Online Slots Player

In October 2002, when Surrey, B.C. councilor Bob Bose leaked details about a secret council meeting that was held to discuss a casino on the city-owned Cloverdale Fairgrounds, he launched a controversy that still haunts Fraser Downs and its slot machines.

The latest issue in this on-going saga is that the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which purchased Fraser Downs in March 2005, has decided to cut the number of race days at the track in order to save money.

The horse racing industries have been dramatically losing ground to casinos and online gaming for a number of years. Less and less people are coming to the track and profits are way down.

The push for slot machines at Fraser Downs was presented as a way to save racing by using a portion of the revenue generated to increase race purses. It was argued that richer purses would bring better horses and drivers to Surrey, which would mean more fans and gamblers as well. However, it did not work out that way.

Great Canadian and the B.C. Standardbred Association signed a four year deal in 2007 that extended the season by two months and was intended to stabilize the game but it did not happen.
Unfortunately, even after adding the slot machines, horse racing at Fraser Downs is in serious trouble and is slowly fading away.

Residents of New York and Ohio have been waiting a long time to bring casinos to their states. Big expansion project at Aqueduct has been put on hold for almost nine years, while New York has several casinos. In both areas of the country, this week proved to be good for gamblers.

A deal was finally approved for a gaming company to build a casino at Aqueduct, in New York. A highly successful gaming company from Malaysia, the Genting Group won the approval of state leaders to bring over 4,500 slot machines to the famed racetracks location.

The plan came under fire and eventually fell through, although a deal had been reached with another group last year. Since voters approved a casino at Aqueduct nine years ago, a handful of deals have been in place, but each plan proved to have a flaw and it was denied.

In Ohio, this week a similar deal was struck. The Ohio deal took place between two companies, instead of being between the company and the state. To build and operate casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati, Harrah’s Entertainment reached an agreement with Rock Gaming.

Rock Gaming, a subsidiary of Rock Ventures, which was put together by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. In the election last November, the Cavs owner won the rights to casinos in both cities. Until this week, until this week which gaming company would build the casinos.

In the US, Harrah’s comes equipped with a reputation for successful casinos. The company has now moved into the online gambling industry and it owns properties in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. With an investment of over $1 billion between the two casinos, the deal between Rock Gaming and Harrah’s will dealt. Before the facility in Cincinnati, the Cleveland casino is expected to be open.

The government in Ontario has decided to try their luck in the business of online gaming and casino table games in hopes of creating an additional revenue stream. Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced the government is spending 18 months to develop a system to allow Ontario residents to gamble from the convenience of their own home or personal laptop. The program will launch in early 2012.

Possible games will include lottery games such as, lottery tickets via the Internet and e-instant tickets. The website is also expected to have extensive casino games technology such as typical table games such as blackjack and assorted poker games with the house (government) banking the table games.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation will be the administrator for the ambitious project. Poker (player against player) will also take a prominent role in the website. Poker games will make money off of the rake (percentage of the main pot goes to the house).

A Canadian study recently taken, showed that Ontario residents are sending over 400 million dollars out of the country gambling on the Internet. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation estimates that the new Internet website will bring over 100 million dollars to the government in its first full year of operation.

It is estimated that there are 400,000 to 500,000 Internet accounts that are being used in Ontario at this time. This would mean many players have several open accounts. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation says there will be self regulation by players that will set their maximum limits.

On Tuesday, Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that second-quarter revenue has jumped 51 percent. Booming business in China and a new casino in Singapore play a significant part in the profits.

In general in Asia, the increasing presence and popularity of gambling and casinos decrease operator’s quarterly loss and the casino developer, the company said Tuesday.

The company reported a loss to common shareholders of $4.7 million, or a penny per share, for the three months that ended June 30. Than last year’s loss of $222.2 million, or 34 cents per share, that is far better.

The Venetian and Palazzo casinos are among the Las Vegas properties owned and operated by the Sands. In the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, in Singapore, and in Bethlehem, Pa, Sands also has casinos.

Nearly 80 percent of its revenue came from Asian business, although in a telling sign. From $1.06 billion a year earlier, its revenue rose to $1.59 billion.

Sands’ billionaire chief executive, Sheldon Adelson said, “Our operations are in outstanding shape, and we are making positive additions to our management team.”We’ve also reduced our debt levels. And our balance sheet has nearly $4 billion of cash. But who’s counting?”

Analyst Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan said the company’s performance was especially strong in Singapore, where the Marina Bay Sands casino opened in April and it beat very high expectations. Including $190.8 million from gambling, Sands reported $216.4 million in revenue there.

Wednesday the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that could pave the way for the legalization and taxation of American internet non-sports gambling, online casino and poker. In a move inspired by a need to capitalize on creative ways to up federal revenue, the vote in the House on Wednesday July 28th resulted in a 41-22 vote to approve the bill.

Republicans joined the majority of Democrats in passing the measure. While the bill’s passage through the House Financial Services Committee is a big stepping stone, there have yet to be any hearing set up in the house to further pass the bill. Senator Robert Menendez (D, New Jersey) has introduced a bill to legalize online poker, but with a busy midterm election season approaching, it’s unlikely it will come before Congress soon.

The legalization of online gambling has a long history and road ahead. It was just 4 years ago that it was banned all together, by a Republican majority. “People sometimes resort to drastic things when they are strapped for cash,” said Representative Robert W. Goodlatte (R, Virginia). But Representative Barney Frank (D, Massachusetts) says “Some adults will spend their money foolishly, but it is not the purpose of the federal government to prevent them legally from doing it.”

There are still concerns over how or what constitutes the legalization though, and how it will be taxed, regulated and enforced to produce the kind of revenue the federal government is hopeful it can bring in.

Demand for slot machines in the Northeast states has dropped and the number of slot machines is reduced by many of the Casinos on their casino floors.

In the last 12 months, some casinos have reduced their inventory by 9%, due to the demand for the offline and the slumping economy. For the Casinos in Atlantic City, this situation is especially true. Since 2005, they have reduced their inventory 20%. This is when their peak of slot machines 42,000 had been reached. Now they are down to 29,000, in all 11 Casinos in Atlantic City.

Demand for internet slot machines and offline slot machines have also dropped in the States of Rhode Island, New York, Delaware, West Virginia and Connecticut.

Maine, Florida and Pennsylvania, on their Casino floors have seen an increase of their slot machine inventory.

It is a common practice that with newer ones, casinos replace older slot machines. However, since the demand for slot machines have dropped, as found by some of the casino, it has distressed their win per day drop, which is usually $230 to $240 win per day. Too many capacities are created when these industry-wide averages slip below these levels. To add to their inventory, they therefore cannot afford, but instead with newer ones, they replace the older slot machines.

The state of Maryland recently agreed to spend another $15.8 million on 438 slot machines for the Hollywood Casino Perryville located in Cecil County. The casino is expected to open early this fall. The recent slot purchases will make total amount of money spent by the state on slot machines for this casino to approximately $65 million dollars. The slot machines are purchased using taxpayer funding through the State Board of Public Works.

Comptroller Peter Franchot opposed the recent purchase and feels that the state should modify existing laws to allow casino operators to purchase slot machines for their casinos. Currently, Maryland law stipulates that all slot machines must be acquired and maintained by the state rather than the casino. Franchot feels that casino operators would be better able to secure machines at a fair price since the state is not actively involved in the gambling industry.

While some critics of Maryland’s purchase feel that the state was overcharged for their slot machines, others feel that since the purchase price includes maintenance it was a fair purchase price. Currently slot machines are sold in the $13,000 to $21,000 price range. Maryland has paid on average $20,000 to $25,000 per machine with maintenance. However, they underwent strong criticism earlier this month for an early purchase of slot machines which averaged out to over $45,000 per machine.

While under Soviet rule, gambling was illegal in Russia and Russians could not so much as play cards in public. After the Soviet collapse, gambling became legal in Russia and casinos began popping up by the dozen. A recent law, however, shut all casinos down and mandates that they can only be operated in four rural Russian areas.

Russia was first hit with an influx of casinos immediately after the Soviet collapse. The industry was generally unregulated, and in 2001 an easing of licensing rules resulted in people being able to get licenses for as low as $50. This caused a boom in casinos, and as a result many more people raised concern over the harmful effects gambling could have on the society.

The law was the brainchild of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who first proposed it while president in 2006. He denounced gambling as a public scourge that affected old and young people alike. “(Gambling) concerns not just young people…Unfortunately, pensioners also leave their last kopecks and pensions there. Specialists say that this gambling addiction is even stronger than addiction to alcohol. This is a serious problem,” said Putin.

Although the law was passed in 2006, most people in the industry thought it would be watered down by the time it was enforced. As a result, they were woefully unprepared when it came into effect in July of 2009. No casinos were opened in any of the four gambling-friendly regions of Russia at the time of the shutdown.

The four areas of Russia where gambling is now legal are the Altai region of Siberia; the coastal area of the Far East, near the border with North Korea and China; Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania; and the Azov Sea region in the south.
The Oracle casino opened in January of this year in Azov City. The two nearest cities, Rostov-na-Donu and Krasnodar, are hours away by car. The casino lures about 150 to 400 customers per day.

There are signs that illegal gambling is flourishing and people deal in bet online websites, however. An underground casino was closed down in Moscow earlier this year, and roughly 40 criminal cases related to illegal gambling are currently pending in Moscow alone.

Marina Bay Sands company officials and Las Vegas Sands Corp chairman Sheldon Adelson, on April 27, cut the celebratory ribbon to open the first phase of the Marina Bay Sands casino complex in Singapore.

Majority-owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp, Marina Bay Sands is a $5.5 Billion integrated vacation resort, which owns a portfolio of properties in Macau, including resorts, hotels and apartments. In all of Asia, Marina Bay Sands will be one of the biggest leisure and entertainment businesses. There is a long list of attractions on location sure to please all ages and all types of visitors.

Some of the fun resides in the exhibition facilities useful for meetings and showcases, 2,560 hotel rooms and suites accessible for customers from all walks of life, a Sky Park on the roof, a museum, and Asia’s best shopping mall persisting of 300 stores and in the over-sized convention.

With Paiza Club for premium players, and outdoor plaza and theaters, there are also world-class celebrity restaurants. Each day, the Marina Bay Sands casino hopes to attract 70,000 – 80,000 visitors. It consists of two levels for mass gaming including 1,500 slot machines, online casino and two levels for left just VIPs.?

In an effort to fund proposed construction packages, Illinois State lawmakers are once again debating the addition of slot machines to horse tracks across the state, including well known establishments such as Fairmount Park and Arlington Park.

The incentive is being heavily pushed by the horse racing industry to drive up funds for construction and improvements to existing facilities. Additions of video poker machines, internet betting and slot machines in venues that exist solely for gambling of an alternate format pose a threat to the existing casino industry, which reportedly is suffering a significant decrease in revenue as it stands. Illinois State Rep. Will Burns (D-Chicago) has sponsored the bill in the House, and it has garnered bi-partisan support thus far. The majority of the proposal’s detractors are on the side of the casinos, suggesting that a blow to the already wounded sect of vice-based economy would actually drive the state’s profits down in the long term.

Proponents of the bill both lawmaker and civilian have repeatedly made note of the concept of free market. The belief that casinos are shirking their duty to compete fairly in the gambling industry has caused some to advocate the extra machines due to simple economic principles as opposed to the estimated $100,000,000 per year that the bill’s sponsor has indicated as a realistic possibility. It should be noted that the horse racing industry has advocated for this legislation previously and failed, therefore only time will tell if the proposed additions will prevail.