Creating NEW Gamblers!

Steven Stradbrooke

85% of Boyd’s New Jersey online gambling customers not Borgata customers

March 6, 2014

 

Casino operator Boyd Gaming is singing the praises of its market-leading online gambling operations in New Jersey. On a conference call with analysts following the release of Boyd’s Q4 and FY 2013 results, CEO Keith Smith continued to rubbish the notion that online gambling cannibalizes brick-and-mortar casino revenue.

Boyd and MGM Resorts share ownership of Atlantic City’s market-leading Borgata casino, and Smith notes that 85% of its New Jersey online gambling customers to date “have not been active Borgata customers.” Boyd called this “clear evidence” that online gambling is “complementary not competitive” with Boyd’s land-based operations.

 

Smith acknowledged that Boyd’s online gambling operation – a joint venture with MGM and Bwin.party digital entertainment – didn’t make a “meaningful contribution” to Boyd’s Q4 numbers, but Smith was content knowing the Borgata/PartyPoker platform controlled 43% of New Jersey’s online market (30% via the Borgata alone). Smith expects things to further improve now that the company has tightened up the geolocation problems that hindered the market’s early days. The platform also launched its first 3G and 4G mobile product for Android devices in February and the iOS version is due in the “near future.”

 

As for its overall performance, Boyd revenue grew 9.1% to $681.5m, thanks mainly to the late 2012 addition of Peninsula Gaming’s operations. Earnings rose 30.4% to $131.5m but costs resulted in a net loss of $47.3m for the quarter, which sounds terrible until you realize the company lost $899.9m in Q4 2012. For the full year, Boyd revenues rose 16.6% to $2.89b while recording a net loss of $80.3m. The company closed out 2013 with total debt of $4.43b. Investors have pushed the stock down nearly 4% in after-hours trading, but that’s far better than the 18.6% drop the stock took when Boyd published its Q3 figures.

 

The Borgata’s Q4 revenue was up $9.5m — $2.2m of which came via its online operations – to $157.1m. Boyd’s Las Vegas locals market revenue was flat at $148.6m while the downtown Las Vegas segment saw revenue rise 3.7% to $59.8m. The midwest and south segment fell 8% to $196m and the Peninsula segment returned $119.9m.

 

Looking further afield, Smith described Japan as “another interesting possibility” for expansion. Smith says Boyd is no longer content to confine itself to US shores and has begun “examining the landscape” and making local connections to gain a sense whether Japan would be “a good fit” for the company’s growth strategy. Really, all Smith needs to do is ask himself one question – are you prepared to spend $10b – but Smith says the slow pace of legislation means that “we’re probably pretty far away from worrying about how to finance it.”

 

 

http://calvinayre.com/2014/03/06/casino/boyd-gaming-new-jersey-online-gambling-not-cannibalizing-borgata/

No More Casinos Coalition

No More Casinos Coalition

Henrietta Town Board to oppose proposed casino

Tom Tobin, Staff writer 6:52 p.m. EST March 7, 2014

 

Henrietta Supervisor Jack Moore Friday declared his opposition to a proposed Seneca Indian casino in the town, along with three other Town Board members.

 

Moore said he will introduce a resolution at the March 19 Town Board meeting expressing opposition to the "establishment of a gaming casino in the town of Henrietta and urging those state and federal officials who have decision-making authority to deny permission for casino gaming in the town of Henrietta."

 

Philip Pantano, a spokesman for the Seneca Gaming Corp., said the company was surprised and disappointed by the announcement. But he gave no indication how the statement would affect the corporation's plans for the 32 acres of land on Clay Road it bought for $2.75 million.

 

Monday: Senecas buy 32 acres in Henrietta for possible casino

Wednesday: Casino critics overwhelm Henrietta Town Board meeting

Tobin: Senecas' land purchase raises eyebrows

 

"We were not afforded the opportunity to present a full discussion on our vision, which included millions of dollars in private investment, 2,000 good-paying jobs and countless partnership opportunities for local companies," Pantano said in a statement issued Friday evening.

 

Town Board members reached Friday said that the residents they have spoken to are worried about the impact of a casino on the community's lifestyle and on adjoining roads and existing businesses.

 

Many people, they said, feel casino gambling leads too often to addiction.

 

Residents packed a Town Board meeting Wednesday to register their concerns. The No More Casinos Coalition issued a statement this week urging the board "to immediately take action to prevent a Seneca Nation casino in Henrietta."

 

The coalition, which has financial support from Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. and Finger Lakes Gaming and Race Track, said it has 1,728 names on a petition opposing the casino.

 

"I've never seen a delegation of community members so opposed to a proposal," Town Board member Rick Page said Friday. He said the board registered opposition when it had discussed the casino in the past.

 

"I can't speak for other board members, but I expect there will unanimous support for this resolution when it comes up," Page said.
 

Board member Kenneth Breese said he has talked to people in the community and gathered sentiments similar to those Page obtained.

"Among those I've spoken to, there are people who support it. But they are very few," Breese said.

Board member William Mulligan Jr. said he has received a mix of views about the casino — not all against — but that he supports Moore's resolution. "Our job as town board members is to reflect the community," Mulligan said. "And a majority of people here oppose this."

Board member Janet Zinck could not be reached for comment.

The board members said they didn't know how the Senecas would react to the resolution.
"They bought the land," Breese said. "They took a gamble, so to speak."

In his statement, Pantano said the corporation's process for siting a casino "was based on gathering community input to develop a plan that would best complement the surrounding community. We were working toward that end, but apparently will not have that chance in Henrietta."

Despite the town's response, "... ours is a vision for economic growth and job creation, and it is a vision that still fits within Monroe County," the statement said.
TTOBIN@DemocratandChronicle.com


http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2014/03/07/henrietta-town-board-opposes-casino-proposal/6180081/

 

 

How gambling machines – and the digital world – put us in “the machine zone”

Ian Leslie

News about ideas, ideas about news

 

Addiction as art: How gambling machines – and the digital world – put us in “the machine zone”

A quiet revolution has taken place in gambling, with electronic terminals finely-tuned into the perfect devices for parting you from your money. Rather than thrilling you, they lull you into a calm, machine-like state that gives the illusion of control.

 

Electronic terminals are taking over the casino floors in Las Vegas. Photo: Getty

The gambling machines are coming. A new report has revealed that last year British people lost £1.3bn on what the industry calls “fixed odds betting terminals”, while bookmakers made a £47,000 profit from each of their 34,000 machines. The machines, and the losses, are concentrated among the poor.

These terminals aren’t just one more way to lose money, the equivalent of betting on horses. They are like a newly emerged and highly evolved virus, which leeches money out of its host while simultaneously sedating it. To see what I mean, we need to take a trip to Nevada.

In recent years, Las Vegas has undergone a quiet revolution. Card tables and roulette wheels have been removed from casino floors to make way for row upon row of electronic terminals. The reason for this is simple: the machines are wildly profitable – and the fundamental reason for that is they are intensely compulsive. Addiction has been refined to an art.

The American anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll spent fifteen years in Vegas researching the spread of these machines. She talked to users, including those who classify themselves as addicts. She also talked to the businessmen, architects and programmers who make the machines so hard to resist. In her book, Addiction By Design, she blows away outdated assumptions about gambling, and raises some hard questions about technology – not just for gamblers, but for all of us.

Card and dice games retain a patina of glamour, but machine gambling has no cachet. We tend to think of the kind of people who spend a lot of money on it them as dupes, short on sophistication. But the addicts interviewed by Schüll are intelligent and self-aware, able to reflect with painful clarity on the trap in which they find themselves. One of them went so far as to learn how the machines are programmed, in the hope that this knowledge would nullify her fascination with them. It didn’t work.

We also tend to imagine that the casino represents an escape from the boredom of monotonous lives.

But Schüll’s subjects told her it was the other way round. Their lives are filled with uncertainty; irregular jobs and volatile relationships. Every day is a gamble. The machines, by contrast, soothe and becalm. Unpredictability is framed and contained, inside a pacifying ambience designed to blank out everyone and everything but the game.

In its traditional forms, gambling is a social activity. But machine gamblers, who often do jobs like waitressing, real estate or sales, feel burdened by the need to be hyper-sociable at work and seek out solitude at the end of their shift. A waitress told Schüll: “If you work with people every day, the last thing you want to do is talk to another person when you’re free. You want to take a vacation from other people.”

You might assume that gamblers keep pushing money into the slot because they are searching for the euphoric buzz of a big win. But the gamblers Schüll spoke to are remarkably uninterested in anything that might disrupt their immersion in the game. Schüll asked Mollie, a hotel clerk, if she was hoping to hit a big jackpot one day (Mollie had cashed in her life insurance policy for more money to pour into the machines). Mollie just laughed. “The thing people never understand is that I’m not playing to win,” she replied. So why does she play? “To keep playing – to stay in that machine zone where nothing matters.”

“The machine zone”, or simply, “the zone”, is the trancelike state users enter into in front of the terminal. In the zone, the rest of the world disappears. There are tales of gamblers suffering heart attacks, falling off their chairs and being rescued by emergency crews as the users around them remain oblivious. Machine gamblers play until they are physically, mentally and financially exhausted, and then they play some more. “The zone is like a magnet,” says one gambler. “It just pulls you in and holds you there.”

Other than addicts, nobody understands this state of mind better than the people who design the machines and the environments in which they are played. The most highly-paid talents in Las Vegas focus their efforts on keeping users in the zone for as long as possible, by creating an irresistible cognitive, emotional and sensory embrace.

The booths are designed so that users feel secluded from their neighbours and slip into the zone the moment they sit down. Ersatz “mechanical” sounds subliminally suggest the operations of physical chance. The games are bafflingly complex, though regular users are allowed to detect hints of familiar patterns among the apparent randomness. The lighting and the sounds are soft, even after wins, so as not to break the trance.

The payouts themselves are doled out according to algorithms minutely attuned the brain’s reward centres, creating just the right balance between frustration and reward, so that users never feel too disappointed nor too thrilled.

Deep in the zone, users can get the uncanny sense of being in control of the machine. One says, “Sometimes I feel this vibration between what I want and what happens.” Everything flows, including money from user into the machine, via her credit card.

Schüll’s book resonates far beyond the gambling industry. It has been remarked before that Las
Vegas represents consumer capitalism in a distilled and concentrated form. Its latest evolution mirrors that of our own society. We live in a world of frictionless electronic flows. Information and entertainment stream to us through our screens. Brands target their messages with increasing precision at each individual, and even to each passing mood.

Looked at one way, Vegas’s machines are a tribute to the creative capacity of capitalism, and its extraordinary ability to model and respond to our needs and desires. Schüll isn’t unsympathetic to the industry executives she interviews, but as she points out, in the final analysis the dice are loaded. The machines always win, their users unable to defend themselves from this sophisticated and beguiling assault on their self-control.

There is a cautionary lesson for the rest of us here. While most people are not in anything like the predicament of gambling addicts, we are all becoming dimly aware that even though we don’t get charged for email or social media or the web, it wouldn’t be true to say we don’t pay.

The digital world, in which we spend more and more of our time, has designs on us. We feel we’re in control. Now and again we may look up from our devices and ask what – or who – is being played. But then we find ourselves drawn back into the zone.

http://www.newstatesman.com/sci-tech/2014/03/addiction-art-how-gambling-machines-and-digital-world-put-us-machine-zone

....horse racing.... continues to struggle financially

Churchill Downs still pushing for casino gambling

Written by

Janet Patton

Lexington Herald-Leader

 

Churchill Downs executives say they remain “heavily engaged” in the pursuit of casino gambling in Kentucky.

In a conference call Thursday with stock analysts about the Louisville-based racetrack and casino company’s 2013 fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, Churchill Downs Inc. Chief Operating Officer Bill Carstanjen said that it’s “getting to crunch time of the session. We have some cause to be optimistic, but our issues are wrapped up in other issues that can affect us that are hard to predict.”

Representatives of Kentucky thoroughbred tracks and racing commission member Frank Jones met with state House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, D-Louisville, last week in a last-ditch effort to get his gambling bill moving through the General Assembly this year.

Churchill CEO and chairman Bob Evans said Thursday that the Kentucky Wins campaign that Evans co-chairs has more than 71,000 likes on Facebook and in the past two weeks has generated more than 6,000 emails and 1,700 phone calls to Kentucky state legislators in favor of expanded gambling.

Churchill leaders said they remain uninterested in instant racing as a potential substitute if slots are not legalized but continue to monitor the ongoing lawsuit.

The Kentucky Supreme Court has sent the lawsuit back to Franklin Circuit Court for discovery on whether the games are pari-mutuel.

“What we’ve said for our company is we want all the ambiguities resolved by the court before would seriously look at it,” Carstanjen said.

Churchill thinks the machines “may do OK in markets where there aren’t slot machines nearby, but in a competitive market like Louisville these aren’t likely to fare well,” Carstanjen said.

“It’s hard to imagine these machines are of real interest to us.”

Since the instant racing games began in September 2011, more than $573 million has been wagered, but the vast majority of it has come from one track near Tennessee, which has no casino gambling.

This month, Ellis Park in Henderson asked the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for permission to move 50 terminals that were not being “utilized to their potential” to Kentucky Downs in Franklin, where revenue from instant racing machines has been much greater.

Churchill said that horse racing, with a few exceptions, continues to struggle financially. Figures Churchill reported Wednesday show that in 2013, for the first time, their casinos generated more revenue than their tracks.

Churchill leaders said that the Louisville track is their only racing property that improved year over year; revenue rose 7 percent with a successful Kentucky Derby and Oaks week in May and a new September meet. The September dates were taken from Turfway Park by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

To capitalize on the Derby momentum, Churchill is adding an enormous video board and has added new seating areas that are already sold out. The video board, which will feature special programming as well as the actual races, has one sponsor; Evans said more are expected.

“Once people see how big it is and the impact on the live crowd, I think there will be a lot of interest going forward,” he said.

Evans said Churchill also has signed a new Derby and Oaks sponsorship deal that will be announced in coming weeks.

Churchill announced Wednesday a new 10-year broadcasting contract with NBC that will generate growing revenue in coming years. Evans did not disclose a a specific dollar figure for the deal.

“The market for sports media rights is extremely strong right now, and this reflects those market forces,” he said. ⬛

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20140302/NEWS/303020033/Churchill-Downs-still-pushing-casino-gambling?nclick_check=1

...the most effective business model in history....

Photo by Danita Delimont/Getty

Mark Johnston says it’s not his fault that he blew $500,000 gambling while he was blind drunk. It’s the latest foolhardy case against the houses that never seem to lose.

It is arguably the most effective business model in history: Serving customers free alcohol in an effort to remove them from reality. And nobody does it better than Vegas, baby…Vegas.

For those few of you who haven’t visited a casino, the process at, say, a blackjack table goes something like this: Sit down at a minimum wage table of your choosing ($2, $5, $15, $50, $100, whatever…) and throw hard cash on the table. The dealer quickly turns that cash into chips, which—like spending with a credit card—suddenly feels less real when making a transaction or in this case… losing a hand.

A waitress will then come by in less than 5 minutes asking for your drink order. Gambling itself is always a party—and there’s a good chance you’re enjoying something resembling a vacation—so it’s invariably an order of (insert liquor here) on ice or a tall frosty one to start. Doesn’t matter what time it is… there is no sunlight in most casinos, nor are there any clocks. And since cellphones need to be put away, the concept of time is completely thrown out the window.

So let’s add it all up: You’re playing with fake money (even through it’s very real), you’re drinking for free aside from tips (which are also invariably paid in fake money), and you have no idea if it’s 5 p.m. or 5 a.m. Talk about escaping reality…

How much is too much? Some folks can hide being hammered better than others.

Like an all-inclusive island resort, it’s easy to get over-served in these situations. Dealers aren’t bartenders, and waitresses—if you play long enough—change shifts. In other words, NO ONE is looking out for your best interests. Get loaded? Lose next month’s rent or mortgage? In the words of Henry Hill in Goodfellas: “F**k you. PAY ME!”

Which brings us to the story of Mark Johnston: He’s a 52-year-old one-percenter who lost on Super Bowl weekend in a more brutal and decisive fashion than anyone wearing orange at the actual Super Bowl.

Here’s the short version of Johnston’s unmemorable weekend: Decided to fly to Vegas on Jan. 30. Had “two to four drinks” at a Burbank (Calif.) airport. One drink on the 45-minute flight to Vegas. One drink waiting (fixed by his limo driver upon landing). Another drink while riding to the hotel, and then “several more” at dinner right after checking into his hotel…

That’s 10-12 cocktails before the check for dinner even arrived. After that—not so unpredictably—Johnston entered blackout mode, which is that scary place where the body and mind keep (somewhat) functioning but all memory ceases to exist.

And that’s apparently when the real fun started: Johnston began a 17-hour gambling and drinking bender that ended in $500,000 in losses. During this time, the AA and GA Candidate of the Year knocked down 20… yup… 20 additional drinks, bringing the total to at least 30 since first arriving in Burbank. The half-million in losses mostly came from credits (aka “markers”) provided by the casino.

So since everyone sues over just about anything these days, Johnston is taking the casino (The Downtown Grand) to court. While he was taking this financial beating, his lawsuit claims he was so inebriated he couldn’t read his cards nor hold his chips. Nevada law prohibits permitting visibly drunk patrons to gamble, as well as serving them the aforementioned free drinks if the patron appears to already be bombed. The question is… how much is too much? Some folks can hide being hammered better than others.

There is precedent for these types of lawsuits, with mixed results for the plaintiffs. For example, 25 years ago, a New Jersey federal court decided that a man who claimed to have lost $250,000 after overindulging was justified in suing an Atlantic City casino that served him while providing markers during wagering. The ruling stated: “While under the influence of drugs or alcohol, one suffers a deficit, to varying degrees, of cognitive faculties such as the power to reason sensibly, to appreciate the danger of activities engaged in, and/or to exercise sound judgment.”
Good news for the gambler, right?
Well, almost.

Even with the favorable procedural ruling, a jury concluded that said gambler (Shmuel Aboud) had not demonstrated he was sufficiently drunk not to know better.

Other drunken gamblers have fared better by settling out of court, including one guy in 2000 who lost $1 million and settled for an amount not disclosed.

But the most infamous story is one Philadelphia Eagles fans know all too well. In 1993, the team’s now-late owner—Leonard Tose—was unsuccessful in swaying a jury in a civil suit against Hollywood Casino Corp. (which owned The Sands) that the betting parlor had caused him to become so intoxicated, he had no clue what he was doing when he pissed away millions in AC. Consequently, he was forced to pay the casino $1.2 million in gambling debt. (He died broke in 2003.)

As for Mark Johnston, here’s what he recently told CNN: “I am not a sore loser. I’ve lost half a million. I’ve lost $800,000. I’ve lost a lot of money. This has nothing to do with that. Obviously I can afford what I lost.”

Maybe it’s time for him to pick up a new hobby. Clearly his gambling strategy isn’t working out for him. While he’s at it, take some responsibility for his actions…

Doubling down on visits to Gamblers Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous would be a good start.
Johnston is just another victim of the most effective business model in history: Fake money, free alcohol, no clocks, no concept of reality.

And apparently, no accountability.



http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/07/a-boozer-a-casino-and-the-inevitable-lawsuit.html#url=/articles/2014/03/07/a-boozer-a-casino-and-the-inevitable-lawsuit.html

 

Tribe gives $250,000 to attorney general candidate

KIM CHANDLE, Associated Press

By KIM CHANDLER, Associated Press

Updated 11:21 am, Friday, March 7, 2014

 

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Poarch Band of Creek Indians gave heavily to the Democratic challenger for attorney general who opposes incumbent Luther Strange's efforts to close the tribe's casinos.

 

Montgomery Rep. Joe Hubbard, D-Montgomery, filed campaign finance reports this week showing he received $250,000 from political action committees fueled by the Poarch Creeks.

 

Hubbard received a total of $250,000 from three PACs operated by lobbyist John Teague. The PACs received almost all of their money from the Poarch Creeks. The money represents the bulk of the $326,827 that Hubbard raised in the first month of his campaign for attorney general.

 

The Poarch Band operates electronic bingo casinos in Montgomery, Wetumpka and Atmore.

 

Strange has encouraged the National Indian Gaming Commission to take action against the Poarch Creek's three casinos, arguing the tribe's electronic bingo machines are more like slot machines and should not be allowed without state permission. He filed a lawsuit in 2013 seeking to shut down the three casinos, accusing the tribe of "operating, advancing, and profiting from unlawful gambling activity."

 

Hubbard on Friday said Strange was wasting state resources. He said the Poarch Band is a federally recognized tribe and not under Alabama jurisdiction.

 

"Luther Strange has no more business going in there and telling them how to run their business than he does going down to Mexico City and telling Mexicans how to run their domino games. Trying to run those little old ladies out of those bingo parlors is a waste of precious resources that we can't afford to waste," Hubbard said.

 

An email requesting comment from Strange's campaign was not immediately returned.

 

Strange said in a statement last year that federal inaction regarding Indian bingo casinos left him no action but to file the lawsuit.

 

"As I have said many times, my office will use every tool at its disposal to stop illegal gambling in Alabama, wherever it is located. This lawsuit against the Poarch Band is one of those tools," Strange said.

 

Hubbard announced his challenge to the Strange last month. Strange is still far outgunning Hubbard in the money raise. Strange this week reported a campaign balance of nearly $1.2 million.

 

The Poarch Creeks, now the state's chief operator of electronic bingo games, have become a major player on the Alabama political stage. The tribe has made $837,500 in campaign contributions since June, according to campaign finance records.

 

 

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Tribe-gives-250-000-to-attorney-general-candidate-5297371.php

 

 

Connecticut: Some Indians are inconvenient

Some Indians are inconvenient

Published 5:18 pm, Thursday, March 6, 2014

When is an Indian not an Indian?

In Connecticut, apparently, the answer is: When the Indian might be able to open a casino.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has asked President Obama to throw his not inconsiderable weight in blocking proposed changes in the criteria used in the federal recognition process for Indian tribes.

The troubling aspect of the objections in Connecticut -- from the governor to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General George Jepsen -- is that they are driven by the fear that a newly recognized tribe might try to open a casino.

The heart of the question -- How are Indian tribes that were recognized by the state of Connecticut for centuries, no longer Indian tribes? -- is not at the heart of the objection.

What, pray tell, has been the function all these years of the state entity known as the Connecticut Indian Affairs Council? The state, in fact, has had a long, supportive relationship with its Indian tribes long before the federal legislation went into effect that gave federally recognized tribes the right to operate casinos.

Suddenly, some of the Indian tribes became an inconvenience.

If the possibility of casinos was not in the equation -- and potential financial complications springing from the lucrative agreements among the state and the casino-operating Mohegan tribe and the Mashantucket Pequots -- would there still be objections?

What's set off the latest barrage of official objection to the Golden Hill Paugussetts, of Trumbull; the Schaghticoke in Kent and the Eastern Pequots in Stonington, is a proposal by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs -- presumably these are the experts we've put in charge of dealing with such things -- to change the criteria they use for recognizing tribes.

If casinos are the problem, address the problem.

Don't tell a group of people you've recognized for centuries as Indians that now, with dollars at stake, you don't think so anymore. When the tattered remnants of these long-recognized tribes moved on to state reservations generations ago, it wasn't because they were plotting to open casinos.



http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Some-Indians-are-inconvenient-5294892.php

Tribe's salaries on the rise

Tribe's salaries on the rise

 

By George Brennan

gbrennan@capecodonline.com

March 08, 2014

 

MASHPEE — For the second year in a row, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe plans to spend $12.7 million on its efforts to build a casino in Taunton, according to a copy of the tribe's 2014 budget proposal.

 

Most of that money will go to lawyers and consultants.

Deadline for Region C casino may be extended

With two possible commercial casino applicants still interested in Southeastern Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is considering extending the deadline for the region.

The commission is seeking public comments on extending the deadline for second-phase applications in Region C, as it's known in the 2011 legislation that legalized gambling in the Bay State, beyond July 23, according to commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll.

KG Urban Enterprises, which hopes to build a casino in New Bedford, is the lone official applicant for the commercial license. The company is still seeking to connect with a gambling partner for its proposal.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut-based Mashantucket Pequot Tribe is reviewing six possible locations provided by the Fall River Office of Economic Development, according to Ken Fiola, executive director for the city agency.

The commercial license could be influenced by a bid by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to build a $500 million Indian casino in Taunton. That application is under federal review and faces significant legal hurdles, which is why the commission opened the region to commercial bids.

Anyone wishing to comment on the Region C deadline is asked to submit comments no later than 10 a.m. March 18.

Comments can be made by email to: mgccomments@state.ma.us.

GEORGE BRENNAN

 

If the budget is approved, the tribe's operational budget would drop $10.2 million overall to $14.8 million, even as tribe salaries double what was spent in 2013, according to the proposed budget. The decrease in costs appears to be because of the completion of the tribe's new headquarters on Great Neck Road South.

 

Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell would get a 3 percent bump in pay to $127,308. All eight of the tribal council members, who earn salaries totaling more than $575,000 annually, would get 3 percent increases under the proposed budget. Three members of the 11-member tribal council are unpaid.

 

It's unclear who else would benefit from what is an additional $2 million in salaries. There is a $500,000 line item titled "right-sizing" that a tribe source said is to boost salaries for tribe employees who are considered underpaid. There is also a $175,000 salary for a gaming commission executive director, which would be the tribe's highest paid individual, according to the budget.

 

The operational budget is heavily reliant on money from the tribe's casino investors, Arkana Ltd., a company owned by the same Malaysian family that owns Genting Group. Only $2.7 million comes from federal grant programs, according to the budget.

 

Cromwell could not be reached for an interview, said the tribe's spokesman, Paula Gates.

 

The budget is a rare glimpse at the spending of the tribe, which as a sovereign nation is under no obligation to release its budget plans to the general public. The Times obtained a copy from a tribe member. It is scheduled to be reviewed at a question-and-answer session Sunday and voted on March 30, according to the tribe's Facebook page.

 

The budget comes as the tribe's plans for a $500 million casino remain in the hands of the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is reviewing the tribe's application to have 155 acres in Taunton and 171 acres in Mashpee taken into federal trust as the tribe's initial reservation.

 

It's a significant hurdle to the tribe's casino plans, although others, such as the compact with Gov. Deval Patrick, have been cleared.

 

Specifics of how the tribal gaming authority intends to spend the $12.7 million — a loan from its investors — is unclear. That budget is broken down only into a few line items with few details.

 

Consultants will earn $7 million, and $3.2 million will go to "legal," according to the budget.

 

"How can we vote on something when we don't know where the money is being spent?" said a tribe member, who asked that his name not be used.

 

The tribe member said he's hoping the tribal membership will reject the budget, even though it would hurt his own family. "Our spending is out of control," he said.

 

The tribe's $14.8 million general budget is broken down by category, with the biggest reduction being $9.3 million for construction services. Though the decrease is not outlined in any depth, the tribe has completed construction of its government offices at 483 Great Neck Road South, and some tribe offices have already moved into the building.

 

A formal dedication of the building is scheduled for March 29, Gates said.

 

 

http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140308/NEWS/403080331/-1/NEWSLETTER100

 

 

Pennsylvegas: First the LOOTTERY.....

Worth listening to!

9 DAILY DRAWINGS?

Pennsylvegas: First the LOOTTERY, then FLEECINOS....now?

In every BAR, RESTAURANT....where else?

Dianne M. Berlin

This is about 30 minutes long and I do mention MA.

 

SPOTLIGHT: MARCH 8, 2014

wdac.podbean.com

 

Dianne Berlin with Casino Free PA Discusses Gambling Expansion In Pennsylvaniawww.casinofreepa.org717-575-2771email: dmberlin@aol.com...

How is it that everyone seems to know that ‘GAMING’ is a ‘SCAM,’.....

Bill Kearney

Massachusetts ‘GAMING’ Future

How is it that everyone seems to know that ‘GAMING’ is a ‘SCAM,’ but yet our lawmakers sanction it?

Pittsburgh Tribune - March 2, 2014 - Remember that big slot jackpot? You can bet the IRS does...

While no one outside the IRS knows exactly what triggers an audit, Gerson says gambling wins of a few thousand dollars are unlikely to be a flag, even for those who claim a deduction for gambling losses.

“Frankly, I think the IRS doesn't bother with this because they know almost everybody loses,” he says. “It's not the same scrutiny as someone who's self-employed and claiming big entertainment expenses for clients. They understand the nature of what's going on out there for the average gambler who's in a casino or who's playing lottery tickets: Most people are losing.”

Read more: http://triblive.com/aande/gambling/5640100-74/gambling-says-percent#ixzz2vHvtgLcS

Iowa casinos must spend millions to support dog racing

Iowa casinos must spend millions to support dog racing

By Paul Brennan / March 6, 2014

 

By Paul Brennan | Iowa Watchdog

DES MOINES, Iowa — If a dog at one of Iowa’s two remaining greyhound racetracks were in the same shape as those racetracks’ finances, it would be euthanized on the spot.

Both greyhound racetracks lose millions of dollars each year, only remaining open because state law requires the casinos to which the tracks are attached to maintain greyhound racing.

Last year, the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs spent almost $10 million to cover losses at its Bluffs Run Greyhound Park. The much smaller Mystique, a nonprofit casino in Dubuque, spent more than $4 million last year to keep the dogs running at its racetrack.

Both casinos grew out of the greyhound racetracks they now financially prop up. In 1994, the Iowa Legislature amended state gaming laws to allow casino games at racetracks, which were experiencing a decline in business. The continuation of greyhound racing at both locations was required.

As casinos prospered, the racetracks continued to decline. Betting at the two racetracks has fallen by 97 percent since they first opened in the 1980’s.

Photo by Alex Lapuerta

GOING TO THE DOGS: Iowa law mandates two of the state’s casino spend millions each year to prop up the state’s money-losing greyhound racetracks.

Bills now before the House and Senate — seemingly stalled at the moment — would drop the greyhound racing requirement for the two casinos in exchange for those businesses paying $70 million over seven years into a fund to assist greyhound breeders and others affected by the end of state-mandated dog racing.

The city councils of both Dubuque and Council Bluffs support dropping the requirement, as do the chambers of commerce of the two cities.

Opposing the change is the Iowa Greyhound Association, which represents breeders, handlers and others involved in greyhound racing. The IGA led successful efforts in 2010 and 2012 to defeat bills that would have dropped the racing mandate.

“Those casinos — which are very valuable properties, worth hundreds of millions of dollars — wouldn’t exist if we hadn’t provided the votes to get them their licenses,” Jerry Crawford, attorney for the IGA, told Iowa Watchdog. “And the agreement was that in exchange for our support, they would support greyhound racing forever.”

But the IGA didn’t support the 1994 change that brought casino games to tracks simply as a gesture of goodwill to casino interests. By that time, the three greyhound racetracks then in Iowa were well in decline.

A year before the law was changed, the Waterloo Greyhound Park filed for bankruptcy. In 1996, it went out of business.

The remaining parks were in better shape, but their best days already were behind them by the time their casinos opened their doors.

According to figures from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, betting at the Council Bluffs track peaked in 1987. Betting in Dubuque reached its peak in 1988.

Asked if greyhound racing would have survived in Iowa without the casinos, Crawford said it was impossible to know, but he did suggest it might have given careful management and proper promotion.

One thing Crawford was clear on is that the $70-million fund the casinos would pay in assistance money doesn’t make the bills before the Legislature more appealing to the IGA.

“Our members would rather work,” Crawford said. “We don’t want to see millions of dollars that could stay in Iowa go to an out-of-state company.”

Crawford was referring to Caesars Entertainment, which operates the casino and dog track in Council Bluffs. The IGA maintains that Caesars will be the ultimate beneficiary if the mandate in dropped.
But at a news conference at the state Capitol last week, civic leaders from Dubuque and Council Bluffs stressed the local benefits that would come from eliminating the mandate.

As a nonprofit casino, the Mystique’s profits are split between Dubuque and local charities and nonprofits. Ending greyhound racing would increase the casino’s profits by millions each year.

In Council Bluffs, city leaders are eager to have the site of the greyhound racetrack, located at a prime spot near Interstate 80, available for redevelopment.

Leaders from both cities said they wanted to eliminate the dog racing mandate so their casinos can compete more effectively in the increasingly crowded gaming market.

“Greyhound racing is the Blockbuster Video of the gaming industry,” Rick Dickinson, president and CEO of the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, said at the press conference.

Like Blockbuster, greyhound racing is declining “because the industry is changing around them,” Dickinson said. “Customers have voted with their feet.”

In the past decade, more than half the greyhound tracks in the United States have closed. In addition to the two in Iowa, only 19 remain open, and many of them have added other forms of gambling to help keep the doors open.

That the bills to repeal the greyhound racing mandate seem to be stalled in the Legslature doesn’t surprise Dickinson, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives.

“The other side is very good,” he told Iowa Watchdog. “They have the best lobbyists, make strategic investments with their campaign contributions and leverage their personal relationships with lawmakers.”

If the greyhound racing mandate does survive the legislative session, civic leaders from Dubuque and Council Bluffs say they will continue to push for its repeal.

And last week, they acquired a powerful ally.

At his weekly press conference, Gov. Terry Branstad called greyhound racing a “dying industry” and said he supported closing the racetracks, as long as the people who work in the racing industry were compensated.

http://watchdog.org/131198/dog-racing-mandate/

Expect Less From Casinos - less than half of what had been predicted

Ohio: Spectrum Grossly Overstates Projections...Again

In 2011, Spectrum Gaming Group of Atlantic City, N.J., forecast for the governor that the Columbus casino would be the largest in the state, generating $381.7 million in gambling revenue a year.

ALSO: Ohio removing Slots for Under-Performance, Wait for the Bailouts

Ohio's first two casinos, which opened this year, have recorded three consecutive months of declining revenue. Projected casino tax revenues will replace only a fraction of state cuts to both education and aid to local governments, according to a new study.




FROM: Not An Easy Bet For Local Governments

Expect Less From Casinos

March 6, 2014

By THE INTELLIGENCER , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

 

Ohioans should not be surprised the jackpot they were promised from the state's four gambling casinos doesn't exist. In a way, however, Buckeye State taxpayers are lucky: They are not getting hooked on enormous revenue from legalized gambling, only to see it dwindle.

All four of the casinos, in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo, are at least a year old. That is time enough to give policymakers an idea of how the gambling venues will perform in the future.

When voters were asked to approve casino gambling, they were told the money would roll in to local and state governments. During the 2009 campaign by gambling interests, figures as high as $1.9 billion a year in total revenue were flashed in front of voters' eyes.

That would have meant $651 million a year for local and state governments - quite a haul.

Reality has been far different. By the end of January, after all four casinos had been open for a year or more, their total revenue was $772 million, according to a report by the Ohio Casino Control Commission. At that rate, the first full year of operation will net about $900 million.

Of that, a comparatively paltry $297 million - less than half of what had been predicted - will go to government.

Other states with full-scale legalized gambling, including West Virginia, at one time received far more than Ohio from casinos, gambling machines and ticket-based lotteries. That convinced some of their leaders to rely too heavily on gambling income.

Now, because of competition from other states, including Ohio, West Virginia's gambling revenue has plunged. State officials have no ideas for replacing it.

At least Ohioans do not have as far to fall in terms of the inevitable decline in gambling revenue in the future. This week's report is a wake-up call telling state officials to ensure Ohio does not become too reliant on casino revenue.

http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/596719/Expect-Less-From-Casinos.html?nav=511

New report reveals severe impact of casinos on senior citizens

I am emailing you an important new report about the impact that government sponsorship of casinos is having on senior citizens. The report titled "Seniors in Casino Land: Tough Luck for Older Americans" was written by Amy Ziettlow, a scholar at the Institiute for American Values. You can download the report as a free PDF here. Amy also wrote an op-ed summarizing the report that was published in last Sunday's Tampa Tribune.

Please read it and share it as widely as you can, especially with opinion leaders in your region of the country including journalists, newspaper editors, public officials, business leaders, civic groups and non-profits.

When you share the report, tell them this: all citizens have a right to fairness and equality of opportunity, and that includes older Americans. Government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries produces unfairness and inequality. It is a public policy that has failed and we need to phase it out. No American should be rendered expendable by our own government.

If you support our mission and work, please participate by contributing $10 or more today to help sustain it.

With gratitude,

Les

____________

Les Bernal

National Director

Stop Predatory Gambling

"Ending the unfairness and inequality produced by government sponsorship of casinos and lotteries."

Quick Links An American Declaration on Government and Gambling Online Store SPG in the Media Take Action A Failed Government Policy Lies vs. Facts Background Reading Share Your Story Donate To The Mission

Las Vegas Sands Andy Abboud likes FL plans to: "Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football"

NoCasinosInFlorida.org offers a great deal of information, as well as an email newsletter.

Vegas Casino Executive: Florida Gambling Bills 'Dissappointing'

By Dara Kam
TALLAHASSEE (The News Service of Florida) — The bills haven’t had a vote yet, but at least one Las Vegas casino executive is already dissing the gambling plans floated by Florida lawmakers.

Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations and community development for Las Vegas Sands Corp, equated the two proposals to "Lucy, Charlie Brown and the football."

Sands and casino giant Genting Group have spent more than two years trying to convince lawmakers to let them open shop in Florida. Others interested in the "destination resorts" include the Florida Panthers, the Hollywood Diplomat and the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.


Credit Jamie Adams / Wikimedia Commons

The Senate measure (SB 7052), released last week, would allow for two casino resorts—one each in Broward and Miami-Dade counties—and would require operators to spend at least $2 billion on each project over five years, not including the cost of the real estate. Under the Senate plan, casino operators would pay $125 million, refundable to losing bidders, to apply for licenses. Permitted games in addition to slots would include blackjack, craps and roulette, taxed at a rate of 35 percent, the same as South Florida "racinos" currently pay on slot machine revenues. A House proposal (HB 1383), released late Monday night, does not allow for any expansion beyond what the state has now.

"We're disappointed in these bills and confused by the lack of substance," Abboud said Tuesday, the opening day of the 2014 legislative session. "Both the House and the Senate (bills) do not match the integrity of the conversations we have been having with the Legislature both publicly and in private meetings for the last year."

Abboud called the 35 percent tax rate combined with the $2 billion investment "unattainable" and "not sustainable." Casino operators had hoped for a 10 percent tax rate on games.

['Dictating terms' is becoming a common refrain.]

"The Senate bill will not bring integrated resorts to Florida. It will continue the status quo of leaving everything as it is, and Florida will continue to expand by gaming creep without a comprehensive policy," Abboud said. "We were led to believe that the Legislature was going to set forth a policy that would set the existing infrastructure and control growth in a meaningful way, and we're confused as to why they want to stick with the status quo. …There's nothing in these bills to say 'we want to make Florida a better gaming environment.' None of that is in there."

Abboud later softened his take on the bills, saying he understood that it was the first day of the session and pledging to "work diligently and patiently" with lawmakers over the next 60 days.

Brian Ballard, a lobbyist representing Resorts World Omni, a division of casino giant Genting Group based in Malaysia, called the bills a good starting point.

"It's early stages of a process that's going to evolve," Ballard said. "Is it perfect? No. but it's a good starting place to get the meat and potatoes of this bill started."

The future of the casino resorts—and any gambling legislation at all—rests in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott. Legislative leaders are waiting for Scott to renegotiate a $1 billion, five-year deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that sunsets next year. A major expansion of gambling such as destination resorts would have an impact on the amount of revenues the tribe pays to the state. House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, is insisting that Scott must finalize an agreement with the tribe before any legislation is passed. Scott hasn't revealed whether he plans to seal the deal in time for lawmakers to act on it before the session ends on May 2.

And the chairmen of the House and Senate gambling committees are also holding their cards close to their vest regarding casino resorts.

House Select Committee on Gaming Chairman Rob Schenck, who sponsored the 411-page gambling bill, said Tuesday his chamber is focused on regulatory reform. The House plan would close a loophole in state law that allowed regulators to sign off on barrel racing as a pari-mutuel activity.

When asked if the casino resorts would ultimately make it into the House plan, Schenck, R-Spring Hill, said: "As of right now, day one of session, with the governor's office and the compact and all that stuff, it's just too early to give a fair answer to."

Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter was equally circumspect when asked if he was "dug in" over the casinos.

"I'm not going to answer that question now. It's too early in the process. Now that I know here's the Senate and here's the House (plans), why would I turn my card on how dug in or not dug in I'm going to be?" Richter, R-Naples, said.


http://news.wjct.org/post/vegas-casino-executive-florida-gambling-bills-dissappointing



Anti-gambling group: Florida numbers don't support more casinos  

 

Bringing casinos to Florida is one of the state's most-heated debates right now.

Richard Bilbao

Reporter- Orlando Business Journal

Email | Twitter

So maybe there isn't a market for gambling in Florida?

Florida ranks 23rd among 45 states for casino spending per capita, said a release from Orlando-based No Casinos, an anti-gambling advocacy group.

The debate over the expansion of gaming in the state has been hot since several casino companies are looking to build resort casinos in South Florida.

The report is interesting, as casino proponents have always touted that the expansion of gaming through the state wouldn't be something new. To support that premise, they cited a 2011 Bernstein Research study as saying Florida was the fourth-largest gambling state.

But No Casinos' report states that as "misreported" and quite the opposite. Instead, the Bernstein study said Florida was the fourth-largest state for in terms of revenue generated from tribal gaming casinos.

Here are other past stories regarding Orlando's stance on the gambling topic:

• Gambling debate: Two sides to the chip
• Poll: Where do you stand on gambling?
• Florida's gambling debate: New wildcards on the table
• See which Orlando leaders favor or oppose gambling
• Orlando execs take a stand on gambling

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2014/02/anti-gambling-group-florida-numbers.html

Gaming panel enlisted in lawsuit vs. Mohegan

Palmer demands documents

 

 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

By:

Jack Encarnacao

 

Mohegan Sun’s erstwhile Palmer landlord is roping the state Gaming Commission into its lawsuit that seeks to bar Mohegan from building a casino anywhere but Palmer, demanding the commission turn over any communications between Mohegan and Suffolk Downs that might support the claim that Mohegan undercut its own Palmer casino effort to chase an opportunity in Revere.

Northeast Realty is arguing that any talks Mohegan and its chief executive Mitchell Etess had with Suffolk Downs before the casino developer lost a referendum in Palmer would violate an exclusivity agreement.

“The public records request to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission seeks to identify any communications conducted between representatives of Mohegan Sun including its attorney, Kevin C. Conroy, relating to the Suffolk Downs property, and the MGC including, but not limited to, commission staff and its Investigations and Enforcement Bureau,” Northeast spokesman Paul Robbins said in a statement.

Commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said the commission’s legal staff is reviewing the request, and does “not have a comment on the lawsuit at this time.”

The request, addressed to chairman Stephen Crosby and dated Feb. 28, asks for copies of any communications from Jan. 1, 2013, to Nov. 30, 2013, between the commission and a series of individuals “concerning the possibility or consideration of Mohegan’s participating in any way in the application for a license for and/or development of a gaming facility anywhere on the Suffolk Downs Property.”

The individuals include:

•   Suffolk Downs principals Richard Fields and Joseph O’Donnell.

•   House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and staff.

• Any attorneys or lobbyists associated with the law firms Foley Hoag and DLA Piper, who work for Mohegan.

• The public relations firm O’Neill and Associates, which represents Mohegan.

•   Former state Rep. Kathi-Ann Reinstein (D-Revere) and staff.

•     State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston) and staff.
Mohegan Sun declined to comment on the records request.
Northeast Realty, which wants Mohegan to abandon its lease on the Palmer site, hit Revere Mayor Dan Rizzo with the same records request in January. Revere’s solicitor responded that a search of voicemail and email records of Rizzo and his immediate staff “failed to produce any records responsive to your public records request.”

http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2014/03/gaming_panel_enlisted_in_lawsuit_vs_mohegan