NewsBite

Gaming & Wagering

Yesterday

Adam Rytenskild.

Tabcorp board left CEO with no choice but to quit: Fair Work ruling

The commission’s decision means Adam Rytenskild will now be allowed to bring his unfair dismissal case before it.

  • Max Mason

This Month

Laurence Escalante built Virtual Gaming Worlds into a multibillion-dollar business.

Laurence Escalante’s VGW bulks up exec ranks as casinos bristle

Virtual Gaming Worlds was one of the early beneficiaries of a US legislative loophole in states where gambling is otherwise banned. It’s now under attack.

  • Primrose Riordan and Zoe Samios
Artist impression of Wynn Resorts’ upcoming resort on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.

Light & Wonder eyes UAE after strong North America gains

The Caledonia-backed gaming giant has brushed off concerns about court action from its major rival Aristocrat, claiming the financial impact is not material.

  • Zoe Samios

Star Casino gets a man on the inside at News Corp

The casino’s former PR man Peter Jenkins has popped up at Sydney’s ‘Daily Telegraph’.

  • Mark Di Stefano
Aristocrat chief executive Trevor Croker has added asset sales to his toolkit.

This market darling just did another U-turn. Investors love it more

A $1.5 billion deal shows why Aristocrat Leisure has lifted the ASX 200 more than just about any other company this year.

  • Updated
  • Anthony Macdonald
Advertisement
Raid: Shadow Legends is one of the games that will be sold under the deal.

Aristocrat sells fantasy mobile games publisher for $1.2b

The pokies manufacturer is refocusing on slot machines, lotteries and social casinos, divesting itself from the owner of a popular RPG.

  • Zoe Samios
Crown Melbourne has been affected by new restrictions that have driven away some of the company’s high-rolling gamblers.

Blackstone builds Crown Resorts debt bomb as casino profits slide

The private equity giant says it’s comfortable with the big loan it took to buy the casino operator, despite the interest bill and an earnings crunch.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios and Amelia McGuire
Star’s Sydney casino has been under intense scrutiny since 2022, when a damning report found that the company was unsuitable to hold a licence in the state.

Perpetual sells big line of Star Entertainment at 20¢ a share

The trade was worth $26 million and represented around 4.5 per cent of the company.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

October

Gillon McLachlan congratulates trainer Ciaron Maher after Bella Nipotina’s win in The Everest.

The Everest is becoming a Victorian’s nightmare

Rival horse races meant high-powered executives had to choose: Sydney or Melbourne. The King didn’t make it, but many others voted with their feet to Randwick.

  • Mark Di Stefano
The One Queensbridge complex was supposed to become Melbourne’s tallest tower. The plans were abandoned in 2019.

Crown sells abandoned Southbank precinct, private jet

Blackstone’s casino giant Crown Resorts has narrowed its losses and is shedding some of its biggest assets to offset financial challenges.

  • Zoe Samios
Busby’s at Oxford House in Sydney. It is one of the Public Hospitality Group venues that has gone into receivership.

Jon Adgemis says funds moved from pub group was at lenders’ behest

The administrator of a collapsed portion of the pubs and hotels empire had alleged $9 million was transferred over a year as the company began to collapse.

  • Primrose Riordan
Star Entertainment will keep operating its Sydney casino under the supervision of an independent manger.

Star Entertainment hit with hefty fine, but keeps key Sydney licence

The decision by the NSW gaming regulator comes two months after a report authored by Adam Bell, SC, found the casino group unsuitable to operate.

  • Updated
  • Zoe Samios and Anthony Macdonald
NSW casino regulator Philip Crawford.

All this drama at Star for a slap on the wrist and $15m fine?

The casino group gets one more chance in Sydney, but is far from being out of the woods. It could go broke if it doesn’t secure a big new backer by this time next year.

  • Anthony Macdonald
George Calombaris has been appointed head of culinary at a new hospitality group which plans to take over the Oxford Tavern in Sydney.

Lender taking over Adgemis pubs floats new George Calombaris diner

The restaurant is part of a broader plan to take over more of Jon Adgemis’ assets, as he loses grip on more of his former hospitality empire.

  • Primrose Riordan
Crown Melbourne has struggled financially since it introduced compulsory carded play last year.

Blackstone quietly injects almost $500m into ailing Crown Resorts

The financing came a year after the firm acquired the casino operator for $8.9 billion. Its operations have been hurt by fines and a lack of high rollers.

  • Zoe Samios and Anthony Macdonald
Advertisement
Former AFL chief executive Gil McLachlan is yet to unveil his strategy for Tabcorp.

Tabcorp’s silent hands reveal how activism really works

As AGM season ramps up, the behind-the-scenes discussions happening at Tabcorp are a rare example of how shareholders shape corporate Australia.

  • Anthony Macdonald
Labor MP Mike Freelander has previously called for a total gambling ad ban.

Labor MP blasts tax credit scheme as gambling firms claim millions

Revelations that gambling companies have been spending millions on R&D tax credits have come as a surprise to some senior figures in Labor.

  • Zoe Samios and Ronald Mizen
Jon Adgemis and his partner Megan MacKenzie. Five of Adgemis’ former venues are being put up for sale.

Five of Jon Adgemis’ former venues to hit the market

Colliers have been appointed to market a large chunk of the former KPMG dealmaker’s pub empire, Public Hospitality.

  • Primrose Riordan
AFR tax commissioner Rob Heferen.

Unlikely winners of ATO’s R&D tax rules

The tax office’s first transparency report on R&D tax credits reveals the unlikely winners of the system.

  • Mark Di Stefano
Poker machine and pub baron Bruce Mathieson.

Billionaire Bruce Mathieson’s rare Viennese cancer treatment

The pub entrepreneur has taken to a “copper igloo” in Europe to treat an aggressive blood cancer.

  • Mark Di Stefano

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering