Monthly Archives: January 2022

Ontario sports betting hit another potential speed bump, thanks to new opposition from a local casino group.

Great Canadian Gaming (GCC), the biggest land-based casino operator in Ontario, circulated a report last week claiming the planned iGaming rollout would hurt tax revenues and cost jobs.

GCC said the liberal online framework would cannibalize land-based casino revenues. In turn, that would jeopardize 2,500 jobs and cut tax revenue by $2.65 billion over the next five years.

GCC asked for a variety of concessions in Ontario sports betting, including:

Online operators have already hit back at the GCC report. DraftKings told Canadian news outlet CBC the cannibilization argument was flawed.

When the regulated market opens in Ontario, nothing is going to change in respect to players entertainment habits, said Jeffrey Haas, senior vice-president of DraftKings.

People who are playing in online casinos and online sportsbooks and online poker rooms will continue to do so, except theyre going to go from playing offshore to onshore. And anybody who continues to walk into real casinos in order to play games there will continue to do so.

Regardless of its merits, one Ontario gaming exec told LSR the report could feasibly delay the launch of Ontario sports betting by another three months. The market was slated to go live before the end of March, having already been pushed back once.

There is significant chance this could be delayed, said the source. More than 50% in my opinion. GCC has $2 billion invested in the province. It is the largest single employer in the gaming sector. Anyone ignoring that fact is a lobbyist.

That said, another source noted Great Canadian was a lone dissenting voice against online betting and gaming.

None of Ontarios other four land-based casino operators have publicly supported its stance.

Ontario has a provincial election in June, and the government may choose to postpone a launch until after that date.

If we see a delay, it will not be a short one, the source said. Governments in election mode avoid controversy at all costs.

Terry Debono, an Ontario-based gaming consultant, said the government could make its decision on whether to delay the launch in the next week.

Everyone should be watching Ontario very closely, Debono said.

When it eventually does launch, Ontario sports betting could be huge. The province has a population of nearly 15 million people, and would be the fifth-largest US state.

An Eilers & Krejcik report estimates Ontario sportsbooks could generate up to CAD $570 million in sports betting revenue in 2022.

Its largest city, Toronto, is a prime North American sports hub with teams in MLS, NBA, NHL and MLB, as well as the CFL. Elsewhere in Ontario, Ottawa has an NHL and a CFL team. Hamilton also has a CFL team.

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Will Ontario Sports Betting Be Delayed Again By Local Casino Opposition? - Legal Sports Report

TEMECULA, Calif. Legal sports betting in the United States accelerated in 2021 as a flurry of states either overcame legislative logjams, as Ohio did just before Christmas, or signed off on online wagering, as New York did just after Election Day.

But those efforts are likely to pale in comparison to the all-out lobbying, campaigning and legal jousting in 2022 involving what a DraftKings executive recently called one of the holy grails in sports betting: California.

By November, Californians may be asked to vote on as many as four sports betting initiatives. Thats why deep-pocketed interests, including national sports books and Native American casinos, have been gearing up to spend $200 million to persuade voters in California to support their particular proposal or to reject the others.

One measure that has already qualified for the state ballot, sponsored by powerful tribes in California, would add sports wagering, but only in person, at tribal casinos or horse racing tracks. Online betting initiatives, now gathering signatures, dangle the prospect of making bets anywhere through the internet. Others offer a middle ground.

If one of the measures passes, nearly two-thirds of Americans will live in states that allow or regulate sports betting. And with California and New York on board, sports wagering would essentially be national in scope, fueling a market that Goldman Sachs recently estimated could grow to $40 billion in revenues in a decade from $900 million now.

Yet gambling expansion in California has often fallen short or been torpedoed by competing interests. Indeed, Californias card rooms, which primarily operate around larger cities and offer a more limited range of games, just filed a lawsuit to invalidate the qualified tribal measure.

Were never going to get sports betting figured out at any level unless California comes on board, Jason Giles, executive director of the National Indian Gaming Association, said at a recent sports betting conference at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. That will be the game changer for the United States.

Since the Supreme Courts decision in 2018 to strike down a federal law banning commercial sports betting in states other than Nevada, more than 30 states have authorized sports wagering, including about a dozen in the last year. More than 20 states have gone live.

New York just started mobile sports betting after awarding licenses for it to two coalitions featuring marquee names, Caesars Sportsbook and Ballys Interactive. Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio signed a bill legalizing sports betting in late December. And legislators in Wyoming and Arizona, among others, quickly approved sports betting.

Look at this massive expansion across the country and where we are its becoming very mainstream, said Brandt Iden, a former state representative in Michigan who pushed to legalize sports betting in his home state. Iden is now head of government affairs for Sportradar, which collects and analyzes data for sports books. I talk to legislators who say, you know what, I dont support gambling, but everybody is doing it.

Of the holdouts, Texas considered several bills in 2021, and some lawmakers expect momentum when the legislature reconvenes in 2023. Florida, meanwhile, is a mess: A federal judge recently blocked the Seminole Tribes new sports betting app, and DraftKings and FanDuel are racing to gather enough signatures to get a referendum on the 2022 ballot.

In California, gambling mostly on slot machines and blackjack has been legal for two decades on tribal lands under compacts negotiated with the state. The state also permits gambling at horse racing tracks, which was legalized in 1933, and card rooms, which trace their lineage to poker-playing miners during the Gold Rush.

Any changes would require constitutional amendments through a voter referendum, or legislation backed by the voters.

Previous attempts have bogged down; online poker, for instance, failed in part because the tribes themselves were split. But now there appears to be less resistance on moral and philosophical grounds.

If we think about progressive legislation, or legislation to protect consumer welfare, California lies at the forefront, whether we want to talk about minimum wage or privacy protection, said Marc Edelman, a law professor at Baruch College who has written extensively on sports gambling. If California legalizes sports gambling it becomes very unlikely that another state would arise as the consumer-oriented opposer of sports gambling.

This time, the push to expand gambling began before the pandemic, from a coalition of 18 tribes that have dominated casino gambling in the state.

Across the United States, tribal gambling generated $27.8 billion in revenue in its fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020, despite the pandemic. California is the biggest state, with 66 tribal casinos on federally recognized lands, mostly far from the coast, yielding about $8 billion, with much of that coming from slot machines.

Under the tribes initiative, which is backed by a political action committee that has raised more than $13 million, sports wagering would be permitted at tribal casinos and horse tracks. Roulette and games played with dice, such as craps, would also be allowed under the proposal, which qualified for the ballot in May 2021 after collecting more than one million valid signatures.

One thing that is not included is online betting, because the initiative is intended to be a very measured, incremental step, said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseo Indians in Riverside County.

We think this is the right thing to do for tribes and tribal sovereignty, he said at the conference here. Theres enough skittishness out there about what could happen to brick-and-mortar facilities.

The initiative would also create a new civil enforcement tool allowing anyone suspicious of any illegal gambling operations to file lawsuits. It is this provision that has fueled two separate but related efforts by Californias card rooms to defeat the tribes, and to get their own sports betting measure passed.

California has more than 80 card rooms ranging from pub-like places with a few poker tables to sleek behemoths with 270 tables accompanied by restaurants and plentiful A.T.M.s. Collectively, they employ 23,000 people in urban areas, many of them Asian, Black and Hispanic, and pump in $300 million in federal, state and local tax revenues each year, according to the California Gaming Association, a trade group.

Many municipal budgets rely heavily on the card rooms to finance vital services and bolster juvenile justice and other programs, said Mayor Tasha Cerda of Gardena, which has two card rooms. She has backed an initiative that would permit sports betting at the card rooms, tribal casinos and racetracks, as well as allow for internet sports betting. That initiative has raised $450,000 to date. Meanwhile, some of the bigger card rooms have poured more than $24 million into a No campaign against the tribes initiative.

During a recent tour of Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, adjacent to SoFi Stadium, the host of the Super Bowl next month and the College Football Playoff national championship in 2023, Deven Kumar, the casinos general manager, estimated sports betting could increase revenues already hurt by the coronavirus pandemic by 20 percent to 25 percent. He and James T. Butts Jr., Inglewoods mayor, warned that the tribes civil enforcement provision could drain their existing business by up to 75 percent, compounded by the inevitable legal costs.

They are attempting to make gambling a monopoly at the expense of others, Butts said. They are not the disenfranchised group they once were. The minority majority cities deserve the opportunity for equity as well.

In the city of Hawaiian Gardens, where the Gardens Casino supplied 68 percent of the tax revenues in the 2019-20 municipal budget, Keith A. Sharp, the casinos general counsel, said sports betting could transform Sundays at the casino now mostly empty into bustling periods where customers could wager on N.F.L. games while also playing baccarat or other games.

If the card rooms were hobbled, however, Nary Chin, a longtime card dealer and single mother of four, said she feared for her future.

I learned English in the card room, not school, said an emotional Chin, who immigrated from Cambodia in 1984. I am very grateful. This is my home. If I didnt have this job, I dont know what Id do.

The third initiative comes from online sports books, including DraftKings and FanDuel, that want to enter California for the first time and offer online betting.

The measure requires those companies to partner with tribes, and its supporters say voters can pass both their initiative and the tribes in-person one. Most of the states profits would be dedicated to homelessness measures, and to the tribes themselves. It would also allow betting on nonathletic events, like award shows and video game contests, but not youth sports or elections, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office.

We view brick-and-mortar as very complementary to mobile, Jonathan Edson, FanDuels senior vice president for business development, said at the sports betting conference.

California is one of the holy grails in sports, added Jeremy Elbaum, senior vice president for business development at DraftKings.

The supporters, buffeted by an initial $100 million from seven sports books, have lined up mayors in Long Beach, Oakland, Fresno and Sacramento, plus advocates working to combat a homeless crisis. They are confident they will collect enough signatures to be certified by the June ballot deadline.

We are focused on ongoing stable revenue to fund the key programs that we know we need, said Tommy Newman, vice president for engagement and activation at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. If were honest, this is regulating and capturing value from something that is happening, for people in communities that absolutely need the investment.

In November, a fourth initiative arrived supporting both online and in-person betting, backed by a different group of tribes, including the Rincon Band of Luiseo Indians and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Out-of-state and international gaming operators want to rewrite the balanced system California has created so that the future belongs to them, paying a pittance to serious local and statewide social problems, and trying to divide the Tribes by offering temporary riches to a few while taking future growth opportunities away from the rest, the tribes wrote in their application to the California attorney general.

A lawyer for the tribes, Scott Crowell, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Some gambling analysts believe that a plethora of initiatives may confuse voters, who may just say no to everything. Another wild card is a lawsuit filed in December by two card rooms claiming that the qualified tribal initiative violates the state constitution, which says initiatives can focus only on one subject, because the tribes are trying to add retail sports betting as well as add more table games.

Still, no matter the outcome of the lawsuit or the ballot measures, many sports and technology companies are building audiences through free-to-play games, contests, fantasy sports and national marketing campaigns, even in states where sports betting has not yet been cleared, said Rob Phythian, founder and chief executive of SharpLink Gaming, a technology company.

Teams like the Minnesota Vikings have hired companies like SharpLink to build fantasy games. That could be consequential in California, where there are 19 teams in the N.F.L., M.L.B., N.B.A., N.H.L. and W.N.B.A. by far the most of any state.

Were just a bridge to betting, Phythian said. Its sort of like training the muscle.

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Sports Bettings Next Big Election Battles Are in California - The New York Times

As metaverse poises to be one of the key trends this year in several business areas, including gambling, XR Casino has recently made the headlines when it announced its first corporate investor, BOTS, a global technology conglomerate specialized in Blockchain-based solutions that plans to launch a proprietary Metaverse based on Las Vegas.

XR Casino has completed the MVP versions of its initial games, Blackjack, Roulette, and Slot Machine in AR, MR, and VR. Thebeta version of its games is already available for iOS and Android, to work with Augmented Reality. The company is on track to launch its social casino games in a free-to-play format and NFT store in Q2, 2022. It seeks to partner with game aggregators, iGaming and land-based operators.

"Our patent-pending application is for an extended reality cross-technology gaming platform for the iGaming and Sports betting industries," Dan Martinez, Founder and CEO of XR Casino, tells Yogonet in an exclusive interview. "One that allows players to play the same game together regardless of the immersive technology they are using, for example, a player using virtual reality can play with players using augmented reality and/or mixed reality. We are on track to file the utility patent by Q2 of this year."

How will those initial games work; which are the key, distinctive features brought by those technologies, and which role will NFT play in your business?

Our games are immersive and fun to play, I highly recommend downloading our beta test games for smartphones and experiencing them in augmented reality. Extended reality technologies are new and exciting, immersive and much more fun to play than traditional 2D games. NFTs will be used to personalize game avatars and game assets such as decks of cards, casino chips, table skins, slot machine skins and collectibles.

Dan Martinez, Founder and CEO of XR Casino. Photo credit: Pedro Zenkl.

In July 2021, XR Casino said initial games would be featured in its mixed reality minimum viable product starting Aug. 21, and sports betting, baccarat, bingo, craps, poker and keno would follow. Which progress, changes and learnings have you seen since then? What are the current prospects for sports betting, baccarat, bingo, craps, poker and keno?

Yes, our initial games have been built in all 3 extended reality technologies. Once we complete our equity capital raise through Start Engine, we will begin the development of our other games and value-added-services including AI and Blockchain technologies. We have advanced in the development of our Fantasy Football XR Game.

What are the implications of offering SaaS solutions in todays context?

Our goal is to provide XR casino and sports betting gaming solutions to both iGaming and land-based casino operators, these solutions will include Games-as-a-Service, XR Game development, and Software-as-a-Service including value added services to increase player retention, cybersecurity and transparency in game odds and payouts.

Which specific markets will you focus on first and why?

Our specific markets of focus are Asia, North America and Europe because of the size of these markets both in the number of players and potential for revenues as well as their existing mobile internet infrastructure. We believe that the adoption of XR technologies will be driven by Augmented Reality capabilities in mobile devices.

Which factors have led BOTS to become your first corporate investor?

BOTS has announced they will be launching a Las Vegas-themed Metaverse. Our games are Metaverse-ready and we both see clear synergies in partnering to capitalize on opportunities in their upcoming Metaverse, Vegas.mv.

What business model and approach will you take from now on?

We have different business models for our B2C and B2B segments. B2C: Free-to-play, we will generate revenues from monthly subscription fees, advertising sales, in-game play money sales and sales of NFTs to personalize avatars and game assets. Our B2B segment will generate revenues from licensing fees, game development fees and revenue sharing agreements.

Last month, BOTS started pre-orders to accelerate the development of its Metaverse and also acquired the domain VEGAS.MV for this project, which it said it would launch in two weeks. Whats the current status of that project, and which will be your specific contributions for this metaverse?

We plan on launching our free-to-play games on Vegas.mv when it goes live. The project is in development. Our initial specific contributions will be a Virtual Reality casino and virtual casino games.

Fast Offshore recently told us that the metaverse will change the online gambling sector forever, and that some companies are already working on integrating casino and betting into the metaverse, which will allow users and their avatars to gamble while exploring. The consultancy firm says that while the kit needed to access the metaverse (headsets and a powerful PC) is still quite expensive, these costs are likely to reduce as demand increases. Do you agree with any of these concepts?

Yes, I agree that the metaverse will change the gambling sector forever and I believe we are right at the forefront of this disruption by bridging the gap between the technology that most people hold in their hands today (Augmented Reality capable smartphones) and the metaverse (Virtual Reality) through our cross-technology solutions.

Which space and market share do you think metaverse is called to take in the gambling industry, within one to five years from now? How do you think this will complement or be combined with Live dealer games and streaming?

I think the metaverse represents a tremendous opportunity for the gambling industry, as a complement, making games more fun to play through XR technologies and in all spaces such as live dealer games and streaming. I think live dealer games and streaming will be combined with augmented reality and virtual reality. If I had to guess what the market share of metaverse gambling revenues will be in 5 years, I would guesstimate it to be similar to the first 5 years of online gambling revenues, adjusted for inflation.

Unikrn co-founder Rahul Sood told Yogonet in a recent interview that much of the wagering industry, particularly land-based operators, are unprepared for the paradigm shift that is already beginning, with many traditional operators already behind the curve on gaming. Do you see any kind of trend related to this view?

I absolutely agree with that statement. Over the last few months, I attended G2E in Vegas and the SiGMA conference in Malta and I reached the same conclusion, most existing operators are unprepared for the paradigm shift that's already happening. As immersive technology games and market size continues to grow, I think we will see collaborations and acquisitions by traditional iGaming and land-based operators to try to keep up with their competition and stay relevant with the newer generations of players.

How will operators integrate, adopt and adapt these extended reality technologies to their existing assets and land-based casino/sportsbook environments?

This is where we see a tremendous opportunity for our B2B business model, providing solutions to operators so they can adapt, adopt and integrate extended reality solutions that will create new revenue opportunities and attract a newer generation of players. We already have XR games and can enable them to launch their branded games very quickly.

How could this retain existing audiences that still look for the traditional casino experience, and also attract the new generations at the same time?

Less than 25 years ago online gambling did not exist, now it's a multi-billion dollar market. The launch of the internet and online casinos captured a new generation of players and increased revenues, in other words, it made the pie bigger for everyone. In my opinion, XR technologies and the metaverse represent the same opportunity for the casino industry as the internet did in its time.

Which kind of key live data from player behaviors could these XR products acquire and provide operators with? Which potential uses could this open for them?

XR products can incorporate Artificial Intelligence applications to improve the player experience and increase retention. AI programs can extract, classify and utilize live data from player behavior to improve that player's gaming experience, to provide great customer service and improve player retention. Player retention is a top priority in the casino industry, it is estimated that just a 5% reduction in player attrition or "churn", can increase casino profits by double digits. Therefore, I think immersive gaming experiences have the potential to provide live data that can increase casino's profits significantly. XR Casino will be incorporating AI technology such as RPA, NLP and ML as a value-added-service in our SaaS model for B2B clients.

How would you assess current regulations for the use of these technologies in the gaming and betting markets you are targeting? Whats left to improve or update?

I believe that current regulations for the iGaming industry support the growth of XR gaming options both in the US and internationally and that game certification companies and regulators are very much aware of the importance of supporting the adoption of these new technologies to benefit players/consumers and the industry. There is a lot of room for improvement and updating, we see it as an opportunity for XR Casino as one of the pioneers in this space.

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"XR technologies and metaverse represent the same opportunity for the casino industry as the Internet did in its time" - Yogonet...

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.

Representatives for a prominent casino developer this week defended his decision to raze nearly 600 housing units to redevelop part of Renos downtown into an entertainment district and floated his vision to contribute land for a publicly funded affordable housing project.

Many of the several hundred people at a virtual town hall Monday welcomed the idea of better affordable housing in the area but met the proposal by Jacobs Entertainment with skepticism. The idea floated by Jeff Jacobs, who has demolished 15 motels that were used as last resort housing, includes 850 affordable and workforce housing units built above public parking garages that would ostensibly provide parking for his nearby planned entertainment venues. Jacobs wouldnt build the housing; rather, he would contribute land for a project to be built and operated by the Reno Housing Authority.

Mondays town hall followed a ProPublica investigation that found the city has failed to require that Jacobs replace the affordable housing he razed despite a critical shortage. The investigation also found the public has repeatedly been cut out of the decision-making process. Since 2016, Jacobs has bought more than 100 parcels in downtown Reno, clearing much of the land and leaving most of the lots vacant as he pitches ever-changing ideas for the area.

Prior to the town hall, Jacobs held a briefing for reporters on his affordable housing idea but did not invite ProPublica and didnt respond to the news organizations request to attend. At that briefing, he criticized the town hall, organized at the urging of Reno City Council member Naomi Duerr, as a way for a couple council people to let their supporters have a shot at us, according to News 4-Fox 11. Duerr argued the public felt excluded from the process and deserved more participation.

At the town hall, audience members grilled Jacobs representatives on the housing demolition and the lack of significant development so far on the land he has assembled. They also tried unsuccessfully to pin the developers down on their affordable housing proposal. In response to pointed questions from audience member Selena Kaffer, Jacobs lawyer Garrett Gordon said he could offer no timeline or other details for the housing concept because the company has yet to begin a conversation with public partners such as the city of Reno and the housing authority.

At this point its a vision, its a proposal, Gordon said. We have to work with numerous agencies to bring such a huge project to fruition. I dont have a timetable for you tonight but certainly will in the coming months.

Kaffer countered: So just to clarify where we are at, in the last five years 500 to 600 units have been demolished, and we dont have a timeline for when 850 units of affordable housing will be rebuilt to replace those.

But Gordon said its wrong to think of the demolished motels as lost housing, given the state of disrepair of many of the units.

They really shouldnt be considered housing units at all, Gordon said. It shouldnt be slumlords who are providing our housing units for the most vulnerable in our community. It should be the Reno Housing Authority.

As of February, an estimated 2,550 people lived in Renos weekly motels, which have become de facto housing of last resort. While many are in poor condition, ProPublica found others that were well-managed and well-kept motels some of which Jacobs has also tried to buy that were a critical resource for those seeking shelter in the citys difficult housing market. While Jacobs offered relocation assistance to people living in his motels, ProPublica found their lives were thrown into chaos and not everyone wound up in a better situation.

Mayor Hillary Schieve and four council members attended the virtual town hall, but none sat on its panel to field questions or defend the lack of city policies to preserve affordable housing or deter housing demolition. According to the participant log, Schieve left the meeting after 21 minutes. Council members Neoma Jardon and Oscar Delgado did not log in, according to the document. Video of the meeting also streamed on YouTube and remains available online.

Many in the audience clamored for more affordable housing as well as a stronger voice in what will eventually be built on the swath of Jacobs-owned land covering 15 square blocks of downtown.

This meeting should have happened before most of these places were demolished, said Ilya Arbatman, who said he worked at a music store demolished by Jacobs. A vision is something you have before you tear things down.

Jacobs has yet to detail a comprehensive plan for his land, some of which he intends to develop into event space, some of which hes marketing to other developers for market-rate housing, hotels and other unspecified uses.

Hes moving forward strategically, methodically, Gordon said during the meeting, noting potential plans for an amphitheater and zip line.

ProPublica asked the Reno Housing Authority about the viability of Jacobs concept for 850 affordable housing units. The authority owns and manages nearly 1,300 affordable housing units and has developed several projects smaller than the one Jacobs would like to see.

With scarce availability of developable parcels, the RHA is interested any time a local developer would like to pursue housing in the Truckee Meadows, especially when theyre willing to offer land, said RHA spokesperson April Conway. Any increase in the numbers of rental units takes a little pressure off of the available housing apartments.

They Promised Quick and Easy PPP Loans. Often, They Only Delivered Hassle and Heartache.

Conway said the authority couldnt provide a time frame or a cost estimate for the idea.

Any costs associated with a housing project needs a feasibility study done first, and with rising costs everywhere, it wouldnt be prudent to make even a ballpark guess at this point, she said.

The authority recently completed its first housing project in two decades, a 44-unit senior housing complex that cost $13 million. Even with a $1.5 million donation from Jacobs, the authority struggled to finance the project.

There would be many resources needed for a project like this, Conway said of Jacobs idea. But funding would be first and foremost.

If the idea did come to fruition, the number of units would dwarf the 326 units built in Reno in the past six years.

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Reps for Casino Developer Defend the Destruction of Nearly 600 Housing Units in Reno - ProPublica

Cirque Goes Broadway

The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra will play Broadway hits while acrobats, contortionists, tumblers, and balancers defy gravity on aerial silks. See it at the Cincinnati Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Cincinnati, on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25-$115. For more information, call 513-744-3344 or visit http://www.cincinnatipops.org.

Tony Rock

Tony Rock (younger brother of Chris) is best known for playing Uncle Ryan on Everyone Hates Chris and for being a veteran touring stand-up comic himself. See him at the Funny Bone at Liberty Center, 7518 Bales St., A-120, Liberty Township, on Jan. 21-23. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Saturday, and 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $25. For more information, call 513-779-5233 or visit http://www.liberty.funnybone.com.

Ma Raineys Black Bottom

You may have seen the movie with Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. Now, see the original play about the combustible tensions between African-American musicians and white recording studio owners in 1920s Chicago. Check it out at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, 719 Race St., Cincinnati, on Jan. 21-Feb. 12. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays, and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $58-$68. For more information, call 513-381-BARD or visit http://www.cincyshakes.com.

Signs of Life: The American Pink Floyd

This Pink Floyd tribute band is comprised of eight musicians and a production team to recreate the Floyd concert experience, not just music but the special effects, lighting and video. Signs of Life will perform hits and rarities from every Floyd album. See them at the Sorg Opera House, 57 S. Main St., Middletown, on Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$30. For more information, visit http://www.sorgoperahouse.org.

Geoff Tate

Geoff Tate, the ex-lead singer of progressive metal band, Queensryche, will be commemorating the 30th anniversary of Empire, Queensryches most mainstream album, which featured the hits Jet City Woman, Silent Lucidity, and Just Another Rainy Night (Without You). See him at the Ludlow Garage, 342 Ludlow Ave., Cincinnati, on Jan. 22 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $25-$40. For more information, call 513-616-2640 or visit http://www.ludlowgaragecincinnati.com.

Better Than Ezra

This alternative rock band achieved popularity in the 1990s with their hit single, Good. They have released eight albums. See them at the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati, 1000 Broadway St., Cincinnati, on Jan. 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $19-$55. For more information, visit http://www.hardrockcasioncincinnati.com.

Hasan Minhaj

This stand-up comedian is known or being a past correspondent for The Daily Show (with both Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah) and for his two award-winning Netflix specials. See him at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Cincinnati, on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $45-$95. For more information, call 513-621-2787 or visit http://www.cincinnatiarts.org.

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Things to do: 90s band at the Hard Rock Casino, a fashion show and more - Hamilton Journal News