NEW NET GAMBLING INDICTMENT

Four Rhode Island men have been indicted for running an Internet gambling operation out of that state. From the LV Sun:

The business was raided by federal, state and local authorities in September 2001, according to WPRI-TV, which first reported on the grand jury's action.

Joseph Tedeschi was charged with 12 counts of running an illegal gambling operation, racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy. The others face three counts of illegal gambling and money laundering.

A secretary for the defendants' attorney, John Williams, said Williams was unavailable for comment and would not return to his San Jose, Calif., office until Tuesday.

The group incorporated a company in the Dominican Republic called Tecnologia JPR that purchased software and computer services from Handa Lopez Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., to run the online gambling enterprise, according to the indictment.

The business offered Las Vegas-style gambling, the grand jury claims. It included slots, blackjack, poker, Baccarat, sports betting and other activities. A player could choose to hold winnings in an account for future playing or request payment by check. The company used a server in Rhode Island to process the credit card transactions, the indictment states.

Even though it doesn't look like they were charged with violating section 1084, I think I can work this into my Wire Act book. Read the full story here.

GO FORTH AND SIN NO MORE

A "sinners' fund" is closing down because peopel are apparently not willing to wager that other people will continue to drink, smoke, and gamble:

MorganFunShares(NasdaqSC:MFUN - News), a closed-end fund that made a name for itself by betting people will always drink, smoke, and gamble, will be shut down later this year because investors weren't willing to take the same wager, a fund director said on Friday.
Cleveland, Ohio-based MorganFunShares has roughly $8 million in assets. It will be liquidated before the end of the year because it was too expensive to run after its founder, Burton Morgan, died in March, said Robert Pincus, president of MorganFunShares.

Morgan, who was in his 80s when he died, launched the fund in 1994 because he believed people will not cut back on liquor, tobacco or gambling habits even in bad economic times. The fund's biggest holdings include gaming company International Game Tech (NYSE:IGT - News) and brewing giant Anheuser-Busch(NYSE:BUD - News).

So we really aren't a bunch of lazy, smoking, drunken slobs who gamble instead of saving. Read the full story here.

CA GOV HOPEFULS COURT INDIAN CASINOS

Candidates for the October recall election are already lining up the support of California's tribal casino operators. From the SacBee:

Two of the three top candidates seeking to replace Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election took their cases to moneyed Indian tribes Thursday, promising to support more gambling and less government intrusion on tribal lands in California.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and Republican state Sen. Tom McClintock drew standing ovations after their remarks to the California Nations Indian Gaming Association, according to members who attended the closed-door session at the downtown Hyatt Regency Sacramento.

Speaking with reporters after their speeches, Bustamante and McClintock described their commitments in broad terms. They denied promising tribes anything specific in exchange for campaign contributions.

But they left little doubt among tribal leaders that they would expedite compacts for tribes that don't yet have gaming rights and be amenable to increasing the number of slot machines allowed to tribes that already run casinos.

"In terms of Hewlett-Packard or any other industry group in California, we don't put a limitation on any of them," Bustamante said. "We don't say, 'You can only sell so many computers' or 'You can only have so many franchises.' What we do is let the market determine a lot of what is needed."

In written responses to a Gannett News Service questionnaire on gambling made available by the tribal association, Bustamante also said cities and counties should have no ability to influence land-use and zoning decisions on tribal land.

No word on what Arnold thinks of all this. Governor Davis, though, has been trying to woo back Indian support, apologizing for his earlier attempts to unilaterally slap a tax on Indian casinos and apparently promosing Indian nations two seats on the Gambling Commission. Read the full story here.

That's all for today...research in the law library beckons. Have a safe and happy weekend.
posted by Dave at 2:07 PM

CLASSROOM UPDATE

I've been spending most of my time teaching and preparing for my two classes, History 404 (Nevada and the Far West) and Hotel Management 376b (History of Casino Gaming in the US), so I haven't done much to the site. The classes are going very well--the students seem excited and eager to learn, which is great. It's really a pleasure teaching people who want to learn.

For me, the interesting thing is how the two classes intersect. To what extent is casino gaming a western phenomenon? I've submitted a presentation proposal for the 2004 Western Historical Association conference where I'll explore this issue. Hopefully it gets accepted. If not, I'll just write it up and submit it to a journal.

If you are curious, all this means that I'm not working as hard on the book manuscript, but hopefully this weekend I can get some work done. Chapter 2 is about half complete, kind of like Steve Wynn's hotel tower....

WYNN LAS VEGAS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Hey, I told you all this a month ago after speaking with Mr. Wynn myself, but here's the story from the LV SUN:

Wynn Las Vegas, at $2 billion the second most expensive construction project in the world, is on budget and ahead of schedule for its planned April 2005 opening, Wynn Las Vegas Chairman Steve Wynn said.

"The hotel tower is about one week ahead of schedule and the showroom is about a month ahead," Wynn said Tuesday.

Hotel tower construction has reached the 24th story of the property's eventual 50-story, 613-foot height. When completed, Wynn Las Vegas will have the Strip's tallest hotel tower, about 20 percent taller than the one at Mandalay Bay.

Wynn also told the paper the project was the second-costliest in the world, next to only Boston's Big Dig. Only his seems much better organized and on time. Read the story here.

PROBLEM GAMBLER SPEAKS OUT

Willie Thomason, a 74-year old restaurant owner from Louisville, KY, testified before a General Assembly committee about the life of a problem gambler. He was astoundingly frank about the nature of his disease, something that will probably offend people on both sides of the gambling expansion debate:

"It's a hidden disease," Thomason said in testimony Friday to one of the General Assembly's interim joint Licensing and Occupations Committee.

"If you're an alcoholic and you're drunk, you can't hide that," he said. Not so with gambling addicts, he said. "Nobody even knew what was going on with Willie Thomason till he got into trouble and got in jail."

In a way, two sides of the gambling debate were met in Willie Thomason last week. He lent fuel to proponents as well as to opponents.

Would a compulsive gambler, he was asked, be more likely to bet -- and bet greater sums of money -- at a racetrack that had electronic slot machines in addition to horses?

Yes, Thomason said. "A compulsive gambler cannot stop. There's no way."

What if the General Assembly keeps the status quo? "Nothing would change. You're still going to have them," Thomason said.

Could the state have done anything -- even closing racetracks -- to stop his own gambling?

No, Thomason said. "I would have gambled ... if there was anything to gamble on. Pitching nickels. Dice. The state couldn't have done nothing ... I always found a place to gamble."

Read the full story here.

SILVER STATE RECALL

In the late 19th century, Nevada was a virtual colony of California. Even today, Nevadans often emulate Californians. This, however, is taking it too far. California's gubernatorial recall has been the center of national media attention, and a group of Nevadans now want to recall their governor, Kenny Guinn.
The LVRJ reports:

Opponents of Gov. Kenny Guinn made it official Wednesday: They filed paperwork with the secretary of state's office to begin a recall of the Republican governor.

"It's going to be a daunting task," said political activist Tony Dane, who is leading the effort. "But if the people feel motivated enough, it's going to happen."

Dane, a Republican, was joined in filing the paperwork by retired Pahrump businessman Chuck Patti and Christopher Hansen of the ultra-conservative Independent American Party.

Guinn, who won re-election last year with two-thirds of the vote, remains popular in recent polls. In response to the recall effort, the governor released a written statement Wednesday touting his accomplishments.

"With respect to the recall effort, I have great faith in the wisdom of the people of Nevada," he said.

Guinn has become the target of some anti-tax groups because he pushed for and signed a bill last month that increases state taxes by $836 million over the next two years. He and others had said that without the record increase, the state would not be able to fund education adequately.

Read the full story here.

Suburban Xanadu Update

BarnesandNoble.com: Sales rank 167,472, still only two reviews.

Amazon.com: Sale rank 784,240; still only two customer reviews. The editorial reviews are strangely redacted, with one-sentence blurbs from John Hannigan and Hal Rothman taken from the back cover, without the praise from Steve Wynn. Also, they still have the wrong book cover up, and don't have the TOC or an excerpt. Go to my page to see all of this.

That's all for today.


posted by Dave at 9:33 AM

SITE NEWS

No big updates this week--I've been too busy preparing for my two classes, HIS 404 (Nevada and the Far West) and HMD 376B (History of Casino Gaming in the US. I'm excitied about the HIS class, which met for the 1st time yesterday. It's good to be able to get back into a history classroom.

I didn't get to post as much as I wanted from AC, mostly because I spent a lot of time buying a car for my mom. After a lot of hassle, I followed up on a friend's recommendation and found a great deal. I had a great time at the shore, though. The city is really starting to come together, between the corridor project and the Borgata.

In other positive news, I got in my first semi-distance run since the marathon--7 miles on the Boardwalk. No real knee pain, although ibuprofen and ice continued to be an important part of the post-run recuperation. I'm looking forward to getting back into the mix with the LV Running Team this weekend and getting out there for 8 or 10 miles

MYSTERIOUS QUESTION OF THE DAY

Are there any faculty members or students from Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Yale, Temple, George Mason U, or U of Delaware reading this? If so, drop me a line--I've got a few questions for you.

THE BORGATA: CUTTING EDGE CASINO

So on Thursday I had a tour of the Borgata in AC, courtesy of Larry Mullin, who steered me to Joe Lupo, who spent over two hours walking me all around the huge complex.

First thoughts on driving there: the tunnel makes getting there simple, provided you know where you're going. This casino, more than any I've seen, captures the original Strip paradigm of being self-contained, and you can tell that just driving up. It's in the city but not of the city.

Style-wise, it's head and shoulders above anything they've ever seen in AC, and on par with the latest Strip casinos. Particularly in comparison to soem of the Boardwalk casinos like the Clardige and Sands, it is spacious--you don't feel like slot machines are jammed into every available spot. That's not to say the casino is sparse, at all: there are 3650 slots and 145 tables. It is luxurious and yet very accessible, and it is easy to see that people who come in out of curiosity will stay.

The amenities look great, too. I didn't eat at any of the restaurants, but I got to see inside all of them, and they look very impressive. The retail is about what you expect in a casino, and they've got a Starbucks.

One comment: It would be great if they had a Jamba Juice in addition to the Starbucks. In general, I think that places need to offer more fresh fruit and vegetables and drinks made from them, and this is a good way to start.

Convention and performance venues: state of the art and, like the rest of the property, very nicely done. It's very obvious that some care went into designing every aspect of the place.

The casino also has an advanced race book (no sports betting in NJ, although they do post the Stardust line) and a poker room, below the casino itself. On a Thursday afternoon, both were packed. The race book has plasma screen tvs at each seat.

Another side note: there were plasma screen TVs everywhere, giving the place a futuristic touch. Sure, it'll probably be dated in ten years, but now it is the cutting edge of technology, and it adds a technical flourish to the casino.

Back of the house was what you would expect, but the employee areas were much nicer than what I'm used to. At the employee entrance and elsewhere throughout the back of the house, you can find computers where employees can check their email and do other things. The employee cafeteria looks like the nicest one I've ever seen, and there is a back of the house Starbucks for employees only, in addition to the cafeteria and the usual employee store.

Stuff like this makes the Borgata a great place to work, and it almost makes me wish I could work there. Now, you might say that I just got the VIP treatment and I'm starstuck by the tour, but I have some inside info as well. My cousin just happens to work there as a "Borgata Babe."

What is a Borgata Babe? According to the casino's press kit, "Part fashion model, part beverage server, part charming hostess...the ambassadors of hospitality at Borgata." They have custom-designed Zac Posen uniforms and apparently get foot rubs and their own dressing rooms.

Funny note: I was standing in the casino talking with my cousin, and a patron approached me with his player card out, mistaking me for a casino host (if he only knew). He asked me if I worked there, and I tried to direct him to someone who actually did (namely my cousin, who was standing right next to me), but he seemed really disappointed and walked away. I should have told him that he qualified for a complete RFB, but that wouldn't have been very productive.

The other patrons I talked to all really liked the casino, and I think that it is worth the trip.

Suburban Xanadu Update

Nothing much to report--it moved up a little on amazon, but not enough to vault it back onto the best-sellers list.

Also, if you're looking for it in Ocean City, NJ, just order it from amazon, because they don't seem very interested in carrying it there.

posted by Dave at 10:07 AM