A group of parties led by the Thai Local Power Party has suggested changes to Thailand’s Gambling Act to allow both land-based and online casinos. They propose allowing four casinos in Thailand’s busiest areas.

Chutchawan Kong-u-dom, leader of the Thai Local Power Party and his party members along with 20 representatives of smaller parties have submitted the draft amendment to House Speaker Chuan Leekpai through political working group member Pongsri Tarapoom.

Chutchawan said the draft amendment aimed to generate revenue amid an economic downturn and thus help reduce Thailand’s national debt.

Kovit Puangngam, a party list-MP of the Thai Local Power Party, said legalising online casinos would let authorities collect taxes from licencee holders and decide how to punish illegal casino operators.

Kovit said that under the proposals 90% of tax revenue collected from licence holders, including their application fees, would fund state welfare initiatives. This would include debt relief in the agricultural sector, as well as student loans and occupational development. Kovit said the other 10% will go to the Ministry of Finance.

He said Thailand could earn THB 1.5 trillion in revenue from tax collection and application fees from online casinos.

Rhino Entertainment has appointed John Cachia as its Chief Commercial Officer.

Cachia joins Rhino after nearly two years as CCO at betting giant William Hill and previous roles at Mr Green, including Director of Commercial and Gaming and Head of Commercial. He assumes his duties immediately.

Ross Parkhill, Chief Executive Officer of Rhino Entertainment, said: “It’s fantastic to have someone of John’s ilk join our ambitious group. He has lots of very valuable experience, and I’m sure he will help drive further growth and develop all aspects of our commercial operations.”

The move is part of a restructuring at the company which also sees Kristina Murgovska take on the role of Chief Product Officer.

Murgovska has climbed the ranks quickly at Rhino Entertainment, moving from Head of Product to Director of Product Development in three years. Before joining Rhino Entertainment, she spent three years at Gaming Innovation Group – first as Senior Front End Developer and then as Product Owner.

Parkhill added: “Kristina is one of the sharpest product minds in the business and I am delighted to see her talent recognised.”

Welcome to our weekly roundup of American gambling news again! Here, we are going through the weekly highlights of the American gambling industry which include the latest news, new partnerships and new appointments. Read on and get updated.

Latest News

Galaxy Gaming has launched Triton Casino Systems, a brand-new table game progressive operating system. Triton Casino Systems has refined what made its precursor, Bonus Jackpot System, successful and adds a wealth of new features to enhance the casino floor.

Codere Online has released its financial results for the first quarter of 2022. The multinational gaming firm posted revenues of $304.8m which represents a recovery of 83% of total revenues before the pandemic hit.

Hard Rock Digital has announced the expansion of Hard Rock Sportsbook to Virginia, with its mobile app now live and a retail sportsbook scheduled to open in July at the Bristol Casino – Future Home of Hard Rock. The mobile app provides fans ages 21 and over with access to bets across major sporting events, innovative promotions and best-in-class customer support.

MGM Resorts International has announced the closing of its transaction with Blackstone to acquire the operations of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (The Cosmopolitan) for cash consideration of $1.625 billion.

TAPPP and BetMGM announced an expansion of BetMGM’s gift card distribution network. The number of stores carrying BetMGM prepaid cards will roughly double from around 6000 to more than 12,000 in the current quarter.

Global Payments Gaming Solutions has announced that Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, has selected its igaming solutions for its new sports betting app, BetSaracen.

Chewelah Casino in Washington has selected OPTX platform for its marketing products.

DraftKings has launched its online sportsbook and online casino products in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Partnerships

Casino Arizona and its sister property Talking Stick Resort will be the official casino and resort partner for the Arizona Diamondbacks under a new partnership between the D-backs and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which owns the two locations.

Paysafe has entered into a new partnership with Strive Gaming, an advanced player account management (PAM) platform designed for the multi-state requirements of online operators in the North American market.

Butler National Corporation, through its wholly-owned subsidiary that manages Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City, Kansas, has entered into an agreement with DraftKings and Bally’s Corporation to provide sports wagering in Kansas.

Accertify Inc has announced a partnership with Hard Rock Digital to protect its mobile sports betting platform from fraud. Accertify will protect customers’ accounts and personal information, prevent fraudulent activity and manage chargebacks, while minimising friction for users of the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app.

New Appointments

AviaGames, creator of the award-winning “Bingo Tour” app and Pocket7Games social competition platform, has appointed Jiangbo Tian as Director of Data Intelligence.

SCCG Management Founder and CEO, Stephen Crystal, has announced that Jenny McLauchlan has joined the Las Vegas office as their Legal Compliance and Regulatory Advisor.

FanDuel Group has announced that it has appointed Asaf Noifeld as Managing Director, Casino. In the newly created role, Noifeld will be responsible for oversight of FanDuel Group’s online casino business.

Stephen Richardson, Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer at Scientific Games, has been appointed to the National Technology Security Coalition’s (NTSC) Board of Directors.