Witches Night

What is Witches Night?

Stakeholders from Bally’s Corp gave an update about the progress of the company’s permanent Chicago casino in a conference call that lasted just eight minutes on Monday, with comments from Chairman Soo Kim and Wanda Wilson, chair of the Bally’s Chicago board.

The terse call came about a month after Bally’s announced it was “resetting the pace of construction” of the project’s non-gaming elements in response to the city’s legalisation of video gaming terminals earlier this year.

Kim said the purpose of convening the call was to “reiterate our deep commitment to Bally’s Chicago” and to address “inaccurate reports” from the press saying that construction had stopped or slowed after the update that was released in early August.

About Witches Night

Some analysts have questioned whether this deal marks the beginning of an M&A spree for GiG as it looks to re-enter the B2C space.

But that isn’t the case according to Richards: “We are not signalling plans to re-enter B2C elsewhere; Africa is a distinct case: a high-growth, underpenetrated region where owning a local operator makes strategic sense in a way it may not elsewhere.”

There’s also a financial constraint, with Ahlberg noting that GiG has used its available cash and is raising additional capital to fund the 888Africa transaction, meaning he doesn’t expect the company to pursue further B2C acquisitions in the short term.

About Witches Night

Finally, I really want to thank you, the reader who has kept coming back to find out what else I’m writing about each day, week, month and year. It is you to whom I write, constant reader, and if you’ve enjoyed what you’ve read, then feel free to follow me on Twitter, where a new destination will shortly be announced. 

I’m as excited about my own future as the future of poker itself and while I’m changing seats, I’ll be staying at the table.  

I’ve got chips in the game after all.