SEARCH NEWS:

 

More VLTs Approved for Rhode Island Tracks

"Daniel Bucci, CEO of Lincoln Park, which got authorization to add 1,300 VLTs, said after the vote that 240 new machines could be up and running at the dog track `within a week' and 260 more could be on line in four to six weeks.

"…Bucci has complained that on busy weekends, some customers have been turned away because there are no open machines to play. But the primary reason that the request from the two gambling parlors was approved is money -- money that is sorely needed to shore up a deficit in the state budget estimated to be as high as $200 million.

"Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said he has a `good-faith agreement' with leaders of the House and Senate to significantly increase the state's share of the VLT revenues at the two facilities. But even before that agreement is finalized, the slots approved Monday would put an additional $90 million in state coffers.

"…Bucci says each additional percentage point the state takes will transfer nearly $4 million from whomever is getting it now to the general fund. He said the revenue from the new machines could double the revenue of all the partners who get a share of the take, but that will depend on how the formula is changed.

"Carcieri said he is considering shaving a portion that most of the participants get --- the dog track and jai alai fronton get 30.1 percent each; the machine and software vendors, 11 percent each --- and he would like to totally eliminate the 5.5 percent the dog kennel owners at Lincoln receive. But he would not touch the 1 percent each that the town of Lincoln and city of Newport receive…"

< Gaming News