Agreement with the state of New South Wales and the United Workers Union. As a result, the casino giant agreed to maintain a minimum headcount and certain ratios of full-time, part-time and casual employees at its The Star Sydney casino.

The job guarantee is valid until June 30, 2030, the company added. It also mentioned that the commitment is still subject to certain permitted adjustments in specific circumstances.

As per the newest additions to the Casino Control Act 1992 (NSW), The Star risks penalties if it fails to comply with the jobs commitment it agreed to.

In the meantime, The Star also officialized a formal trial of cashless and carded play at its The Star Sydney property. This trial comes as New South Wales seeks to modernize its gambling industry and prevent gambling-related fraud.

Cashless gaming and carded play will be trialed at NSW casinos from August 2024, allowing the state to see whether they have the intended effect.

The Star Sydney, for example, seeks to allow its guests to play cashless on 51 poker machines and 8 gaming tables within its Sovereign Room.

The Star’s group chief executive officer and managing director, Robbie Cooke, commented on the formalization of the aforementioned agreements labeling the engagement with the NSW Government as very constructive. He added that The Star is happy to have reached these arrangements and be able to provide security to its team in Sydney.

According to Cooke, The Star is bullish on reacquiring NSW’s trust in the wake of the recent regulatory failings.

As we continue to focus on earning back the trust of the Page 2 of 2 community and implementing the reforms required to restore The Star to suitability, we are also committed to the continuation of our role as a valuable contributor to the NSW economy.

Robbie Cooke, group CEO & MD, The Star

Three weeks ago, The Star also introduced new regulations to prevent excessive gambling. Effective as of January 31, the new rules include a mandatory 15-minute break every three hours and a limit of 28 hours of gaming per week. Players will also be unable to play more than 12 hours a day.

The introduction of the new rules followed an AUD 100 million fine in Queensland.

The post Star Entertainment Formalizes NSW Jobs Guarantee, Cashless Gaming Trial appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championship saw 973 players enter Day 1c on Thursday, bringing the total number of entries to 2,312. Day 1d is set to take place on Friday and is expected to attract enough players for the tournament to hit the $40 million guarantee.

PokerNews reported that the first three Day 1 events ended up attracting fewer players than expected but the Friday session is expected to make up for that. In order for that to happen, it would need approximately 1,800 more players to register.

Registration will close late Friday evening, meaning that there is a whole day of anticipation remaining. The prize pool will be announced following the conclusion of the registration period.

Several Players Collected over a Million Chips

The global tournament has been attracting tons of players and is poised to be one of the most exciting poker tournaments ever. The first few Day 1 events already saw a few professionals finish with huge stacks of chips.

Kyle Ho, Chance Kornuth and Hossein Ensan, for example, all surpassed a million chips, bagging 1.21 million, 1.13 million and 1.1 million chips respectively. In the meantime, Jeff Hakim almost reached a million, bagging 998,000 on Day 1a of the event.

In the meantime, a number of notable professionals failed to qualify for Day 2. This included Phil Hellmuth, also known as the Poker Brat. However, Hellmuth and other unlucky players will have one final shot at advancing on Day 1d this Friday.

The participation of such players is expected to further bolster the Friday numbers, allowing the tournament to hit its goals and $40 million guarantee.

Costello Won the WPT Ladies Championship

Speaking of WTP events, Lisa Costello just won the World Poker Tour’s Ladies Championship, taking home $85,297, a trophy and the title of “champ.” This is not her first win at a big event but she still described her emotion about the victory as an “incredible feeling.”

The final table saw Costello face other women’s poker powerhouses, such as Kathy Stahl, Chris Read, Aylar Lie and Ada Lang.

Costello’s victory surprised poker fans considering her long recent hiatus.

The post WPT World Championship Poised to Hit $40M Guarantee appeared first on Keno Wizard.

Crown Resorts is renegotiating its 1 billion-dollar (AUD) tax guarantee agreement with the New South Wales government. In 2013, the operator promised to pay at least $1 billion in license fees and taxes  over the 15 years after the opening of its Sydney property.

However, the casino didn’t quite pick up as Crown Resorts had hoped. Amid the pandemic and the severe regulatory hurdles experienced by Crown, the casino continued to struggle, eventually forcing the company to shut down two VIP gaming floors.  The decline of visitation from affluent Chinese tourists and Crown Resorts’ losses didn’t help either.

This caused concerns over Crown’s tax obligations. Under the initial agreement, Crown and The Star were expected to pay three times higher taxes in the first three years since the opening of Crown Sydney than those paid by The Star in the year prior to Crown Sydney’s opening. In addition, Crown is still supposed to contribute at least a billion in gaming taxes over the first 15 years of its property’s operation.  

Because of its ongoing financial hurdles, Crown is currently renegotiating its tax obligations with the NSW government. This was confirmed by NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who was unable to reveal more at this time.

Premier Minns Says Crown Should Honor Its Deal

Premier Chris Minns is unamused, however, saying that Crown secured the casino site for next to nothing thanks to the $1 billion tax deal. Because of that, he slammed Crown Resorts for seeking further relief. Minns pointed out that the company’s demand is “really an insult to all Sydneysiders.” He said that if Crown cannot honor its deal with the people of New South Wales, it should hand the land back.

Despite his pessimism about Crown’s demands, Minns said that his team was obliged to hold negotiations about tax scales and tax arrangements to the state. However, he noted that people “shouldn’t jump the gun” and presume that these negotiations will necessarily lead to an actual net reduction in tax take for casinos in the stake.

Minns added that he does not intend to have public negotiations with casino companies. He added that any potential changes to tax rates will be announced publicly.

In other news, Star Entertainment recently struck a tax relief deal in NSW, reaching a concession on casino duty rates with the government after criticizing the duties earlier this year.

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