
March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month, therefore the marketing drive has brought to light Plainridge Casino’s failure to protect those susceptible to gaming addiction in Massachusetts.
Problem Gambling Awareness urges concerned families to ‘have the conversation’ with those that might be prone to becoming addicted to gambling month.
‘Most grownups gamble or know someone who gambles, and, therefore, could reap the benefits of programs to prevent gambling addiction,’ the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) website states. ‘We believe many whom suffer in silence do this simply because they don’t know why they developed a challenge, just what gambling addiction is or where you might get help.’
The national conversation held each March has made its method to Massachusetts where one associated with the country’s newest gambling venues has unsuccessful in instituting an appropriate firewall to problem gamblers.
The Plainridge Park Casino, the first commercial gambling destination in the state following the passing of the Expanded Gaming Act, opened in June of 2015. Nonetheless, the slot parlor still hasn’t adopted a way to curb reliant gamblers.
‘ What’s the working job of a casino? To make as money that is much possible. Establishing limits on gambling isn’t necessarily the highest priority,’ Lasell College Professor Paul DeBole told the Boston world this week.
What the law states Could Be the Law
When the Expanded Gambling Act was signed into legislation by then-Governor Deval Patrick (D), a key provision was that the Plainridge and three future resort-style gambling facilities will have to implement programs to combat problem gambling.
It would incorporate a ‘play management’ system that would allow customers to set limits on how much they wager, with the slot machines flashing warnings when those enrolled reach certain time or money ceilings before it opened its doors, Plainridge said.
Eight months into procedure, the play administration program is still simply a notion. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission previously approved the scheme and said it would meet up with the mandate’s needs.
‘Would we like faster implementation? Yes, but we think it’s taking the amount of time necessary,’ Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling Executive Director Marlene Warner said.
Challenges to your gaming system include making the enrollment and game play experience user-friendly whilst also making sure customers don’t feel embarrassed or publicly shamed.
Problem Gambling by the Numbers
Regulators in Massachusetts have plenty of explanation to be worried about the potential risks of legalizing gaming that is commercial the Bay State. According to an infographic released by the NCPG, problem gambling is the reason $7 billion in america annually due to addiction, bankruptcy, and crime.
Of the estimated five million Americans who currently meet the criteria for gambling addiction, three in four have problems https://wheresthegold.org/ with alcohol, 38 % use or have used drugs that are illegal and 20 percent have attempted or committed suicide.
It’s certainly the side that is dark the commercialization that is generating new jobs and economic growth for local counties and income for hawaii. Massachusetts estimated through the 2011 bill passage that gambling would generate $300-500 million in brand new taxation income for state expenditures for an annual foundation.
Plainridge was forecasted to bring in $300 million in gross revenues in its opening year but is on rate to collect just over half of that figure at $162 million. The start that is slow disappointing numbers are added basis for casino bosses to just take their time in setting limits on player bankrolls.
Virginia Everyday Fantasy Sports Get Licensed, But Steep Fees Separate Out Big Fish from Small Fry
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who finalized hawaii’s fantasy recreations bill into law this week. Not everyone is happy concerning the new licensing situation, however. (Image: salon.com)
Virginia daily dream sports (DFS) have the proud honor of being the first to become licensed in America.
On the Old Dominion State became the first in the US to license DFS, as Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the Fantasy Contests Act into law monday.
While other states have legalized DFS, of late Kansas, Virginia will be the first to license its operators. This, said McAuliffe, will ‘empower Virginia to control this emerging industry and keep consumers safe from abuses.’
But numerous smaller DFS operators and fantasy that is season-long sites have criticized the $50,000 licensing registration cost. While $50,000 may be a chicken feed to industry that is major DraftKings and FanDuel, it essentially prices the smaller brands out of industry.
Davids and Goliaths
Season-long fantasy sports sites have reported that the bill provides no differentiation between DFS and the variety that is season-long. Requests for clarification on whether or not the bill refers simply to DFS or to all fantasy sports have actually perhaps not been answered by the governor’s office, making season-long operators uncertain whether they truly are now legally permitted to work in the state.
‘It really puts us out of business in your state,’ said David Gerczak, co-founder of season-long web site myffpc.com, told The Virginia Pilot. ‘[The DFS sites] clearly have utilized season-long as cover. We feel we’re getting used.’
Gerczak has urged the continuing state to change the title regarding the bill towards the ‘daily fantasy sports contest act.’
Elsewhere, the passage of the bill had been praised, notably by the top brass of DraftKings.
‘ We thank Governor McAuliffe for his leadership and advocacy and tend to be hopeful that other states across the nation will follow Virginia’s lead,’ stated Griffin Finan, director of public affairs for DraftKings.
Nevada Hearing
But the tone was markedly different at a hearing in Nevada that met to discuss regulation that is potential as reported by the nevada Review-Journal this week.
There, representatives of Draft Kings and FanDuel told Governor Brian Sandoval’s Gaming Policy Committee that regulation could harm the industry and limit innovation of its technology.
Nigel Eccles, CEO of FanDuel, argued that DFS really should not be regulated in the same method that hawaii governs sports books, while warning that the mishmash of disparate state-by-state regulation across America could damage the industry’s credibility.
In October of last year, the Nevada Gaming Control Board ruled that DFS constituted gambling under the state’s gaming law. That intended that sites offering the competitions to convey residents were providing unlicensed gambling. The Board ordered them to stop and desist or face criminal charges. DraftKings and FanDuel promptly exited, as required.
North Jersey gambling enterprises Could Be Taxed 40 to 60 %, State Lawmaker Says
Nj-new jersey State Assemblyman Ralph Caputo is leading the charge to amend their state’s constitution and bring in North Jersey casinos having a hefty tax price. (Image: assemblydems.com)
Two North Jersey casino licenses could soon be released, but the gambling operators in receipt that are quite ready to touch in to the region’s nearly 3.5 million residents and New York City’s 8.5 million inhabitants throughout the Hudson might faint once they also receive their tax bill.
During a unique public hearing on Monday, State Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-District 28) responded to the question of prospective tax prices that casinos in the northern counties might face by revealing, ‘As a guess, it would be 40 to 60 percent,’ he said.
That’s a far cry from the 9.25 percent rate casinos now spend in Atlantic City.
New Jersey lawmakers are looking at an amendment towards the state’s constitution that would allow two gambling facilities to be built in North Jersey. Should it pass, it would end the longstanding gambling monopoly held by Atlantic City since 1976.
Competition from neighboring states has generated a financial tragedy in the former gambling mecca regarding the East Coast, and lawmakers in Trenton are scrambling to find brand new ways to recoup the tax revenue that is dissipating.
Icahn Can’t Believe It
The main topic of gambling expansion will always have its opponents, but in the Garden State, there exists a mole that is rather powerful. As Casino.org reported last week, billionaire Carl Icahn delivered a $100 million ultimatum by saying he wouldn’t spend those funds in his Atlantic City Trump Taj Mahal resort should North Jersey casinos be authorized.
Yesterday, many of the 17 backers of the state amendment that is constitutional.
‘This is a game-changing proposal. We’d modernize our gaming industry and provide significant relief for elderly people and disabled residents,’ Caputo declared.
‘For a situation sorely in need of new profits for vital requirements such as programs and property tax relief for senior residents and residents that are disabled this may be a win-win,’ Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-District 36) said. ‘This proposal would help bring a brighter economic future for our state.’
The resolution now moves to the floor in the state capital, where it will need three-fifths approval in the Assembly and Senate after being approved by the state’s Assembly Judiciary Committee. Should the chambers pass the motion to alter the state constitution, voters would have the final say and would require a big part approval.
Taxing Rates
Taxing North Jersey casinos at levels as sky high as 60 per cent on net winnings might thin the bidding field considerably. However, a scan around nearby locales that are gambling such exuberant rates aren’t exactly out of the ordinary for neighboring states, at minimum.
Connecticut, for example, is a fairly included 18 percent, and Delaware a bit higher at 29.4 percent for table games, at the least. But then New York takes the dessert with a 60 to 69 % take on profits, and Pennsylvania isn’t much better with a 55 percent price.
Nevada, and in addition, wins hands down with a modest 6.75 percent tax rate, although the number that is sheer of in the Silver State obviously make that quantity more bodacious than it could appear.
Too Much of a good thing
While 40-60 percent seems to fall adequately in line, specially thinking about the market in concern, nj-new Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-District 3) stated the rate is found by him excessive.
Atlantic City Assemblyman Chris Brown (R-District 2) also questioned how introducing new casinos to a market that is already oversaturated help the constituents he represents.
‘Is it going to pave the roads to ensure that those who are unemployed can get free from city?’ Brown asked.
Florida Legislature Rejects $3 Billion Seminole Tribe Gambling Deal
Florida Governor Rick Scott, whose try to hit a groundbreaking deal because of the Seminole tribe has foundered and finally passed on into the legislature. (Image: addictinginfo.org)
Florida lawmakers have shot down a proposal to allow the Seminole tribe to provide craps and roulette at their casinos.
The deal ended up being the result of months of negotiations involving the Seminoles and Florida’s Governor Rick Scott, and might have been worth $3 billion to their state over seven years, rendering it the biggest tribal revenue-sharing agreement in the usa.
Beneath the proposal, the Seminoles might have been prohibited from building a new casino for 20 years and would have relinquished their monopoly on blackjack and slots.
The bill, which had support in the State House (with amendments) had totally stalled into the Senate as of final week. It was ultimately pronounced dead when backers conceded it might be impractical to make any headway before the March 11 due date.
‘Going into today we knew full well that the gaming bills had been on life help,’ said State Representative Jose Felix Diaz Dist. that is(R-116th) one of the bill’s architects. ‘The House had been dreaming about a miracle, but by the close of the day we saw one had been not coming and had no option but to pull the plug.’
Blackjack Standoff
The offer had were a major breakthrough in the political standoff between Scott plus the Seminoles with regards to was announced last December.
The original compact between the tribe and Florida was formed this season, giving the Seminoles exclusivity on blackjack within the state in return for $1 billion, spread over five years.
This contract additionally gave the Seminoles a stranglehold on the slots market by prohibiting the expansion of slots gambling beyond that which already existed at a few pari-mutuel racetracks.
The compact expired on 1 of last year, opening the field for negotiations august. Within the interim, despite the expiration of the agreement, the Seminoles proceeded to supply blackjack at their seven properties in the state, in defiance of a deferral lawsuit filed by Florida, which sought to order the games closed down.
Just What Now?
Now that the compact that is new failed, it’s most likely that the matter may have become settled in the courts. It is also likely to disrupt the Seminoles commitment to providing Florida with thousands of the latest jobs through a $1.8 billion expansion of its casinos at Tampa and Hollywood.
The bill’s passage through the legislature was fundamentally impeded by persistent requests for amendments from the state’s disparate gambling lobbyists, notably hawaii’s race tracks.
‘ Every time you place a video gaming bill up within the Florida Legislature it’s like tossing a side of beef into a shark tank,’ stated one lawmaker.