Jun 24 2009
If you asked for a vacation day on Aug. 5 so you could be the first in line at the new casino, you may want to reschedule:
"The Rivers Casino is seeking to delay its opening by four days
because of water damage to slot machines caused by last week's storms. In a statement this morning, casino officials said they had asked
the state Gaming Control Board to push back the opening from Aug. 5 to
Aug. 9. They said the request was a result of minor water damage to a
small number of slot machines during the bad weather as well as damage
to some slot machines during their transport to the North Shore venue."
... also from the pages of the P-G:
"As a Senate panel moved to resurrect a law banning casino officials
from donating politically to legislators and other elected officials, a
citizens watchdog group said such high-powered gaming interests gave
$4.4 million to state politicians from 2001-08.
Lawyers and lobbyists for the 14 casinos authorized by a 2004 state
law contributed an additional $12.3 million, according to a report by
Common Cause/Pennsylvania released yesterday."
And:
"Pennsylvania could get an additional $165
million in annual gaming revenue if table games were in operation at all 12 of
the state's larger casinos, an analyst hired by three casinos said today. The revenue would consist of $104 million generated by
the table games themselves -- poker, blackjack, roulette and dice -- plus
another $61 million in additional revenue from slots."
Around the state
Those slot machines at The Rivers were saturated because of the storm. Have Pennsylvania's casino revenues likewise reached their saturation point?
"State slots revenue continues to grow, but are the latest
figures showing saturation? Or just the realities of heavier discounting in a
weaker economy - a way to compete for scarcer discretionary spending? Overall gaming revenues were up 19 percent last week
compared to a year ago, but only 5 percent when factoring out the newly opened,
3,000-machine Sands Bethlehem. And revenues per machine declined substantially
over last year's figures. Wagers, which grew faster than revenues, jumped by 26
percent to $506 billion last week."
...
"A Senate committee gave unanimous approval [Tuesday] to a major overhaul of
Pennsylvania's 5-year-old slots casino law, and the full Senate might act as
early as next week. The bill would reimpose a ban on casino officials
contributing to the political campaigns of legislators and other state
officials, a ban that was contained in the 2004 slots law but was recently
struck down by the state Supreme Court."
... The new Sands casino is performing well.
... $41 million wagered at Presque Isle last week.
Dispatches from the border
Ohio's governor has a full-blown case of slots fever:
"Gov. Ted Strickland's plan to balance the budget with gambling money includes
legalizing up to 15,250 slot machines at Ohio's seven horse racetracks, with
most of the games plugged in by next May. The governor's office estimates the machines will rake in nearly $1 billion
in 14 months -- from May 2010 to the end of the 2011 fiscal year. The plan would allow the state to collect 48 percent of that revenue for
education spending while the other 52 percent would be split among the seven
track owners and pay administrative and operational expenses, including payouts
to lucky winners."
Jun 09 2009
We're just two months away from the opening of the Rivers Casino on the North Shore. Today, the casino released a list of charites that will benefit from the pre-grand opening test run (the test nights are scheduled for Saturday Aug. 1, 2009 and Monday August 3, 2009).
The beneficiaries will be the Allegheny County World War II Memorial, the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, The Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, and Allegheny General Hospital.
Moving on ...
... If you haven't been to The Rivers' Web site lately, they've been busy updating it with the names of all the bars and restaurants, plus promotional information.
... Pennsylvania slots revenues are up almost a fifth, year over year:
"Slot machines in Pennsylvania generated $178.4 million in gross
revenue last month, an 18 percent gain compared to May 2008, regulators
said Tuesday. Numbers were helped by the new Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, which
generated $10 million in revenue in May. Comparing the seven casinos
that existed a year ago, revenue was up 10.8 percent."
... Follow the money:
"It doesn't happen exactly as it does in 'Ocean's Eleven,' but every
dollar of the more than $1 million netted by the Sands each day is
tracked. From the time a bill leaves a person's wallet until it is
loaded into an armored car, it goes through a gantlet of check points
that includes surveillance by employees watching 42 high-definition
monitors above the casino floor, and counting in massive machines in a
bunker-like room beneath the Sands. It's all part of an almost obsessive effort by casino operators and state regulators charged with seeing that Pennsylvania gets every penny of its 55 percent cut."
Dispatches from the border
"Backers of a proposed four-casino ballot measure already have spent thousands of dollars to
gather signatures to get on the November ballot. But could they be having second thoughts?
Penn National Gaming Inc., the Pennsylvania gambling conglomerate that's supplying much of the
money and strategic mettle for the proposed Ohio ballot measure, might yet back out in order to
shoot for the 2010 ballot, analysts concluded after meeting with the company's senior
management." (Via the Columbus Dispatch.)
... Allowing table games in Delaware would mean more jobs.
Until next time ...