CLUBS Australia says a delay in the introduction of poker machine gambling reforms by two years would be welcome, particularly if that allowed time for a trial of technology to make the changes possible.
Gov. Jack Markell will not push for expanded gambling in the First State this year, said spokesman Brian Selander in an email. The governors office acknowledged that Markell, who is up for reelection this year, previously supported casino expansion.
MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) – Just two weeks before the Super Bowl, a man accused of being a gambling bookie is behind bars and local gamblers’ names could be on a list now in the hands of police.
In a 24-Hour News 8 exclusive, only anchor Karen Hensel was allowed access in an early morning raid that put the spotlight on illegal gambling in the state.
In rural Morgan County, nestled among quiet cornfields and barns, lived Russell Hill, considered by police to be one of the state’s big sports bookies. Undercover investigators said he was making bank on the playoffs and was headed for even bigger money for the Super Bowl.
Col. Larry Rollins of the Indiana Gaming Commission decribed Hill as one of the traditional ones we have grown up with in the movies, where you call a number and place a bet, or you go in and place a bet.
As he left in his white Cadillac Tuesday morning, police arrested Hill just blocks from the home he shares with his wife and 10-year-old child. At the same time as his arrest, Indiana State Police SWAT officers moved in on his home.
Given the nature and location of the residence,” Rollins said, “we wanted to do it with caution.
Outside the home a sign was posted: There is nothing here worth your life.
It reflected something officers had to consider.
His reputation is that yes, he could be potentially dangerous, Rollins said.
Hill is allegedly linked to bars and other places throughout central Indiana.
It is a rather detailed lengthy investigation, and he is involved in a great number of locations we believe, not just in Morgan County, Rollins said.
I-Team 8 was there as police carried boxes of evidence out of the home Tuesday.
We are gathering additional information at this time, which includes records of the activities and things of that nature,” Rollins said.
When asked if police will look at who was placing bets with Hill, Rollins had a simple answer: Absolutely.
We will talk to individuals whose names we find,” he said. “They will be nervous, yes.
Illegal bets come from a wide variety of people, Rollins said, from professtionals to retirees who could also now be caught in the net.
It was a Crime Stoppers tip that led police to 63-year-old Hill, who has a lengthy criminal history including convictions for bank robbery, criminal confinement, cocaine and battery.
He was being held without bond Tuesday in the Morgan County Jail.
LINCOLN, Neb. A state lawmaker has introduced a measure that could lead to legalized casino gambling in Nebraska.
State Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus proposed a constitutional amendment Tuesday to authorize gambling in the state. The measure would not allow casinos within 60 miles of a bordering state, if the border state agrees to share some of its gambling revenue with Nebraska.
Gambling revenue would include taxes or licensing fees on games of chance, admission fees, and other taxes.
The money would go to the Legislatures cash reserve, state education programs and public transportation needs. One percent of the revenue would go to a compulsive gamblers assistance fund.
TONY EASTLEY: While Australian politicians are debating how to minimise the harm done by poker machines, researchers are warning that sports betting and online casino games are the fastest growing form of gambling in Australia, and could become a serious problem in the future.
The biggest study of online gambling habits in Australia has found problem gamblers are losing an average of $825 a month.
Suzanne Hill reports.
SUZANNE HILL: Researchers from Southern Cross Universitys Centre for Gambling Education and Research surveyed 6,500 online gamblers, and found that half of them started playing online in the past six years.
Lead researcher Dr Sally Gainsbury says that means Australians are taking up online punting and gaming faster than any other form of gambling.
Its estimated Australians now spend $600 million a year on online gambling.
Sixteen per cent of the participants in the study were deemed to be problem gamblers and Dr Gainsbury said many of them admit the comfort of playing from home can be particularly addictive.
SALLY GAINSBURY: Internet gambling actually does offer unique risks compared to other forms of gambling. So because its available all the time, its private and you can gamble without anyone really finding out, people are saying that – half the internet gamblers, problem internet gamblers said that it disrupted their sleep and around a third reported it disrupted their eating.
So that constant availability is really disrupting peoples normal functions.
SUZANNE HILL: She says the amount of problem gamblers online is only likely to grow.
SALLY GAINSBURY: Absolutely, internet gambling, one of the most important things is that these people are at risk because its so easy to do. Its actually happening to a new population, so youre getting more people gambling. It means that there are going to be a greater number of people reporting problems relating to internet gambling in the future.
SUZANNE HILL: Dr Gainsbury is calling on the Government to look into more regulation for the online gambling industry, something she says should be easy to do.
SALLY GAINSBURY: Similar to the efforts put into making sure that the pokies are played in as safe a way as possible, there needs to be more responsible gambling strategies for online. So we should be seeing pop up messages telling people how long theyve been playing for and how much theyve been spending.
These type of things are actually much easier to do with online because you can track an individual player. People are using accounts, theyre not putting cash in, so we can tell how much individual players are spending.
TONY EASTLEY: Dr Sally Gainsbury from Southern Cross University ending that report from Suzanne Hill.
(AP) FRANKFORT, Ky. — A study paid for by pro-gambling groups is estimating that eight racetrack casinos would have a $1.7 billion economic impact on Kentucky after operating for one full year.
The study released Monday by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce said the casinos would employ about 11,000 people and generate about $65 million in taxes with about $165 million going to racing-industry programs, according to The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader. The study makes several assumptions, including that a racetrack with a casino is built in the Corbin area.
The study comes as lawmakers meet in Frankfort and expect to debate the issue of expanded gambling.
Through this comprehensive market analysis, we can see the overwhelmingly positive impact casinos at racetracks will have on Kentuckys economy and employment picture, in addition to helping preserve and grow Kentuckys signature horse racing industry, Brett Hale, senior vice president of corporate and government relations for Churchill Downs Inc., said in a news release.
Vince Gabbert, vice president and chief operating officer of the Keeneland Association, had similar comments.
This study reinforces that it is time to keep Kentuckians money in the commonwealth and create new revenue streams that benefit our state and its citizens.
The Family Foundation of Kentucky, which opposes expanded gambling, issued a statement questioning the validity of the study.
In research, as well as at the craps table, the house always wins, said Martin Cothran, a policy analyst for the organization.
He said gambling revenue comes from other businesses in the state. The money that they say is going to be generated is money that is now being spent at other retail establishments.
The study projected Kentucky Downs, near the Tennessee border, would generate $365.5 million in its first year while Churchill Downs would generate $251.2 million, the Lexington casino would generate $170.1 million and Turfway Park in Florence would generate $78.9 million.
We have long known that hundreds of millions of Kentucky dollars are flowing out of our state and into the budgets of surrounding states with expanded gaming — paying for their roads and their schools, Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement responding to the study. The fact that gaming could generate nearly $2 billion in Kentucky in the first year reminds us just how much we are losing.
LAS VEGAS Muffled sobs erupted Friday in a courtroom packed with supporters of a Roman Catholic priest who was sentenced to more than three years in federal prison and ordered to repay $650,000 he acknowledged embezzling from his northwest Las Vegas parish to support his gambling habit.
Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe, 59, stood straight and offered no reaction as US District Judge James Mahan credited him for accepting responsibility for looting parish votive candle, prayer and gift shop funds for eight years, but faulted him for hedging his bet by blaming it on a gambling addiction.
You abused a position of trust, Mr. McAuliffe, the judge said. He dispensed with any church title for the priest who hid a weakness for casinos and video poker from parishioners who know him as Father Kevin. You betrayed people who depended on you.
McAuliffe offered a remorseful apology, saying he felt guilt, shame and self-loathing, and noting that he had rightly lost his positions of authority in the church. He asked the judge for leniency so he could make restitution, help others with gambling addictions and atone for what I have done.
Defense attorney Margaret Stanish asked the judge for probation so McAuliffe could continue getting counseling for his gambling addiction, keep practicing as a priest and pay restitution to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Summerlin. He wont get treatment in federal prison, Stanish said.
Is it all about retribution? she asked the judge. This court has the ability to fashion a punishment that takes into account not only the offense but the individual. He would not be here but for a gambling addiction.
Stanish brought in Dr. Timothy Fong, a psychiatry professor and chief of the gambling studies program at the University of California, Los Angeles, to testify that McAuliffes gambling compulsion amounted to self-medication by a man masking feelings of stress, depression, sadness, social anxiety and inadequacy.
But Assistant US Attorney Christina Brown characterized McAuliffe as an opportunist and thief who didnt exhaust his own savings before taking church cash to fund gambling, cars and travel. She accused him of grasping at gambling addiction as a hollow excuse offered now, when hes desperate for leniency from the court.
The prosecutor derided Fongs diagnosis as unsupported by a single 2 1/2 hour interview with McAuliffe, several telephone calls with his defense attorney and a review of self-assessments that McAuliffe provided in sessions with other counselors at a gambling addiction clinic in Las Vegas. Treatment only began after FBI agents questioned him last May about missing church funds, she said.
And Brown pointed to counseling reports that she said suggested McAuliffe was focused more during therapy on his legal predicament than on getting help for a gambling addiction.
He did do good, she said. But he also stood before his congregation preaching about sin, lies, theft and greed … all the while deceiving them.
The judge referred to a parish rift over McAuliffes crime when he said he received approximately 100 letters of support through the priests defense attorney. Mahan also made part of the court record a stack of letters parishioners sent straight to the court saying McAuliffe should be punished.
I expect the church to forgive him, and the parishioners by and large to forgive him, Mahan said from the bench. Thats different than the justice system.
McAuliffe pleaded guilty in October, before an indictment or criminal complaint was filed, to three counts of federal mail fraud for falsifying documents sent in 2008, 2009 and 2010 to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in San Francisco. Each count carried a possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Mahan handed down a 37-month sentence midway between the 33-month minimum and 41-month maximum recommended by federal probation officials along with the restitution order. The judge also sentenced McAuliffe to three years of supervised release following prison and banned him from gambling. McAuliffe was ordered to begin serving his sentence April 13.
Outside court, longtime parishioner Regina Hauck, 80, called the judge fair but the sentence unfair. She said she wanted forgiveness.
I know him. Hes a wonderful priest, Hauck said of McAuliffe. But I think hes a sick man, and everyone makes a mistake.
McAuliffe had already been removed as pastor of the northwest Las Vegas congregation of more than 8,000 families and relieved of diocese duties.
Bishop Joseph Pepe, head of the regional church administration since 2001, issued a statement Friday saying he was saddened that the actions of Monsignor McAuliffe have caused hurt to so many people and saying he was praying for the congregation.
McAuliffe had complete control from 2002 to 2010 of church activities and finances at one of the largest Roman Catholic congregations in Nevada, and was able to hide his embezzlement because he was a signatory to financial statements to the Las Vegas diocese and San Francisco archdiocese, Brown said in presentencing documents.
When confronted by the FBI last May, McAuliffe spent two hours offering various explanations how his earnings supported his gambling, the prosecutor wrote.
When these explanations failed, agents asked the defendant if he stole money from the church, which the defendant denied.
Stanish told the judge in court documents that McAuliffe began paying restitution to the church in May and has paid $13,420 so far.
The Star-Ledger reported last week that a group of state legislators wants to form a commission to look into the possibility of bringing casino-style gambling to Bergen County.
The proposal, scheduled to be introduced this week, would form a commission to study the impacts, so the idea is in its infancy, though its been tossed around before.
It faces some major hurdles. In a story today, The Press of Atlantic City notes that Gov. Chris Christies commission on casino gambling has repeatedly recommended that casino gambling be limited to Atlantic City, and the Governor has been on record as an opponent of casino gaming in the Meadowlands.
In the dim past – which, in politics, means eight weeks ago – Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, portrayed Senate Bill 710 as a step toward scaling back activity at Floridas dog tracks, horse tracks and the hybrid racetrack/slot machine racinos of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
In theory, the three high-class, high-stakes destination resort casinos her bill authorized for Florida would out-compete the lesser, predatory forms of gambling at the legacy pari-mutuels. But in a twist last week, as SB 710 passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee 7-3, the pari-mutuels more than gave the glitzy casino backers a run for their money.
Racino owners successfully lobbied for changes that would enable some of them to become full-fledged casinos, offering roulette, blackjack and all the table games, without having to make the $2 billion investment the mega-casinos would have to pony up. The pari-mutuels, in some cases, also would be able to skip a local referendum when making their full expansion plans. They would get a break on how much they paid the state in taxes. The rate on slots already has been cut to 35 percent from 50 percent. Under SB 710, the tax rate could drop to 10 percent.
While the changes are meant to ensure that the racetracks and racinos wont oppose the advent of Vegas-style casinos in Florida, the expansion of gambling that Sen. Bogdanoffs bill encourages also helps to ensure that the socially conservative House wont go along, even if the Senate passes the bill. The House version (HB 487), sponsored by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, went nowhere in a hearing last week.
Just a few days ago, Sen. Bogdanoff told The Post her bottom line was that the voters need to have the last say. But the Senate committee weakened that commitment. Voters still would have to approve any destination resort for their county. But the amended bill says that any pari-mutuel at which voters have approved the addition of slot machines would be able to morph into a full casino without further voter approval if a destination resort casino opened in the same county.
Nobody knows whether big casino developers would be drawn to Palm Beach County. But if one such casino came, the Palm Beach Kennel Club, assuming that it wins voter approval of slots in November, would get full casino rights under the Senate bill without another local vote.
Sen. Bogdanoff also wanted to rein in the proliferation of games offered by the Florida Lottery. The Senate committee stripped out that restriction as well.
The bill would regulate Internet cafes that exploit a loophole in Florida law to offer slot machine-like games. It also would stop issuance of new pari-mutuel licenses. Those minor good points are not enough to redeem it. Operators of the racetracks and racinos have run rings around Sen. Bogdanoff.
- Jac Wilder VerSteeg,
for The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board
By Grant McCool
NEW YORK |
Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:02pm EST