Lucky Scarabs

What is Lucky Scarabs?

Baldwin and fellow casino entrepreneur Shawn Scott arrived in Laos in 2007 with ambitious plans to build a casino business aimed partly at customers crossing the country’s borders.

The pair established Sanum Investments and partnered with Laotian conglomerate ST Group. Baldwin later testified that the investors initially committed around $7.5 million to the venture, which envisaged two casino resorts and several slot clubs.

Their biggest success was Savan Vegas, strategically located near the Friendship Bridge linking Laos with neighboring Thailand across the Mekong River. A planned second resort, Paksong Vegas, was never built.

What is Lucky Scarabs?

The new Belmont is part of a major restructuring of the New York Racing Association’s operations, with Belmont replacing Aqueduct as the year-round home of downstate thoroughbred racing.

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.

How to play Lucky Scarabs

Rovito was among 22 people indicted in April in a federal case involving an alleged illegal gambling operation in northwest Indiana. 

Prosecutors charged him with operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means. The indictment alleges that the operation involved sports betting and the collection of gambling debts.

Rovito has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. His attorney has disputed the government’s allegations, claiming that the indictment does not allege his client collected money, made any threats, or directed other defendants to do so.