According to a report recently introduced by the West Virginia Lottery, calls to the government-sponsored Problem Gamblers hotline have increased by 100% over the past two years.
Alco Parking, a prominent operator of parking facilities in the area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has withdrawn its application for the only slot machine operation license to be issued for the city.
Officials at the Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, Oregon, revealed plans to close the tribal gaming venue's bingo hall, and use the space for the casino's slot machines.
A proposed tax on slot machines to be operated at Pompano Park Harness Track in Pompano Beach, Florida, is likely to be reduced from $250 to $50. Today, Pompano Beach authorities will try to force racetrack operators to pay a fee on each and every future slot machine at their venue for the second time in a month.
Delegate Eric Bromwell, who introduced the first slots operation proposal to be approved by the Maryland House, was reported as saying that he is likely to give the initiative another try.
Delaware's House of Representatives is currently mulling a bill seeking to expand slots gaming in the state. With the “one-armed bandit” widening its reach across the state, however, comes increased potential for gambling addictions among its residents. Taking this into consideration, the slots expansion bill includes a provision that guarantees at least $1 million toward problem gambling treatment.
Scott Vowell, a Circuit Judge in Birmingham, Alabama, is currently on the verge of producing a crucial ruling. The judge must determine whether the most recent venture initiated by prominent gambling operator Milton McGregor is a harmless promotion or an illegal attempt to draw gamblers to play slots.
Continuing the theme of robbers stealing money and then spending it on slot machines, it was recently reported that John Ethridge, a resident of Trenton, Maine, was charged with stealing $23,000 in cash from On the Run, a convenience store in Somesville.
GTECH Holdings Corp., a prominent provider of gaming technology and services, which has been selected to operate Pennsylvania's main slots computer, and Lottomatica SpA, the exclusive license holder and operator of Italy's Lotto, recently announced that both companies have entered into an agreement under which Lottomatica will purchase GTECH for $35.00 in cash per outstanding GTECH share.
U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell recently sentenced John Boersma, an elderly businessman who robbed a Community Bank in Lake Michigan, Michigan, to three years of imprisonment followed by three years on supervised release.
According to a report recently filed with the state, gamblers spent over $60 million playing slots in Maine's first slot machine casino in Bangor during the first two months of the facility's operation.The report shows that Bangor's Hollywood Slots collected more than $4.1 million, of which the facility's parent company, Penn National Gaming, Inc., paid nearly $2 million to the state.
According to a recent report, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack may request that the state Lottery cease further installation of the TouchPlay gaming machines, which many casino industry insiders consider to be too slots-like.
The Jackpot Factory Group, a prominent online casino group, is currently launching a new promotion. The King Cashalot progressive slot machine is slated to be the first million dollar jackpot in 2006.
Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming Corporation, recently publicized that Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City has launched Bally Power Winners(TM), a product from the Bally Power Bonusing(TM) technology suite, and has ordered the installation of iVIEW interactive touch-screen displays on over 4,000 of the facility's slot machines.
Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association, has been charged with running illegal gaming operations, after Broward County sheriff's deputies raided one of her adult arcades located in Pompano Beach.
