There was a massive fire at the Empress Casino in Joliet last Friday at 10 am. Though there was only little damage done to the gambling barge itself, it is still unknown how local financial impact has resulted from the incident. As of the moment, this Egyptian-themed casino is closed and doesn’t have any reopening date yet. According to the general manager of the casino, Mr. Frank Quigley in his hotline message the casino will reopen as soon as possible. He also promises that employees will be paid benefits soon.
International: GamCare funds U.K. gambling addiction clinic
The British Broadcasting Corporation reported Monday that GamCare, a charity funded by the U.K.’s gambling industry, plans to open Britain’s first gambling-addiction clinic in southwest England. The clinic will begin operating next month at the Broadway Lodge Treatment Centre in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and will exist strictly as a charity service.
The clinic will offer four- to eight-week-long treatment for compulsive gambling to 30 individuals per year. Those admitted into the program will have the opportunity to reside at Broadway Lodge’s Weston-super-Mare facility while participating in courses aimed at curbing their negative behavior.
According to Broadway Lodge chief executive Brian Dudley, GamCare chose to collaborate with the Somerset organization because of its national accreditation and proven track record of helping those afflicted with alcohol, drug and other serious addictions.
“There are many people suffering from gambling addiction who cannot find or fund the treatment at the moment,” Dudley said. “I think it’s been proven that during a recession gambling does increase and money needs to be put aside to help those people who fall on hard times.
“This service will come at a time when it is most needed.”
EU Report Does Not Liberalize Online Gambling
Just when things were looking up for the European facing online gambling industry, the European Union has come together on a vote that will abstain from granting widespread liberalization to the industry. Rather, a vote favoring an “own-initiative” report was overwhelmingly supported by EU member nations, which essentially means that EU harmonized legislation governing online gambling is very unlikely in the near future.
Still, the stance taken does not by any means support State-run gambling monopolies that would otherwise interfere with individual State regulation. Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee Chairperson, Arlene McCarthy (Britain), said that while EU member States have the right to construct and implement their own gambling laws, they do not have the right to enforce hypocritical policies in the interest of government-owned gambling operations.
Support for the report on the “integrity of online gambling”, which was brought forth by Danish Socialist member, Christel Schaldemose, not only varied in degree, but for varying reasons as well. Schaldemose herself said the intent of the report was not to restrict the private gaming sector, but rather, to protect people who are vulnerable to the dangers of gambling.
Chair of the European Casino Association, Ron Goudsmit, said that it is the member states who are best suited for guaranteeing consumer protection, while not giving any sufficient evidence as to why this would be the case. The European Lotteries (who was obviously in favor of the ruling), generalized the matter even more by stating that “lifting well-founded restrictions would create issues with consumer protection and public order”.
Criticizing the vote was MEP Malcolm Harbour (UK), who argued that internal market rules should apply to online gambling. Harbour pointed out how the United Kingdom has effectively liberalized its own online gambling industry, while still providing a high degree of consumer protection, operator integrity and gaming responsibility.
Atlantic City Casinos Tries to Cope Up With Weakening Economy
On January 31st, 2009, canceling Atlantic City casino’s smoking ban was not enough to solve the town’s dropping revenue. The seaside resort’s eleven casino facilities reported a $345.5 million in revenue for the month of November, down by 7.8% from the same period a year ago.
Figures that are released from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission showed that Atlantic City casino facilities won $228.4 million or sixty-six percent, from slot machines. The rest, which is $117.1 million, came from casino table games. For the first eleven months of the year, the total revenue was down by 6.7%. The number one gambling market in the US, Las Vegas, fared even worse. The Las Vegas Strip gambling revenue dropped for the tenth straight month in October to $475 million, down by 25.8%. For Atlantic City casinos, the emergence of slots parlors in Pennsylvania has taken a chunk out of its profit base.
The seven Pennsylvania casinos produced a total of $131.2 million last month. From January 1st, 2008 to November 30th, 2008, the seven slot machine parlors in Pennsylvania reported $1.49 billion in gross slot machines revenue. The state does not permit dealer-staffed casino table games. The state of Pennsylvania has a fifty-five percent tax on gross slot machine revenue, compared with the state of New Jersey’s gross slot machine revenue tax of 9.25%.
The gambling tax revenue in Pennsylvania and New Jersey goes to support different government programs. The weak economy and stiff regional slots competition were one of the reasons cited by Atlantic City casino gaming operators to lift the full smoking ban. 58 year-old Subash Arora, an anesthesiologist from Scranton said that the lounges were okay for socializing but you feel isolated.
But despite the ban’s delay, last month’s casino revenue were disappointing. 9 of the eleven casino facilities reported revenue drops, ranging from 30.1% at the Atlantic City Hilton, to 0.1% at the Trump Taj Mahal. Only the Caesars and Harrah’s Resort Casinos-which is both owned by Harrah’s Entertainment Incorporated of Las Vegas-improved, showing monthly revenue improvement s of 8.5% and 9.4% respectively.