Governor Pushes for Change in Bingo Decision

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - In a move that is anything but surprising Governor Bob Riley asked the Alabama Supreme Court on Monday to throw out a ruling in the White Hall Gaming Center case.

The Governor's office contends that the judge, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Mark Kennedy, should have recused himself of the case immediately for his work for an Indian casino. Governor Riley and the Governor's Task Force on Illegal Gambling also asked the Supreme Court for an immediate stay of Judge Kennedy's order until the Supreme Court has a chance to consider the appeal.

Kennedy's Saturday afternoon ruling ordered the state to return cash and gaming machines seized during the March 19 raid within five days. It also ordered the state not to interfere with the White Hall Gaming Center's operations until a final ruling in the case.

For the complete story, please see Governor wants bingo ruling tossed, WSFA 12 News, March 29, 2009.

Fraternal Organizations to be Allowed Slot Machines

In order to increase some nonprofit organizations ability to raise funds, the state of Massachusetts has pushed forward on the idea of allowing slot machines in service clubs and fraternal organizations.

It will be interesting to see if this idea catches on in other areas. Maybe slot machines will eventually join bingo and pulltabs as a common method for nonprofits to gain revenues.

Following is an excerpt from an article regarding this issue:

"A bill adding Worcester County to the list of Eastern Shore counties permitting slot machines in non-profit service clubs and fraternal organizations breezed through the House by an overwhelming margin this week, setting the stage for final approval by the Senate.

House Bill 65, introduced by Democratic Delegates James Mathias and Norm Conway, would allow limited slot machine gambling in service clubs and fraternal organizations in Worcester County, such as the American Legion or the Elks Club, for example, in the interest of expanding their fundraising capabilities. Slots are currently allowed on a limited basis in all other counties on the shore, and the bill, which passed through the House by a vote of 127-6 this week, would add Worcester to the list.

Slot machine gambling in the clubs had been resisted for years in Worcester County, but last year, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the exact same bill introduced by Mathias and Conway had the backing of the Ocean City Mayor and Council and the Worcester County Commissioners. Last year, the bill passed a House vote, but died as the session expired before the full Senate could vote on it when the legislation got caught up in a swirl of other bills related to slots and gambling."

For the complete story, please see Shawn J. Soper, House Finds No Problem With Slots In Service Clubs, The Dispatch, March 27, 2009.

For a Happy Bingo, Treat Your Bingo Players Like Gold

Bingo managers frequently struggle with getting and keeping good bingo workers. As a result, their bingos can often be strained as new workers make mistakes while learning the ropes, causing bingo players to grumble and become unhappy.

Happy, knowledgeable workers can be a bingo's biggest asset. They treat their players well, are helpful with explaining bingo supplies and bingo programs, and generally help smooth out operations from start to finish. In turn, player retention is usually very strong.

For tips on recruiting bingo workers and keeping them happy, please see Bingo Workers Are People Too.

FireKeepers Casino on Pace for Summer 2009

FireKeepers Casino, located on Interstate 94 near Battle Creek, announced today the completion of an attached five-story parking structure offering 2,078 spaces. The garage, visible from the interstate, is attached to the casino, making visiting FireKeepers convenient, safe and hassle free.

FireKeepers Casino will feature Las Vegas-style gaming, including 2,500 slot machines, 90 table games and a live poker room, along with exciting nightlife options and five restaurants.

The Tribal Council of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Indians and construction workers signed the last pre-cast concrete panel before it was set into place, completing the parking structure.

“The Tribe is pleased with the progress made by our construction and design team keeping FireKeepers Casino on schedule for a Summer 2009 opening. At this point, 60 percent of the project is complete and we will begin focusing on the interior finishes,” said Laura W. Spurr, Tribal Chair of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi.

For the complete story, please see Eric Dimoff, FireKeepers Casino completes 2,078 space parking structure, The Battle Creek Enquirer, March 24, 2009.

Greektown Casino to be Led by Consultants

A bankruptcy judge has given financially troubled Greektown Casino-Hotel the go-ahead to employ three Las Vegas-based consultants to run the city's third-smallest gambling hall.

Judge Walter Shapero approved an order that clears the way for three executives of the Fine Point Group, the gaming consultancy hired in January to help Greektown improve its bottom line, to take top positions at the casino.

Randy Fine, Fine Point's founder, is set to take the reins as chief executive. Amanda Totaro and Chris Colwell will head up the casino's marketing and operations. All three have experience with big-name casino operating firms such as Harrah's Entertainment

For the complete story, please see Nathan Hurst, Judge approves consultants to run Greektown Casino, The Detroit News, March 16, 2009.

Bingo Battle Continues

The battle between charity and tribal bingos continue to be fought in California. Below is an excerpt on the latest.

From The Sacremento Bee:
California tribal casino representatives warn that the state risks losing tens of millions of dollars in tribal revenue-sharing payments if authorities can't shut down charitable bingo parlors that operate casino-style machines.

A new law intended to ban electronic bingo games used by many charities went into effect Jan. 1.

But several bingo parlors in Sacramento and elsewhere have continued operating the machines under a court injunction that stopped state and county authorities from shutting down the games.

For the complete story, please see Peter Hecht, Courts set to decide charity bingo machine cases
, The Sacremento Bee, March 9, 2009.

American Legion Voices Concern Over Healthcare

While the following article doesn't have anything specifically to do with bingo game supplies or the bingo industry, it's obviously pertains to The American Legion.

And, since many American Legions run fundraising bingos (many of them our customers), we thought this would be of interest. So, below is an excerpt from an article regarding a new proposal from President Obama dealing with veterans and healthcare.

From The American Legion:
The leader of the nation's largest veterans organization says he is "deeply disappointed and concerned" after a meeting with President Obama today to discuss a proposal to force private insurance companies to pay for the treatment of military veterans who have suffered service-connected disabilities and injuries. The Obama administration recently revealed a plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in such cases.


"It became apparent during our discussion today that the President intends to move forward with this unreasonable plan," said Commander David K. Rehbein of The American Legion. "He says he is looking to generate $540-million by this method, but refused to hear arguments about the moral and government-avowed obligations that would be compromised by it."


The Commander, clearly angered as he emerged from the session said, "This reimbursement plan would be inconsistent with the mandate ' to care for him who shall have borne the battle' given that the United States government sent members of the armed forces into harm's way, and not private insurance companies. I say again that The American Legion does not and will not support any plan that seeks to bill a veteran for treatment of a service connected disability at the very agency that was created to treat the unique need of America's veterans!"

For the complete story, please see Craig Roberts, The American Legion Strongly Opposed to President's Plan to Charge Wounded Heroes for Treatment, The American Legion via Yahoo News, March 16, 2009.

More on the Unfortunate Build-up of Las Vegas

Harrah’s Entertainment Chief Executive Gary Loveman once described CityCenter, built by competitor MGM Mirage, as “the sort of casino God would build if he had the money.”

Las Vegas’ casino giants did appear godlike before the recession. Theirs were among Wall Street’s highest-performing stocks, and they built on that success by constructing the world’s most expensive hotels.

In the haze of the ongoing economic hangover, these Las Vegas resorts — including some yet to be finished, such as CityCenter — look like the fevered dreams of out-of-control egos.

For the complete story, please see Liz Benston, Before recession, success further fed gaming industry’s egos, Las Vegas Sun, March 16, 2009.

MGM to Sell Detroit Casino

MGM Grand Detroit, the city's largest and most profitable casino, is up for sale.

It's just one property across Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage's multinational empire being pitched to buyers as the debt-ridden company seeks to shore up its balance sheet, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed Sunday.

The specter of a sale of MGM Grand Detroit and other profitable properties like Bellagio on the Vegas Strip comes as MGM Mirage is seeking to erase tens of billions in debt, much of it financing the company's $8.6 billion CityCenter venture in Las Vegas.

For the complete story, please see Nathan Hurst, MGM puts casino on the block, The Detroit News, March 16, 2009.

Detroit Casinos Show Profits

Greektown Casino increased its share of Detroit's gaming market in February -- as the three casinos reported that revenues were up more than 9% from January.

"We are attracting folks that play at other properties ... it says that players are interested in what we have here, and folks are playing more with us than they had been," said Amanda Totaro, an executive with the Fine Point Group, a Las Vegas consultant working with Greektown.

Greektown's market share went from 22.76% in January to 23.52% in February.

Greektown opened its 400-room hotel in February and since then has pushed a $99-room deal with $10 in free play at the casino. The buzz has helped the property, but probably also helped all three properties, said Randall A. Fine, managing director for the Fine Point Group.

"It wouldn't surprise me as we step up our game that our competitors would do so as well," said Fine. "A good casino operator isn't going to sit around and complain about the economy ... maybe all three Detroit casinos have adopted that attitude."

For the complete story, please see Mary Francis Masson, Profits surge in February at Detroit's casinos, Detroit Free Press, March 11, 2009.

Racino and Casinos to Submit Competing Proposals

A petition seeking voter approval of casinos in four Ohio cities was submitted to the state attorney general for review Wednesday as state regulators explore a separate plan that would allow slots at racetracks without a vote.

The Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee said the casino proposal would lead to $1 billion in private investment, $600 million in tax revenue and 20,000 new jobs. Casinos would be built in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo.

If Attorney General Richard Cordray approves proposed constitutional amendment language, the group will begin gathering signatures toward placing the issue on the Nov. 3 ballot.

Meanwhile, the Ohio Racing Commission plans to submit details of a competing proposal for state-run slot machines at seven horse racetracks. The group argued that lawmakers can act independently of voters and should seize the opportunity to take control of the endless parade of gambling proposals and look out for the state’s economic interests.

“This petition they submit today will cut out racetracks,” said commission executive director Sam Zonak. “They want casinos in four cities. That’s not going to help us.”

For the complete story, please see Julie Carr Smyth, Group submits proposal for 4 casinos in Ohio, The Herald-Dispatch, March 11, 2009

New Push to Bring Casino to Cincinnati

"There’s a new push to bring casino gambling to downtown Cincinnati -- but it will require voters to say yes at the polls.

If supporters have their way, the issue will be decided this fall. Developers want to bring a casino in to replace a sea of parking lots on the edge of downtown along Broadway Commons.

Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Berding said he believes the issue will pass this time around."

Above taken from WLTW.com,"New Push For Casinos Could Bring Gambling To Queen City", March 2, 2009.

Will Cap and Spend Kill Michigan Economy?

Michigan has certainly seen its share of hard times in recent years. And, for our part, the loss of jobs and population have certainly hurt charitable bingos. With that in mind, we will be watching with interest the President's proposed Cap and Spend program.

According to an editorial in the Detroit News, this proposal will be particularly damaging to Michigan.

Below is an excerpt:

"President Barack Obama's proposed cap-and-trade system on greenhouse gas emissions is a giant economic dagger aimed at the nation's heartland -- particularly Michigan. It is a multibillion-dollar tax hike on everything that Michigan does, including making things, driving cars and burning coal.

The president is asking for a system of government limits on carbon emissions. The right to emit carbon would be auctioned off to generate revenue for more government spending programs.

The president's budget projects receipts totaling $646 billion through 2019 from the sale of these greenhouse gas permits.

The goal, according to the president's budget outline, is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide to 14 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.

Doing so will drive up the cost of nearly everything and will amount to a major tax increase for American consumers.

Such a tax will hit the Midwest particularly hard, which is why House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, told the New York Times, "let's just be honest and call it a carbon tax that will increase taxes on all Americans who drive a car, who have a job, who turn on a light switch, pure and simple."

The carbon tax will be paid by energy companies, manufacturers and public utilities, who will pass the cost on to their consumers. Michigan will be especially targeted. It gets 60 percent of its electric power from coal plants, and the state's economy is still reliant on heavy manufacturing such as car and truck assembly and auto parts production.

For the complete story, please see the Editorial Section, Editorial: Cap-and-trade plan will sink Michigan, The Detroit News, March 4, 2009.

MGM Mirage May Default on Debt

MGM Mirage Inc., the gambling company owned by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, said Tuesday that it may default on its debt amid development of its biggest casino project ever, the $8.6-billion CityCenter in Las Vegas.

MGM Mirage owns the MGM Grand casino and hotel in downtown Detroit.

Unless the economy turns around and more people start gambling again, the Las Vegas-based casino company believes it will break its loan agreements this year, it said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That would mean a default on its senior credit facility, which MGM has asked to modify.

MGM Mirage will delay filing its annual report until March 17 because it is still assessing its financial position and liquidity needs, the company said in Tuesday's unscheduled filing. One factor in the delay, the company reported, was its decision last week to tap $842 million of its $4.5-billion senior revolving credit agreement to cover general expenses.

For the complete story, please see Oskar Garcia, MGM Mirage casino firm says it may default on debt, The Detroit Free Press, March 4, 2009.

U.P. Casinos Show Profits

Even though its Greektown Casino fell into bankruptcy, 2008 proved a bumper year for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa's five casinos in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, tribe officials announced Monday.

The 2.5 percent increase in profit compared with 2007 brought in $31.28 million for the tribe, and came as the Sault's Kewadin Casinos arm, which operates the U.P. gambling halls, went through a year of cost-cutting.

"In a state and national recession and at a time when revenues and profits are down significantly in gaming markets across the nation, we are proud to report relatively strong performances at our five Kewadin Casinos in Northern Michigan," said Joe McCoy, chairman of the Sault Tribe, in a statement.


For the complete story, please see Nathan Hurst, U.P. casinos report a profitable year, The Detroit News, March 3, 2009.

Are Detroit's High Rollers Feeling a Pinch?

Are Metro Detroit's high rollers getting lowballed by the city's casinos?

Ask industry experts and big bettors, such as businessman Tom Fetzer of Birmingham, and the answer is a resounding "yes."

"I'm not a casual gambler," said Fetzer, who estimates his monthly play at MGM Grand Detroit averages $4,000. "And I've come to expect to be rewarded for it."

Instead, Fetzer and other big-time gamblers say they're seeing casinos' recessionary cost-cutting in the form of reduced comps. In recent weeks, regular players say they've noticed reductions in rewards such as cash back and free hotel stays from MGM as well as a pullback in freebies from the city's other two gambling halls, MotorCity and Greektown.

Short for complimentary, "comps" are the givebacks casinos award players to retain loyalty and keep their dollars flowing into the house's coffers. Comps range from cash back on slots and video poker machines to free hotel nights to gratis designer goods, all meant to keep big players playing. Experts say comps can be the most effective marketing tool casinos have to entice players to spend big.

And those high rollers -- a loosely-defined term for players who bet big and a lot -- often are the spenders who can make casinos enormously profitable.

The pullback in giveaways is a cost-cutting strategy that hasn't been seen in other recent recessions. In the most recent downturn of 2002-03, for example, experts said many casinos ratcheted up comps to keep gamblers playing through the tough times.

For the complete story, please see Nathan Hurst, Casino perks cut, high rollers claim, The Detroit News, March 2, 2009.

Will the Strip Close Underperforming Casinos?

As we've discussed bingos aren't the only gaming environments suffering under the current economic reality. Las Vegas continues to struggle as visitors dwindle and the ones who still make the trip tighten their belts. Below is an another article detailing the Strip's continued problems.


"Wall Street is suggesting the unthinkable. Strip casino operators might actually close under-performing resorts because it makes sense in the current economic environment.

JPMorgan gaming analyst Joe Greff posed the concept to Wynn Resorts Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn during a conference call when the company was explaining cost cuts of $75 million to $100 million. Greff wondered whether the competition might reduce capacity.

Wynn pondered the notion, but wouldn't speculate.

Macquarie Research gaming analyst Joel Simkins thoroughly addressed the idea in a Feb. 20 investors report. He said the casino industry could downsize operations in the way other consumer-service businesses have.

"The sector stands on the precipice of a shake-out and capacity rationalization," Simkins said. "It is reasonable to assume that 5 to 10 percent of the excess supply in the industry could be shuttered in one to three years."

For the complete story, please see Howard Stutz, INSIDE GAMING: Casinos may have to profit or perish, ReviewJournal.com, March 1, 2009.

High Stakes Internet Poker Match Sparks Interest

Money will change hands. While the flow of dough in the highest stakes poker games on the Internet has been considerable over the years, the running frequency of the biggest ‘nosebleed stakes’ games has gone down. Blame the recession, the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2005, or simply the fact that the former top players just aren’t good enough any more, but where there were once ample opportunities for the cyber-based card sharp to relieve some hapless rube of his riches, there now exists merely a boneyard of lost wealth.

A loss, too, for the poker industry compounded by the straitjacket of prohibitive US legislation – many sites block financial transactions from American players. There could well be a queue of rich competitors in line waiting to play, but if there is, they won’t have easy means to do so. Not to mention that at a time when money is short for many, the idea of losing grotesque amounts of cash at the click of a button is not an appealing notion.

For the complete story, please see Ben Lobel, The High Stakes Poker Showdown, Exec Digital.

Caesars Windsor to Suspend Sports Betting for Final 4

The Caesars Windsor casino will suspend betting on men's Division I basketball for one week ending April 6, when the NCAA championship game will be played across the Detroit River in Detroit.

The NCAA says the city of Windsor supported its request to Ontario Lottery Gaming Corp., the government agency that owns Caesars Windsor, to halt otherwise legal college basketball betting at the casino. Casinos in Michigan and most other states are banned from offering sports wagers.

For the complete story, please see Ontario casino halts betting during NCAA Final 4, ChicagoTribune.com, February 27, 2009.

Fort Wayne Casino a Possibility

Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry wants voters to decide whether the state's second largest city should seek a state casino gambling license.

The Democratic first-term mayor said a citywide referendum should be held as early as this fall to decide whether the city should pursue a license.

Henry also said the ongoing debate over whether legalized gambling should be expanded in Fort Wayne should continue through a referendum campaign.

"The decision about gaming is not mine alone," Henry said.

For the complete story, please see Ft. Wayne mayor wants referendum on casino license, TheRepublic.com, February 28, 2009.

MGM's Billboards Causing Controversy

A pair of golden eyes glowering at motorists from a billboard on the Lodge Freeway were supposed to draw attention to the MGM Grand Casino -- but one local pastor sees only Satan, and a creeped-out councilwoman wants the sign removed.

The billboard, near the Detroit casino off the Lodge, depicts a huge pair of eyes on a black background, with a small golden silhouette of MGM's signature lion on the sign's upper right-hand side.

Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi said Friday she was shocked by the billboard, calling it "sinister." She said she complained to MGM and asked it be taken down. The Rev. James A. Smith, pastor of Maranatha Gospel Church in Romulus, is taking her one step further, planning to mount a campaign to pressure the casino to do so.

"I was shocked when I saw it," Smith said. "It looks like a demon glaring at you; nobody with kids in their car should be forced to look at that. No Christian should."

For the complete story, please see George Hunter and Christine MacDonald, MGM's 'golden eyes' billboards called sinister, The Detroit News, February 28, 2009.