Hong Bao

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Aqueduct staged its final races June 28, ending a 132-year history at the Queens track. It remained open for simulcast wagering until September 7 before closing permanently.

The new Belmont is significantly different than the sprawling venue it replaced. The former 1.25 million-square-foot grandstand, which had become vastly oversized for the contemporary racing crowd, was demolished to make way for a much smaller, modern facility with a focus on hospitality and premium seating.

Friday’s opening was deliberately capped at 6,000 spectators while construction continues. Only the first two levels of the new five-story grandstand are currently open, with the remaining sections scheduled for completion ahead of next year’s meet.

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For operators, that predictability is the point. The approach provides ready-made content for holiday campaigns and year-round themed promotions.

Welcome to Octoberfest isn’t a standalone idea. It’s the newest addition to a defined sub-series, joining Beersburg Fest Hold and Win and Lucky Fest Hold and Win in the studio’s line of Oktoberfest-inspired slots.

That repetition matters. It shows 1spin4win building recognizable, reusable theme families it can refresh annually, which gives operators a familiar hook to slot into the same promotional window each September and October.

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One of the operator’s most significant challenges is the increase in gambling tax enforced over recent years. Petra has been particularly vocal about this and the company’s profitability has taken a reasonable hit, since the first tax increase to 34.2% of GGR came into effect on 1 January 2025.

Holland Casino now pays 37.8% of GGR to the state, as per the additional increase in 2026, but with labour tax on top the business pays around 52% before they can look at their base running costs. It is not a small burden by any stretch of the imagination, so it is heartening to see the business doing well despite the tightening tax burden.

With such a significant rise in tax, you would forgive the company for cutting wherever possible, but Petra says they have made it work by maximising efficiency, restructuring, and maintaining their offering so the customer doesn’t notice that anything has changed.