Misery Mining

How to play Misery Mining

“We had various iterations of the drafts internally probably going back at least a decade, and just never made it to the finish line for various reasons,” he explained.

The board is hoping that the proposal drafts or more or less finalised, though there will likely be input from stakeholders during the comment period and at the hearing. One group that typically weighs in on such matters, the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers, did not respond to a request for comment by Friday’s deadline for publication. Depending on the amount of feedback or potential objections from the Nevada Gaming Commission, the new standards could be adopted and published by year’s end.

Overall, it’s been a busy stretch for the board since the start of 2025. In that time the regulator has issued five multimillion-dollar anti-money laundering fines to entities on the Las Vegas Strip, an unprecedented run of sanctions for America’s gambling capital.

What is Misery Mining?

Many top gaming stocks have underperformed relative to the broader market in recent years, and most of the M&A activity has been facilitated by private equity and other institutions that can more readily capitalise on depressed valuations. There had been hope that rates would start to fall and help alleviate those pressures.

“Publicly traded valuations are a reflection of the current interest rate environment,” Chad Beynon, lead gaming analyst for Macquarie, told iGB. “Whether it’s a long-term financial model on a growth company, you’re going to discount that back at a higher rate, or if it’s just a standard four-wall business, the cash flows in a higher interest rate environment are worth less.”

According to data from Yahoo Finance, the resort and casino sector is -41% over the last five years, and the overall gambling sector, which includes major sportsbooks and online operators, is +7%; the benchmark S&P 500 index, by comparison, is +71% during that span.

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In her letter David warned another tax increase, on top of April’s RGD increase to 40% of GGR, could increase its operational expenses for retail by £100 million annually.

This could precipitate as many as 1,470 shop closures and the loss of up to 15,900 jobs, according to figures commissioned via the Betting and Gaming Council and consultancy firm EY.

David further emphasised the impact such a tax rise would have on high street workers and communities.