Saturday, January 25, 2014

Health officer absent from responsible gambling conference Dr. Perry Kendall invited but declines to attend

Health officer absent from responsible gambling conference Dr. Perry Kendall invited but declines to attend
Mike Howell / Vancouver Courier January 23, 2014 - See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/health-officer-absent-from-responsible-gambling-conference-1.800007#sthash.Nk76PkOy.dpuf

Dr. Perry Kendall, Provincial Health Officer for B.C. Photo: Adrian Lam, Times Colonist

A long list of “responsible gambling experts” from across the country and other parts of the world will be at the Vancouver Convention Centre next week for a two-day conference hosted by the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

But one expert who released a comprehensive report last fall that showed the most severe form of problem gambling in B.C. is on a dramatic rise won’t be at the conference.

Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall confirmed through his office that he won’t attend The New Horizons in Responsible Gambling Conference but declined to be interviewed to explain his absence.

Chris Fairclough, a spokesperson for the lottery corporation, said Kendall and other public health officers in B.C. were invited to the conference but failed to respond.

“The invitations were broadly circulated a number of months ago but we didn’t receive anything back from Dr. Kendall,” Fairclough said. “It would have been great to have him attend. I can’t speak to why he isn’t.”

The conference runs Monday and Tuesday at the convention centre and promises to bring together academics, industry types and those working in treatment and prevention.

Professor Dr. Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, England is a psychologist and will talk about the concerns related to gambling marketing and whether advertising creates unrealistic hopes of winning that may later trigger a gambling addiction.

Another psychologist, Dr. Sally Gainsbury of Australia’s Southern Cross University will provide an overview of gambling reforms in her home country, including the addition of “dynamic responsible gambling messages” posted on electronic gaming machines.

Dr. Claudia Steinke, an assistant professor at the University of Lethbridge, will discuss the psychological and behavioural impacts of casino design.

When Kendall released his report, Lower the Stakes: A Public Health Approach to Gambling in British Columbia in October, he made 17 recommendations aimed at the government to address gambling addiction and to improve the response to emerging problems in the industry.

His report revealed the number of people with a severe gambling problem increased from nearly 13,000 in 2002 to 31,000 in 2007.

While B.C. has moderate to high levels of revenue from gaming, the report said the province spends the lowest amount per capita of revenue — $5.6 million in 2011/2012 — on problem gambling in Canada.

The annual gross gaming revenue for the provincial government steadily increased between 2002 and 2012, going from $1.1 billion to $2.1 billion.

The conference comes as Dr. John Carsley of Vancouver Coastal Health and former city social planner Mario Lee continue to conduct a public health review of Edgewater Casino, Hastings Racecourse and Planet Bingo.

City council tasked Carsley and Lee with the review to see what the three facilities have in place to address the risks associated to gambling. A report is expected in the next few months.

In December, the city’s development permit board granted Paragon Holdings — owners of Edgewater — a preliminary development application to proceed with the construction of a $535-million casino complex adjacent to B.C. Place Stadium.

Before Paragon gets final approval, it has to meet several conditions including creating a harm reduction strategy for gamblers.

- See more at: http://www.vancourier.com/health-officer-absent-from-responsible-gambling-conference-1.800007#sthash.Nk76PkOy.dpuf

Losing Everything to Gambling Addiction

RISKING YOUR HEALTH

Compulsive gambling is linked to a range of serious health problems, including obesity, heart disease, intestinal problems, fibromyalgia, migraine, depression, insomnia and other stress-related disorders.
Compulsive gamblers are also likelier than others to show up in emergency rooms, reflecting their poor health and chaotic lives.
"The worse the gambling disorder, the worse the chronic health conditions we typically see," says University of Iowa psychiatry professor Donald M. Black, M.D., one of the country's leading experts on compulsive gambling.
In 2013, for the first time, the American Psychiatric Association officially recognized compulsive gambling as an addiction (rather than a personality disorder), acknowledging that it shares many features with alcoholism and drug addiction.
Alarmingly, in one recent study, 32 percent of problem gamblers reported that they had considered suicide within the past year.

The nation's $40 billion a year gambling industry aggressively targets older customers, as they have accumulated wealth and are especially vulnerable, experts say, to wagering more than they can afford. The enticements range from free bus trips, meals and even discount prescription cards to "comped" hotel accommodations — not to mention the private jets dispatched to pick up high-rollers like O'Connor.
"One of the lessons of the Maureen O'Connor case," says Philip Halpern, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted her, "is that it demonstrates the extreme lengths to which casinos will go to lure in high-stakes customers."
Gambling-industry marketers also know that advancing age, and the declining cognition that sometimes goes with it, can reduce a person's aversion to risk. "With age, there can be a decrease in the activity of decision-making parts of the brain related to executive functioning," Grant says. "If you have a deficit because of age, gambling may become riskier for you."

Older people with dementia are at especially high risk because they are unable to recognize limitations or use appropriate judgments. And dopamine agonists, a class of prescription drugs used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and restless legs syndrome, seem to be associated with compulsive gambling as a side effect, according to Marc Potenza, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Yale University who studies problem gambling.

Psychologists also suspect that people are more likely to run into problems if they turn to gambling for the wrong reasons — to escape loneliness, depression or even chronic pain.

"For a lot of the older people we see, it was never about the money," says Gordon Greco, 62, a compulsive gambler most of his life who now works as a counselor for the Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas. "They go to the casino to escape regrets, loneliness, isolation, sadness. And when they start losing money, they find themselves with even bigger problems and regrets."

Video gambling machines, now permitted in more than 40 states, are the overwhelming favorite among older casino-goers, Hunter says. And that puts them at even greater risk. Although any kind of gambling can become addictive, video slot and poker machines are the most seductive because they offer the greatest escape, experts say. "Machine gambling is really the crack cocaine of compulsive gambling," says Lia Nower, the director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Indeed, in Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology anthropologist Natasha Schull argues that mechanical rhythms that lull players into a trance-like state are deliberately built into electronic gambling machines. In what Schull calls the "machine zone," gamblers quickly lose track of daily worries, social demands and even their bodily needs.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists specialize in treating gambling addiction. Compulsive gamblers, these experts say, suffer from low self-esteem and fall into two broad categories: action gamblers, who relish excitement and believe they can beat the house, and escape gamblers, who seek to forget about pain or trauma in their lives.

Gamblers Anonymous programs are available in most parts of the country. Breaking a gambling addiction isn't easy, but GA programs do help some people.

"It saved my life," says Marilyn Lancelot. After being released from prison, she began attending GA meetings. She slowly paid off her debts and has managed to steer clear of gambling. "For a recovering gambler, there's always the itch to try it again," she admits. "But I know now that if I give in to it, I'm dead."

8 BIG LOSERS

Ben Affleck The actor and filmmaker checked into a $33,850-a-month rehab center in Malibu, Calif., in 2001 for gambling and alcohol addictions.
Charles Barkley In 2006 the former NBA star pegged his gambling losses at $10 million, including $2.5 million blown in just six hours at the blackjack table.
William Bennett Dubbed "one of the nation's most relentless moral crusaders" by the New York Times in 2003, Bennett was a high-rolling gambler who racked up losses of more than $8 million at casinos.
Pete Rose The former Cincinnati Reds player and manager, who faces a lifetime suspension from baseball for betting on his own team, once incurred a debt of $400,000 to a bookmaker over a three-month period in 1987.
John Daly The so-called bad boy of the PGA Tour has put his gambling losses at more than $50 million over 12 years.
Gladys Knight The Empress of Soul once had a $40,000-a-night addiction to baccarat that she beat with the help of Gamblers Anonymous. "I would play every day if I could," she recalled in her autobiography.
Omar Sharif The film star and bridge expert ran up such mammoth gambling debts that he'd tell his agent to "accept any part, just to bail myself out," he said.
Terry Watanabe The ex-president of his family's party-favor import business in Omaha, Neb., lost at least $205 million to casinos in Las Vegas, including more than $120 million in 2007 alone.

http://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-01-2014/gambling-addiction.1.html

Foxwoods to lay off 120 table game dealers

By MICHAEL MELIA / Associated Press / January 23, 2014

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Foxwoods Resort Casino, which has been struggling to reverse a decline in gambling revenue, is eliminating the jobs of 120 table game dealers, the workers’ union said Thursday.

The casino will first seek volunteers to accept buyouts and wants the layoffs to be completed by March 1, said Billy Shea, president of Local 2121 of the United Auto Workers. He said he was not surprised by word of the layoffs in light of the casino’s slump.

‘‘We've known for a while this was going to come down,’’ Shea said. ‘‘It was quite obvious and apparent the company had no choice. The business is down.’’

Foxwoods, one of the largest casinos in the Western Hemisphere, is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and employs about 8,000 people. It generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year but fell short of its own projections as it contends with the weak U.S. economic recovery and growing competition in neighboring states.

Foxwoods spokeswoman Dale Wolbrink declined to comment on the layoffs.

‘‘We don’t discuss anything that has to do with our team members,’’ she said.

Management informed the union that it also will cut five assistant floor supervisors in addition to the full-time dealers, Shea said.

He said the union, which represents about 1,800 Foxwoods employees, is pursuing more generous buyout packages from the casino.

‘‘I feel so badly for the people that are going to be affected,’’ Shea said. ‘‘This is going to affect a lot of people.’’

He said workers with the most seniority won’t be affected.

Foxwoods, which opened in 1992, once dominated the regional gambling market along with its giant neighbor, Mohegan Sun. They have faced new competition from casinos in the New York City area and the arrival of table games at Rhode Island’s Twin Rivers Casino. There’s also a plan in the works to allow three casinos in Massachusetts.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/2014/01/23/foxwoods-lay-off-table-game-dealers/xtKViGJqX6Klurh0ogQwEN/story.html

It's Not A Done Deal!

1. No Springfield Casino Speaks Out! Please share widely.
CBS 3 Springfield - WSHM

2. Congressman Richard E. Neal on Channel 22, Springfield, MA
"Gambling can never become a substitute for real economic development."
@ 4:20 minutes

CBS 3 Springfield - WSHM

http://www.cbs3springfield.com/video?clipId=9767142&autostart=true

Friday, January 24, 2014

Atlantic City: The Poster Child for Predatory Gambling - You are NO DIFFERENT!

Atlantic City's Last 'Low-Roller' Casino Busts

By Victoria Bekiempis

The town is struggling to hold on even as it faces an end to its gaming monopoly. Mel Evans/Associated Press

A few miles outside Atlantic City, signs along the highway greet gamblers by talking about the people who will scrub their toilets, serve them cocktails and, more often than not, deal them losing hands.

“Thank you to our employees! For your dedication and service,” says one billboard for the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel. “Just the best employees in AC” the next line says. “You’re the heart and soul of this place.”

Five days before Christmas, the Atlantic Club told more than 1,600 employees they would soon be jobless. The Atlantic Club – the last casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey catering to the “low-rollers” – announced it would close at midnight on January 13, after 33 years in business. Many learned about their impending unemployment in the newspaper or on TV. The club gave union workers $1,500 in severance, plus pay for unused vacation days. The local union gave card-holders $20 grocery store gift cards and help filing for unemployment.

The shutdown of Atlantic Club will only exacerbate Atlantic City’s 15.1 percent unemployment rate, said to be the worst in the state, and has spurred whispers of more closings. Atlantic City gaming revenue has spiraled downward since 2006 – from $5.2 billion then to a $2.9 billion in 2013 – because of increased competition from neighboring states. Atlantic City, which now has just 11 casinos, down from 13 at its peak, is also running out of time to maintain its gaming monopoly in New Jersey. In 2010, Governor Chris Christie gave Atlantic City until 2014 to reverse its decline before he’d consider allowing gaming elsewhere in the state. Christie’s initiatives to revive the boardwalk by making it a family-friendly destination have mostly been a bust.

At Wonder Bar, a restaurant off the boardwalk that bills itself as the dining destination for locals, employees gathered Sunday night to bid each other a final goodbye. Many told Newsweek they weren’t in a position to hit the ground running with regard to the job search because, what jobs? A casino in Maryland hosted a a few job fairs the week before the closing, but only a few dozen people got work. Besides, who has the money to move?

Worse, they said, is that one of the things that helped keep the casino afloat – its close-knit, comfortable, unchanging atmosphere attracted loyal regulars – makes its closing all the more dire for the community. Atlantic Club felt so familial, employees said, because so many families worked there, meaning entire households are out of work.

One married couple, who like most didn’t want their names used for fear of jeopardizing their chances of getting new jobs, told Newsweek they didn’t have a plan, or even a plan about how to come up with a plan for finding work.

The man, 60, who’d worked at the casino for 20 years, took small sips of beer as he explained that they would file for unemployment the next day and apply for food stamps. They had two adult sons, also out of work, to support, along with three granddaughters and a daughter-in-law. “We have to provide for our kids,” his wife, 57, said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

Their extended family isn’t in much of a position to help them, either. The man’s 65-year-old sister recently lost her grocery store job; though rehired elsewhere, she now makes 30 percent less. Another sister’s husband, who made ball bearings, lost his job when the company moved to the South. His twin brother’s wife, a teacher’s assistant, lost her job, too. Another sister (he’s from a big Irish family, he explained) lost the same job twice. His youngest sister’s husband, who made plastic parts for doors, lost his job when it was shipped to another country.

“My father always told me, ‘Life isn’t fair,” the man said, taking another swig.

Several blocks away, back on the boardwalk, things seemed almost normal at the Atlantic Club, which would be bolting the doors in a few hours. Sure, the club’s restaurants had run out of food that afternoon and customers, scurrying to use their comp dollars, drank the Dizzy Dolphin bar dry, but the casino floor buzzed and blinked busily, as if midnight would never come.

One woman at a baccarat table – who was down about $15,000 at 11:30 – wanted to keep playing despite the time. She shouted and mumbled something about wanting her money back, or at least the opportunity to win it back. A pit boss standing behind the dealer joked: “I don’t have any money! I’m unemployed!” and a few moments later, a security guard escorted the woman off the floor.

With her exit, the feverish frenzy typical for a casino – even an ailing one– seemed to deflate. Just before midnight, those present counted down from five, with some singing “Auld Lang Syne.” The staff charged with seeing the shutdown through then collected and counted all the chips one last time.

Dealers, faces twisted and glistening with tears, hugged each other tightly. Some staff skipped into what seemed to be an area set aside for high-rollers, asking a cop to snap one last photo of them together, their broad smiles belying the mood in the room.

As stragglers and observers were corralled out the door and onto the sidewalk, some dawdled in the hotel’s main hall, while others plucked plants from their pots before leaving stepping out into the frigid night.

The mirrors and columns and brass in the lobby spoke to the Atlantic Club’s bygone opulence – when Frank Sinatra was on the marquee, not the struggling commuter casino trying to lure slots jockeys with free parking.

http://www.newsweek.com/atlantic-citys-last-low-roller-casino-busts-226283

Mohegan Sun robbery trial begins

Mohegan Sun robbery trial begins
By Karen FlorinPublication: TheDay.com

Published 01/15/2014

Sharnon I. Lee lost $2,000 playing Spanish 21 on the same day in August of 2010 that he is accused of robbing a man at knifepoint in the Indian Summer parking garage at Mohegan Sun.
His alleged victim, Queens businessman Haridas Paul, had better luck at the gaming tables that day. He played Four Card Poker and walked out of the Uncasville casino with about $18,000 in cash.
Lee, 37, of Norwalk, is accused of following Paul out of the casino, confronting him as he climbed into his BMW sport utility vehicle, holding a sharp object to the back of his head and demanding money. Paul said he gave Lee $3,800 and his cellphone.
At Lee’s trial this week in New London Superior Court, prosecutor Lawrence J. Tytla elicited testimony from Paul, who described the robbery but was unable to positively identify Lee as the perpetrator. Paul said he never got a good look at the robber’s face.
Tytla called on Mohegan Tribal Police Officer Elaine J. Faulise to narrate several video clips provided by the casino’s surveillance department that show a suspect — whom the state contends is Lee — following Paul out of the casino, taking a separate elevator to the second floor of the parking garage and walking toward the area where Paul was parked. The surveillance films show the same man minutes later riding the elevator up to the sixth floor, where he got into his Nissan Altima and left. Surveillance staff and police identified Lee as the suspect from the license plate of his car.
The casino had surveillance cameras in the elevator lobbies and in several locations within the garage, but the robbery itself was not captured, a fact that defense attorney Philip Russell of Greenwich noted. Russell objected several times when Faulise described Paul as the “victim” of the robbery, saying “victim” implies a crime has occurred. Faulise switched to calling Lee a “suspect.”
Russell also brought to the jury’s attention the fact that Paul cashed out his winnings at three separate cashier cages that August day and that the casino surveillance department later noted in a report that Paul appeared to be attempting to avoid generation of a Currency Transaction Report. Federal law requires financial institutions to report transactions involving $10,000 or more, and individuals, including gamblers, are not allowed to “structure” or break up their transactions to avoid the reporting requirement.
When the trial resumes Friday, Tytla is expected to call two state police detectives who interviewed Lee on Aug. 25 when he appeared in court in Bridgeport on an unrelated domestic violence charge that was eventually dismissed.
During the interview, Lee denied the robbery but admitted to major crime squad detectives Dean Peluso and John Jette that he was at the casino the day the robbery occurred. When the detectives told Lee they had recovered the stolen cellphone near Lee’s mother’s home in Bridgeport, he stopped talking and said he needed a lawyer, according to testimony. The troopers then asked if he would provide a written statement of the information he had already provided. Lee declined.
The defense had attempted to suppress the testimony of the two troopers, saying the troopers had confronted Lee in an intimidating setting, failed to read Lee his rights or tell him he was free to leave. Russell also contended the detectives continued to talk to Lee after he said he needed a lawyer.
Judge Kevin P. McMahon listened to testimony from the two detectives and Lee outside of the jury’s presence, then ruled there was no violation of Lee’s constitutional rights and that the detectives would be allowed to testify in front of the jury.
Tytla had argued that it was a low-key interview, noting that Lee himself said he knew his rights, and that “nothing suppressable” occurred after Lee said he wanted an attorney. At Russell’s request, the judge agreed to withhold from the jury the fact that the interview took place in a courthouse where Lee had a scheduled court appearance.
The two detectives are expected to testify when the trial resumes on Friday.

http://www.theday.com/article/20140115/NWS01/140119764

Mohegan Sun's Phony PR

Mohegan Sun's Phony PR!

Worth watching - studies have determined TOURISM doesn't increase [actually decreases, mostly due to increased CRIME], most patrons will be local, sucking $$$ from local businesses....

Mohegan Sun pays so poorly, they recruited OVERSEAS for workers, impacting the public schools, creating substandard housing.....and much else. ...

Connecticut may be the Embezzlement Capital due to Gambling Addiction.

Don't believe me? Have you read the Spectrum Report [prepared for the CT DSR - Dept. of Special Revenue]? The report was limited in scope because Connecticut is CASH-STRAPPED by Tribal Casinos not paying taxes!

Paul Burns' Palmer Bucket Brigade

Palmer appointed a Citizens Casino Study Committee to assess the costs of hosting Mohegan Sun.

When the CITIZENS, residents of the community determined that the costs would be CONSERVATIVELY + $18 MILLION, not including the estimated $50 MILLION to bring water from the Quabbin, Paul Burns prevented that report from being publicly discussed.

The final host community agreement [HCA] doesn't address water, doesn't address traffic and much else.

The 'FLYOVER' initially promised to prevent traffic from grid-locking the community was not approved before the PROMISES were made.

Paul Burns revealed his failures to protect Palmer. Palmer voters were wise in defeating this FOLLY!

Mohegan Sun revealed their phony promises Palmer.

Will Revere voters reject the charade as well?

What's Mohegan Sun's Non-Casino Plan for Palmer?

Keywords:

New England Public Radio News

Date:

01/23/2014

Contributor:

Sam Hudzik

Listen to Sam Hudzik's story

Download:

Listen to Sam Hudzik's story

There's still no word from Mohegan Sun on what the casino company plans to do with land it leased in Palmer, Massachusetts. The town's voters rejected a casino referendum in November, and Mohegan is now bidding to build a resort in Revere.

After giving a big presentation Wednesday to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission about Mohegan Sun's casino proposal for Suffolk Downs, the company's CEO Mitchell Etess was in no mood to talk a possible non-casino development in Palmer.

"We think it's a great location and we hope that we can do something there. But honestly you have to - in business - you need to kind of prioritize things," Etess said.

That answer did not impress or surprise Paul Burns, a town councilor in Palmer who supported the casino there but has been very critical of Mohegan Sun's actions since the vote. Burns says Mohegan Sun is a large corporation capable of multitasking.

"I understand that they're in the middle of a competition for a casino license in eastern Mass now, but I don't think it's too much to ask that Mohegan Sun commit to...maybe building a mall or whatever other project that they have planned for the area."

And Burns says if Mohegan won't commit to developing the land, he wants them to step aside so someone else can.

http://nepr.net/news/whats-mohegan-suns-non-casino-plan-palmer

Slot Barn Hearing Postponed to Another Inconvenient Time

Gaming hearing on Foxboro's surrounding community agreement for Plainville's slots parlor postponed

Posted: Wednesday, January 22, 2014

BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
The Sun Chronicle

The subject matter will be Foxboro's "surrounding community" agreement with Penn National, the applicant for the slot machines. The agreement would create a $250,000 trust fund to offset any problems that might arise in Foxboro from expanded gambling at Plainridge, which is located on Route 1 in nearby Plainville.

The proverbial pee in the snow! Who believes that's reasonable?

The commission and Plainville have conducted a number of hearings on gambling and a decision on who to award the slots license to is expected next month.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/gaming-hearing-on-foxboro-s-surrounding-community-agreement-for-plainville/article_3d112a2f-dff9-5437-8ca6-36968a5d2696.html

Declining revenues????

Mississippi casino revenues hit lowest yearly mark since 1997

Mississippi Business Journal (blog) - Casino_rouletter_wheel RGB Last year was the weakest gaming revenue year for Mississippi casinos since 1997, according to numbers released ...

Mississippi Casinos Down 5.1% To $2.13bn In 2013

Online Poker.net - The Mississippi Gaming Commission has released its gambling figures for the whole of 2013, revealing the state's 30 casinos experienced a 5.1% ...

South Mississippi 2013 casino revenue lowest since 1999

SunHerald.com - JOHN FITZHUGH/SUN HERALD/FILEGamblers play poker at a Coast casino. A report Thursday said revenues in 2013 were at their lowest level in 14 ...

Miss. casino revenue falls in December and year

Kansas City Star - The 18 river casinos from Tunica to Natchez won $82.7 million, down 13.5 ... The numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which aren't required to ...

Allowing more casinos will saturate market

Albuquerque Journal (subscription) - ... are specific provisions in the currently proposed Navajo Nation Compact that could cause substantial harm to the state's Indian Gaming industry and ...

Pennsylvania Casino Revenue Falls for First Time; Harbinger for ...

OnlinePokerReport.com - Pennsylvania's gambling revenue dropped for the first time since the state expanded gambling in 2006 with slot casinos, and later in 2010 when table ...

Cincinnati casino brings Indiana gambling tax revenues down

Akron Legal News - 2006, a visitor plays a slot machine at the French Lick Resort-Casino in French Lick, Ind. Indiana's casino tax revenues have fallen faster than ...

Governor Slot Barn's Hallucination

Mass. governor unveils $36.4B budget plan that increases spending, includes gambling revenue

By STEVE LeBLANC Associated Press

First Posted: January 22, 2014

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick delivered his final state budget plan to Beacon Hill lawmakers Wednesday, a $36.4 billion proposal that would increase spending by 4.9 percent over the current budget.

Patrick said his blueprint for the fiscal year starting in July seeks to expand early education, help close the achievement gap in schools, ensure affordable health care and address violence among young people and in urban areas.

"I'm proud of this budget," Patrick told reporters. "It's a good budget. It's a sensible budget."

Patrick opted not to revive a plan from last year's budget proposal that sought to hike the state's income tax rate from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent, coupled with a reduction in the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent to help pay for long-term transportation needs.

Lawmakers rejected the proposal, adopting instead a 3 cent-per-gallon hike in the gasoline tax and a $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase.

"I don't think we can come back year after year asking for significant tax increases," Patrick said.

For the first time, the budget plan builds in expected gambling revenue from the state's 2011 casino law.

The budget anticipates about $20 million in revenue from the sole slots parlor allowed under the law.

That license is expected to be awarded early this year and the venue could be up and running by the end of 2014, midway through the fiscal year.

Patrick said much of the new spending in his budget proposal is focused on education, including a $100 million increase in local education aid to cities and towns, bringing total so-called Chapter 70 funding to $4.4 billion.

The $100 million works out to about an extra $25 million for each the state's K-12 students.

Patrick also wants to spend an additional $15 million in early education programs to help close a stubborn achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and white students.

The budget also proposes an extra $32.6 million for the state Department of Children and Families, including more than $9 million to help the department move toward a 15-to-1 caseload ratio for the number of families each social worker is expected to help.

The state has come under fire following the disappearance of a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy in the agency's care.

The budget also increases spending on the state Office of the Child Advocate, which is investigating the disappearance and feared death of the boy.

The budget would boost funding for the state transportation department and the MBTA by $141 million to end the practice of paying for transportation staff on the capital budget.

The budget plan also includes extra spending on helping inmates re-enter communities and discouraging youth recidivism.

There's about $97 million in additional taxes in the budget.

Patrick is again proposing $57 million in new revenue by applying the state's sales tax to candy and soda. That proposal has been rejected by lawmakers in the past, but Patrick again made the argument in favor of the tax saying the money would go to support public health and infrastructure projects.

The plan also includes another $40 million in taxes that Patrick has proposed before, including applying the room occupancy tax on transient rentals, like summer homes.

Besides taxes, the budget also relies on a $175 million withdrawal from the state's rainy day fund.

Massachusetts Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor said the fund will likely remain at the level of $1.2 billion at the end of the fiscal year since 10 percent of capital gains dollars are automatically deposited in the fund.

Not everyone was pleased with the budget plan.

House Republican leader Rep. Brad Jones faulted Patrick for proposing new taxes and relying on the state's rainy day fund to balance his budget. Rebecca Haag, head of the AIDS Action Committee, said the budget doesn't provide enough money to sustain the fight against HIV and AIDS in Massachusetts.

Patrick's budget now heads to the House and Senate, who will craft and debate their own versions of the spending plan before delivering a single compromise budget to Patrick before the end of the current fiscal year June 30.

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/738ba327ae9c413dbde6bde2c8e9a637/MA--Massachusetts-Budget

Wynn Blasts Mohegan Sun’s Boston Casino Project in Hearing

Wynn Blasts Mohegan Sun’s Boston Casino Project in Hearing

By Christopher PalmeriJan 23, 2014

Steve Wynn, the billionaire founder of Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN), criticized a plan by rival Mohegan Sun for a Boston-area casino, saying the tribe would steer business to its home state of Connecticut.

Connecticut has no tax on table games such as blackjack, Wynn said, while Massachusetts will have a 25 percent tax rate.

“What do you think they’re going to do when it comes time to move a big customer, pay 25 percent to Massachusetts, or shovel them off to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut where they pay nothing,” said Wynn at a webcast hearing held by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission yesterday in which the two companies presented their competing proposals.

Wynn and Mohegan Sun, a unit of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority in Uncasville, Connecticut, are vying for what would be the sole casino license in the Boston area. The commission is expected to pick a winner in May.

Mohegan wants to build a casino resort adjacent to the Suffolk Downs horse-racing track in the Boston suburb of Revere. Mohegan Chief Executive Officer Mitchell Etess said yesterday his plan will include easy access to public transportation and save the track, which has lost money as a horse racing-only facility.

The $1.3 billion project is being financed by New York-based hedge fund Brigade Capital Management LLC. Revere isholding a referendum on the proposal on Feb. 25.

Mohegan Sun is required as part of its financing agreement to use its database of customers in New England and Massachusetts to market the property, according to a spokesman.

‘Remarkable Destination’

“We will build a remarkable destination in Revere,”Mohegan Sun said in an e-mailed statement after the hearing. It said its plan will “produce the most revenue, and create thousands of employment and business opportunities for the region.”

Wynn said he plans to build a higher-end hotel than Mohegan Sun and that his rival’s proposal to have separate operators for its casino, retail and hotel businesses would also be a“coordination nightmare.”

Retail brands including Chanel, Gucci and Giorgio Armani are ready to lease space in Wynn’s proposed $1.6 billion resort, which would be located on the site of a former Monsanto Co. chemical plant in Everett, a Boston suburb, Wynn said. Wynn Resorts’ project is also superior because it’s not reliant on external funding, Wynn said.

A Wynn casino in Boston is Mohegan Sun’s “worst nightmare,” he said.

Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby closed the hearing yesterday saying the panel would “do everything within our power to evaluate these proposals carefully.”

Wynn Resorts’ shares fell 1.7 percent to $205.26 at the close in New York.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-23/wynn-blasts-mohegan-sun-s-rival-casino-project-in-boston-hearing.html

China woman gets prison in Vegas casino fraud case

Updated 3:46 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2014

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Chinese woman who told a federal judge she sought asylum in the U.S. after taking part in demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for her role in a Las Vegas casino baccarat-fraud scheme.

Irene Li's lawyer, Assistant Federal Public Defender William Carrico, said Thursday he was "virtually certain" the 53-year-old Li will be deported to China after her 47 months in prison.

Li applied for political refuge more than 10 years ago, but her case was denied and she remained subject to deportation, Carrico said. He said Li told him she had been active in the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement and fled to the U.S. to avoid arrest.

Li pleaded guilty in October to one charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a plea deal that had 28 wire fraud charges against her dismissed.

She asked Wednesday for leniency from U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon, saying through a Mandarin language interpreter that she felt ashamed and sorry for her crimes, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1fa6UKN ).

Gordon credited Li with participating in the demonstrations in China nearly 25 years ago, but he said it didn't excuse her criminal actions in Las Vegas.

The judge ordered Li to repay $2.2 million in damages to five Las Vegas casinos — the Planet Hollywood, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Mirage and MGM Grand.

Li's husband, Xi Sheng Zhang, 57, remains a fugitive in the case, said Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden.

Li and Zhang were indicted in April 2011 on charges that they recruited people to open bank accounts, apply for casino credit and withdraw chips to play baccarat between 2004 and 2009.

Prosecutor Andrew Duncan alleged that Li and Zhang placed recruits at tables where they gambled and used a scheme known as "rolling the chips" to give chips to co-conspirators.

The chips were cashed, and Li gave the recruits a cut of the ill-gotten proceeds, Duncan said. The recruits then disappeared, leaving the casinos unable to collect their debts.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/China-woman-gets-prison-in-Vegas-casino-fraud-case-5169319.php

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Milford: Opponents working to remain organized

Casino-Free Milford

BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE - TWO MONTHS POST REFERENDUM:

Casino-Free Milford is working to stay engaged in the community, focusing on local issues. Steve Trettel, Co-Chair of the group, knows that keeping people engaged is a challenge.

Per Trettel, “If we can convince people to stay involved, what a difference we could make.”

Tensions fading after casino vote

Opponents working to remain organized

By Ellen Ishkanian

| Globe Correspondent January 23, 2014

Nine weeks after Milford voters overwhelmingly told Foxwoods that the town would not welcome a proposed $1 billion casino, those on both sides of the issue say things appear to be back to normal after the election many feared would leave lasting scars.

Selectman Dino DeBartolomeis, who supported the casino, said he got a lot of angry e-mails, but once the votes were counted, and the results so overwhelmingly one-sided, the animosity subsided.

“On my street there were three families for the casino and three families against it,” he said. “During the recent snowstorm, everyone was out helping everyone. That’s the spirit of Milford.”

But just beneath that community spirit may be a new political reality.

It is a reality that Selectman Brian Buckley, the lone casino opponent on the three-member board, said he is ready to push an agenda that was not always heard in the past.

“Two thirds of the community agreed with me,” he said. “With that comes some political strength.”

That strength, if it lasts, will come from the core group of people who banded together over the course of several years to fight the gaming project, he said. Casino-Free Milford, led by chairmen John Seaver and Steve Trettel, was made up of people from different political backgrounds, different neighborhoods across town, and various ethnic groups and professions, as well as lifelong residents and those newer to town.

Not only are they diverse, but they have contact information for a network of town residents who are feeling a newfound sense of power in having a voice in local government, members say.

“We all came together and put our personal political views aside to work for a common cause,” said Jose Costa, a former School Committee member. “We want to take that same thing, and try to work for the greater good of the town.”

The core group of about a dozen people is still meeting, with one of its first priorities getting Buckley reelected. He is the first of the three selectmen to come up for reelection since the casino vote, and as of a recent check was running unopposed with no rumblings of anyone interested in challenging him.

Nomination papers for this spring’s annual election must be filed with the town clerk by Feb. 11.

But that’s not the group’s only goal. While members shy away from talking about backing specific candidates in the future, or drafting candidates to oppose DeBartolomeis or Selectman Brian Murray if they decide to run for reelection when their terms expire, they are clear that their aim is to have their considerable clout felt in local affairs.

Armed with lists of like-minded voters and hundreds of volunteers who proved willing to knock on doors, make phone calls, hold signs, and donate money and expertise to a cause they believe in, the group is setting its sights on improving downtown and improving traffic through town.

“This town came to the conclusion that this was not a good thing,’’ Buckley said of the casino. “We decided what we don’t want to be, now we have to decide what we want to be.”

At a recent Board of Selectmen’s meeting, casino opponent Peter Scandone talked about ideas for improving the appearance of Main Street, and suggested that attractive signs, beautifying traffic islands, and better enforcement to keep bicycles off sidewalks could be easy first steps toward revitalizing the area.

Buckley is also setting his sights on the town’s Industrial Development Commission, which he said he has not seen anything of substance from “in a very long time.”

DeBartolomeis and Murray voiced support for coming up with a plan to make Main Street more vital, attractive, and commercially viable, but also pointed out that this is not a new conversation, and that much has already been done.

“We’ve already spent probably $15 million from various grants to improve things,” DeBartolomeis said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t listen to people who have good ideas.”

DeBartolomeis, who is in his 32nd year on the Board of Selectmen, was an early and steady supporter of the casino. He said the November vote surprised him only in the magnitude of the opposition.

He said he has not decided whether he will run for another term next year, but his support of the casino will not weigh into his decision.

“I’ll do what I always do, I’ll sit down with my family and close friends and make a decision,” he said.

He also has no regrets about his casino votes.

“I thought it was a good opportunity for the town,” he said. “But whether you agree or disagree, it was a good thing for the town to let the people vote.”

Murray, who also supported the casino, agreed that the right course was putting the decision in the hands of town voters.

“I really do remain convinced it was the right thing to do,” he said. “It put the issue to rest.”
Murray and DeBartolomeis say the community involvement brought out by the casino vote is a good thing for the town, but as veterans of local government they question whether the momentum can continue with more mundane matters.

“The casino was lightning-in-a-bottle type stuff,” Murray said.

The test, he said, will be whether the anticasino group can find people willing to put in the work, week after week, to keep local government working well.

“An election cycle is a light year,” he said. “There are so many factors in an election, we’ll have to see what the next year brings.”

Casino-Free Milford official Trettel agrees that keeping people engaged is the challenge.

“If we can convince people to stay involved, what a difference we could make,” he said.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/west/2014/01/23/can-casino-opponents-grassroots-power-endure-milford/NRvaUlq2wjVpLaIdVqqAsI/story.html

73-year-old Gambling Addict robs bank with underwear over face

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014

After gambling away money on horses and Texas Hold ‘em, 73-year-old puts underwear over his face and robs bank, St. Lucie cops say

Dougherty

Bank photo

Bank photo

Bank photo

Bank photo

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

A 73-year-old man who wore black underwear over his face as he robbed a St. Lucie County Jail bank on Wednesday, told police that he committed the crime because he was on a fixed income and gambled away his money on horses and Texas Hold ‘em.

John A. Dougherty of Fort Pierce is in the St. Lucie County Jail on Wednesday after investigators say he admitted to the crime in which he used a loaded shotgun.

St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputies say Dougherty robbed the TD Bank at 5053 Turnpike Feeder Road in the Lakewood Park area around 1 p.m. Seven bank employees and one customer were in the bank at the time of the robbery, according to a statement released by a sheriff’s spokesman.

Dougherty walked into the bank wearing black underwear over his face and holding a wooden shotgun. He ordered two bank employees out of their offices and told them to go to the teller counter. Once there, he placed a gray plastic Walmart bag on the counter and told the teller to put $20 and $50 bills in the bag.

Once given the money, Dougherty ordered the employees to the ground and told them to count to 100. He left the bank and got into a maroon Chevy suburban with a Minnesota license plate. Hidden in the cash was a bank robbery detection device, according to the statement.

Bank employees activated a silent alarm, called 911, and gave police a description of Dougherty and
the suburban.

Investigators got a hit on the detection device and tracked Dougherty to the 4000 block of Kings Highway.

Dougherty was taken into custody and deputies found $1,800 in cash in his pocket and the wooden shotgun in his suburban, along with some other loose cash.

Deputies say Dougherty admitted to the bank robbery and said he needed the money.

“The suspect told me he was on a fixed income and gambled away his money on horses and Texas hold-em,” the deputy wrote in an arrest report.

Dougherty said he was sitting at home earlier in the day and decided to rob the bank. He picked that bank in particular because he remembered the layout from a previous visit. While the shotgun was loaded, deputies say Dougherty told them he never intended on using it.

Dougherty faces one charge of armed robbery and eight counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

“This was great work by our deputies who responded quickly to the area,” St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said in the statement. “They used the information provided by witnesses at the scene and were able to quickly apprehend the suspect in a matter of minutes following the bank robbery.”

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/after-gambling-away-money-on-horses-and-texas-hold/ncyFs/

Tennis’s New Concern: Data Harvesting

Tennis’s New Concern: Data Harvesting

By GREG BISHOP and JOHN MARTINJAN. 21, 2014

MELBOURNE, Australia — The strangest story of this Australian Open so far involved a man, a smartphone, a consultant service for online gambling, a tennis match, an arrest, allegations of corruption, a new law and much confusion. Naturally, it unfolded without precedent.

This story also brought new attention to the gambling boom around professional tennis and introduced many to the term courtsiding.

The accused is Daniel Dobson, 22, of Britain. The police said he came to the tournament last week with an electronic device stitched inside his clothing and linked to a smartphone. They said he used these devices to relay the outcome of points to his employer, Sporting Data, as much as 10 seconds faster than those results could be transmitted through official channels.

Dobson was arrested and charged with engaging in conduct to corrupt a betting outcome. The accusation fell under a law passed in the Australian state of Victoria last April called the Integrity in Sports Act, which was supported and promoted by a coalition of sports organizations, including Tennis Australia.

Daniel Dobson, 22, of Britain was arrested in Melbourne and charged with engaging in conduct to corrupt a betting outcome. Brandon Malone/Reuters

At a news conference after the arrest, Graham Ashton, a deputy commissioner with the Victoria Police, described courtsiding as a “type of cheating and betting on sports.” He said the advance notice provided by Dobson allowed bets to be placed on particular points after they happened and before agencies could close their betting windows.

“Courtsiding is really only one step away from then contacting players and getting engaged in more illicit and sinister types of sports corruption,” Ashton said.

But many of those who bet on tennis do not agree. They say it is unlikely that Dobson relayed that information so someone else could bet on individual points. Most bookmakers have policies in place to prevent that; some allow bettors only to bet three points ahead; others institute a five-second delay after transactions.

On Thursday, Dobson will appear before a judge. His case, to industry insiders, is more about sports results data and who owns them. Among the bullet points in its news release to announce its exclusive data rights for the tournament, the sports data provider Enetpulse listed “exclusive official data service designed for bookmakers,” “fastest live scoring service in the market” and “all data direct from the Umpire’s Chair.”

Brendan Poots, the chief executive of the Melbourne-based sports investment fund Priomha Capital, said the value of that rapid data could be seven figures. The question, then, is whether it is against the law for someone other than Enetpulse — like Sporting Data — to try to transmit it faster.

“I think it’s all blown out of proportion,” Poots said. “I can’t see any relevance to match fixing. The value is in providing the best data as quickly as possible.”

In many ways, tennis is tailored for those modern gamblers who are mathematically inclined.

Enetpulse noted that in 2010 the ATP and WTA scheduled 19,000 matches, which included more than 400,000 games and nearly 2.5 million points. There is no shortage of statistics.

The amount of money wagered on tennis increased exponentially in the last five years, according to Poots and others. The boom took place outside the United States. “In terms of live betting on tennis, it’s nonexistent,” said Ted Sevransky, a longtime bettor and analyst based in Las Vegas. But in Europe and elsewhere, tennis often ranks behind only horse racing and soccer in its appeal to bettors.

Poots noted that an innocuous fourth-round women’s singles match here between No. 28 Flavia Pennetta and No. 9 Angelique Kerber attracted more than $4 million in wagers on the betting site Betfair on the first set alone.

“From a gambling or trading perspective, tennis is magnificent,” Poots said. “It’s one-on-one. It’s global. And it takes place almost year round.”

What separates tennis betting from other sports is that most bets are placed on events that happen during a match. That stems from the scoring system, with all the back and forth, which shifts the odds often and significantly enough to exploit.

The more the betting increased, the more opportunities emerged for gamblers. Many center on statistical analysis. Sites like Tennis Ratings advertise analysis of the best and worst players at defending a break advantage, or which players tend to most often play three-set matches.

As gambling on tennis became more popular, concerns spread. In 2007, the Australian Open hired Sal Perna, a former homicide detective who specialized in combating fraud and corruption. The tournament wanted a policy in place by 2008.

Perna studied other sports organizations, including Major League Baseball, the N.F.L., cricket and rugby. What emerged was an anticorruption policy that borrowed from each.

The tournament hung signs around the grounds that read: “Tennis Australia has a zero tolerance policy on illegal gambling, match fixing and the communication of sensitive information which may affect the outcome of a match and will investigate all reported instances.” The signs included a telephone number for a “Tennis Integrity Hotline.”

At the first tournament under the new policy, officials detained a Bulgarian man who Perna said had been placing his hand into a bag after each point. When they played a videotape back, they could see a laptop. The man then left Melbourne in the middle of the next night.

“The challenge with that was, how do you identify what the criminal charge is?” Perna said. “Because what they’re really doing is transmitting live information about a match.”

The Integrity in Sports Act tried to clarify that matter with a law, focused largely on match-fixing and race-fixing and corruption. The most serious penalties carry a potential jail sentence of 10 years.

Courtsiding, though, is not as clear-cut as, say, bribing a player or throwing a match. Someone like Dobson is sitting in a public place, watching a public event. The information he is processing is available to thousands sitting around him. The way he is accused of transmitting data appears nearly identical to what the chair umpires do for Enetpulse.

Professional tennis has its own integrity unit, a joint venture among the men’s and women’s tours, the International Tennis Federation and the four Grand Slam tournaments. The unit is an independent body that can request phone records, computer records and travel arrangements. But it cannot make arrests.

Since last June, betting violations have led to fines and suspensions for four players. They came from the lower rungs of the professional circuit, where money is tighter and expenses often exceed prize money.

Sporting Data did not respond to requests for comment, but released a statement in defense of Dobson. The statement said the company planned to fight “this grossly unfair accusation.” It said the company could not use “out of date” television broadcasts for its mathematical models.

IMG Media, which purchased a majority share in Enetpulse in 2012, said in a statement that the agreement with the Australian Open pumped money back into tennis, while courtsiders do not.

Bill Babcock, director of the Grand Slam committee, said of Sporting Data: “I don’t agree they have a right to use the data. Scoring is the right of the tournament.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/sports/tennis/tenniss-new-concern-data-harvesting.html?_r=0

Middleboro Remembers

Meetings & Information

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Health officer absent from responsible gambling conference Dr. Perry Kendall invited but declines to attend

Losing Everything to Gambling Addiction

Losing Everything to Gambling Addiction

More older Americans are problem gamblers, but are they betting against their health, too?

RISKING YOUR HEALTH

8 BIG LOSERS

Foxwoods to lay off 120 table game dealers

Foxwoods to lay off 120 table game dealers

It's Not A Done Deal!

Friday, January 24, 2014

Atlantic City: The Poster Child for Predatory Gambling - You are NO DIFFERENT!

Atlantic City's Last 'Low-Roller' Casino Busts

Mohegan Sun robbery trial begins

Mohegan Sun's Phony PR

Paul Burns' Palmer Bucket Brigade

What's Mohegan Sun's Non-Casino Plan for Palmer?

Slot Barn Hearing Postponed to Another Inconvenient Time

Declining revenues????

Governor Slot Barn's Hallucination

Wynn Blasts Mohegan Sun’s Boston Casino Project in Hearing

‘Remarkable Destination’

China woman gets prison in Vegas casino fraud case

China woman gets prison in Vegas casino fraud case

Updated 3:46 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Milford: Opponents working to remain organized

Casino-Free Milford

Tensions fading after casino vote

Opponents working to remain organized

By Ellen Ishkanian

73-year-old Gambling Addict robs bank with underwear over face

After gambling away money on horses and Texas Hold ‘em, 73-year-old puts underwear over his face and robs bank, St. Lucie cops say

Tennis’s New Concern: Data Harvesting

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Saturday, January 25, 2014

Losing Everything to Gambling Addiction

More older Americans are problem gamblers, but are they betting against their health, too?

RISKING YOUR HEALTH

8 BIG LOSERS

Foxwoods to lay off 120 table game dealers

Friday, January 24, 2014

What's Mohegan Sun's Non-Casino Plan for Palmer?

‘Remarkable Destination’

China woman gets prison in Vegas casino fraud case

Updated 3:46 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Tensions fading after casino vote

Opponents working to remain organized

By Ellen Ishkanian

After gambling away money on horses and Texas Hold ‘em, 73-year-old puts underwear over his face and robs bank, St. Lucie cops say

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