The summer season is officially over; it is almost time for
our annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Be prepared to be inundated by thousands of
new products. IGT alone promises 300 new games, Aristocrat is bringing enough
new product to "gain market share in Nevada," and others, like Alliance, Atronics,
Sigma, Mikohn and their ilk, will try and match the big guys, and dozens of
smaller manufacturers will be trying their hardest to catch your eye with their
version of
the exciting slot machine. The recall election in California
is only a month away, and December is just around the corner after that.
August was a good month for the economy. The stock market closed
the month at 9,415, its highest in 14 months. The tax cuts are in effect, and
there is the smell of cash in the air. Consumer confidence and spending was
up. Housing, productivity, large retailers, unemployment and holiday travel
statistics all indicate the recession might have indeed receded.
America's consumers, aided by tax cuts that left them with
extra cash, ratcheted up their spending in July by the largest amount in four
months, a strong signal the economy is gaining momentum. The Commerce Department
reported Friday that consumer spending increased by 0.8 percent in July, on
top of a brisk 0.6 percent rise the month before. Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, Yahoo, 8-29-03
The New York-based Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence
Index rose to 81.3 in August, up 4.3 points from a revised 77.0 in July. Analysts
had expected a reading of 79.6 this month. "The welcome bounce back in confidence
this month was entirely due to consumers' optimism about the future," said
Lynn Franco, director of the group's consumer research center. Meg Richards, Associated Press, Yahoo,
8-26-03
Home construction jumped in July to the highest level in more
than 17 years as the red-hot housing market showed no signs of slowing down
even as mortgage rates began to rise. …The gain, which lifted housing starts
to the highest level since April 1986, was much better than expected. Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press,
Yahoo, 8-19-03
Productivity — the amount that an employee produces per hour
of work — grew at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the April to June quarter,
the best showing since the third quarter of 2002. Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, Yahoo, 8-7-03
… New applications for jobless benefits fell by a seasonally
adjusted 3,000 to a six-month low of 390,000 for the work week. Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, Yahoo,
8-7-03
… (The) nation's largest retailers finally got a break in
July as warm weather and heavy discounting helped lift sales above expectations
for many merchants, even the struggling department store sector. Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press, Yahoo,
8-7-03
The number of U.S. travelers jumping into their cars this
Labor Day holiday weekend is expected to be the highest in eight years, as
more Americans favor driving over flying, a travel group said on Tuesday.
Approximately 28.2 million people plan to drive 50 miles or more this weekend,
up 2.2 percent from last year to the highest level since 1995, according to
a survey by the American Automobile Association (AAA). Reuters, Yahoo, 8-26-03
There was a bit of bad news in the holiday travel reports. Fewer
people are flying. Good news for all gaming jurisdictions that rely on a regional
customer base, not so good news for Las Vegas. However, even the regional customers
will have a bit less money to spend as gas prices are at an all-time high.
…The number of people planning to travel by plane for the
Labor Day holiday is down 2.6 percent from last year to 3.7 million, according
to AAA. Reuters, Yahoo, 8-26-03
The shortages pushed average retail gasoline prices up more
than 15 cents a gallon nationally, the biggest two-week hike since the Lundberg
Survey began keeping records 50 years ago. The survey of 8,000 service stations
on Friday showed an average of all grades of gasoline reached $1.7484 a gallon,
just short of the survey's all-time high weighted average of $1.7608 set last
March 21, analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday. msnbc.com, 8-25-03
The biggest story of the month, at least for the casinos in
Ontario, was the "GREAT BLACKOUT OF 'O3." The direct impact on casinos in the
blackout area was slight, although Detroit casinos were closed for two days.
More important, was the indirect impact. Millions of people's normal routine,
including the ability to get to work and travel, was disrupted. The Ontario
casinos suffered a more direct impact. The province of Ontario considered casinos
to be "not critical" and closed Casino Windsor, Casino Niagara, five charity
casinos and slots at racetracks. Casino Niagara was estimated to have lost $2
million a day; Casino Windsor lost money and market share in the Detroit area,
forcing the casino to increase incentives. This has been a difficult time for
Casino Windsor. September 11th, SARS, the Iraqi War and the blackout
have each taken a toll on the casino.
The slot machines beeped and clanged. The blackjack dealers
dealt their cards. The air conditioning was on. But that was little consolation
to hundreds of gamblers stranded at casinos Thursday after their New York
City-bound buses were delayed or canceled due to blackouts across the Northeast.
Limited bus service started after 9 p.m., but the trip remained difficult.
Associated Press, CNN News,
8-15-03
… "We got a big increase in business as soon as the power
went out," Laura Yednorowicz, hotel concierge at the Mohegan Sun, said. "We
were pretty close to sold out to begin with and then we got a whole bunch
of calls, everybody trying to get out of the city." The Mohegan Sun was in
an area that experienced a power outage, but it was not affected because it
has a generator. "We didn't feel the effects of the blackout at all," said
Mohegan Sun spokesman Severio Mancini. Jenny Bone Miller, Norwich Bulletin, 8-15-03
The power outage that swept the northeastern part of the country
on Thursday also affected Las Vegas, for those who were either trying to leave
town or get here. Six of the 13 flights scheduled to arrive at McCarran International
Airport from the affected cities after 1 p.m. were either delayed or cancelled,
airport spokeswoman Linda Healey said shortly after 5 p.m., when the crisis
looked to be waning. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8-15-03
Banks raced to open branches and put the "automatic" back
into automatic teller machines affected by the northeast U.S. power outage,
but New York banking was slow to recover on Friday, a day many workers get
paid. Detroit was also a major problem area. Hundreds of bank branches were
closed after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and DTE Energy Co. officials urged
workers sweltering from a lack of power and water to stay home. None of the
banks contacted by Reuters said they lost data or records in the blackout.
Chris Sanders and Jonathan Stempel,
Reuters, Yahoo Business, 8-15-03
Casino Windsor, host to more than 10,000 U.S. gamblers a day,
will sweeten its rebates and discounts in September to lure back gamblers
after a massive blackout forced it to close for nearly a week. …All four area
gambling halls closed after the Aug. 14 power outage darkened homes and businesses
in eight states and parts of Canada. But while Detroit's three casinos reopened
Aug. 16, Casino Windsor didn't get approval to reopen from its civic leaders
until Aug. 21, because it was considered a non-essential business. …The property
saw its revenues drop 7 percent to $97 million (U.S. dollars). …That $97 million
dropped Casino Windsor from first in market share in early 2003 to third in
the latest three-month period. The key reasons: SARS, the Iraq war's perceived
impact on border crossings and the narrowing gap between U.S. and Canadian
dollars. Becky Yerak, Detroit News, 8-25-03
In a broad sense, the gaming industry is alive and well. The
annual gaming report by Christiansen Capital Advisors is out, and gaming revenues
increased 5.3 percent in 2002. Considering the state of the economy, that is
good news. The bad news is found in the new taxes passed in 2003 to take advantage
of the growth of the industry. Illinois' action in particular indicate a very
dangerous trend, one that even within the state is still causing a great deal
of consternation and disagreement about the affect of increased taxation in
general. Cutbacks in operating hours, reduced staff and vulnerability to competition
from across a state line are the results thus far. Some insist that reduced,
not increased, tax revenues are the natural outcome of the Illinois policy of
increasing tax rates.
Gamblers lost $68.7 billion at casinos, tracks, lottery outlets,
legal sports books, bingo halls, charity gaming halls and card rooms in the
United States last year. That's an increase of 5.3 percent over the previous
year, according to the annual Gross Annual Wager compiled by Christiansen
Capital Advisors and published in this month's issue of International Gaming
& Wagering Business magazine. Commercial casinos won $28.1 billion, up
3.1 percent. Indian casinos won $14.2 billion, up 11.5 percent. Joe Weinert, Press of Atlantic City, 8-18-03
Illinois casinos already were losing gamblers to Indiana when
new state taxes went into effect last month. Now gamblers say the added costs
are giving them an extra push across the Indiana state line. Monday was when
the Joliet casino began collecting a $5 general admission fee to offset the
new state taxes that take as much as 70 percent of a casino's receipts. …In
the fiscal year ending June 30, patronage at four Illinois casinos – one each
in Elgin and Aurora and two in Joliet – shrank 5.7 percent to 10.5 million
visitors while five casinos in northwest Indiana attracted 16.2 percent more
people, or 12.9 million visitors. Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8-4-03
An out-of-session meeting of the Illinois House Gaming Committee
today will try to determine who is crying wolf on the state's increased gambling
taxes: the governor or the riverboat gambling industry. "I want to establish
once and for all if (the governor) is right or not right," said Rep. Lou Lang,
the committee's chairman. Mary Massingale, State Journal-Register, 9-2-03
More than a year ago, lawmakers increased gambling taxes to
collect an additional $135 million – but garnered about $114.7 million. "Every
month since October 2002, we've had lower revenues than the year before,"
said Tom Swoik of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association. Mary Massingale, State Journal-Register,
9-2-03
Overall revenues for the seven casinos owned by publicly traded
companies are down $22.3 million – or 5.4 percent – compared with a year ago,
according to figures provided by Deutsche Bank Securities on Wall Street.
Mary Massingale, State Journal-Register,
9-2-03
"They're all pretty horrible, and they're all tax-related,"
said Eric Hausler. "This is the worst year-to-year decline of any market in
the country." Mary Massingale, State Journal-Register, 9-2-03
Technology continues to make the news. EZ Pay is leading the
charge to eliminate coins from slot machines. Whatever the pros or cons of the
issue, the process is clearly gaining steam and will be an accomplished fact
sooner than you think. In Canada, a new use of technology – facial recognition
systems to keep out addicts and crooks – is 20 years late, but George Orwell
would recognize his vision in Manitoba casinos.
Beau Rivage is shuffling about 25 people out of its slot department
because of changing technology and offering them other jobs in the Biloxi
casino resort. This summer, the casino converted all of its 2,263 slot machines
to EZ Pay machines, which instead of coins dispense printed receipts redeemable
for cash. This has reduced the amount of work for the 277 slot employees,
said Mary Cracchiolo, a spokeswoman for Beau Rivage. Timothy Boone, Biloxi Sun Herald, 8-5-03
Prodded by recent legal action against casinos for failing
to keep out gambling addicts, casino owners across Canada are starting to
buy facial-recognition systems that will photograph patrons and automatically
identify unwelcome guests. "It's a huge revolution," said Maurits Vander Cruyssen,
a casino security consultant and an avid booster of the technology. "Before
Christmas this year, I can see almost every casino (in Canada) going from
videotape to these digital systems." The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation said
this week that it has allocated an unspecified amount of money to install
facial-recognition technology in the Province's two publicly owned casinos.
Graeme Smith, Globe Technology,
8-6-03
Do you have Internet gambling figured out yet? It is coming.
It is here. It is legal. It is illegal. It is everywhere. Who plays? Who doesn't?
Christiansen Capital Advisors estimated the online win at $4 billion, up 33.4
percent.
Think You Know Who's Gambling Online? Based on the responses
to a voluntary survey of 2008 active customers and compiled in a 33-page report,
"The Online Casino Player: A Comprehensive Profile" paints an unprecedented
portrait of the typical online casino player that's strikingly free of the
negative images that, until now, have been freely attributed to this fledgling
industry and relatively unchallenged. Among the revelations included in the
report are: Regardless of gender, the typical online casino player is most
likely to be a mature, well-educated and solidly middle class head of household.
PRNewswire, Yahoo Business, 8-7-03
…That's how one Internet gambling addict described his predicament
recently to Arnie Wexler, who runs a national hotline for problem gamblers.
Wexler, who promises confidentiality to callers, is among the counselors dealing
with a rapid increase in gambling addictions in teenagers and college students.
They blame the addictive behavior on the growing accessibility of gambling
Web sites – 25 in 1997, roughly 1,800 today. …At the Algamus Recovery Center
in Anna Maria, Fla., director Rick Benson says that the treatment facility
for gambling addicts has seen a 25% increase in Internet-related cases in
the last two years. Benson says the majority are white, college-educated males,
"with some high level of competitive sports participation in their background."
Tom Weir, USA Today, 8-22-03
Who is responsible? A couple in California says banks and credit
card companies. A court in North Dakota says the player is breaking the law;
players don't agree.
A California couple that lost more than $100,000 by gambling
online sues a host of credit card companies and banks, claiming the businesses
shouldn't have processed their wagers. They also sued banks that issued the
cards, including retailers National Bank and Citibank, and companies they
said electronically transferred funds for some of their bets, including Western
Union Holdings. Business Week, 8-12-03
A former Harwood man has pleaded guilty to placing sports
bets over the Internet, in what one gambling law specialist says is a rare
case. Jeffrey Trauman pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge in East Central
District Court in Fargo on Monday. Judge Norman Backes gave him a one-year
deferred sentence and fined him $500. Las Vegas Sun, 8-12-03
* The vast majority of both men and women online casino players
say they do so for "entertainment / fun," in their "free" time from their
own computers. While men say they prefer to play blackjack and women prefer
slots, neither feel their favorite online activity is illegal or unethical
and are highly aware of the time and money they spend online. PRNewswire, Yahoo Business, 8-7-03
There is a trend here, but I cannot see what it is. Internet
gaming is not legal in the United States, but not always clearly illegal. Regular,
everyday people routinely play online. Internet gaming sites are advertised
everywhere on the Internet and even in the traditional media. If it is illegal
to play, it seems to be legal to advertise to people who cannot play. Only Colorado
gaming regulators so far have seen the irony and taken steps to stop local radio
advertising for Internet gaming. Whatever the trend, the facts seem clear: Internet
gambling exists in the United States and continues to grow.
