The Adams Daily Report
Compiled exclusively for Compton Dancer Consulting
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
Daley enthusiastic on casino.
Illinois (Expansion Politics) – Fran Spielman - Calling
gambling "part and parcel of American life," Mayor
Daley sounded Tuesday as if he had already made up his
mind to pursue a government-owned Chicago casino
because of the windfall profits it could reap for the city
and state. … "The city would own a license. The
taxpayers would get full benefit. ... If you're going to
have gambling in Illinois, the government should own
those licenses and have a management contract with
every one of them. Then you'll get a huge amount of
revenue for the state and local government," the mayor
said. "Gambling is part and parcel of American life. Why
shouldn't the taxpayers benefit? Gambling is legal in
Illinois. It's legal in Indiana. It's legal in Wisconsin. It's
almost legal in every state. Now you're saying you're not
supposed to take the money? You're supposed to give the
money to a private concern and let them take the money?
I think that's a great mistake."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-gamb09.html
Argosy, Mandalay drag down stocks.
National (Stock Market) – Las Vegas Sun - MGM
MIRAGE, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., and Mandalay
Resort Group shares fell this morning on investor concern
over a decline in hotel room rates in Las Vegas and lower
earnings for riverboat casinos in the Midwest. MGM
MIRAGE shares fell $1.98 to $32.52 as of 11:34 a.m.
Eastern time in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Harrah's fell $2.04 to $46.66 and Mandalay declined
$1.94 to $30.46. Riverboat operator Argosy Gaming Co.
fell $1.73 to $18.08.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2002/oct/09/514096273.ht
ml
Casino Earnings Decline.
National (Results) – Alton, Ill. (Bloomberg News) — Argosy
Gaming , an owner of riverboat casinos in the Midwest
and South, earned less than analysts expected in the third
quarter because of higher taxes and greater competition in
Illinois. Argosy, based in Alton, said it earned 63 to 65
cents a share in the quarter. That compares with an
average estimate of 73 cents a share by analysts surveyed
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by Thomson First Call. The company earned 58 cents a
share a year earlier. It will release complete results on
Oct. 22.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/09/business/09ARGO.html?ex=1034827200
&en=c3b3e47a5f1e8d01&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER
Casino Magic bright spot for Pinnacle.
Mississippi (Results) - Timothy Boone, The Sun Herald - Biloxi Better marketing and holding costs down allowed Casino
Magic Biloxi to report a 17 percent increase in earnings
for the first six months of the year. Pinnacle
Entertainment, the parent company of the Casino Row
property, released its quarterly report today. It showed
Casino Magic's earnings were $10 million through June
30, compared to $8.6 million through June 30, 2001.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/business/4238850.htm
No end in sight for Strip retail boom.
Shoppers come from everywhere, even Reno.
Nevada (Las Vegas) - Tracie Rozhon, New York Times News
Service - Construction of shopping centers has slowed to a
crawl in the rest of the country, but not in Las Vegas,
where shopping, not gambling, has become the fastestgrowing game in town. Developers are building a million
square feet of shopping space along the Strip, to sell
everything from T-shirts to $1,000 Hermes riding boots,
while planning a half-million more. And that's on top of
the endless corridors of pseudo souks, Venetian alleys
and Roman forums erected over the past decade.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2002/oct/09/514096473.ht
ml
Lottery operator names COB.
National (Personnel) - West Greenwich, R.I. -- GTECH
Holdings Corp., the world's largest lottery-systems
operator, has named Emmett Paige Jr. as chairman of its
board, the company announced Wednesday.
…With fiscal 2002 revenue of $1 billion, GTECH, based
in West Greenwich, supplies or operates lotteries for
more than 80 customers in 44 countries. Separately, the
company announced it obtained a six-year, $300 million
contract to provide a new online and instant-ticket system
for the California Lottery.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2002/oct/09/514096042.ht
ml
Many slots, keno back at Binion's.
Nevada (Las Vegas) – Jeff Simpson, Gaming Wire - Binion's
Horseshoe returned its keno lounge and hundreds of
slot machines to operation late Monday after it was
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able to increase its state-mandated cash reserves to
pay off big winners. ... The property indicated in a
recent court filing that it had to maintain a $1.2
million bankroll. …The casino's three closed table
game pits remain out of operation, leaving only the
main pit with table action. State gaming regulators
last week ordered the Horseshoe to turn off an
estimated 40 percent of its 1,300 slot machines, the
keno game and three of the four table game pits after
control board agents discovered a shortfall in
Binion's bankroll.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2002/Oct-09-Wed2002/business/19805892.html
State folds Wal-Mart bingo.
Legislature votes to ban free games for seniors.
Pennsylvania (Contraction-Regulation) - John M.R.
Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg – Harrisburg - The state lives off the
$923 million that the state Lottery generates annually.
…But Wal-Mart can no longer allow free bingo games
for seniors to be held in its stores, the state House decided
yesterday. …For years, Wal-Mart has permitted weekly
bingo games to be held at some of its 50 stores across the
state. There was no admission fee, no charge to play, no
betting was done, and winners would receive small prizes
such as paper towels or toilet paper from the store. WalMart spokesman Tom Williams said last night the bingo
games weren't sponsored by the store but were started by
senior citizens who would socialize in McDonald's or
other restaurants in Wal-Mart stores. They asked
managers if they could play and the store managers
permitted the games, with bingo numbers sometimes
being called by a sales associate but usually by a senior
citizen. …"If people were not betting any money, then
there was no gambling here," he argued. "Running a
promotion where people don't bet anything and you give
out prizes isn't gambling either." The state House -- led
by the Republican majority -- yesterday decided it was
indeed gambling, and declined to change the law to allow
Wal-Mart to hold bingo games. The proposal was shot
down 106-92.
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20021009lotteryreg4p4.asp
Lawmaker seeks action on proposal for
slot machines.
Pennsylvania (Expansion-Legislation) – Harrisburg
(AP) - A Democratic state lawmaker urged the Legislature
yesterday to move forward with a proposal he introduced
a year ago to legalize slot machines at Pennsylvania's
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four horse racing tracks, saying there is ample public
support for the idea. Rep. Thomas Petrone's bill has not
seen any movement since it was assigned to the House
Finance Committee. It would allow the racetracks to
apply for slot-machine licenses if voters in the counties
where they are located supported legalization in a
referendum. The measure is among several similar
proposals that seek to improve racetrack attendance,
boost purse sizes and shore up state revenues. Petrone's
bill would earmark 60 percent of the state's share of any
increased revenue for the state lottery fund, which pays
for senior citizen programs, such as prescription drug
assistance.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/couriertimes/news/news/1009slotmachines.htm
Park City delays vote on casino.
Connecticut (Indian Gaming) - Manuela Da Costa-Fernandes
City officials Tuesday night postponed a
decision to sign a contract with the Golden Hill
Paugussetts to open a casino that could bring 17,000 jobs
to the region. …The committee reviewed a 46-page
proposal by the Trumbull-based Paugussetts to open a
casino on 200 acres in the city, but took no action. The
committee will meet again on Oct. 15. If the panel
approves the measure, it will be passed to the full City
Council Oct. 21. Bridgeport stands to get about 10
percent of revenue from slot machines, estimated at about
$50 million to $60 million, and Waterbury would get 3
percent, or about $18 million, said Bernard Wishnia, the
tribe's attorney. …New Haven, West Haven, Ansonia and
Derby would stand to gain a share of about $20 million in
slot-machine revenues.
- Bridgeport-
http://www.newhavenregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5642775&BRD=128
1&PAG=461&dept_id=7573&rfi=6
Firms Face Huge Backlog as Ports Reopen
National (Economy) - Emily Kaiser - Chicago (Reuters) - U.S.
West Coast ports were slowly getting back in action on
Wednesday, but it may be six weeks before U.S. retailers and
manufacturers unclog the backlog from the 10-day closure that
stranded billions of dollars in goods ranging from bananas to
toys to auto parts. With an estimated 200 ships waiting to
unload at the 29 ports closed since Sept. 29… "Our next step is
to identify any priority items" to unload first, said Tom
Williams, spokesman for the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart
Stores Inc. "It will take a few weeks… Port management
officials said they would gradually resume operations on
Wednesday, a day after President Bush stepped in to stop a
management lockout…
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=580&ncid=580&e=3&u=
/nm/20021009/bs_nm/transport_ports_retail_dc
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