Harrah's [Caesars] Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack faces hefty tax bills

Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack faces hefty tax bills

Laura McCrystal, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Last updated: Sunday, April 20, 2014, 1:09 AM

CHESTER For the first time since it opened seven years ago, Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack is getting hit with a property-tax bill.

And what a bill.

If it stands, the $5 million payment to three entities will make the casino not just the biggest taxpayer by far in the city of Chester, the Chester Upland School District, and Delaware County, but one of the biggest in the region.

The county Board of Assessment rejected an appeal from Harrah's last month. The company now faces a Friday deadline to file a lawsuit fighting the $218 million assessment of its 65 acres on the Delaware River.

A casino spokeswoman did not return calls last week, and a lawyer who has represented Harrah's declined to discuss its plans or potential court arguments.

But Harrah's could take its lead from other casinos in the area. Parx Casino in Bensalem and several casinos in Atlantic City are among those that have fought to have their taxes reduced, asserting that they were not as profitable as anticipated, or that the buildings had been assessed at more than their fair market value.

The added tax revenue would be especially important in long-struggling Chester, where Harrah's owes $1.6 million in property taxes this year.

The money could provide a significant boost - more than 20 percent - to city coffers. Chester collected $7.2 million in property taxes last year, City Councilman Nafis Nichols said.

"We're able to loosen up and breathe a little easier" with the money from Harrah's, he said.

The Chester Upland School District does not release its 2014-15 tax rate until July, but it would collect $2.8 million from Harrah's under its current tax rate.

Harrah's Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack was part of a Keystone Opportunity Zone that expired at the end of December.

To attract economic development to Chester, the tax-relief program exempted properties from real estate taxes. The new assessments for those properties total $21 million, in addition to the $218 million for Harrah's, Delaware County Assessment Manager John VanZelst said.

VanZelst said he expected Harrah's to appeal its assessment, which would take more than a year to resolve. The value of the casino itself would be at issue, ultimately determined by a judge.

Property owners often hire outside appraisers to provide second opinions of assessed value and present those findings in court.

"Since we're talking a lot of money and [Harrah's owners] think they have a strong case, they're probably going to take it to court," VanZelst said.

Joseph O'Brien, the lawyer who represented Harrah's before the Board of Assessment, said he could not comment on whether he would file an appeal. He declined to say what he thought would be an appropriate assessment for the casino.

"Obviously, we felt it was significantly lower than what the county had asserted," he said.

The county has already sent the casino a 2014 tax bill for $1.22 million, which Harrah's must pay even if it files an appeal.

"As far as I know, they lost and we sent out a bill," VanZelst said. "So until I'm instructed otherwise, the bill stays that way."

Beyond property taxes, state law requires casinos to turn over a portion of their revenue from slots and table games to local governments. Harrah's gave $10 million to Chester and $5 million to Delaware County last year, according to state records.

Harrah's would not be the only casino in the region to take its property-tax fight to court.

Parx is fighting its $54 million assessment in a court appeal filed in 2011. Under its current assessment, the casino owes $2.3 million in taxes this year, according to county records. It paid its 2011, 2012, and 2013 taxes under protest, according to a bond-offering document from the Bensalem Township School District.

In Atlantic City, casinos have successfully appealed tax bills, arguing that gaming revenue had fallen substantially as competition opened around Pennsylvania in recent years.

Valley Forge Casino Resort has a smaller property-tax bill; it owed $270,000 in 2014, according to Montgomery County assessment records. SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia has not appealed its assessment of $150 million.

Harrah's has not taken steps toward fighting its assessment in the city of Chester, which has a different assessment process than the county. Its $52.5 million assessment in Chester translates to a market value of about $210 million - lower than the $294 million market value of the county's assessment.

As tax breaks expired in Chester, the Delaware County Council extended the Keystone Opportunity Zone for some properties, including land surrounding PPL Park where development plans have not materialized. PPL Park is still exempt from taxes because it is owned by a government body.

Some other property owners that lost their tax breaks also appealed. Widener University's Technology Park won the largest adjustment before the county Board of Assessment, VanZelst said; its assessment was reduced from $4.2 million to $2.4 million.

Until this year, none of top 15 taxable properties in Delaware County was in the city of Chester, which for years lacked new private development.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140420_Harrah_s_Philadelphia_Casino___Racetrack_faces_hefty_tax_bills.html#AE3fVpLMMmqGjYzt.99

Parx complaint led to $200,000 Valley Forge Casino fine....

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts 'GAMING' Future

Notice how it took Parx casino’s henchmen/lawyers not the incompetent members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to figure out this illegal promotion gimmick.

Philadelphia Inquirer - November 20, 2013 - Parx complaint led to $200,000 Valley Forge Casino fine...

Parx Casino's legal team has long been a thorn in the side of Valley Forge Casino Resort, starting with a years-long effort to block the Montgomery County casino from opening.

That thorn proved sharp on Wednesday.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's $200,000 fine against Valley Forge Casino Resort, announced after a board meeting in Harrisburg, originated in a February allegation by Parx officials that Valley Forge was offering an illegal promotional deal to its customers.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/double-down/Parx-complaint-led-to-200000-Valley-Forge-Casino-fine.html#PlyervgJKdkHDBKb.99See More

Parx complaint led to $200,000 Valley Forge Casino fine

Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Wednesday, November 20, 2013, 10:18 PM

Parx Casino's legal team has long been a thorn in the side of Valley Forge Casino Resort, starting with a years-long effort to block the Montgomery County casino from opening.
That thorn proved sharp on Wednesday.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's $200,000 fine against Valley Forge Casino Resort, announced after a board meeting in Harrisburg, originated in a February allegation by Parx officials that Valley Forge was offering an illegal promotional deal to its customers.
The penalty, which I wrote about here in The Inquirer, was the single biggest fine ever levied by the gaming board. It was for violating rules on special offers designed to attract customers to the Valley Forge casino, which faces unusual restrictions because of its license category.
The illegal promotion, which offered seasonal and annual dining club memberships for free or at a discount, didn't even pay off for Valley Forge.
Valley Forge's attorney, Kevin C. Hayes, told the commissioners: "36.7 percent of those patrons who obtained membership through the Lucky Day promotion came to the facility on one occasion, the day they signed up, and never returned. By the end of October of this year, less than 4 percent of those individuals who acquired memberships through the program were still members."
The deal involved $20 gift cards that were worthless outside the casino resort, but could be put toward a membership that gave customers access to the casino floor without first having to spend $10 elsewhere in the resort.

From January through July 15, Valley Forge gave away $1.6 million worth of gift cards to customers.

Those customers redeemed $960,500 worth of cards for dining memberships, according to the consent agreement between the board and Valley Forge.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/double-down/Parx-complaint-led-to-200000-Valley-Forge-Casino-fine.html#xBCr00y7RwxyeZMK.99

Valley Forge Fleecerino

At Valley Forge casino, a big jump in slot, table game revenue

MICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

The Valley Forge Casino (right) is attached to a Radisson Hotel and another that is called the Casino Tower, with a combined total of 485 rooms.

Suzette Parmley, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: Sunday, June 30, 2013, 1:09 AM

The Valley Forge Casino Resort - Pennsylvania's smallest gaming hall - had a problem: Would-be gamblers weren't making it to the slot machines and table games.

 "In the beginning, there was a lot of confusion over the $10 spend," said casino president and chief executive officer Mike Bowman. "Gamers just want to keep things simple." As one of two licensed Category 3 casino resorts in Pennsylvania, patrons at Valley Forge have to spend at least $10 at the property before being allowed to gamble. The spending can come at its seven restaurants, two bars, two hotels, and nightclub, or by attending a convention or banquet there. Or gamblers can hold a membership to gain entrance to the gaming floor. "About 65 percent of those we surveyed in the beginning said they were confused by the memberships and overall access to the casino," Bowman said.

So management changed marketing agencies, streamlined the packages, and in February introduced a "passport" card - a combined membership/player's card.

 It also stationed employees at the entrance to the casino, changed the signs, and clarified the rules on its website. The moves are paying off for the 15-month-old operation. Valley Forge's revenue from slot machines and table games in May increased nearly 43 percent to $8.7 million, compared with May 2012. It was the largest year-over-year increase among the state's 11 casinos. Valley Forge should be a model for the Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Fayette County, which debuts Monday. It is the state's 12th casino and the other Category 3 operation with a $10 spend requirement. Last week, Bowman gave a tour of Valley Forge. It has two hotels: a Radisson and one called the Casino Tower, with a total 485 rooms. The Sands in Bethlehem is the only other Pennsylvania casino that added a hotel. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs will open one later this year. Valley Forge's immediate competitors - SugarHouse, Harrah's Philadelphia, and Parx - don't have hotels. Sands president Bob DeSalvio said opening a 302-room hotel two summers ago helped increase total casino revenue and attract table-game customers. The Sands was ranked No. 1 in table-games revenue in May, and second behind Parx in slots revenue. "Having a hotel helps create synergies to capture overnight visitation," said analyst Andrew Zarnett, of Deutsche Bank AG. With Valley Forge, "they really have their own geography . . . and don't have to compete head-to-head with other casinos."  Valley Forge has 600 slots and 50 table games, the maximum allowed. It does not offer poker, just blackjack, craps, roulette, and minibaccarat, and has monthly blackjack tournaments. "For being the smaller guy, we're forced to compete harder," Bowman said. "We're much better off than we were last year, but we're still looking to increase volume and gaming revenues."      [TRANSLATION: We're still looking to suck more discretionary income from the local economy.] Weddings and social events are up 25 percent from a year ago. The casino has beefed up its hotel packages and expanded entertainment events to include Cage Fury MMA fighting, boxing cards at what used to be called the Valley Forge Convention Center, and live comedy. It has 1,000 employees. Zarnett, the casino analyst, said Valley Forge "appeals to a customer that's within a certain driving distance and is able to capture day-trippers, overnight customers, and even convention-goers." "It's close. They treat you the same whether you're a penny slot player or a $25 table-game player," said Marion McKeeman, 75, of East Norriton, as she gambled Thursday at a quarter slot machine. Bowman said the second full year of operation would concentrate on increasing revenue. "We were the guinea pig. We were the first of its type in the country [with the $10 minimum spend]," he said. "But the concept is beginning to catch on, and we're certainly optimistic."

---

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130630_At_Valley_Forge_casino__a_big_jump_in_slot__table_game_revenue.html#CG7tgBIfLoAlEbqm.99

The Sickness of Gambling Addiction

From: Bill Kearney posted in Mountain Park CasiNO

Massachusetts ‘Gaming’ Future The Associated Press, Nov 28, 2012 - Suspect in baby, grandma deaths had casino losses A young man mired in gambling debts told police he killed a 10-month-old girl and her grandmother during a botched kidnapping after losing at least $15,000 at a casino near his office. Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20121128_ap_suspectinbabygrandmadeathshadcasinolosses.html Bill Kearney 9:26pm Nov 28

Suspect in baby, grandma deaths had casino losses

Matt Rourke

Raghunandan Yandamuri is escorted to a Montgomery County district court for a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, in Bridgeport, Pa. Investigators said Yandamuri killed 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and her grandmother Satyavathi Venna in a botched ransom kidnapping. He is being held without bail on murder, kidnapping and other charges. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Gallery: Suspect in baby, grandma deaths had casino losses

MARYCLAIRE DALE , The Associated Press

Posted: Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 3:50 PM

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. - A young man mired in gambling debts told police he killed a 10-month-old girl and her grandmother during a botched kidnapping after losing at least $15,000 at a casino near his office.
 

Raghunandan Yandamuri, 26, knew the family from his apartment complex. Like him, the baby's parents were young technology professionals from India. He had gone to the wife's birthday party, met the visiting grandmother and , tellingly , used family nicknames in a ransom note demanding $50,000.

"They both are working, so I thought maybe they have some money," Yandamuri told police in a videotaped statement played at his preliminary hearing Wednesday, during which a suburban Philadelphia judge ordered him to stand trial on murder, kidnapping and other charges.

"My intention was not to kill anyone or not to harm anyone," he said. "I only tried to kidnap the baby."

Yandamuri told investigators he panicked after the grandmother, who had opened the apartment door to him on Oct. 22, was killed in a struggle over a kitchen knife he had brought.

He accidentally dropped the baby, put a handkerchief over her mouth to quiet her and tied a towel around her head, he told police. He then left the infant , with her dark hair, huge dark eyes and white dress , in a trash-strewn, unused sauna in a basement fitness center, he said.

He said he returned hours later with milk for her, but found her "unconscious."

Yandamuri was arrested days later as police, given the nicknames in the ransom note, zeroed in on people who knew the couple.

Venkata Venna, and his wife, Chenchu Latha Punuruss, did not know of anyone with a grudge against them. They are both software engineers who came to the U.S. in 2007.

They had left for work about 8 a.m. that Monday, leaving their only child with Venna's mother, 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, who was visiting from India. Venna raced home at 12:30 p.m. when his mother didn't answer the phone. He found her in a pool of blood, and discovered his daughter was missing.

Yandamuri worked in information technology for GSI Commerce Inc., a unit of eBay Inc. that builds e-commerce sites for other businesses. Its office in King of Prussia, Pa., is less than a mile from the Valley Forge Casino Resort.

When asked by police if he had a gambling problem, he replied "a bit."

"Last week I lost $15,000 to $20,000, but last month I won $20,000," he said on the videotape.

He said he had cleared most of his debts through a March bankruptcy filing in California.

Those records show that Yandamuri had amassed $26,000 in credit card debts since 2008, most of it on six accounts he opened in 2011. He was making $6,500 a month at the time, and netting $4,500 after taxes and deductions, he said. He reported sending $600 a month to his parents in India.

Yandamuri moved to the Philadelphia area from San Jose in May, about the same time his wife was expected to come to the U.S., the bankruptcy filings show. She has since returned to India, defense lawyer Stephen Heckman said Wednesday.

Yandamuri told police that he drafted the ransom note on his computer at work and left 10 copies at the apartment. After the slayings, he showered and returned to work, he said. Later that week, he made and distributed fliers to help in the search for the missing baby.

The victims' relatives moaned as they watched him re-enact the crime with a detective during the taped interview. Venkata Venna was among them, but his wife chose to wait in a nearby room.

Heckman tried to have the first-degree murder charges dismissed, arguing that his client lacked the intent to kill required for a conviction. However, a district judge said there was enough evidence to send the first-degree murder, felony murder and the other counts to trial.

Heckman hopes to help his client avoid the death penalty, which is under consideration by prosecutors.

"I'll have to talk to my client and see what he wants to do," Heckman said. "He was very sorry for what happened."

Kevin Steele, first assistant district attorney of Montgomery County, called the murders "vicious."

"This is one of those cases that haunts you," Steele said.


Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation_world/20121128_ap_suspectinbabygrandmadeathshadcasinolosses.html#ixzz2DcHotL6A
Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else

Did gambling woes spark two King of Prussia killings?

Posted: Wed, Oct. 31, 2012

Monica Yant Kinney: Did gambling woes spark two King of Prussia killings?

Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist

Rashivar Karnati didn't know. He shared an apartment in San Jose, Calif., with Raghunandan Yandamuri in 2011, but could recall only one time his roommate visited a casino in Reno.

Chendu Tummala had met Yandamuri years earlier in undergraduate school in India. Long after both men moved to the United States, they still hewed to Indian traditions and would never have discussed Yandamuri's gambling problem.

"Asking financial information is not a good thing," Tummala told me. "We didn't even know he had filed for bankruptcy."

Now, Yandamuri's financial woes are being cited as motive for a kidnapping and double homicide that may go down as among the most depraved gambling-related crimes of modern times.

The 26-year-old software engineer is charged with stabbing 61-year-old Satyavathi Venna, and then gagging her 10-month-old granddaughter, Saanvi, and stuffing her into a suitcase that he dumped in a sauna while he awaited a $50,000 ransom payment.

The infant's parents and Yandamuri were neighbors at the Marquis, a King of Prussia apartment complex populated by highly skilled foreign professionals on H-1B visas. In unit C603, Saanvi's parents doted on their new daughter, while in B610, Yandamuri worried about the pending birth of his first child.

After printing missing-child posters himself and attending a vigil for Saanvi, Yandamuri confessed to investigators, he wrote the ransom note threatening to cut the child "into pieces" if he didn't get $50,000 - the exact amount he lost gambling last year.

During that interview, the unlikely killer audaciously asked Montgomery County detectives to say his wife had turned him in. That way, Yandamuri figured, perhaps she could collect the $30,000 reward.

Where gambling is taboo

Up to 20 percent of gaming in Atlantic City has come from Asian players, especially the Chinese. But the Asian Indian community, I'm told, does not share a fondness or tolerance for wagering.

"Gambling is a taboo in India," explained Mallik Budhavarapu, whose Telugu Association of Greater Delaware Valley brings Indian expats together. "We don't have casinos. We don't play poker or slot machines."

Indians fear shaming their families, Budhavarapu said, with fathers warning sons not to sully social standing.

"If anyone would see me drinking alcohol, he would talk badly about my parents," he explained. "If someone gambled, he would be looked down upon. And if someone lost money gambling, he would probably just keep it to himself."

What is oddly common in the last decade in India, Budhavarapu shared, is the kidnapping of children for ransom.

"It happens, but usually from very rich or politically powerful families," he told me. "They don't kidnap neighbors from down the block."

Cruel calculations

Given the expectations, Yandamuri's March bankruptcy filing represented an epic failure. In that 38-page document, he reported a $75,824 income but had no IRA, no car or house, few belongings, and only $175 in savings. The young professional said he spent $1,500 a month in rent and $600 supporting family in India.

He owed $26,268 on nine credit cards, but did not elaborate on the $50,000 gambling loss. Compulsive gamblers often use cash advances to fuel their habit, but it's unclear whether Yandamuri did; his California attorney declined to comment.

The bankruptcy was discharged in July, seemingly freeing Yandamuri from a self-made mess two months after he and his wife had relocated to King of Prussia. Whether he gambled afterward - the Valley Forge Casino beckons toward the Marquis from three miles away - is unknown.

Money clearly remained on the young man's brain. A week before the killings, Yandamuri asked Tummala for $1,000 to fly in his in-laws after his wife gave birth.

Days later, Yandamuri typed the frenetic ransom note targeting Saanvi, a bubbly baby often wearing her own jewelry.

"It's up to you to decide," he threatened, "your 1 yr old daughter or 5 months of your income."

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20121031_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Did_gambling_woes_spark_two_King_of_Prussia_killings_.html

Opposition in Phildelphia

Posted: Sat, Oct. 13, 2012

Poll finds opposition to a 2d casino in Philadelphia

By Suzette Parmley

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

 

Click here to see a larger

 

With the deadline to apply for a license to operate Philadelphia's second casino just a month away, results of the latest Inquirer Pennsylvania Poll show that 45 percent of likely voters in the city and the four surrounding Pennsylvania counties oppose building another gaming hall, vs. 33 percent who support doing so.

Forty-seven percent of respondents from the Philadelphia area said they agreed with opponents' contention that a second casino would bring crime and traffic while changing the dynamics of the neighborhood in which it is built for the worse, according to the poll, conducted Oct. 4-8 by a bipartisan team that interviewed 600 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Just 39 percent of local respondents said they supported a second city casino because it would mean new jobs and much-needed revenue.

Prospects for a second casino dimmed in late 2010, when the state Gaming Control Board stripped investors behind a proposed Foxwoods Casino in South Philadelphia of their license after years of delays in getting it built. But efforts in Harrisburg to put the license out to bid statewide failed, and in July the gaming board ruled it would remain here.

The city's only casino to date, SugarHouse, opened in September 2010 on the Delaware River waterfront.

"I support no casinos, but since we have one, we might as well have competition," David Walker, 44, of East Falls, an IT specialist for the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District in Chester County, told pollsters. "I don't think one company should have a monopoly on the market."

That second casino is unlikely to open until 2014 at the earliest, after the vetting and application process is completed by the gaming board. Spokesman Doug Harbach said the board could not disclose applicants until after the Nov. 15 deadline.

But at least one is known: Developer Bart Blatstein announced in early April that he wants to convert the former Inquirer/Daily News building on North Broad Street into a $500 million casino-hotel complex.

Paul Boni, a Philadelphia lawyer and board member of the national group Stop Predatory Gambling, which vigorously fought the opening of casinos in the city, said the poll responses were not surprising.

'Preying'

"With casinos now so pervasive, Pennsylvanians are experiencing firsthand the damage of this government program: state-sponsored gambling houses preying on human weaknesses," Boni said. "People realize these aren't the entertainment and tourist destinations the politicians described."

Statewide, however, a majority of those polled, 52 percent, said Pennsylvania was better off with casinos than without them, and most said they were more concerned with the jobs and revenue that casinos bring than with negative social consequences such as hurting families and increasing gambling addiction.

The state's 11 casinos - Valley Forge Casino Resort was the latest to open in March - employ 16,400 and generated more than $3 billion in gross gambling revenue last year, according to the Gaming Control Board.

Gross slots revenue is taxed at 55 percent and table games revenue at 14 percent, with proceeds going primarily toward property-tax relief, as well as the state's horse-racing industry [taxpayer subsidies for the racing industry], economic-development projects, and the host municipalities.

(The Pennsylvania poll responses almost mirror those across the Delaware: The latest Inquirer New Jersey Poll, in which 604 likely voters were interviewed Oct. 4-8, found that 64 percent said the Garden State - where Atlantic City has had exclusive rights to casino gambling since 1976 - was better off with casinos than without them.)

Job gains

At a hotel ribbon-cutting in Center City on Thursday, Mayor Nutter said: "We've been studying the reports that show a second casino will generate significant construction jobs and permanent ones once the casino actually opens."

But some gaming analysts question whether the Philadelphia market - which already is home to Parx in Bensalem and Harrah's Philadelphia in Chester in addition to SugarHouse and Valley Forge - can absorb another casino.

The demand, they say, is not there.

"It's hard to imagine that a second Philadelphia casino will grow the market substantially," said John Kempf, of RBC Capital Markets L.L.C. "Already, we are seeing growth at the existing casinos decelerate, with some, like Chester, losing some share. Right now, I don't think the market is ready for new supply."

Statewide, 45 percent of those polled said they were more concerned that passing up new casinos would cost the state much-needed revenue and jobs, vs. 41 percent who were more concerned that additional casinos would hurt families and increase gambling addiction.

"This isn't simply a matter of not in my backyard," Boni said. "Pennsylvanians are saying they've had enough of casinos, anywhere. When Mayor Nutter sings the praises of a second casino here in Philadelphia, who exactly is he representing?"

City officials said it's all about the jobs - more than 1,000 new ones once a second gambling hall opens.

Said Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for economic development: "The majority of those jobs will be filled by a diverse cross-section of Philadelphians."

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/poll/20121012_Poll_finds_opposition_to_a_2d_casino_in_Philadelphia.html

PA: Declining Revenues

From Bill Kearney:

Erie Times - September 21, 2012 - Erie casino's table games revenue drops 27.6 percent

Gross revenue on table games at Presque Isle Downs & Casino dropped by 27.6 percent in August as the Erie casino continues to face competition from the new Cleveland casino.

The revenue for the month was $1.3 million, down from nearly $1.8 million in August 2011, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported.

Statewide, the revenue was $59.86 million, or 11.1 percent higher than the $53.87 million from August 2011, the board said.

However, the total dollar amount includes $2.1 million in revenue from Valley Forge Casino Resort, which just opened in late March.

The percentage increase was 7.28 percent without Valley Forge, said Richard McGarvey, a spokesman for the gaming board.

Six of 10 Pennsylvania casinos that were open in August 2011 showed revenue declines in August, but the percentage loss was greatest at Presque Isle Downs.

Mike Tamburelli, Presque Isle Downs general manager, said much of the revenue decline could be attributed to competition from Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, which opened May 14.

Read more: http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012309209871

 

 

Slots are for suckers

Posted: Sun, May. 6, 2012, 3:00 AM

Another Philadelphia casino? It’s a game for suckers

Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist


The Valley Forge Casino Resort is neither in Valley Forge Park nor, at a glance, a resort. It is, however, impressively busy on a Thursday at 3 p.m. Especially the $15 blackjack tables.
I know this because, unlike politicians who tout gaming spoils as a public panacea, I actually hang around casinos observing the side effects of this so-called miracle drug.

I would never expect elected officials to wager, since so many of them say (publicly or privately) that slots are for suckers. But here they are again in Harrisburg weighing whether to plunk another slots parlor in Philadelphia when anyone who spends any time in the existing casinos could tell them to look elsewhere.

Subtracting Valley Forge’s out-of-town conventioneers, all four local casinos compete for the same low-rollers.

BCC — Before Convenience Casinos — these folks spun the wheel once a month in Atlantic City. Now, they’re stunning local operators by frequenting hometown haunts three to five days a week.
With rare exceptions, if you’re not already taking your chances at Parx, SugarHouse, Harrah’s Chester, or Valley Forge, you probably don’t gamble anywhere. New players won’t materialize overnight just because another neon palace pops up a tad closer than the last one.

Get in the game

Back when he was omnipotent, before he was a federal inmate, then-Sen. Vince Fumo crafted a state law that aimed to place two casinos in Philadelphia and three surrounding the city. Fumo then divvied up the state like a pizza, ensuring that every corner of the commonwealth could enjoy the thrill of learning Texas Hold Em or playing the Sex and the City slots.

Since 2006, 11 Pennsylvania casinos have generated $6 billion in taxes and license fees. Proponents rightly call creating something from nothing a success, though I have yet to meet any regular gambler who can prove she’s won more than she’s lost. And I’m dying to know whether folks who play nearly every day have saved as much in property-tax relief as they spent on the slots.

Parx and SugarHouse benefitted mightily from the failure of Foxwoods. Harrah’s Chester has loyal fans despite being located next to a prison, but is nonetheless seeking a redo: Next week, the expanded casino will be relaunched as “Harrah’s Philadelphia” with a concert featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Valley Forge opened in late March. Patrons are urged to buy an exclusive-sounding membership, but I crashed the party just by ordering enough pad thai at the food court to get a one-day access card.

If I had to guess the loudest opposition to a second Philadelphia casino, it would be the people who run SugarHouse and its neighbors. These folks already fought each other in a corporate Hunger Games for the customers they have. More competition will mean less money for everyone.

When more isn’t better

Departing State Rep. Curt Schroder (R., Chester) sponsored the legislation that would put the Foxwoods license up for statewide auction — a market-driven bidding war that could begin at $65 million and end with a casino being built in the city or far, far away.

The bill passed the State House over the outcry of Philadelphia Democrats such as Rosita Youngblood, who would rather talk about casinos creating “family-sustaining jobs” than whether giving struggling city residents even more places to risk the rent is ultimately good for families.

In 2010, a Parx executive stunned listeners at an industry conference by saying that most of the casino’s regulars visit up to 200 times a year.


“We have customers,” Dave Jonas boasted, “who give us $25, $30 five times a week.”


A year later, SugarHouse’s Wendy Hamilton told the same gathering that “a large percentage” of her players come “three, four, five times a week.” Not to be outdone, Ron Baumann said a “segment” of Harrah’s Chester players gamble nearly six times a week.


If Philly-focused pols know those statistics, they remain unfazed about where all that money is going, how it might otherwise have been spent. Even Mayor Nutter, who as a candidate said he did not support gambling as an economic-development tool or to fund ongoing government programs, has vowed to fight yanking the Foxwoods license. To hear some of these officials speak, you’d think a second Philadelphia casino is an inalienable right.

Lost in the tug-of-war over roulette? The fine print of Act 71, the casino law that uses may and shall more often than must.

Nothing in the law requires the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to issue that final license — here, there, or anywhere.

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120506_Another_Philadelphia_casino__It_rsquo_s_a_game_for_suckers.html

Foxwoods' appeal rejected

After Foxwoods' appeal rejected, 2d Philadelphia gaming license now in Assembly's hands
By Suzette Parmley
Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Sun, Apr. 1, 2012

Now that the state Supreme Court has shot down Foxwoods' final appeal of the revocation of its casino license, the chairman of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board says it is up to the legislature to put that license for a second Philadelphia casino out to bid statewide.

"As far as rebidding out, the General Assembly has some interest to expand the appropriate area to other parts of the state," William H. Ryan Jr. said Saturday. "It will be up to the General Assembly on how to proceed on this. We will give it as much time as it needs."

Ryan made the remarks after presenting Ira Lubert, chairman of the Valley Forge Casino Resort, a framed gaming license to commemorate that casino's opening in Upper Merion.

Late Friday, the high court upheld the gaming board's December 2010 decision to revoke Foxwoods' $50 million license after repeated delays in building the South Philadelphia gambling hall. In November, a Commonwealth Court panel came to the same conclusion.

Though a measure has been introduced in Harrisburg to put the revoked license out to bid, lawmakers said they were waiting for the court challenges to be decided before moving forward.

The investor group behind Foxwoods, Philadelphia Entertainment & Development Partners L.P., includes three high-profile friends of former Gov. Ed Rendell: businessman Lewis Katz, Center City developer Ron Rubin, and Comcast-Spectacor chairman Edward M. Snider. (Katz is part of a local investor group expected to buy Philadelphia Media Network Inc., parent of The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com.)

"I think it's over," Ryan said when asked whether Foxwoods had exhausted its appeals.

Desecrating Historic Sites

Proposed bill would block casinos near historic sites
By Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARRISBURG -- The odds are against a state-licensed slots casino being built near the Gettysburg National Military Park, but state Rep. Paul Clymer, Civil War historians and other casino opponents aren't taking any chances.

Mr. Clymer, R-Bucks, has introduced a bill that would forbid any future casinos from being built within a 10-mile "buffer zone" around the famous Civil War battlefield -- or within such a buffer zone around a new federally sanctioned memorial park in Somerset County that honors the passengers on Flight 93 who fought for control of their hijacked plane on Sept. 11, 2001. Flight 93, which the hijackers were flying toward a target in Washington, D.C., crashed near Shanksville. "We must prevent a casino from being built within 10 miles of these very important historical places," Mr. Clymer told a House committee last week during a hearing on his House Bill 2082.

"Gettysburg was the turning point of the Civil War," he said. "It lasted for three intense days, from July 1-3, 1863, and after it ended, the Confederate army was in retreat back to the South. The courage and bravery of those men, on both sides, is a legacy that should not be compromised by putting a gambling casino near the military park, or near the site of the Flight 93 memorial."

At the hearing was a group from No Casino Gettysburg, which helped defeat a developer's attempts to build a casino north of the battlefield in 2006 and then another plan for a casino south of the battlefield in 2010.

Casino developers, backed by many Adams County residents and business owners, had hoped to get state approval in 2010 for a Category 3, or resort hotel casino, inside an existing hotel/conference center five miles south of the center of the town of Gettysburg. But the state Gaming Control Board gave the license to Nemacolin Woodlands resort in Fayette County. It hasn't opened yet because Gettysburg casino proponents are challenging the license decision in court.

The first resort casino license was awarded to the Valley Forge Convention Center, just about a mile from the famous Valley Forge area west of Philadelphia, where George Washington encamped during the Revolutionary War. But that park hasn't been designated as a historic site by Congress, as the Gettysburg battlefield and the Flight 93 sites have been.

The Valley Forge casino license also was challenged in court but that case was thrown out, and the casino is due to open in June. A third resort casino license will be awarded in 2017.

Favoring the buffer-zone bill last week were Paul Bucha, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient speaking for the National Civil War Trust, and Mindy Crawford, executive director of Preservation Pennsylvania.

"As a combat veteran, Gettysburg matters a great deal to me," Mr. Bucha said. "All around Gettysburg is, I think, perhaps the most hallowed ground in the U.S. Visiting Gettysburg is like walking into a huge cathedral consecrated with the blood of our ancestors. ... It's not a place for games or a place for someone to try to make a buck."

Ms. Crawford said her group got "an overwhelmingly large outpouring of calls, emails and letters asking us to help keep a casino license from being awarded" near the two locations.

The three Adams County commissioners also have problems with the bill, which they said would "have a significant potential to adversely impact the county economy." They called the 10-mile buffer zone "irrational," adding it would stretch "well beyond the Mason-Dixon line, into Maryland."

The committee hasn't said when it will vote on whether to send the bill to the full House for action.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12044/1209853-454-0.stm?cmpid=localstate.xml#ixzz1mnJJZ5CH

Preparing for crime before opening....

The Slot Barn that will desecrate Valley Forge has yet to open, yet preparations are underway to prevent the CRIME that will accompany the facility.

Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman says they are well aware of what’s happened in other jurisdictions where casinos have opened.... [that Massachusetts' lawmakers ignored]

...learn from the mistakes of others when it comes to organized crime...[that Massachusetts' lawmakers ignored]

The majority of the funding through the grant will be used for investigative personnel who will focus their efforts on the best ways to combat illegal gambling activity. Ferman says that type of activity many times leads to other crimes.



Montgomery County, Pa. Collects Grant To Fight Crime at New Casino
By Brad Segall

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (CBS) — With a new casino set to open in Montgomery County, Pa. this spring, law enforcement officials are looking at ways to keep alleged mob figures away from the gambling establishment.

Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman says they are well aware of what’s happened in other jurisdictions where casinos have opened, and they want to make sure the Valley Forge Casino Resort is a place where people can go to have fun and enjoy themselves.

Accepting a $150,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Ferman says they plan to learn from the mistakes of others when it comes to organized crime.

“We will be working not just with the gaming control board (and) with the state police, but with the local police and directly with the casino itself to ensure that criminal elements do not get a foothold,” she said.

The majority of the funding through the grant will be used for investigative personnel who will focus their efforts on the best ways to combat illegal gambling activity. Ferman says that type of activity many times leads to other crimes.

Valley Forge Casino presses to add table games

Valley Forge Casino presses to add table games
By Suzette Parmley, Inquirer Staff Writer

The $132.5 million Valley Forge Casino Resort is on target to open this spring, president and chief executive officer Sal Scheri told members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Wednesday.

"Construction is progressing on schedule, and we're excited to see the casino start to take shape," Scheri said.

The assurance was part of his team's petition to the gaming board for a license to install table games at the new facility - which the hearing in King of Prussia centered on.

Under the state's gambling law, the Montgomery County casino will be allowed up to 600 slot machines. It is petitioning to have 50 table games, with the option to add up to 15 more tables for monthly poker tournaments.

While it secured its license to operate slot machines nearly three years ago, the casino must file a petition, and get approval, from the board to add table games, such as poker and craps, as did the 10 other casinos that have opened in Pennsylvania.

The board is expected to vote on the issue at its February or March meeting.

If it is approved, Valley Forge Convention Center Partners L.P. - the investor group behind the project - must then pay the $7.5 million table-games license fee.

"This is the next step," said board chairman William Ryan. "All the heavy lifting is done. We came to listen to . . . all the information pertinent for the board to decide whether to grant authorization to certify table games."

At least three individuals testified that the gaming board should reject Valley Forge's petition. Among them was James Schneller, cofounder of the community group Eastern Pennsylvania Citizens Against Gambling. He cautioned the board "to slow down" and review what casinos have brought to the state, including any negative social impacts such as addiction and personal bankruptcy.

"The Philadelphia area is now oversaturated with casinos, so that any additions of games will . . . cause more detriment and needless suffering," he said. "What we're saying is that the fast-paced, momentum-driven implementation of gambling should be done at a more moderate pace."

After the hearing, Ryan said market saturation was something the board was studying.

Last month, the state's 10 casinos generated $199.1 million in slot revenue, up nearly 14 percent from December 2010. All three Philadelphia-area casinos reported revenue increases.

The folly of 'resorts'

Inquirer Editorial: Gambling on every corner

A state Supreme Court ruling Tuesday means that slot machines and table games could be up and running soon at the Valley Forge Convention Center. Another local gambling hall should support the compelling theory that the region's casino market might already be maxed out.

That's potentially good news for Philadelphia, if it convinces state policymakers to steer clear of saddling the city with a second casino to replace the failed Foxwoods project on the Delaware River.

One casino for the city is one too many, given the social costs of gambling. But the lower revenues on all-important slots at the SugarHouse Casino is an indication that patrons are a bit tapped out - what with Parx in Bensalem and Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack in Delaware County, and another betting parlor just an hour away in Bethlehem.

The Valley Forge legal case itself was hard-fought, with a would-be competitor - the owner of top-grossing Parx - challenging whether the center met the definition of a resort under the state's 2004 gaming law. A slim, 3-2 majority on the high court ruled that it did, but not without two justices feeling the urge to pen dissents.

Of the two dissents, Justice J. Michael Eakin's is noteworthy if only for the unique, er, legal test that Eakin would apply in concluding that the center is hardly a resort.

He suggests that state Gaming Control Board members say to their significant others, " 'Honey, I'm taking you for a romantic weekend at a well-established resort hotel.' " Upon arriving at the center, Eakin suggests that they "see what your loved one says."

Eakin says he is convinced the center, "enclosed by the turnpike and major arteries, surrounded by apartment complexes, office parks, and sprawling shopping malls" in an area "overrun with traffic," won't measure up to resort standards.

So, maybe the justice will never be comped at the new King of Prussia "resort" casino. But three of his court colleagues, led by Justice Seamus P. McCaffery, ruled that the array of amenities at the center - including "fantasy-themed suites," Jacuzzi-style bathrooms, pool, saunas, and the like - meets the gaming law's standards.

Local gamblers will have the last word, of course. For stretched household budgets, though, it cannot be good news that another gambling hall - even a modestly sized one - will be within easy reach of so many communities. More convenience for local gamblers just equals more places to lose money.