Casinos are not like Starbucks stores: you really can’t have one on every corner.

That’s the word from David Cordish, whose company is opening a huge new casino next month in Maryland.

Personal Post

Yet Cordish warns that the expansion of casino gambling can’t go on unchecked forever. A big problem is the attitude of politicians across the country who view casinos as free money.

“I don’t know how we can control the politicians; they certainly don’t understand the word ‘oversaturation,’” Cordish said. “They think you can have casinos like Starbucks.”

If that attitude continues, Cordish said, “it’s going to implode on them.”

The expansion of casino gambling has continued rapidly over the last several years, nowhere more fiercely than in the Northeast. There is serious disagreement within the industry as to whether the market is oversaturated or whether there is room for further growth. But most agree it is tougher to do business in the Northeast casino market than it ever has been before.

The Cordish Company’s Maryland Live!, opening on June 6, will have 4,750 slot machines and cost $500 million.

“Thanks, David, for bringing 4,700 new slots to this market,” joked Don Marrandino, eastern division president of Caesars Entertainment, which owns casinos in Atlantic City and Pennsylvania. “That’s great news for us.”

Cordish said the casino market needs the stability of knowing how many operators there are going to be, particularly with the 67 percent tax Maryland imposes on its casinos.

He said the state will have four casinos with more slot machines “than anything in Las Vegas. It’s an experiment that nobody knows how it’s going to turn out. A contest I don’t want to win is Maryland will probably be the king of the oversaturated market with the highest tax rate. It’s a real problem.

“What happens when you put mega-casinos close together is they generally not only oversaturate the market, they don’t work,” Cordish said. In the Washington D.C. region soon, he added, “you’ll have four of the largest casinos in the country operating within a short drive of one another.”

But new casinos keep coming. Timothy Wilmott, president of Penn National Gaming, which has 26 casinos nationwide, said the company is interested in new markets in Massachusetts and Texas, and is opening new casinos in Ohio soon.

And Virginia McDowell, CEO of St. Louis-based Isle of Capri Casinos, which owns 15 casinos in six states, said there are excellent new markets that don’t yet have casino gambling. The company plans two more, including one in Pittsburgh. She listed Massachusetts, Texas and Florida as prime spots for new casinos, and said even traditionally hostile states such as Georgia, the Carolinas and Kentucky are considering legalizing them.

“Frankly, some of these opportunities are the best untapped gambling markets in the United States,” she said. But, McDowell said, “the industry lets its best growth opportunities die on the vine, choosing instead to fight each other.”

Mitchell Etess, CEO of Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, said the state’s two Indian-run casinos once had few competitors.

Where do you plan to take your family this summer? How does Disneyworld Florida sound? And what if the vacation is all expense paid? Before you shrug off the idea of a paid family vacation to Disneyworld Florida, take a look at this. This is the grandest promotion the world of online bingo has to offer and it is hosted on your favorite bingo website – Sparkling Bingo.

This summer Sparkling Bingo is giving players a chance to go on an all expense paid, seven-day vacation to Disneyworld Florida with an extra £2,000 in spending money. And the shower of gifts just doesn’t stop there. There are thousands of pounds and loyalty points to be won with the promo. 4L, 3L, 2L and 1L winners will get £1,500, £1,000, £500 and £250 each and 1TG/2TG winners will get 10,000/5,000 LPs each. These loyalty points can be used to access exclusive games hosted on Sparkling Bingo giving away fantastic cash prizes.

The special BingOlympics 2012 game will be played in the BingOlympics room at 20:00 GMT on 31st August 2012, meaning you have plenty of time to earn your tickets and increase your chances. There are many ways you can earn tickets for this massive game. Simply wager £1,000/£6,000 on bingo or instant games hosted on Sparkling Bingo and you get one ticket for the promo. You can also win one ticket by referring a friend to Sparkling Bingo. The monthly promotion, the Choose Your Shoes promo, is giving away three tickets to BingOlympics 2012 every day plus £100 worth of shoes, so that’s another fun way to earn your tickets. You can also use the LeaderBoard to check the status of top ticket holders and play accordingly to make sure you are among the top.

The BingOlympics 2012 game is open for all players irrespective of loyalty status and even if you have just joined Sparkling Bingo, earn your tickets and be ready for the game of your life. Earn your tickets, pack your bags and keep your fingers crossed; this is going to be one Sparkling summer.

Ty Stewart noticed something bizarre as he paced the floor of the Amazon Room at the Rio during one of the final days of the World Series of Poker Main Event last summer.

Despite hundreds of players who were assured of making money and still alive to win poker’s world championship, the place was completely silent.

“A poker room is not a church,” said Stewart, vice president of the WSOP. “You can talk in a poker room. We just think we need to set the tone to bring some of the fun back to tournament poker.”
Ads by Google

Jacksonville Hotels Fl.Newly Remodeled Clean Budget Rates Free WiFi Free Breakfast Pool www.JacksonvilleSuper8.com
AmericanAirlines-OfertasOfertas, descuentos y paquetes. Reserve y compre su ticket online www.aa.com

Officials have decided to repeal two rules that were responsible for the toned-down mood heading into this summer’s series, which gets under way with the first of 61 bracelet events May 27 at the Rio.

Tournament directors will now permit players to discuss their cards, a no-no for the past five years, as long as they hold the final action in a hand. Players are also free to celebrate a hand — reasonably, at the discretion of directors — without the risk of a penalty.

Stewart said it was a reaction to the WSOP “taking it too far” in the past.

“We tightened poker up so much at the table that players were afraid to use verbal strategy to out-maneuver their opponents,” said Tournament Director Jack Effel, “which has always been an integral part of poker in every single poker game dating back to the Wild West. I think it takes poker back to its fundamental place and intent when it comes to strategy.”

The new guidelines were two of many changes the WSOP announced on its annual tournament preview conference call Tuesday morning. The WSOP enters its 43rd year this summer, but each series feels different from the last because of the staff’s constant tweaks.

Among the most significant changes this summer is an expanded tournament area to accommodate more players. Combined with the Rio’s poker room, the WSOP will have nearly 500 tables at its disposal for tournament play.

As with every year, the WSOP will also unveil a handful of new tournaments. Stewart said the WSOP works with the Players Advisory Council to explore new tournament poker variations every year.

“We call it a Jenga puzzle putting together that schedule,” Stewart said, “but hopefully it gets better each year.”

Although the $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop has understandably garnered the most attention, the WSOP has announced several other more affordable new events.

It will hold an ante-only no-limit hold’em tournament for the first time ever on June 27. The buy-in is $1,500 for the event, which features no blinds. The WSOP first experimented with the idea at one of its circuit events.

A $2,500 buy-in four-handed no-limit hold’em tournament is on the docket for June 14. The action-inducing game became popular online, inspiring the WSOP to incorporate it into the schedule.

Also, the WSOP will debut what it calls a “mix-max” no-limit hold’em tournament for a $5,000 buy-in May 31. The tournament features nine players per table the first day, six players per table the second day and goes down to a bracket-style heads-up format when only 32 remain.

The WSOP held a mix-max event at its European series last year and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi walked away with $448,861 as champion.

“I was trying to be very creative,” Mizrachi told ESPN.com after winning the event. “I did some things that people usually don’t see, including some really crazy stuff.”

That’s the appeal of introducing new tournaments. With no established approach, players are forced to use more imagination.

The demand is always high for new variations, according to Effel, who says the challenge comes in determining what’s feasible.

“It’s basically talking to the players, looking at what others are doing and listening to what the players want,” Effel said.

Talking and listening look like major themes at the 2012 WSOP. A handful of notable professionals lobbied the WSOP to become more lenient with table talk over the past few years.

Casino opponents head into Monday’s Board of Selectman’s race in Foxborough as the overwhelming leaders in the race for campaign donations, reflecting the intensity of opponents who want to maintain their advantage on the board, in an election that has been billed as a referendum on the Route 1 casino proposal from Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn. But regardless of the results, Wynn has pledged to continue his campaign in Foxborough to bring his casino proposal to a town referendum.

Hundreds of Swedes go to Las Vegas every year to play in the World Series of Poker, the unofficial world championships. As of next year they will be able to play for gold bracelets and huge prizes in Melbourne, Australia as well.

The series goes under the name WSOP Asia-Pacific and will be played at the Crown Casino in Melbourne April 4-15, 2013.

WSOP Asia-Pacific will be included on the official 2013 World Series of Poker schedule together with WSOP in Las Vegas and WSOP Europe in Cannes, and five gold bracelet events will be played in Melbourne. The finalized schedule is expected to be released later this year.

“Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart.

“With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

Australian poker star Joe Hachem, who became world champion in 2005, is very excited about WSOP Asia-Pacific.

“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said Joe Hachem.

“I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia.

It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

Five Swedish players have won WSOP events since the inaugural series in 1970, all of them in Las Vegas. Veteran player Christer “Chris” Björn has two titles while Mats Rahmn, Anders Henriksson, Tomas Allenius and Alexander Anter have one each.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange has asked the federal agency that oversees Indian gambling to take action to prohibit slot machine-like electronic bingo machines at the state’s Indian casinos, Birmingham News writer Kim Chandler reported.

Tribes cannot offer Las Vegas-style Class III games such as table games and slot machines unless they have a compact with the states where they are located. No such compact exists in Alabama.”

The Tribe’s ability to obscure the line between Class II and III makes it harder for my office to enforce Alabama law outside of Indian land. Alabama citizens are understandably confused when Indian tribes are allowed to call their Class III slot machines ‘bingo,’ but gambling promoters within the State’s jurisdiction cannot use the same gimmick,” Strange wrote.

The attorney general’s request immediately touched off a heated debate among our online commenters over the virtues and vices of bingo and gambling in Alabama. Read some of what people are saying:

• “I’m a conservative, and retired military, but it’s land given to the Creek Indians and if they want to have a casino, nudist colony, or whatever it’s their land. Not the State of Alabama’s land but land the Feds gave to the Indians.

“I vote Republican on the national level but this is an example of one reason I vote Democrat at the State level. The Republicans in this State are the primary reason it’s stuck in the rut like it is.” — mcporet

• “This ain’t complicated —- Indians can do no more than what is legal in AL. Class 111 gambling is against the law . Electronic Bingo IS CLASS THREE GAMBLING. Either change the law or shut em down. The Attorney General has no other option .” — connelly

• “Good read Kimberly Chandler. I would think the state AG would have bigger fish to fry. I click on al.com and read about violent and sexual crime all the time. I don’t gamble personally and can’t afford to so i don’t. But, it’s this southern baptist mentality that seems to target small matters like this and forget about serious, heinous, offense’s.” — bamagreycoat

• “I am confused. I thought all you Republicans were against government interference. Why should you possibly care what these Native Americans do as it relates to gambling on their land? How does it harm you? If God does not want you to gamble….don’t. Conservatives hate government unless they are trying to legislate their morality on those who clearly don’t want it.”

Aristocrat is live with a play-for-fun site for Maryland Live! Casino, a new $500M gaming and entertainment destination, currently in development in Hanover, MD, is live now and will be used as a vehicle for the brick-and-mortar casino to promote its brand and attract players well in advance of its scheduled opening on June 6, 2012.

The site is the first of its kind in the gaming industry, where a play-for-fun solution is integrated with a casino management system. The online casino is linked to the land-based casino through an exclusive tool of Aristocrat’s Oasis 360(TM) casino management system, giving Maryland Live! Casino an incredible competitive advantage.

Using an online casino to attract players to a yet-to-open brick-and-mortar casino is also a first.

“We are absolutely thrilled to launch Myliveonlinecasino.com, Maryland Live! Casino’s online play-for-fun solution. Aristocrat has consistently led the industry in systems and in games. Now to launch such a site is a very exciting milestone in our company’s history, and in the history of the gaming industry,” said Aristocrat Vice President of System Sales and Marketing Kelly Shaw.

Myliveonlinecasino.com was created with the power of Aristocrat’s nLive solution, recently recognized by Casino Journal on its Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products Awards for 2011. nLive was the only Internet Gaming System to make the list.

nLive is a simple, turnkey solution that empowers casinos to take their brand to players online. nLive sites are branded to the casino, not to Aristocrat, so the casino’s customers can extend their experience with the property brand they know and enjoy.

In this case, Myliveonlinecasino.com will be used to increase awareness and attract players to the Maryland Live! Casino brand prior to opening, in order to develop a customer database.

“The launch of Myliveonlinecasino.com enables us to pre-enroll customers into our Live! Rewards players club database and begin tailoring rewards to members before they even visit Maryland Live! Casino,” said Robert J. Norton, President & General Manager, Maryland Live! Casino. “The opportunity to reach our customers in advance of our opening is an invaluable benefit of Aristocrat’s nLive solution.”

Myliveonlinecasino.com is an online casino fully branded to the Maryland Live! Casino. This play-for-fun casino offers players an incredible range of games, including some of Aristocrat’s favorite games like 5 Dragons(TM), 50 Lions(TM), Big Red(TM), Imperial House(TM), Miss Kitty(TM), More Chilli(TM), Queen of the Nile(TM) and Sun and Moon(TM); table games like card keno, hi lo solitaire, jacks or better, pro blackjack and roulette; and skill-based games including backgammon, dominoes, poker, poker dice, solitaire and tournament blackjack.

When the brick-and-mortar casino opens, the casino and Myliveonlinecasino.com will be linked with Aristocrat’s nLiveLink via Aristocrat’s Oasis 360 system. nLiveLink will empower Maryland Live! Casino to simultaneously monitor player activity at the actual casino and in the online casino, allowing the property to create rewarding offers based on the player’s total gaming experience, live and virtual.

“nLive and nLiveLink are providing the tools to expand a players total gaming experience today, and they are generational steps forward. There is a lot of talk from a lot of suppliers about how they are planning to do this or that; however, the fact is, only Aristocrat has delivered real, live, workable solutions that are available now,” Shaw said.

Oasis 360, recently named Best Player Tracking System in the 2012 Goldman Sachs Slot Manager Survey, will monitor all 4,750 devices at Maryland Live! Casino.

About Maryland Live! Casino Located at the Arundel Mills Mall in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, the new $500 million Maryland Live! Casino will be one of the largest gaming, retail and entertainment destinations in the country with 4,750 slot machines and electronic table games; designer name brand shopping; a state-of-the-art, live entertainment venue; and nationally-acclaimed restaurants, such as Bobby’s Burger Palace from celebrated chef Bobby Flay, The Cheesecake Factory(R), Phillips(R) Seafood, and The Prime Rib(R). Maryland Live! Casino is scheduled to open in June 2012 (pending approval from the Maryland State Lottery Agency). Visit www.marylandlivecasino.com or follow Maryland Live! Casino on Facebook and Twitter.

For employment opportunities, visit www.jobsatmarylandlivecasino.com . Maryland Live! Casino is being developed by The Cordish Companies.

About Aristocrat Aristocrat Technologies Inc. is a subsidiary of Aristocrat Leisure Limited (asx:ALL), a leading global provider of gaming solutions. The Company is licensed by more than 200 regulators and its products and services are available in more than 90 countries around the world. Aristocrat offers a diverse range of products and services including electronic gaming machines and casino management systems. For further information visit the company’s website at www.aristocratgaming.com .

Casino stocks are looking like a good bet for investors this year if the U.S. economy continues its recovery at the same pace and Asian big spenders keep rolling the dice.
More on MPEL

Traders Place Bullish Bets on MGM
Penn National Gaming’s CEO Discusses Q1 2012 Results – Earnings Call Transcript
Penn National Gaming Stock Hits New 52-Week High (PENN)

Market Activity

Isle of Capri Casinos Inc.| ISLE
Penn National Gaming| PENN
DOWN
Boyd Gaming Corporation| BYD

“The casino and gaming business may be poised for a high-rolling 2012, thanks to signals both domestically and abroad that may bode well long term for the sub-industry,” in particular, Asia’s gambling appetite, said S&P Capital IQ, in a research note.

The Standard & Poor’s composite casinos and gaming index is up 12% this year, versus the S&P 500′s 10% gain.

William Hill, the publicly quoted British bookmaker, today issued its interim statement for the first quarter of 2012 with poker revenue falling eight percent on the first quarter of 2011.

No figure was given for the amount of revenue. William Hill Online, the joint-venture with Playtech under which poker operates delivered 33 percent year-on-year increase.

Hill’s poker revenue in 2011 was up seven percent.

Ralph Topping, chief executive of the company, said, “I am pleased by our strong performance in the first quarter. Sportsbook wagering grew by 31%. Our investments in marketing and innovations continue to deliver benefits, with our Sportsbook exceeding £50m in turnover in a single week for the first time during the quarter and mobile turnover reaching almost £11m in a single week.

“With positive underlying trends at this relatively early stage in the year, the Board remains confident in its expectations for the full year.”

Legal challenges have volleyed back and forth since a southern Arizona tribe unveiled plans for a West Valley casino three years ago, but a key case in the fight will move forward today in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Gila River Indian Community, which currently operates the only West Valley casino, Glendale and top state lawmakers are appealing a federal decision to take the Tohono O’odham-owned land into the reservation system.

A lower court last year upheld the U.S. Department of the Interior’s decision to grant reservation status to the 54 acres near Glendale’s sports and entertainment district.

A three-judge panel in San Francisco now will hear the matter, although a final decision could take months. After oral arguments, the median time for an Appeals Court decision was 11/2 months last year.

The Tohono O’odham Nation, in the wake of a congressional settlement to replace damaged tribal land, purchased the vacant property near Loop 101 and Northern Avenue in 2003.

Six years later, tribal leaders asked Interior officials to take the land into trust so they could build a casino, which must be on reservation land.

Opponents contend that Interior, in approving the tribe’s request, trampled on state sovereignty by carving out a federal enclave.

Glendale resident Gary Hirsch, who is a party to the lawsuit, said the creation of the reservation despite local and state protest violates the U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment. “I don’t find that the Constitution has a provision for the federal government to take a jurisdiction from a sovereign state and give it to another party, in this case a sovereign nation,” Hirsch said.

The lower court ruled that Interior’s decision to take the land into the reservation system was a valid exercise of the power over Indian affairs that the Constitution delegated to Congress.

Opponents also argue that Interior should have first determined if the land was eligible for gaming under federal law.

Federal law bans gaming on reservations created after 1988, apart from a handful of exceptions. The Tohono O’odham believe their situation qualifies for one of those exceptions.

Opponents, namely the Gila River tribe, also said Interior failed to address whether the Tohono O’odham had already exceeded their cap when they purchased the land near Glendale.

The tribe, through a 1986 congressional act, was given $30 million to purchase 9,880 acres to replace reservation land near Gila Bend damaged by a federally built dam. The tribe bought 135 acres near Glendale and opted to initially put a third of the land into trust.

The Tohono O’odham, in their court filings, said the congressional act limited the total amount of land that could be taken into trust, not how much could be purchased. But they assert the whole argument should be dismissed because no one raised it during Interior’s administrative process.

Glendale also said the tribe’s property falls within its exterior boundaries and thus doesn’t meet the congressional settlement, which required the replacement land be in an unincorporated part of Maricopa, Pima or Pinal counties. Glendale considered the land part of its planning area and had it eyes on developing the site.

The Tohono O’odham and the Interior Department note the land is an unincorporated county island.

Most of last year’s U.S. District Court ruling relied on the premise that a court may only set aside an agency decision if it is “arbitrary, capricious an abuse of discretion or otherwise not in accordance with law.”

The appeal is just one part of the wrangling that surrounds the plans.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne last year filed suit in U.S. District Court, saying the Tohono O’odham plan would upset the balance of Indian gaming in Arizona and harm the state’s gaming compact with tribes. Horne is joined by Gila River Indian Community and the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

Glendale political leaders express several reasons for opposing the reservation and the resort-and-casino project. They say it would cost the city for infrastructure, that the city would have no control over tribal land and that a tax-exempted reservation would unfairly compete with area merchants.

Tribal leaders have said that they would pay for infrastructure such as utilities and that the casino would provide jobs and attract visitors to the area.

Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr. on Friday said he was confident of “another favorable ruling.”