The long-anticipated opening date for Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the towering 67-story casino resort on the iconic Las Vegas Strip, might have just been revealed. While Fontainebleau has yet to officially announce the date, a recent report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal suggests that Wednesday, December 13, is the day when the resort will unlock its doors to the public.

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Overcomes Delays for December Debut

The Fontainebleau Las Vegas, known for its distinct blue tower, will be the first new casino resort to grace the Las Vegas Strip since Resorts World‘s debut back in June 2021.

Standing tall as the tallest building in Nevada, the Fontainebleau will house a staggering 3,644 hotel rooms, making it a prominent addition to the Las Vegas skyline. Additionally, it boasts over half a million square feet of convention and meeting space, with its primary exhibition area sprawling over 105,200 square feet. It’s a testament to the resort’s grandeur, as it rises from the ashes of the demolished El Rancho Hotel and Casino site.

The journey to this grand opening has been fraught with challenges. Initially announced in May 2005 with a projected opening in 2008, the Fontainebleau faced setbacks due to the Great Recession and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Koch Industries’ real estate investment arm, in collaboration with Miami real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Development, acquired the towering structure in 2021, giving new life to the iconic project.

In December last year, Fontainebleau Las Vegas secured a $2.2 billion loan from various banks and investors, ensuring the completion of its long-delayed project, with plans to open in 2023.

While in June this year, Fontainebleau Las Vegas made strategic senior-level appointments to bolster its leadership team ahead of its December opening, with Mark Tricano becoming the president, Michelle Reda taking the role of chief casino marketing officer, and Kimberly Virtuoso being promoted to senior vice president of people. 

Fontainebleau Las Vegas Unveils Extravagant Casino, Dining, and Entertainment Options

Fontainebleau Las Vegas will offer a vertically integrated casino experience, much like the Cosmopolitan, with its gaming area occupying the ground floor and the second and third floors dedicated to retail and dining. The casino floor is set to feature an array of 1,300 slot machines, including multigame options with video poker, keno, and blackjack, as well as 127 table games offering blackjack and three-card poker. Enthusiasts can also look forward to a spacious sportsbook spanning.

The resort plans to pamper visitors with 90,000 square feet of high-end retail space, though specific retailers are yet to be announced. In the culinary department, Fontainebleau aims to delight with 27 upscale dining options, including the American restaurant Vida and Southeast Asian cuisine at Komodo, among others.

Entertainment seekers will be spoiled for choice with three distinct venues – a day club, a nightclub named LIV, and a massive 3,800-capacity theatre, all curated by Miami-based Groot Hospitality and nightlife guru David Grutman. Fontainebleau has already managed to lure superstar DJs Tiesto and Zedd away from Resorts World’s Zouk Group, setting the stage for thrilling nights on the Strip.

High above, the resort’s rooftop pool deck will offer seven different pool experiences sprawled across six acres, providing a luxurious retreat for guests.

The post Fontainebleau Las Vegas Sets Sights on December Grand Opening appeared first on Keno Wizard.

Lawmakers in the Philippines are intensifying their focus on offshore gambling operators, commonly known as POGOs, and their regulatory bodies as they aim to crack down on the expanding web of cryptocurrency scams and the associated human trafficking networks.

During a recent inquiry held by the Philippine Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, attention was drawn to a raid conducted in early May at an approved POGO site located near the capital city, Manila. The operation resulted in the rescue of over a thousand victims of human trafficking from various Asian countries.

At the hearing, senators vehemently criticised officials from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), the regulatory authority overseeing online casinos in the nation.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian expressed his concern over the international embarrassment brought upon the Philippines.

“This casts a negative light on us as the country becomes a hub for scams,” he said.

“POGOs are being exploited as fronts for fraudulent activities and human trafficking due to corruption within PAGCOR and its failure to fulfil its responsibilities.”

The victims involved in this particular case were trafficked from eleven Asian countries. One survivor, identified as Jason, whose real identity and nationality have been withheld for safety reasons, shared his experience with Voice of America (VOA) after providing testimony before the Senate committee.

Jason revealed that he had arrived in the Philippines under the impression of securing a legitimate marketing position, only to be coerced into executing cryptocurrency scams targeting American and Canadian men, posing as a woman.

Jason disclosed to VOA that when PAGCOR inspectors visited the POGO site on a weekly basis, approximately half of the trafficking victims would hide within the dormitories, drawing the curtains and locking the doors out of fear.

Senator Risa Hontiveros, the committee’s chairperson, has called for the banning of POGOs, emphasising that they serve as a legal facade for illicit hubs that evade regulatory scrutiny. She warned that if POGOs were allowed to continue operating unhindered, the prevalence of crypto-scams and human trafficking would escalate at an alarming rate, surpassing the government’s ability to combat them effectively.

During the hearing, PAGCOR officials acknowledged the presence of corruption within their organisation and conceded the need for enhanced regulations and monitoring. They also confirmed the immediate revocation of accreditation for the raided POGO site.

The post Lawmakers In Philippines Have POGOs In Their Sights appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The company has teamed up with Jade Gaming, a company operating out of the Philippines. This deal is now part of Velvix’s overall strategy to grow its presence in the country’s market, but also expand to Vietnam.

Velvix is seeing the two countries as an important part of its Asian pivot after the company managed to gain a strong footprint in the United States and is likely to continue growing there. An initial product catalog is expected to go live in June, with further expansions to come over the next months.

Commenting on the company’s current plans and successes, Velvix VP Amy Jiang said that the North American success gives the company a strong reason to believe that the same business strategies can be levied in Asia, particularly in the Philippines and Vietnam:

The Asian Pacific region has demonstrated remarkable growth in recent quarters, surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. We strongly believe in the resurgence of Asian gaming and are thrilled to be part of it by launching Velvix in The Philippines and Vietnam.

Velvix VP Amy Jiang

Jiang similarly hailed Jade Gaming and the company’s significance in helping Velvix reach new audiences and establish a robust product footprint that will be useful to the company’s grander strategy in these Asian markets and possibly others.

Velvix is serious about the future of its products and gaming machines, with the company already operating a research and development office in Sydney, Australia. Velvix focuses on different products, investing in both Class III slot machine titles that come as linked progressive and standalone game variations.

Innovative Developer Committed to Expanding Its Global Presence

For the time being, Velvix remains an up-and-coming company that is focused on expanding its reach across new jurisdictions rapidly. The company attended the IGA 2023 show in San Diego, California, with the team on the ground and looking to analyze and secure new business opportunities.

The company has also expanded its fleet of games at a good clip, announcing innovative products such as a Keno-themed slot back in March. Velvix holds certifications from BMM and international regulators, demonstrating its commitment to creating products that meet industry standards at the highest level.  

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Ontario’s budding iGaming market continues to be targeted by international scammers, a recent GeoComply report highlighted. This news comes a year after online gambling was launched in the Canadian province.

The launch of iGaming and online sports betting in Ontario has proven a success. However, this success has also attracted a lot of fraudsters, the report shows. While GeoComply emphasized that customers are most protected when playing with licensed operators, it also added that a lot of people have been trying to cheat the system.

Ontario Attracted a Lot of Attention

Starting with the good news, GeoComply said that the number of total player accounts in the province is set to exceed a million. Revenue, meanwhile, is on track to smash half-a-billion Canadian dollars.

GeoComply added that the launch of iGaming in Ontario attracted a lot of attention from players all over the world. Since the regulated market was launched in April last year, over 744,000 international users have attempted to log in 19.9 million times to Ontario operators.

The geolocation specialist added that 54,000 users from the United States have attempted 305,000 logins. It concluded that a total of 3.3 million location spoofing attempts have been made.

Many Fraudsters Were Drawn to the Market

While the Ontario market attracted the attention of players all over the world, it, unfortunately, attracted the attention of many fraudsters as well. According to GeoComply, the first year of iGaming in the province saw over 219,000 devices blocked from gambling for fraud reasons. GeoComply noted that it has detected a whopping 1,045 fraud rings affecting multiple operators.

GeoComply’s services, in particular, prevented 127,000 devices known to be associated with fraud from accessing the market. In addition, 56,000 devices with multiple users (a usual sign of bonus abuse) were barred from playing.

GeoComply also banned 34,000 that used illicit software that hid the players’ actual location. Lastly, the geolocation specialist was able to identify and block 1,500 jailbroken devices.

DiRienzo Noted that Cybercrime Rates Are Rising

The matter was addressed by Danny DiRienzo, GeoComply’s director of risk services. He said that online fraud is a serious problem that continues to get worse. He noted that the recorded fraud attempts mostly included identity theft, bonus abuse and some instances of account takeovers and credit card chargebacks.

Ontario is such a large market and the opening of any market results in bonus offerings attracting fraudsters. This, coupled with the traditional gray market operations in Canada, resulted in experienced fraudsters hunting bonuses from day one, as anyone with a set of stolen identities could collect bonuses from several operators.

Danny DiRienzo

DiRienzo concluded that GeoComply will continue to vigilantly protect the Ontarian iGaming market from fraud.

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