“The Green Party intends to implement sensible and pragmatic measures that reassert the role of public health as the primary driver of gambling regulation, rather than economic development and convention centres,” says Greens Co-Leader Metiria Turei.

One of the proposed measures is the introduction of pre-commitment cards. Since there will be 230 new pokies at the casino, The Greens believe that pre-commitment cards would help poker machine players limit their spending. Players can set limits before they begin playing, and they will receive regular updates on their spending before being locked out once they have exceeded their budgets.

The Greens are confident that this measure would be effective but Mr Key is not convinced. He has spoken out against pre-commitment cards, starting that the measure would discourage players from visiting the casino altogether. There will certainly be a fierce debate on the issue, as we are certain that The Greens will not give up easily.

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From 7am to 6pm on Monday, October 14th, a life-sized casino made of cardboard will be located in the square. It will consist of 510 pokies, the total number of games that will exist in SkyCity Auckland if the convention centre deal is passed. The Greens encourage residents to visit the casino and write a message on the cardboard voicing their concerns to the government.

The idea of the protest is to show residents the scale of the SkyCity’s potential expansion. The gambling operator will be receiving an additional 230 pokies, and The Greens argue that this is the size of the average casino.

“SkyCity gets a whole new casino without having to go through any of the regulatory process required in law to set up a new casino,” says Greens co-leader Metiria Turei. “We want to show New Zealanders the scale of what the Government has gifted to SkyCity”.

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The Commerce Commission has recently granted SkyCity permission to purchase the gambling venue, which is currently owned by Otago Casinos. The acquisition of the casino will mean that SkyCity will own both casinos in Queenstown, but the Commerce Commission states that this will not negatively affect competition in the local gambling market.

SkyCity will further encourage competition by converting the Wharf Casino into a high roller venue. While SkyCity Queenstown caters to all types of gamblers, the new Wharf Casino will be targeted at players who are more interested in playing high-stakes games. This is a common business strategy for many local gaming operators, as VIP gambling is quite a lucrative market.

”We are focusing on upgrading our VIP offering in Queenstown, so we have an offer to complement our Horizon VIP offering in Auckland,” says CEO Nigel Morrison said.

The transition is still in its initial stages. There is no word yet on when SkyCity will begin renovating The Wharf Casino.

The post SkyCity To Purchase Wharf Casino appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

The deal will see SkyCity build Auckland’s new convention centre, investing $402 million into the project. In return, the casino operator will receive an additional 230 poker machines for its Auckland location, a number of new table games and an extended gambling license.

Local residents have been sceptical of the deal since it was first revealed. The Greens and other political groups tried their hardest to lobby against the deal, but it was no use. The project’s negotiations continued and its legislation has passed its first read by a vote to 59 to 61.

SkyCity CEO Nigel Morrison believes that the bill has not been well-received due to supposedly slanderous media attention. He claims that his company’s reputation is being tarnished, despite the economic benefits that the convention centre will bring into the community.

The bill will be presented to senate for a second time in November 2013.

The post Sky City Convention Centre Bill Passes First Reading appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

Peters stood before Grey Power, and spoke out against Sky City’s new deal with China Southern Airlines. The deal will fast-track the visa process for high roller casino players, and Peters believes that will encourage more crime. It is likely that it will make it easier for criminals to launder money and conduct other illegal business at SkyCity.

He is also outraged that a 15-storey brothel will be opening up across the street from the casino. He believes that the new venue, combined with the lenient visa laws, will make it easier for human trafficking and other sex crimes to take place.

“What is really happening to Auckland?” Peters asks. “The seven deadly sins are apparently alive and well here”.

Residents are also upset about the new developments but few other politicians have spoken out. It is a worrying state of affairs, but it seems that locals can only hope for the best at this point.

The post Winston Peters Called Auckland a ‘City of Sin’ appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

The deal will go ahead as planned, even though the Auditor General confirmed that the deal was not entirely fair to other bidders. After the Auditor General weighed in, local residents requested that the deal be abandoned – but neither party would be deterred. Now, they have settled on a final plan – and residents are still incensed.

Sky City will spend $315 million on the construction of the centre and $87 million on land costs. In return, the casino will receive 230 new pokies and 40 new table games. The casino’s license will also be extended from 2021 to 2042.

“Sky City has been given preferential treatment from whoa to go and the Government has even bent the immigration visa rules to deliver rich gamblers to the casino,” says Rt Hon Winston Peters. “We can see little good coming from this shabby, seedy, money grubbing deal”.

It is likely that residents will protest the deal. Kiwis are not at all impressed with the terms of the deal, and they will fight to ensure that it does not go forward.

The post Final Sky City Convention Centre Deal Angers Locals appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

The Auditor General’s assistance was requested by the Greens in 2012. The political party felt that the deal (which would see SkyCity build the $350 million convention centre in return for 500 new pokies) was not entirely above board, and Phillippa Smith was brought in to investigate the deal.

She determined that SkyCity had been given an unfair advantage, especially since the casino operator was the government’s last choice. However, the group was willing to pay for all of the construction costs for the convention centre, so the government worked with SkyCity to improve its proposal. Although John Key claims that these findings vindicate the deal, Smith states otherwise.

As such, The Greens and other political groups feel that the tender process should be repeated. Many other groups were interested in building the convention centre, and they feel that they should be given a fair chance to bid on the project.

The post Auditor General Clarifies SkyCity Report appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

These sophisticated systems threw a wrench in the plans of Bo Du, a casino dealer that had worked at SkyCity for more than six years. She was only allowed to scam $50 000 from the casino by the time the casino operator discovered that she had been accepting cash gifts from patrons in return for manipulating the outcome of roulette games. She ensured that the ball dropped just before the betting ended, allowing her accomplices to wager on the correct outcome.

It did not take long before management discovered the operation. Du and several casino patrons were apprehended for their crimes. The former casino dealer was placed on house arrest and has been ordered to pay SkyCity $20 000 in damages. She has also been blacklisted from working at any other casino venue in the world. The penalties that the patrons received have yet to be announced.

The post SkyCity Auckland Player Faces Fines for Cheating appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

Roy Allan Duncan, well-known drug manufacturer, is a VIP player at SkyCity casino in Auckland. Over the years, he and his wife have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars at the venue – and police have reason to doubt that their winnings were genuine.

According to police reports, Duncan used a popular method for money laundering. He would deposit money into a poker machine and cancel the transaction before wagering on the game. As a result, he would receive his money back; however, it was not his money that he would receive. Since he received a cash out ticket, his ‘winnings’ consisted of other players’ deposits – successfully laundering his own money.

Duncan disputes these claims. He states that he is simply an experienced gambler who knows how to win at pokies. Unfortunately for him, this defence is unlikely to hold up in court, as new digital technology makes it impossible to predict the outcome of modern-day pokies.

The post Authorities Suspect Money Laundering Took Place at SkyCity Auckland appeared first on Online Casinos NZ.

Firstly, the audit has taken twice as long than the average Auditor General investigation. The Office of the Auditor General has stated that most cases take up to 3 months to investigate; this case has taken twice as long, as the process has been more complex.

Now, the release of the report has been delayed by weeks. Originally, the audit was to be published before Christmas, giving residents a chance to give the investigation the attention it deserves. Now, the Auditor General has announced that the report will not be released until the new year – but The Greens are okay with it.

Party Co-Leader Metiria Turei believes that it is better for the report to take longer than anticipated than for the Office of the Auditor General to rush the publication. She hopes that the audit will shed some much-needed light on the nature of the SkyCity convention centre deal, providing answers to some of the many unanswered questions that members of the general public have posed.

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