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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Betting Sports Forum: Indianapolis Discusses Downtown Casino

Betting Sports Forum: Indianapolis Discusses Downtown Casino

Idea has resurfaced, but lawmakers shot it down 5 years ago

By Richard Gootee
Indianapolis Star


Once more, talk of a casino in Downtown Indianapolis has cropped up.
A casino, the thinking goes, could help the Capital Improvement Board (CIB), which runs the city's professional sports venues, get out of its financial mess.
The cash-hungry CIB says it's not actively pushing for a casino, but Mayor Greg Ballard a few weeks back said he'd never say never.
So how realistic is this idea?
Not very, judging by the reaction from state lawmakers.
Much of the opposition exists because of concerns over hurting other gaming destinations, including two new gaming facilities at the horse tracks in Shelbyville and Anderson.
"If a Downtown Indianapolis casino was allowed, it would further damage, and maybe fatally damage (the) French Lick (Resort Casino), and would hurt the revenues of the two tracks," said Senate Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne. "You have to look at that."
The gambling debate in Long's own district is heating up.
Earlier this month, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry said he wants a referendum to gauge residents' interest in a casino.
Long said he personally opposes gambling but wouldn't block the move in Fort Wayne if residents support it. But he pointed out that Senate Republicans and Gov. Mitch Daniels are opposed to granting new gambling licenses.
A new license, however, might not be necessary.
Detroit entrepreneur Don Barden owns two casinos in Gary and has expressed interest in consolidating those locations.
Barden, who owns four other casinos around the country, already tried a move to northeastern Indiana last year. But a bill that allowed Barden to move the license to Steuben County died in committee after local Gary leaders said they opposed losing one of the casinos.
In Indianapolis, former Mayor Bart Peterson floated the idea of a casino when the city was exploring ways to pay for Lucas Oil Stadium five years ago. But the state quickly shot it down.

Betting Sports Forum: Indianapolis Discusses Downtown Casino

Sports Betting Tip: Revenues and patrons up at Missouri casinos

Sports Betting Tip: Revenues and patrons up at Missouri casinos

By BILL DRAPER

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — While both Las Vegas and Atlantic City are reporting double-digit declines in casino revenues, Missouri's gambling income is growing.
The state's casino industry continues to shrug off the nation's recession, posting both higher revenues and more patrons in February than during the same month a year ago, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.
"It's the combination of a lot of things," said Troy Stremming, a vice president with Ameristar Casinos Inc., a leading Las Vegas-based gaming and entertainment company.
"We don't rely on travel the way Las Vegas and Atlantic City do. There's removal of the loss limits, and people staying closer to home and not traveling long distances.
"The combination of all of them certainly is making the casino operators in the Midwest part of the country more attractive," he said.
Nevada casinos had their 13th straight month of declines in January and Atlantic City's 11 casinos posted a 19.2 percent drop in revenue last month.
Missouri's casino revenues were buoyed by a sharp rise in both patrons and revenues at St. Louis' newest casino, Lumiere Place. Revenues there were 38 percent higher than in February 2008, and 54 percent more patrons walked through the doors, edging Lumiere past Harrah's North Kansas City as the state's fifth highest-grossing casino.
Statewide, casino revenues for the month were up $5.1 million over February 2008. For the fiscal year that started July 1, revenues were $63.9 million higher than in the same span of the previous fiscal year.
While patrons and admissions rose in the Kansas City market in February, revenues fell by about $426,000, or less than 1 percent, from the previous year. In the St. Louis market, revenues were up $4.1 million over February 2008.
Ameristar's St. Charles casino continues to be Missouri's most lucrative, winning about $25.8 million in February. Harrah's Maryland Heights is second at $23.1 million, followed by Ameristar Kansas City at $20.1 million and Argosy in Riverside at $17.06 million.
The state's six smallest casinos all saw higher revenues in February than in January, and other than the President, all were up over the same month a year ago.
Overall, winnings at four of Missouri's five largest casinos dropped from January to February. Officials attributed the lower winnings to February being a shorter month with one less weekend than January.
As for the number of patrons, Stremming said Kansas City's new smoking ban likely played a part in the increases in that market.
In three of the city's four casinos, smoking is banned everywhere but on the casino floors, meaning people who come to the casinos solely for the restaurants and sports bars — for instance, to watch a basketball game — have to either go outside or into the casino to smoke.
Each time a person goes into the casino, even if it's just to smoke a cigarette, the state counts that as another patron and charges the casino $2.



Sports Betting Tip: Revenues and patrons up at Missouri casinos

N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting

N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting

By Mark Mueller
The Star-Ledger


Seeking another source of cash for New Jersey at a time of severe economic pain, a prominent state senator said recently that he plans to sue the federal government in a bid to overturn a 17-year-old ban on sports betting.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who has long pushed for an expansion of wagering to drive up state revenues, said he will file the lawsuit in federal district court within the next two weeks.
"Billions of dollars are being bet offshore through the Internet or through organized crime, and those are revenues that could be going to New Jersey," Lesniak said.
"People are doing it," he said. "They're doing it every day. They're doing it for the NCAA tournament. They're doing it for the Super Bowl and professional football. But we can't regulate it and run it in the state of New Jersey, and that's just unfair."
In Lesniak's view, sports betting should be permitted not only in Atlantic City's casinos, but at the state's three ailing horse-racing tracks, at off-track betting locations and over the Internet.
The push to extend gambling to sporting events isn't new -- proponents have spoken of it on and off for more than a decade -- but both Lesniak and a spokeswoman for the American Gaming Association, an industry group in Washington, D.C., said they were unaware of anyone before challenging the federal ban in court.
The measure, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, went into effect in 1992. At the time, four states already had laws on their books allowing sports betting. Those states -- Nevada, Oregon, Montana and Delaware -- were exempted, though betting is conducted only in Nevada.
In a nod to New Jersey's casino industry, federal officials gave the state a last-chance opportunity to legalize sports betting in 1993. State lawmakers declined.
Lesniak said he plans to introduce legislation in the Senate and sponsor a constitutional amendment to permit sports wagering.
Three times in the past five years, the Assembly passed legislation authorizing a referendum to gauge the public's appetite for sports betting. Each time, the Senate declined to take up the cause. State Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who has opposed changing New Jersey's law as long as the federal ban is in place, could not be reached for comment today.
Lesniak's initiative comes as Delaware, one of the states exempt from the federal ban, prepares to consider sports betting anew to fill a gaping budget hole. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who raised the issue repeatedly as a candidate last fall, plans an announcement on sports betting next week, said Joe Rogalsky, a spokesman for Markell.
"Delaware is a gaming state, and we need to protect our gaming interests," Rogalsky said. "Sports betting is a unique advantage we have right now."
If sports betting is enacted in Delaware, it would be yet another blow to Atlantic City's casinos, now in the third year of a devastating slowdown. Last month, the city's 11 casinos posted a 19.2 percent decline in revenue over the same period last year, the biggest drop since wagering came to the resort three decades ago.
Lesniak suggests sports betting will be a boon for the Garden State's casinos, racetracks and bottom line. He said his research shows New Jersey could take in more than $100 million a year from sports betting, based on the state's 8 percent tax imposed on gaming revenues.
Gaming analyst Joseph Weinert, a senior vice president with Spectrum Gaming Group, a casino consulting firm, calls Lesniak's revenue forecast wildly optimistic.
"New Jersey would have to be the only place in the world with sports betting to achieve that number," Weinert said.
In the 12 months ending Jan. 31, the 24 biggest casinos in Las Vegas generated just $50.6 million in sports book revenue, or about 1 percent of total gaming revenues. For New Jersey to generate $100 million in cash from the state tax, sports betting revenue across the state would have to top $1.2 billion.
"I submit that ain't gonna happen," Weinert said.

N.J. senator plans push to legalize sports betting

Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?

Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?

By Pete Gunnel

Mad Rush to Online Sports Gambling. All sorts of new thinking is emerging from legislatures in the face of the recession, and online sports gambling may be one of the changes soon to come to the US. While many Washington observers have been heralding the approach of regulated Internet gambling, sports wagering wasn't considered likely to be a part of the package until recently.

Now, however, movement in Delaware to exploit an exemption in the national law against sports betting has stirred other states, who are eager to create new revenues as well. New Jersey lawmakers, eager to find a solution for the precipitous drop in Atlantic City income, want the freedom to decide their own rules for sports gambling.

Delaware is one of four states allowed by a 1992 Congressional law against sports betting to consider its own statutes for wagering on sporting events. But many states are making moves precisely to keep gambling revenues at home, and aren't happy with any competitive advantage enjoyed by Delaware... or Montana, Oregon, or Nevada, for that matter.

New Jersey is also looking into beating the US to the punch and instituting intrastate online gambling. If a potential lawsuit suggested by a state Senator leads to a court ruling against the uneven federal sports gambling ban, it would seem reasonable that the state would combine the two.

Observers also point out that, while there is much opposition to legalizing sports wagering, states might force Congressional representatives to bend to economic necessity. Measures to regulate online gambling will surely be met with cries to include sports gambling.

While there is no federal law against Internet gambling, it has been found by courts that the Wire Act does preclude sports betting on the Internet. And the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act does block all but those four states from having any form of sports wagering.

Yet, there is a mood in the country for removing outdated laws, and online sports gambling would serve as a strong regulatory form in which to collect revenue from an industry largely dominated by local bookies. If sports advocates can be convinced that outlawed gambling is far more dangerous to leagues than transparent, legitimate licensed sports gaming, the US may see gambling openness only dreamed of a few scant months ago.

Betting Sports Forum: Internet Sports Gambling Heading For US?

Monday, March 16, 2009

Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work

Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work

SAN DIEGO, CA - As hoops fans and businesses prepare for the March Madness season, Websense, Inc. (NASDAQ: WBSN), a leader in secure Web gateway technology, recently reported double-digit increases in the number of sports and gambling web sites from a year ago, as well as a trend among attackers to use major events like March Madness to spread information-stealing malware through the Web and email.
"March Madness is an annual event that sparks management discussion about work-life balance and often puts a burden on IT to maintain business-as-usual status," said TotalTech President Ken Hamilton. "Even for companies that allow or encourage participation online during these events, having visibility and control of Internet use is critical to security. Bandwidth is also a critical concern as businesses need to ensure the network is not taxed to the point that it interferes with daily operations and business goals."
Sports fans across the country were on the edge of their seats last Sunday as the NCAA chose the top men's college basketball teams that make the coveted March Madness tournament. The next day, business managers and IT staff were on the edge of their seats, dealing with throngs of employees who use company resources to enter online office pools, blog about the top seeds, and watch live streaming games that take place throughout March and early April. Even with these risks, many companies allow some type of access at work.
"Many employees are working long hours, often beyond the traditional work day, into the night, at their homes and even on vacations," said Websense Chief Operating Officer Doug Wride. "Employee 2.0 -- the employee whose work and personal lives are consistently blurred -- has changed the way many companies approach personal Web use at the office. Companies want the flexibility to manage network security, productivity and bandwidth but in a way that matches their corporate culture and considers hours put in off the clock."
Organizations should consider the following trends and statistics:
-- Trend among attackers to target major sporting events -- Major sporting events' Web sites are attractive to online criminals. Attackers have recently exploited the Super Bowl, Olympics and the World Cup sites. This trend, coupled with the immense popularity of March Madness, presents a risk for organizations that are not properly protected from information-stealing malicious code, spyware and other Web and e-mail threats. Even "good" sites aren't immune: in the second half of 2008 more than 77 percent of the Web sites Websense classified as malicious were actually sites with seemingly "good" reputations that had been compromised by attackers. Additionally, many sites feature Web 2.0 capabilities, allowing anyone to post user-generated content in blogs, forums and wikis, giving attackers a place to embed links to malicious Web sites and other unwanted content.
-- 23.9 percent growth in sports-related Web sites -- Since March of 2008, sports-related Web sites have grown almost one fourth, with many offering real-time game scores, player statistics and up-to-the-minute analysis. With the massive number of sports Web sites and streaming games available, mid-sized companies can expect to see a considerable drain on employee productivity and network bandwidth during the NCAA Tournament.
-- 23.7 percent growth in gambling Web sites -- Since March of 2008, gambling-related Web sites have also grown almost a quarter, creating another issue for organizations during high profile sporting events. These gambling Web sites, coupled with the wagering attraction of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, introduce additional productivity issues that often violate organizations' Internet use policies.

Betting Sports Forum: Online March Madness May Boost Morale at Work

College Basketball Ignites Betting Sports Fervor at Online Casinos

College Basketball Ignites Betting Sports Fervor at Online Casinos

Internet sports gambling is sure to spike in the most exciting, action-packed two weeks of US sporting events.
The NCAA basketball tournament marks a huge gambling week for sportsbooks at online casinos. The three long weekends culminating in the college basketball championship will bring much speculation from gamblers eager to enhance the excitement of a sporting equivalent to a two-week Super Bowl.

The announcement of the NCAA seedings gives players closely following the college basketball regular season a chance to shop for smart bets before the lines adjust. Also, online bracket pools will be everywhere, with millions gambling their picks can outlast others' in the race to the Final Four.

Online Casino Advisory sports analyst Edmund Crumley took a look at the pairings and had some thoughts beyond the chalk picks of North Carolina sure to come from hundreds of would-be pundits.

Crumley says he had like both LSU and Illinois to play deeper in the event than expected, but seeing them matched against the powerful Tar Heels in the early rounds means picking those teams to cover, but not advance in the South Regional.

"Look for Villanova to terrorize a few teams, possibly upsetting Duke in the Sweet Sixteen in the Eastern Regional,",says the sports expert.

Crumley finds the potential second-round game between Big Ten champ Purdue and upstart SEC tournament winner Mississippi State to be a blockbuster, with the winner likely to give Connecticut a tough challenge.

"Louisville is the most enigmatic team of the top seeds. Even though the Cardinals won both the Big East regular season and the tournament, uncertain guard play makes them vulnerable to a huge upset by a team like Ohio State," Crumley stated.

Internet sports gambling is sure to spike in the most exciting, action-packed two weeks of US sporting events. Stay tuned for Crumley's predictions for Final Four teams.

College Basketball Ignites Betting Sports Fervor at Online Casinos

Sports Betting Tip: Where To Bet and March Madness Betting Promos

Sports Betting Tip: Where To Bet and March Madness Betting Promos

With the 2009 March Madness inching closer by the day, questions for bettors arise in the form of "where to bet on the March Madness" and who has the best betting promos on the basketball tournament. We have 2 online sportsbooks to recommend for the 2009 March Madness, both of them with solid reputation and sizable betting promotions. You can chose to bet on the March Madness at either one or both, if you'd like to cash in on the March Madness bonuses. Below you will find answer to the question "Where to bet on the March Madness?" and who has good promos for the basketball tourney.
We will begin with the popular online sports betting company Bodog (official website), where bettors have been wagering on the March Madness for over a decade. The bookmaker will not disappoint this year, either, stacking up good betting promotions for its customers, in addition to the usual 10% bonus on every deposit you make with the online gambling site. Four big March Madness promotions can be found at Bodog in 2009, starting with the Bracket Buster. Pick the most teams that can survive the longest, while points are given per win and increase as the tournament progresses through the different rounds. Everyone who finishes in the top 35 on the Bracket Buster wins a prize, with the winner getting $5,000 in betting money at the sportsbook. And everyone who places at least $50 in bets during the 2009 March Madness will get an extra $50 to wager at Bodog free. There are many more ways to get free money at Bodog during the 2009 March Madness, check the website by following the official link above and see all of them.
Another great sports betting website for the 2009 March Madness is the popular Bookmaker (official website). This online bookie has decided to go on the tangible side this year offering a March Madness bracket contest with 50" TVs as top prizes, in addition to a few thousands of cash. The March Madness promo at this betting website carries a top award of $5,000 + 50" TV, while the bettors placed from No.4 to No.100 on the MM contest will get $100 free play money at the bookmaker. This betting website is also with rock-solid reputation and although at times it may be hard to find a method to fund your betting account, it's a great place to bet on the 2009 March Madenss.

Sports Betting Tip: Where To Bet and March Madness Betting Promos