Hurricane Katrina dealt a bad hand to gambling enterprises in Biloxi while the sleep associated with the Gulf Coast, but those businesses have played a major role in getting the whole region straight back on its legs now.
Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast a decade ago, as well as for apparent reasons, most of the discussion about the storm, its aftermath, as well as its effect on the region has been in the really real stories that are human impacted those in New Orleans, Mississippi, and beyond.
But there is another story that is equally real find out, certainly one of the gaming industry that has been impacted dramatically by Katrina, only to not only rebound itself, but also help those in need during and after the storm.
Gambling played a major economic part soon after Hurricane Katrina, and it did much more quickly than might have been expected provided the circumstances.
After the damage caused to many casinos in Biloxi, Gulfport, and elsewhere, local officials had beenn’t even sure they is able to convince major video gaming operators to come back to the spot, considering the high costs of rebuilding or restoring their operations.
Casinos Return to Find Success
But eventually, those operators and their casinos did come back.
‘i don’t think anyone ever thought about not rebuilding,’ Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast and Boomtown Biloxi CFO Wade Howk told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ‘People took their time deciding what to do, but this was a accepted place no one was going to give up on.’
Aided by modifications in Mississippi law that allowed casinos to be built slightly offshore to better protect themselves against future storms, the operators decided to rebuild. Now, 11 casinos are in procedure in Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis, just two less more chilli slot free play than ahead of the storm.
The gambling enterprises are not exactly the same as these people were before Katrina, but. Many are smaller, and the Gulf Coast casinos now employ only only a little more than half as they did a ten years early in the day. But there is no doubt that these companies have provided enormous benefits that are economic the location that few other companies were in a position to do.
In accordance with a 2014 study by Oxford Economics, the gaming industry contributes more than $4 billion to the economy in Mississippi. But what no one could have expected ended up being that, in the full years immediately following the hurricane, video poker revenues spiked in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.
Stress May Have Driven Surge in Local Gambling
The drive back in to video gaming might appear astonishing to some. But according to gambling addiction specialist Deborah Smith, it was almost predictable.
‘Anytime there is a natural catastrophe, people are likely to experience PTSD,’ Smith told ESPN.com. ‘They feel terrible, in addition they want to feel much better. Gambling actually helps them feel better for the brief moment.’
Needless to say, many of these people could have gambled significantly more than they need in the wake of such a disaster. Not interestingly, both Louisiana and Mississippi saw surges in calls up to a national problem gambling hotline following disaster, though that trend leveled down after having a few years.
The relative success of the gaming industry is not a fairy tale pleased closing for the spot, though. Katrina certainly left a mark that is still being felt today, with many lost lives or livelihoods, especially in New Orleans, and even more particularly in the city’s African-American community, which in a lot of ways is nevertheless rebuilding a good decade later.
But the gaming industry remains of vital importance to the Gulf Coast. And today, the biggest threat isn’t another hurricane, but rather the expansion of gaming in neighboring states.
‘Everyone in Biloxi [acknowledges] an expansion in Alabama would have been a major negative, as it would cut the business off from mobile phone and the Florida Panhandle,’ wrote gaming analyst Alex Bumazhny of Fitch Ratings Service early in the day this year.
For the time being, that’s one hurricane who hasn’t landed yet, much to everyone’s relief. But it nevertheless could within the not-too-distant future, plus the impact of nearby gambling may be just like hard to combat into the region as any Cat 5 storm.
Macau Gambling Revenues Maintain Sharp Decline
Macau casinos are hoping to earn more income through non-gaming tasks, but some doubt if the Las Vegas model will work here. (Image: BBC)
Macau had been allowed to be recovering from its casino struggles by now, with the Chinese territory now well over a year into declines triggered by an anti-corruption drive in Beijing and other factors.
But there seems to be no improvement in store for the gambling hub anytime soon, as gross gaming revenue dropped by another 35.5 percent in August to mark the 15th straight month of decrease for Macau’s casino industry.
Revenues for the month fell to 18.6 billion patacas ($2.3 billion), still a figure that produces Macau the biggest gambling center in the globe.
However, it’s a cry that is far the types of numbers seen up through very early 2014, when the city earned as much as 38 billion patacas ($4.8 billion) in a month.
New Casinos Do Little to Improve Revenues
August’s decline ended up being expected to be a whole lot worse in some circles, having a survey of analysts by Bloomberg finding they expected of a 38 percent fall.
But which will come because comfort that is little casino operators, that has hopes that newly opened resorts in the city would provide a boost to tourism.
But while those projects, like the latest phase of expansion by Galaxy Entertainment, opened in May, they did nothing to improve revenue in the city.
Travel from China, that will be the biggest driver of business in Macau, ended up being actually down yet again this summer, with July’s tourism figures showing a six percent decline compared to the year before.
Decline Forces Austerity Measures to Kick In
The decline that is continued gotten to the point where Macau’s government can no much longer ignore their impact. About 80 per cent of this neighborhood government budget comes from gambling taxes, meaning that the sharp falloff was eventually going to require some cutbacks.
Those austerity measures had been finally established on Tuesday, though they are modest, at minimum for the present time.
General Public spending will be reduced by about 1.4 billion patacas ($180 million) for the 2015 fiscal year, mostly impacting the purchase of day-to-day supplies and some third-party services.
The near future isn’t searching particularly promising for Macau’s casinos, either. The recent devaluation of the Chinese yuan and trouble into the Chinese stock market could continue to hurt revenues at gambling enterprises there, specially by reducing the already declining VIP player base that operators long relied on.
Some Question Diversification Will Help
All among these concerns have led to renewed calls for Macau to diversify its offerings, with both mainland Chinese authorities and government that is local stress on the industry to locate brand new approaches to derive revenue.
The idea is always to find a means for Macau to emulate a model more like that of Las Vegas, where non-gaming tasks would be the source that is biggest of revenue, or at minimum a major contributor to the bottom line.
The problem is that Macau features a good way to go for the reason that regard. At the moment, casino operators make lower than ten percent of most revenues from non-gaming sources, compared to more than 60 percent in Las Vegas.
And even though Macau might be able to improve in this regard, a minumum of one executive with lots of experience in Asian video gaming markets states it shall never change dramatically.
Betting on US Presidential Campaign Outcome for 2016: Okay Anywhere Except in the usa
GOP candidate Donald Trump has garnered nearly all of the wagering from gamblers in the UK looking to put bets in the 2016 US presidential election. (Image: Christopher Gregory/Getty)
The current US presidential campaign is anything but boring, that is without a doubt. And you will bet it continues to unfold within an interesting way. Well, you can bet anywhere except in its country of origin, that is.
The battle for president associated with the United States won’t be determined for a year, though you can easily be forgiven in the event that you forgot it had been that far away: protection of the race was pretty intense this summer time, despite having the very first primaries still months off.
Nonetheless it’s not merely Americans interested within the rise and fall of varied prospects, as bookmakers in many countries that are overseas additionally seeing a rise in interest when it comes to betting on the 2016 election season.
A fast look at Oddschecker, a web page that compares betting odds at numerous various sportsbooks across the Internet, shows just how many different companies are providing bets on both the ultimate champion of the presidential competition and both the Democratic and Republican nominees. It’s a market that’s sure to have just as many twists and turns as the events on their own, with chances already shifting significantly in just the last months that are few.
Bush, Clinton Pegged as Betting Favorites
On the side that is republican for instance, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush came in while the favorite to win the nomination, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Florida Senator Marco Rubio also seen as most likely picks. But that trio was joined by way of a fourth top-tier prospect: larger-than-life personality Donald Trump, who is beginning to be observed as a genuine contender, at least in the eyes of numerous bettors.
At most sports websites that are betting Bush continues to be the favourite, provided by odds of about 6-4. But Trump is usually listed while the choice that is second 7-2 chances, while Rubio and Walker come in at around 6-1 each.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is nevertheless an overwhelming favorite, but at least two other candidates are now being provided a fighting chance by oddsmakers. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is pegged as a choice that is 6-1 many sportsbooks, while Vice President Joe Biden, who may haven’t also announced for the race at the time of yet, is listed at 5-1 by many websites.
British wagers on the Colonies and Trump
The UK in particular has taken a strong fascination with the 2016 presidential race. According to Matthew Shaddick, mind of political odds for Ladbrokes, it’s change for a slice of these company that usually was not taken very seriously.
‘In the last, political bets had been largely loss leaders for gambling companies, and they had been primarily beneficial to drumming up a little of publicity,’ Shaddick told USA Today. ‘ Now it is being taken by us more seriously, and we expect the quantities will increase dramatically the closer we get to election time.’
Simply as coverage of the election so far has focused greatly on Trump’s campaign, so has the betting in other countries. In accordance with a spokesperson for Paddy Power, more than half of the bets they took so far have appear in on the business magnate and reality television celebrity.
Simply because Americans generally can’t bet on the election does not mean they aren’t taking part in the gambling in some real methods, though. The Iowa Electronic Markets give Americans an appropriate method to bet on the outcome through futures contracts, and a site called PredictIt, operated by Victoria University in New Zealand, provides a similar service.
Meanwhile, some lawmakers in Nevada say that sportsbooks in the Silver State should manage to take bets on elections simply as they do on a variety of sports.
‘Why not bet in Nevada and also make some money on it?’ State Senator Richard Segerblom (D-Las Vegas) told the Boston Globe. ‘People say it’s likely to ruin our reputation. This is Nevada. What type of reputation are you referring to?’
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