The Adams Daily Report
Compiled exclusively for Compton Dancer Consulting
Thursday, June 26, 2003
MGM selling Golden Nugget
Nevada (Las Vegas) -Reuters - Casino operator MGM
Mirage on Thursday said it agreed to sell two Golden
Nugget casinos in Nevada to private investment firm
Poster Financial Group Inc. for about $215 million. …
"The strategic move is designed to further strengthen
MGM Mirage's balance sheet and enhance the position of
the company as we continue to participate in new growth
opportunities," said Terry Lanni, chairman and chief
executive. …Las Vegas-based Poster Financial is owned
by Timothy Poster and Thomas Breitling, who founded
the travel Web site, Travelscape.com, which was later
sold to Expedia Inc.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/030626/leisure_mgmmirage_2.html
Station Director, Timothy Poster, Resigns
Nevada (Las Vegas) - /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Station
Casinos, Inc. announced today that Timothy Poster has
resigned from the Company's Board of Directors. Mr.
Poster's company, Poster Financial Group, Inc.,
announced today that it has entered into an agreement to
purchase the Golden Nugget Hotel-Casinos in downtown
Las Vegas and Laughlin from MGM/Mirage. Mr. Poster
has served on the Company's board since June 11, 2001.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030626/lath056_1.html
Trump Hotels win relicensing
New Jersey (regulation) – Joe Weinert - After enduring
months of scrutiny about their ability to make enough
money to expand facilities and reduce debt, Donald
Trump's casinos won license renewals Wednesday…
The Casino Control Commission, however, emphasized
that it will be monitoring the casinos' finances and
ordered them to submit mid-term forecasts in 2005.
"While I conclude that the Trump licensees have met
their burden, there are factors and uncertainties that
demand our continuing, careful scrutiny of the Trump
properties' ongoing financial stability," commission Chair
Linda Kassekert said.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/businesscasino/062603TRUMPCCCJUN26.html
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Approving casino sites getting easier
Commission OKs three-step method
Mississippi (regulation) – Tim Bonne, Biloxi Sun Herald The Mississippi Gaming Commission has introduced a
new regulation for approving casino sites, which the
commission said will make it easier for developers to
attract investors. … Under the change, scheduled to take
effect in August, site approval will just consider the
legality of building a casino at a proposed location,
including zoning ordinances and the uses of any nearby
property. After receiving site approval, casino developers
will have six months to get approval from the
commission for the site development plan. To get a site
development plan passed by the commission, developers
will have to show architectural renderings of the casino,
its parking, hotels, entertainment areas and any other
infrastructure. The final stage, approval to proceed with
the development, requires the commission to review the
estimated costs of construction, funding information,
financial statements and evidence of approval from
government agencies, including Mississippi Department
of Marine Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
and the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
Developers will have two years after getting gambling
site approval to furnish this information.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/business/6175517.htm
Committee may rewrite casino bill
Rhode Island (legislation) - Jim Baron - A bill to allow
casino gambling in Rhode Island still has an uphill climb
to become law this year, but the House Finance
Committee is considering significant changes designed to
make it more palatable to opponents of the original
legislation. The latest version of the bill-- dubbed
Substitute A/2 -- calls for a statewide referendum during
the general election in November 2004, not at a special
election later this year as originally proposed. Voters
would be asked to approve or reject specific proposals
that have the support of the city or town where the
casinos would be located. If voters approve more than
one proposal, a five-person board chosen by the governor
would select the offer it feels delivers the best deal to the
state. Substitute A/2 also lowers from 40 percent to a
minimum of 25 the percentage of gambling revenues that
would go to the state. The winning developer would also
have to pay an annual licensing fee of $1 million.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=8689602&BRD=1713&PAG=46
1&dept_id=24491&rfi=6
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State Senate Passes Slots Bill
Pennsylvania (legislation) - A bill that would
authorize slot machines at the state's racetracks passed the
Senate early Thursday, with proponents hailing the
economic boost that the gambling could bring and
opponents warning that the poor, elderly, and vulnerable
will suffer. Senators voted 27-22 in favor just after
midnight following 3½ hours of debate on the bill, which
arrived on the Senate floor after six weeks of furious
negotiations revived an earlier plan that failed to get the
support it needed for introduction. …To become law, the
bill needs to pass the House in an identical form and get
the governor's signature. If that happens, Pennsylvania
would become the seventh state – joining Louisiana,
Iowa, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Delaware and West
Virginia – to allow slot machines at the racetracks. …
The bill would authorize the sale of licenses to racetracks
for a fee of $50 million apiece. Track owners could keep
46 percent of the revenue, while the state would receive
36 percent of the revenue and 18 percent would go to
subsidize purses at the tracks. … The bill allows as many
as 3,000 slot machines at each of eight racetracks. Four
tracks are currently operating, two others are licensed but
not built, and the state holds licenses for two more.
Under the proposal, the racetracks could sell their
businesses in the future, but any buyer would also have to
pay $50 million to the state for the slot-machines license.
The bill would limit the ability of track owners to use
their newfound wealth to influence public officials. For
instance, the bill bars campaign contributions by officers,
directors, principals, or key employees of racetrack
owners and its subsidiaries and agents to political parties
or state and local candidates for public office.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/06262003_nw_paslots.html
Governor fires gaming board chief
Illinois (regulation) – Christopher Wills, Associated Press Gov. Rod Blagojevich fired outgoing Illinois Gaming
Board head Philip C. Parenti from the state payroll
Wednesday, saying that Parenti's new job with a casino is
a conflict of interest. …"We don't think the taxpayers
should be paying Mr. Parenti on administrative leave
when he has already decided to make his bet with
Harrah's," Blagojevich said.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/25cas.html
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Tribal ally is in running for seat on
gaming panel
California (regulation) - James P. Sweeney, Copley News
Service - A former Los Angeles detective who stood with
tribes as a symbol of law enforcement support for Indian
casinos has emerged as a leading candidate for a vacancy
on the state's gambling commission. The development
has rattled gambling opponents who say the commission
was set up to be an impartial body. Moreover, some fear
it may reflect the desire of a governor facing a recall
threat to curry favor with the tribes. The prospective
commissioner is Carl Olson, who appeared in television
commercials on behalf of Proposition 5, a 1998 initiative
that sought to legalize Indian casinos. Olson confirmed
he applied for a position on the Gambling Control
Commission several months ago.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/news/news_1n26gamecop.
html
Opening Day
Excitement built up all day Wednesday among local gamblers.
Wednesday was opening day for the Chukchansi Gold Resort, the
state's biggest, most expensive new casino — and it's right here in
the Valley.
California (Indian gaming) - The door officially
opened at 6:00pm at the Chukchansi Gold Resort and
Casino in Coarsegold. The final push was on early
Wednesday to get the casino complete — for the most
part — before the 6:00pm opening. …But, people go to
casinos to gamble. There is no shortage of slot machines,
there are 1,800 to choose from — ranging from 1 cent to
$100 machines. The slot machines use a technology
called TITO — "Ticket In, Ticket Out" so you do not
have to carry coins throughout the casino. The casino
also has a hotel. It will not be open until August, along
with the other restaurants. If you are heading up to the
casino, authorities are asking everyone to be patient, as
over 2,000 cars are expected to make their way on
Highway 41.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/062503_nw_casino.html
Feinstein joins casino fight
California (Indian gaming) - Michael Flaherty, Marin
Independent Journal - Sen. Dianne Feinstein will introduce
legislation today that could force an American Indian
tribe to move its proposed casino near Sears Point to
another site, according to her spokesman. Feinstein's bill
would allow the U.S. Department of the Interior to
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impose strict environmental regulation of the proposal's
impacts - an ability the department lacks. Official entry
into the casino fight today by Feinstein, D-Calif., is a step
forward for North Bay casino opponents and represents
what is perhaps their only hope in getting the tribe to
divert its gaming plans.
http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~1478742,00.html
Culinary Union, Tropicana reach deal
Nevada (Las Vegas) – Jeff Simpson, Gaming Wire - The
long-simmering dispute between the Tropicana and its
1,400 Culinary Union members has been settled, hotel
and union representatives announced Wednesday.
Culinary Local 226 officials and Tropicana bosses agreed
to a deal that would give Culinary maids, waitresses,
cooks and cocktail servers priority hiring rights if the
existing hotel is demolished to make way for a new one.
Tropicana parent Aztar Corp. has said it's making
preliminary plans to redevelop its Strip site, but doesn't
expect to reach a final decision until early next year. The
deal came more than a year after the union reached
tentative agreements on new five-year deals with the
Tropicana and other Las Vegas casino operators, a deal
that was never signed because the parties couldn't agree
on priority hiring rights for union workers. The new deal
replaces the contract that expired June 1, 2002.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Jun-26-Thu2003/business/21609265.html
Loto-Québec - Québec's Casinos to Offer a
Smoke-Canada (Quebec) - /CNW Telbec/ - Loto-Québec
has announced that, starting in the month of July, its three
Casinos will be non-smoking establishments. This new
policy will place the Corporation in the avant-garde, as its
gaming houses will be among the very few in North
America to offer a totally smoke- free environment. The
policy will officially take effect on Tuesday, July 1, 2003
at the Casino du Lac-Leamy, the Casino de Charlevoix,
and the Hilton Lac-Leamy Hotel, and on Monday, July
21, 2003 at the Casino de Montréal. In order to
accommodate smokers, however, a number of
comfortable and readily accessible rooms equipped with
high-performance ventilation systems will be made
available at each Casino. “This initiative is being
implemented in response to requests expressed by a large
portion of our clientele and employees," explained Mr.
Claude Poisson, President of Operations for the Société
des casinos du Québec and Resto-Casino. "Thanks to the
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new policy, we will now be able to offer a more pleasant
and comfortable environment to the thousands of
individuals who frequent and work at our establishments,
and in so doing, optimize our overall quality standards."
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/June2003/26/c7716.html
Stocks Rise on Jobless Claims Report
National (economy) – Hope Yen, Associated Press - A report
suggesting that layoffs might be stabilizing helped
reassure Wall Street Thursday and sent stocks moderately
higher, although the gains were limited by news of a
sluggish gross domestic product. The Commerce
Department reported Thursday that the GDP rose at an
annual rate of 1.4 percent during the first quarter. That
was lower than the 1.9 percent reading estimated a month
ago. But the Labor Department (news - web sites) said
new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week by a
seasonally adjusted 22,000 to a three-month low of
404,000, suggesting that layoffs may be stabilizing.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=530&ncid=530&e=1&u=/
ap/20030626/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street
This report is complied for Compton Dancer Consulting
by Ken Adams
210 Marsh Avenue, Suite 103, Reno, NV 89509, (775) 322-7722
kenadams@softcom.net
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