3. New Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Implemented in 2017

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-09, “Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718) – Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting.” The amendments are intended to improve the accounting for employee share-based payments and affect all organizations that issue share-based payment awards to their employees. Several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions are simplified, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this change in accounting principle effective January 1, 2017. As a result of adopting the change to accounting for income taxes, for the six months ended June 30, 2017, the Company recognized an income tax benefit of $1.9 million related to excess tax deductions that would have previously been recognized as additional paid in capital within Shareholders Deficit. The Company did not record a cumulative effect adjustment to Retained Earnings due to having a full valuation allowance against all deferred tax assets. Deferred tax assets and the valuation allowance increased by $16.4 million at January 1, 2017 for the tax effect previously unrecognized for excess tax deductions. The Company has elected to present the change in classification of excess /(deficient) tax deductions from a financing activity to an operating activity within its consolidated statement of cash flows on a retrospective basis. The impact to the comparative period ended June 30, 2016 was an increase to net cash provided by operating activities and an increase in cash used in financing activities of $4.4 million, respectively. The Company has also made an accounting policy election to account for forfeitures when they occur which had no cumulative effect to retained earnings. Finally, effective January 1, 2017, the Company adopted the change related to diluted EPS on a prospective basis such that the net benefit/ (deficiency) attributable to taxes is no longer included in the computation of assumed proceeds.

New Accounting Pronouncements to be Implemented

In May 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718) – Scope of Modification Accounting.” The amendments are intended to provide clarity and reduce both the diversity in practice and cost and complexity when applying the guidance in Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, to a change to the terms or conditions of a share-based payment award. An entity should account for the effects of a modification unless all the following are met: (1) the fair value (or calculated value or intrinsic value, if such an alternative measurement method is used) of the modified award is the same as the fair value (or calculated value or intrinsic value, if such an alternative measurement method is used) of the original award immediately before the original award is modified. If the modification does not affect any of the inputs to the valuation technique that the entity uses to value the award, the entity is not required to estimate the value immediately before and after the modification; (2) The vesting conditions of the modified award are the same as the vesting conditions of the original award immediately before the original award is modified; and (3) the classification of the modified award as an equity instrument or a liability instrument is the same as the classification of the original award immediately before the original award is modified. The amendment is effective for all entities for annual periods, and interim periods within those periods, beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. The Company will adopt this standard next year and does not believe the prospective amendments of this standard will have a material impact on the financial statements.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606),” which impacts virtually all aspects of an entity’s revenue recognition. The core principle of Topic 606 is that revenue should be recognized to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. In July 2015, the FASB deferred the effective date of the standard by one year which results in the new standard being effective for the Company at the beginning of its first quarter of fiscal year 2018. In addition, during March, April and May 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-08, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Principal versus Agent Considerations (Reporting Revenue Gross versus Net), ASU 2016-10, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Identifying Performance Obligations and Licensing and ASU 2016-12, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Narrow-Scope Improvements and Practical Expedients, respectively, which clarified the guidance on certain items such as reporting revenue as a principal versus agent, identifying performance obligations, accounting for intellectual property licenses, assessing collectability and presentation of sales taxes. Management has not yet completed its assessment of the impact of the new standard on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Although the Company is currently assessing the impact that the adoption of the new standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures, the following areas that are expected to result in changes to our accounting are:

(1)

The accounting for loyalty points which are earned by our customers. The Company’s Marquee Rewards program allows members to utilize their rewards membership card to earn promotional points that are redeemable for slot play and complimentaries. The accumulated points can be redeemed for food and beverages at our restaurants, and products offered at our retail stores across the vast majority of the Company’s casino properties. The estimated liability for unredeemed points is currently accrued based on expected redemption rates and the estimated costs of the services or merchandise to be provided. Under the new standard, we will need to defer the full retail value of the complimentaries until the future revenue transaction occurs. Although the exact amount of the increase to our point liabilities has not yet been determined, we do not anticipate it will have a significant impact on our earnings.

(2)

The new standard will also require us to allocate the revenues associated with players’ activity between gaming revenue and the value of the points and to measure the liability based on the estimated standalone selling price of the points earned after factoring in the likelihood of redemption. As a result, we expect that gaming revenues will be reduced and that promotional allowance will no longer be netted on our statement of income. The revenue associated with the points earned will be recognized in the period in which they are redeemed.

(3)

Further, we believe the reimbursable costs associated with our management service contract for Casino Rama, which are primarily payroll costs, will need to be recognized as revenue on a gross basis, with an offsetting amount charged to reimbursable management costs within operating expenses as we are the controlling entity to the arrangement. For the six months ended June 30, 2017 and twelve months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, these reimbursable costs were $42.8 million, $83.6 million and $81.3 million, respectively.

Additionally, at this time, we expect to adopt Topic 606 using the modified retrospective method on January 1, 2018. The Company is continuing to evaluate the new guidance both internally and through following the industry working group and plans to provide additional information at a future date.