Booster

How to play Booster

George Hasselback is done with Imperial Pacific International (IPI). The attorney has been representing the controversial and incompetent casino operator as it defended itself in a lawsuit filed by Fox Financial, as well as others, but has now washed his hands and stepped away. He had filed a request to withdraw from representing the company on February 12, and a judge granted his petition yesterday. Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy agreed with Hasselback in his assertion that continued representation would put him in an ethical conundrum.

Judge Kennedy explained in her ruling, “The court finds that Hasselback’s statements that continued representation in this matter would cause him to violate several ethical obligations trigger mandatory withdrawal under Model Rule 1.16(a) and is sufficient for granting his motion.” She added, “Hasselback need not be required to provide details, beyond his written motion, to establish that mandatory withdrawal is warranted,” and stated that requiring him “to specify the basis for his mandatory withdrawal could create the untenable situation of an attorney having to choose between his obligation of candor to the court and his obligation to maintain his client’s confidences.”

Unfortunately, because of that attorney-client privilege, it is difficult to know what types of ethical dilemmas Hasselback is facing. However, it’s likely just the mere hint at issues will be enough for IPI to find itself, once again, being more closely scrutinized. Where that leads is anyone’s guess, given gaming regulators’ reluctance to hold the company accountable for its actions.

What is Booster?

Resorts World has announced that the replacement for Mulberry Street Pizza, which closed Sept. 14, will be another New York-inspired slice shop. However, unlike Mulberry Street—an established Los Angeles brand—Amici New York Pizzeria is an entirely original concept created by the resort.

Instead of collecting rent from a successful tenant, Resorts World aspires to collect profits directly from pizza-hungry patrons. But since Mulberry Street was consistently among the busiest dining spots at the property, it raises an obvious question: Was its popularity driven by brand recognition, or simply by resort guests, late-night Zouk Nightclub revelers, and foot traffic seeking a quick slice?

To stack the odds in its favor, Resorts World is tapping major culinary talent: Executive Chef Ricky McCormick. McCormick, who currently leads the kitchen at Stubborn Seed on-property, previously held leadership roles at Michelin-starred Restaurant Guy Savoy in Las Vegas and multiple Gordon Ramsay venues.

What is Booster?

He began watching regulators shut down individual gambling sites, only for mirror sites, cloned domains and replacement URLs to emerge in thier place. The problem, he concluded, was not necessarily the individual website. It was the network behind it.

“Why not use the dataset I already have on gambling sites to map the most problematic ones, identify how they are connected and build a deeper picture of the networks behind them?” That thought process eventually gave birth to Trace2Trace.

Trace2Trace is relatively new, but Madsen says its underlying dataset has already grown to around 620,000. And it continues to grow, highlighting the scale of illegal operations in the gambling industry.