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§ October 8th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
A $3 billion resort on Miamis waterfront that could include a casino? Floridas gambling prospects certainly have gotten a lot more ambitious since a constitutional amendment in 2004 paved the way for pari-mutuel casinos.
Then again, a persistent economic decline has dropped state revenues like a rock, so to speak, jacked up unemployment to 10.7 percent and changed attitudes. As such, the Legislature, which would have to approve legislation permitting more gambling expansion, is gearing up for quite an onslaught of bills and lobbying.
§ October 3rd, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
I have one word in response to Rep. Lou Langs editorial, (Perspective, Sept.25) urging Governor Quinn to sign the gambling bill: delusion. Lang claims a Chicago casino will generate 7,000 to 10,000 jobs at the facility, but provides no figures for other proposed sites contained in the bill. This is a very clever omission as new casinos only cannibalize business from existing casinos.
While the new Rivers Casino in Des Plaines is off to a fast start, business is considerably down at rival casinos in the state. It is absurd to think that new casinos create new gamblers.
§ August 11th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
Authorities released a list Thursday of places where illegal gambling devices called ?coin pushers? were recently found. Visalia police this week arrested two people in connection with distributing the illegal gambling devices. / Juan Villa
§ August 7th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
Mohegan Sun and a group backing its plans to build a casino in Palmer, Mass., expressed their pleasure this week after Bay State Gov. Deval Patrick agreed to a key provision likely to speed legalization of casino gambling.
Patrick, in his monthly radio appearance on WTKK-FM, said he will accept one competitively bid slots parlor in addition to three resort casinos. The parlor provision had been a key sticking point in last years debate and its resolution clears the way for a vote this fall, although tax rates and regulations are still being debated.
Every time the governor says something, its significant, said Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, owners of Mohegan Sun casinos in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Its great news for gaming in Massachusetts although not all together unexpected.
Mohegan Sun is planning a community barbecue in Palmer next month to discuss its casino plans further.
Palmer Businesses for a Palmer Casino, a group backing Mohegan Suns resort casino concept, hailed Patricks announcement and wants to deepen its alliance with the tribal gaming authority.
(We are) eager to understand more from Mohegan Sun as to its development partner and the development agreement with Town of Palmer, the group said in a press release.
Mohegan Sun is not ready to announce an entity partner for the Palmer project and wont do so until after Massachusetts sets all the guidelines, Etess said. Several parties are interested, he added.
You cant sell a project to someone without the rules being settled, Etess said. You simply cant run your economic models.
Palmer is in competition with Holyoke for the one license expected to be issued for western Massachusetts. Mohegan Sun has an office in downtown Palmer and has been working to build a casino there for about two years.
§ August 7th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
FORT PIERCE –
Five people were taken into custody Thursday when police shut down a gambling business, according to affidavits.
SWAT officers from the Fort Pierce and Port St. Lucie police departments worked together to execute the search warrant about 7 pm Thursday at a restaurant in the 1100 block of Avenue D. The owner, Charles Jackson, 59, told officers small bets were placed there for table games and sporting events, according to his affidavit.
Jackson, of the 800 block of Holly Avenue, Fort Pierce, was charged with keeping a gambling house and posted $2,500 bail.
Four other people were charged with misdemeanor gambling.
Police said they found 17 Ecstasy pills on Fabian Butler, 40, of the 3100 block of Louisiana Avenue, Fort Pierce. Besides the gambling charge, he was charged with possession with intent to sell and remained at the St. Lucie County Jail on Friday in lieu of $75,250 bail.
Another accused gambler, Jeffrey L. Patterson, 29, of the 2200 block of North 44th Street, Fort Pierce, also was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell and possession of marijuana.
§ August 6th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
Cabinet minister Rich Coleman announces launch of BC Lottery Corporations online gambling site in July 2010.
§ August 5th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
The gambling corruption trial thats been going on since early June in Montgomery is ending with a massive gamble by the nine defendants, including former Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla.
The defendants lawyers on Friday rested their respective cases, three days after the prosecution rested and a day after US District Judge Myron Thompson rejected motions to dismiss the charges.
A lone defense witness was called Thursday afternoon.
Thompson on Monday will again consider defense dismissal motions. If he rejects them again, closing arguments will begin on Wednesday.
Fridays move stunned courtroom observers, but the defense lawyers expressed confidence that federal prosecutors didnt present enough evidence to prove their allegations of conspiracy and bribery in a vote-buying scheme in the State House to pass a constitutional amendment legalizing electronic bingo in Alabama.
Their confidence level probably got a boost when Thompson, even while rejecting the dismissal motions, said he had reservations about some of the charges against some of the defendants.
Still, its a brazen move, especially with all the resources and manpower the Justice Department, which usually doesnt make a case unless its certain of success, has committed to this one.
We dont have the space or inclination to review all the testimony in the trial. We also dont have a vote as to these defendants guilt or innocence.
Lets just say (a.) some folks and not just those in the dock were embarrassed when their words caught on microphones were made public; (b.) some folks wanted the electronic bingo amendment to pass very badly; and (c.) politicians seem perpetually to have their hands out for contributions.
A lot of distastefulness was brought into the spotlight. However, the question at issue here, just as in the Don Siegelman/Richard Scrushy case thats in the appeals process right now, is at what point does distastefulness become criminality?
Is it illegal does it inherently create a quid pro quo when an advocate for an issue contributes money to a politician, and the politician supports that advocates issue?
The defendants in this trial, and others, have claimed prosecutors are trying to criminalize the practice of politics. Weve expressed if not sympathy with, at least understanding of that argument.
The old line about averting ones eyes from sausage or legislation being made comes to mind.
Politics is what it is an often ugly but totally indispensable activity.
Maybe the jury or judge in this trial will help mark the boundary where politics turns into something else.
§ August 4th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
SINGAPORE – The presence of the Integrated Resorts (IRs) here has not caused a spike in the number of gambling addicts, said Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) chairman Richard Magnus yesterday, citing a study done by the Institute of Mental Health.
Speaking at a question and answer session at the 23rd Singapore Law Review Annual Lecture, Mr Magnus said that the study concluded that gambling addiction numbers before and after the establishment of the IRs remained the same.
What the IRs did, though, was provide just another avenue for gambling, said Mr Magnus.
He added: The thinking is that some of these gamblers moved away from the traditional gambling areas and move into casinos.
Responding to a question on the social impact of casinos, CRA chief executive Lau Peet Meng, who was also at the event, revealed that the authorities are studying overseas models where it is compulsory for gamblers to declare how much they want to lose before they step into the casino.
Currently, patrons to the IRs here can voluntarily cap their gambling outlay.
On the call for greater transparency with regard to the number of Singaporeans entering the casinos, Mr Lau agreed that this could be looked into.
It is … probably one of the aspects of the (Casino Control) Act (that) we need to look at more carefully, which is the legality of the information and how the information shared can be used, he said.
But Mr Magnus reiterated: I can perhaps give you the assurance that the local urban legend that quite a number of our locals or PRs frequent the casinos … is just a legend.
Mr Magnus noted that several challenges lie ahead in the regulation of the IRs.
Apart from the creative ways of money laundering, the casino industry might also change in the years ahead from one that is incentivised to self-regulate – due to the high profits – to one where the industry turns stale.
Earlier in his speech, Mr Magnus also said that, while the authorities hope that the IRs are mature participants who see the value of self-regulation … we cannot discount the possibility of market failure.
He added that there will be occasions where the casino operators and regulator will not view self-disclosure as a win-win situation and that will be when CRA needs to intervene.
§ July 31st, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The nine defendants in a corruption trial involving Alabama gambling legislation are resting their case after calling just one defense witness.
The defendants include current and former legislators, lobbyists and casino owners. They are accused in a scheme to buy and sell votes on a bill to legalize electronic bingo in Alabama.
Prosecutors based much of their case on wiretaps of telephone conversations. Three legislators who wore wires testified they felt they were being offered money to vote for the bill, but defense attorneys say they did not hear any talk of bribes being offered to legislators.
The judge will hear arguments Monday from defense attorneys who want the charges dismissed. Closing arguments are expected Wednesday.
§ July 30th, 2011 § Filed under Gambling § Tagged Gambling Comments Off
Jerry Powers (right) with fashion designer Calvin Klein (center) and Jason Binn
Old habits die hard, it seems. Between 1977 and 1984, Ocean Drive founder and current Plum TV exec Jerry Powers was sued 13 times for money owed.
I was dependent on drugs when I did those things, he told New Times two years ago. I was stoned and broke. There is no question I wrote checks even though I didnt have money to cover them.
Now Powers is in hot water once again for writing bad checks. This time, however, the culprit isnt drugs but another vice: blackjack tables.
Powers, a New Jersey native who started out in Miami Beach in the late 60s by publishing the controversial Daily Planet and Miami Free Press, sold Ocean Drive for $33 million in 2007 and is now leading Plums expansion into films and magazines.
According to the Associated Press, however, his old habits of compulsive behavior and writing bad checks have caught up with him.
The AP reportsPowers has been hounded for months by lawsuits from three casinos claiming he owes them huge gambling debts. On Wednesday, he settled with the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut over an unpaid $1.2 million line of credit he had allegedly blown through playing blackjack.
Powers also racked up a $1 million tab at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and an unknown bill at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
It was a chapter. It was closed. Everybodys paid, and Im really happy about it, the 65-year-old told the AP.
Like nearly 30 years ago, however, Powers could face legal problems even after paying the three casinos:
In the Connecticut and Atlantic City cases, both casinos accused Powers of signing agreements for lines of credit and later writing checks to the casinos that bounced. In the Mohegan Sun case, casino officials accused Powers of stopping payment on a $465,000 check, while other checks were returned because the accounts were closed.
Trump Taj Mahal lawyers alleged in their lawsuit that Powers wrote four checks totaling just over $1 million to the casino to repay the line of credit there. Those checks also bounced, and the lawsuit claims Powers knew there wasnt enough money in his accounts to cover the payments.
Powers had fought the Mohegan Sun lawsuit, arguing that the credit line was an illegal gambling contract and that state courts had no jurisdiction over a gambling dispute on the reservation of the sovereign Mohegan Tribe, which runs the casino.
Wednesdays settlement means Powers is no longer at risk of losing his media empire to the Mohegan Sun. But it doesnt rule out criminal charges.
In other words, dont expect those Plum TV Art Basel reruns to end anytime soon.
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