Star casino has ‘extreme’ party culture
February 21, 2012
Sydney’s Star casino has a culture of drugs and sexual harassment, claims a former employee.
The claims come just days after the NSW Gaming Authority announced an inquiry into the casino, following the sacking of its CEO Sid Vaikunta over sexual harassment allegations two weeks ago.
In an interview with the Seven Network, former manager Elizabeth Ward said in her 24 years working in casinos she had never witnessed a culture as extreme as that at the Star.
‘It’s a permanent party,’ she told Seven News.
Another employee who wasn’t identified told Seven News there was chronic drug abuse’ within senior management.
He also claimed senior managers were encouraged not to report breaches within the casino.
‘There’s financial incentives not to report any breaches,’ he said.
Ms Ward, who worked at The Star for 16 years, claimed in one incident a senior minister from a foreign government was ejected from the casino for gross and obscene behaviour but was allowed to return after complaining to executive staff.
‘No matter what you do or what you report or what you see, nothing gets done,’ she said.
The employees claim high-rollers are protected by senior management, and encouraged to stay at tables for up to 48 hours.
Ms Ward said her investigation of a suspected drug scandal involving a high-roller cost her and her husband their jobs.
She claimed the high-roller was good friends with three casino executives.
‘The more I investigated it the uglier things seemed to be getting for me,’ she said.
The employees said they were willing to testify as part of the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority inquiry.
Comment is currently being sought from The Star’s parent company, Echo Entertainment.
Echo Entertainment says the allegations made on Seven News are inconsistent with the findings of the Casino Liquor Gaming Control Authority’s recent review of The Star casino licence.
The company says The Star’s intolerance of breaches of its Code of Conduct is evidenced by the sacking of its former managing director after allegations were made against him.
It rejected Ms Ward’s claim that the jobs of she and her husband were terminated after they investigated a high-roller over a suspected drug scandal.
‘Ms Ward was unable to return to work after an eight-month absence and so her employment was ended,’ Echo Entertainment said in a statement.
‘Six months before a restructure of table games Ms Ward’s husband asked for a voluntary redundancy and The Star granted his request.’
Echo Entertainment did not deny that reporting breaches was entwined with performance indicators.
It said reporting breaches was taken seriously but that a recent report by Ms Gail Furness SC to the Casino Liquor Gaming Licence Authority did recommend a review of performance indicators for senior staff.
‘She observed that The Star had already taken action to substitute a more appropriate KPI (Key Performance Indicators) in place of zero breaches,’ the company said.
The company also did not deny claims a foreign minister had been readmitted to the casino after being ejected for bad behaviour.
It said: ‘The Responsible Service of Alcohol is treated seriously and applied uniformly regardless of the status of the client visiting the casino.’
Star casino has ‘extreme’ party culture
Estimates for Lake Worth Beach work come in $2.7 million more than expected
February 20, 2012
LAKE WORTH — The city staff presented a $13.7 million final budget to commissioners Friday for the beach-site and casino work at Lake Worth Beach, $2.7 million more than anticipated.
The work includes repairs to an aging sea wall along with lighting and utility work that was not included in original estimates.
Now the city has to figure out a way to pay the extra cost or trim the plan.
During a commission workshop Friday, The Morganti Group, the construction manager for the casino and beach site, presented a “guaranteed maximum price” of $6.6 million for the site work that includes landscaping and parking lots, a promenade and shaded playground along the ocean, a bus stop, bike racks and beachfront pavilions.
Although most of that cost is expected to be covered by $5 million in county bond money, some residents and city officials had understood that $5 million would be the total cost of the beach-site overhaul.
Additional expenses include $800,000 for lighting, $224,000 to repair the sea wall and $1 million for water, sewer and drainage work.
The beach-site project was pared down from the original design produced by Michael Singer Studio in 2010 that included wind generators, solar panels on buildings, cisterns to capture rainwater and historical markers embedded in the pavement of the promenade.
“This project has been stripped,” Michael Singer said during Friday’s workshop. “It’s a generic park at this point.”
Commissioners asked Matt Marks, project manager for The Morganti Group, to provide them with copies of bids used to determine the estimated prices of work at the beach site.
Marks said the company could start work later this month and would complete the road work in time for the casino opening in October. Marks said the overhaul could be complete in January .
Acting City Manager Steve Carr presented a financing plan that included amending the general fund budget and borrowing from a billboard settlement fund that has been designated for capital projects.
Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell said he wanted assurances that the county will reimburse the city the $5 million for the beach-site work as anticipated and that the city can get a bank loan to pay for the casino work. He also suggested that the city hire an independent expert to oversee the beach-site work.
Commissioners are expected to discuss the beach-site options again during a special meeting set for 6 p.m. Feb. 28.
Estimates for Lake Worth Beach work come in $2.7 million more than expected
Atlantic City casino union targets Tropicana conventions
February 19, 2012
Noah K. Murray/The Star-LedgerExterior of The Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City. the Casino union is asking groups to cancel convention bookings at the Tropicana to protest wage cuts to employees.
ATLANTIC CITY — Atlantic City’s main casino union is asking groups that have booked conventions at the Tropicana Casino and Resort to take their business elsewhere as a labor dispute between both sides grows more contentious.
Local 54 of Unite-HERE says it has asked 30 groups to cancel bookings at the Tropicana to protest the casino’s intention to terminate pension plans for its employees.
The Tropicana declared an impasse in contract talks last month and said it will unilaterally implement its final offer, which includes an end to pension contributions. The casino wants to give that money to workers in a cash payment or to their 401K accounts.
“There are lots of good choices in Atlantic City,” Local 54 president Bob McDevitt said. “Right now, Tropicana is not one of them. They are not good corporate citizens, and we are addressing that with their customers.
“They are threatening to implement a contract which destroys the pensions of 1,200 workers,” McDevitt said. “Their business model is to destroy the pensions of their workers, and we are not going to allow that.”
The casino says no group has canceled a booking but acknowledges it is concerned about the effect of a prolonged effort to keep convention and meeting business from it.
“This type of response from the Unite-HERE leadership could have a devastating effect on our employees if convention groups go elsewhere,” Tropicana president Tony Rodio said. “They’re taking away overnight stays, which hurts housekeepers and room attendants, taking away people being on the casino floor and not getting drinks from beverage servers, or eating at the restaurants. They’re hurting the Tropicana, but they’re also hurting themselves.”
The union used the convention-targeting tactic to great effect in a labor dispute with Resorts Casino Hotel last year, persuading at least three convention groups to cancel and go elsewhere. Local 54 has since declared a truce with Resorts as it attempts to work out a new contract.
So far, the union has contracts in place with eight of Atlantic City’s 11 casinos at a time when both sides agree labor peace is needed more than ever. Atlantic City is reeling from lost revenue and jobs caused by fierce competition from casinos in neighboring states. Since 2006, its revenues have fallen from $5.2 billion to $3.3 billion at the end of last year.
The union and management at most of the casinos have worked hard to avoid labor disputes over the last year, realizing that a strike with the Atlantic City market in a weakened condition could prove disastrous, as customers now have more nearby gambling options than ever before. Local 54′s 2004 strike lasted 34 days and inflicted serious damage on both sides before a pact was reached.
Rodio said the contract Tropicana will impose is identical in virtually every respect to contracts the union reached with the four Caesars Entertainment casinos and the two Trump Entertainment Resorts casinos in Atlantic City. The only difference is that the Tropicana would be making its payments directly to its employees instead of into The National Retirement Fund, a nationwide fund into which casinos, hotels and other businesses contribute.
Rodio said the fund is underfunded by $1.4 billion and was deemed to be in “critical status” in 2010 because of that liability.
He said because the Tropicana was purchased by billionaire Carl Icahn out of bankruptcy, it was absolved of responsibility for its share of the pension fund’s liability. He said the casino told the union at the start of contract talks last summer of its intention to withdraw from the fund. Staying in the fund could expose Tropicana to significant liability, which threatens the future financial viability of the casino, Rodio said, declining to estimate the amount of the liability.
The casino instead will contribute the $1.77 per hour per employee that otherwise would have gone into the pension fund to an employee’s 401k plan, or to a lump-sum cash payment, at the discretion of each employee for as long as they work at the casino, Rodio said.
Atlantic City casino union targets Tropicana conventions
Alabama casino boss describes $20,000 payoff
February 18, 2012
His testimony came in the trial of casino owner Milton McGregor, Sen. Harri Anne Smith, former Sens. Larry Means and Jim Preuitt, casino lobbyist Tom Coker, and casino spokesman Jay Walker. They are accused of working with Gilley to buy and sell votes for pro-gambling legislation designed to reopen Gilley’s and McGregor’s casinos during a state crackdown on electronic bingo machines.
Gilley said Spicer sponsored legislation that cleared the way for him to hold his huge music festival, Bama Jam, in Enterprise. He said Massey told him that Spicer had seen Gilley give $50,000 in campaign contributions to a state senator in 2008. He said Spicer felt left out despite his support of Gilley’s projects.
He said Massey recounted how Spicer was an influential House member and his support would be important for passing pro-gambling legislation. He said Massey also told him that Spicer wanted cash rather than a check. He recounted how he handed Spicer a box that cellphones are packaged in without discussing what was inside
“Rep. Spicer came by my office and I had $20,000 in a cellphone box,” Gilley said. “He said, ‘I was needing a new cellphone anyway. Thank you very much.’”
In Spicer’s guilty plea, he admitted accepting more from Gilley, including more than 300 BamaJam music festival tickets worth $22,500. He also acknowledged taking about $31,000 in cash payments, $9,000 for a boat, and a $10,000 Colorado ski trip from Massey, who has also pleaded guilty.
Gilley was not charged with any offense involving Spicer when he pleaded guilty in Alabama’s gambling corruption case in April 2010. Spicer struck a plea deal with prosecutors in November 2010.
Gilley testified Friday that he “had no earthly idea” that his lobbyist was also paying money to Spicer.
Gilley opened Country Crossing casino in December 2009 and had to close it the next month due to the state crackdown. Gilley testified Wednesday the casino’s games took in $18 million during the three-day opening weekend.
When asked by prosecutor Kendall Day about his financial status now, Gilley said, “I am upside down, negative $115 to $116 million. I’m broke.”
Gilley, Massey and Spicer are awaiting sentencing. McGregor’s attorney, Walter McGowan, tried to use that pending sentencing to question whether Gilley is trying to implicate others to get a lighter sentence.
He got Gilley to acknowledge that while being held in the Montgomery jail in April, he told his wife, “My whole sentence is going to depend on whether I can bring others down or not.”
Gilley’s sentence for bribery, conspiracy and money laundering would normally be between 21 and 27 years, but he said prosecutors can recommend a shorter sentence based on his cooperation. Gilley also said that for his cooperation, prosecutors agreed not to charge him with bribing Spicer.
Alabama casino boss describes $20,000 payoff
First two casinos get green light to open in May
February 17, 2012
Ohio’s first two casinos got the green light today to open in May, and Cleveland will go first.The Casino Control Commission set a tentative opening date for RockOhio Caesar’s casino inCleveland for the week of May 14th. Penn National Gaming’s Toledo casino will open the week of May28th if all goes according to plan.The commission was reluctant to decide which casino gets to open first but ultimately had tobecause both the casinos wanted the honor.Chairwoman Jo Ann Davidson said commission members were put in an “awkward position” andcalled choosing one over the other a “very difficult decision.”The casinos initially wanted to open in late March or early April. But in January, stateregulators put the brakes on those plans because of delays receiving completed license applicationsfrom the casino operators and slot-machine makers and other vendors.One factor favoring the Cleveland casino was its operators filed all their materials bymid-November while Toledo was not finished until late January.Commission member Peter Silverman, a Toledo lawyer, voted against letting Cleveland openfirst and expressed frustration that it will take months to investigate some Penn Nationalinvestors who filed late. His proposal was to have a coin toss to decide which casino opens first.The Columbus casino is scheduled to open late this year.
First two casinos get green light to open in May
Casino revenues could help fill government coffers – Cyprus Property News
February 16, 2012
IN RECENT times there has been much talk of licensing a number of casinos in Cyprus; Larnaca’s old airport terminal was one possibility and the mayor of Paphos is keen to have one in the town.
The four largest municipalities in the Famagusta district presented their joint plan for a modern multi-purpose complex that would include a luxury casino at a news conference last Friday.
In 2009 President Christofias declared that: “There will be no casinos in Cyprus as long as I am President,” adding that “Casinos are expression of corruption and can create a crisis to the system”. But in a remarkable U-turn last October, the government announced that it was considering the possibility of allowing the operation of casinos on the Island.
Now it seems that the Finance Ministry has put together a set of proposals for up to five ‘high-quality’ casinos, preferably in the tourist areas.
According to documents presented by the Greek-language newspaper Politis, each licence would cost €100 million and the target would be to secure €500 million by the end of the year to help fill the government’s coffers.
We understand that the Finance Ministry’s proposal calls for an independent casino supervisory authority to be established and a strict legislative framework.
Whether any projects will get the go-ahead in the foreseeable future is unclear as the subject has yet to be discussed in parliament and legislation will have to be drafted and agreed.
We await further developments.
Casino revenues could help fill government coffers – Cyprus Property News
Billionaire casino moguls get extra time to play their best hands
February 15, 2012
HONG KONG Feb 10 (Reuters) – Wynn Resorts Ltd, the $15 billion gaming empire of Las Vegas tycoonSteve Wynn, may be forced to give its biggest shareholder accessto its financial papers, a U.S. judge has ruled, the latest turnin a case that has transfixed the casino world with implicationsfor the company’s control.
The case has caused a bitter split between two self-madebillionaires and former best friends and will now stretch on forat least two more weeks after the Nevada judge requested onThursday more time to review the claims and give the businesspartners of 12 years an opportunity to resolve some issues.
Japanese businessman Kazuo Okada, who with close to 20percent of Wynn Resorts holds more than double Steve Wynn’sstake, is suing to gain access to financial information and hasobjected to a $135 million corporate donation to a university inthe former Portuguese enclave of Macau as”inappropriate”.
The judge ordered Wynn Resorts to provide access to”reasonable” documents depending on the individual case and setthe next hearing for Feb. 23 , spokesmen for both sidessaid.
A Hong Kong resident who made his fortune from pachinkomachines, Okada, 69, has also nominated four potentialcandidates to Wynn’s board, a move that could potentially givehim influence over five out of 12 board seats.
“The judge did not grant the relief Okada was seeking. Theboard will take the judge’s request under advisement and reportback in a couple of weeks,” a Wynn spokesman told Reuters.
Okada is chairman of Universal Entertainment Corp — an arcade-game manufacturer in which Goldman Sachs Group Inc has an 11 percent interest.
Universal is developing a $2 billion casino in thePhilippines, which Wynn says is at the heart of the disputebetween the two tycoons.
Wynn, 70, widely credited with transforming the Las Vegas Strip with icons such as the Treasure Island and sleek Bellagiocasino properties, has said the fall-out began after he declinedto work with Okada on the Philippines casino.
A spokesman for Okada rejected this claim, saying thePhilippines project was not a factor.
“We are pleased that the court has confirmed Mr Okada’sright to inspection. Mr Okada looks forward to working with WynnResorts over the next two weeks, as directed by the court, togain access to Wynn Resorts’ books and records,” said aspokesperson for Okada.
The fiery spat between Okada, an engineer by training whogot his start fixing jukeboxes, and Wynn, known for upsettingshareholders more than 12 years ago with overzealous spending,may dampen Wynn’s stock premium in the near term, analysts havesaid.
Shares of U.S.-listed Wynn Resorts and Hong Kong-listed unitWynn Macau Ltd have been largely unaffected by thedispute so far. Wynn Resorts ended down 0.9 percent on Thursday,while Wynn Macau was down 0.4 percent by 0626 GMT on Friday.
Billionaire casino moguls get extra time to play their best hands
NY lawmaker says he, wife attacked at casino
February 13, 2012
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — A state senator and his wife said Saturday they were attacked and beaten at a Niagara Falls casino Friday night after the lawmaker tried to break up an argument between two businessmen, one of whom accused him of hating the Indian tribe that runs the casino.
Sen. Mark Grisanti suffered bruised ribs in the altercation, the senator’s chief of staff, Douglas Curella, said. His wife, Maria, was more seriously hurt. She was diagnosed Saturday morning with a concussion and possible broken nose, Curella said.
“It’s just been horrible,” Maria Grisanti said in a phone call from her Buffalo home after returning there from the hospital Saturday afternoon.
She and her husband had attended a fundraising gala for the Seneca Diabetes Foundation, where their daughter had performed with a singing group, at the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel Events Center. They were in a lobby area around 11 p.m. when they encountered two Seneca Nation businessmen who were arguing loudly.
According to Curella, Grisanti asked the men to calm down. Instead, one of them accused the senator of hating the Seneca tribe and punched him in the chest. Another blow landed on the back of his head. As the struggle intensified, two women who were with the businessmen then attacked Maria Grisanti, threw her to the ground and kicked her, Curella said.
Hotel security and Niagara Falls police broke up the fight. Commanders in the police department confirmed that there had been a melee at the casino, but said they couldn’t immediately release information about it or say whether anyone was arrested.
Maria Grisanti woke up Saturday with a headache and a swollen face and sought medical attention, Curella said.
The Seneca Nation, which controls semi-autonomous territory in western New York, has been at odds with state lawmakers over a variety of issues related to its sovereignty, including revenue from tribal casinos and its right to sell cigarettes without collecting state taxes. The tribe owns the casino where the fight took place. Grisanti’s western New York district includes Niagara Falls.
Seneca Nation President Robert Odawi Porter released a statement Saturday expressing regret over the fight. He said he hoped Maria Grisanti was recovering quickly and noted that she had attended his inauguration in 2010.
“I would hope for better behavior and conduct from everyone at such an event as this, although it transpired sometime after the gala ended,” he said. “Sadly, one cannot control individual behavior.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NY lawmaker says he, wife attacked at casino
Minnesota Rotary District 5950
February 8, 2012
LAS VEGAS – A new report shows U.S. casinos and the industries that depend on them made a $125 billion economic splash in 2010 — the equivalent of 1 percent of the total U.S. gross domestic product.
The study released Monday by the American Gaming Association counts direct casino industry spending and tallies the indirect spending that comes from industries supported by casinos and activities spawned by casinos.
"There is no doubt the commercial casino industry is a significant and vital part of our nation’s economy," association president and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr., said in a statement. "The industry generates and supports economic activity that stretches far beyond the communities that host casinos."
The report shows 566 casinos in 22 states supported about $125 billion in spending and nearly 820,000 jobs in the U.S. in 2010.
Direct consumer casino spending accounts for about 350,000 jobs and $50 billion of that spending. About one-third of the money came from non-gambling sources, such as food sales, hotels and entertainment.
Indirect spending generated about 470,000 jobs and $76 billion, according to the report.
Taxes paid directly by the industry in 2010 totaled nearly $16 billion, or $25 billion when indirect activity is counted. That brings the industry’s effective tax rate up to 32 percent, which is higher than the economy-wide total tax burden of 27 percent, researchers said.
Report researcher Coleman Bazelon, a principal with the economics consulting firm The Brattle Group, said the data show the breadth of casinos’ impact.
Minnesota Rotary District 5950
Vegas casinos rely heavily on baccarat
February 4, 2012
LAS VEGAS – In the days before the Chinese New Year celebration began this week, six high rollers sat down at the private baccarat tables one day at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and began throwing down wagers of $100,000 to $200,000 a hand. It was a scene hardly out of place these days in Sin City.
Big-time gamblers, primarily from Asia, are flocking to Las Vegas to play baccarat and providing a big lift to the overall bottom line of the city’s casinos.
Baccarat has easily surpassed blackjack in terms of casino revenue in Las Vegas and now represents nearly 60 percent of the MGM Grand’s table-game revenue over the past year. It’s especially popular this week, with tens of thousands of tourists from Asia in town to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
“For us to make money in gaming today without baccarat is almost impossible,” said Debra Nutton, senior vice president of casino operations at the MGM Grand hotel-casino. “We need the big whales to make money.”
In Las Vegas parlance, a “whale” is a big-time gambler who easily wagers more in one night at the tables than most American families make in a year. Casinos cater to them with plush, secluded gambling salons inside the top casinos — with baccarat games that often start out at a minimum $10,000 per hand.
The whales typically favor baccarat, a game romanticized in James Bond flicks and highly popular in Macau and Singapore.
The game is built on a simple premise: Who will end up with a better hand, the player or the banker? Gamblers are dealt two cards and predict whether they will beat the banker, typically a position that rotates among the players at the table. Smaller tables, known as midi-baccarat, start at $100 limits and look more like large blackjack tables, skipping the rotating banker and leaving that role to the dealer. Even smaller-limit tables are called mini-baccarat.
Nevada figures show that during the 12 months ending Nov. 30, casinos statewide won $1.27 billion from baccarat players, with the game offered at 258 total tables in 24 casinos. Blackjack, meanwhile, pulled in just $1.03 billion — even though it was offered across 2,810 tables in 151 casinos.
While casinos hope to pocket 12 percent of the money wagered on baccarat, the large amounts played in fewer bets mean big swings in revenue quarter to quarter, depending on how lucky the gamblers are.
Slots are still the most popular and lucrative form of gambling in Nevada, with nearly 165,000 machines over 330 locations including supermarket, gas stations and airports.
Baccarat has been the most lucrative table game since 2009 and has been increasing its share since then, according to an analysis of gambling revenues by Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
That’s even though the game isn’t widely offered, he said.
“The real high-end play is happening in maybe six or seven casinos,” Schwartz said.
The MGM Grand is among those Strip casinos counting on their highest of high rollers coming to town this weekend for the Chinese New Year. Nutton said her casino could double the number of baccarat tables during the New Year and still be busy.
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