Free Republic

TOLEDO, Ohio - Ohio's second casino is ready for its debut. The Hollywood Casino in Toledo opens Tuesday, just two weeks after the state's first casino opened to big crowds in downtown Cleveland. The Toledo casino will go head-to-head for customers with three casinos that are just an hour's drive to the north in Detroit. Developers say there's room for both even though the two casinos are just two hours apart.

Bill Clinton cannot escape himself. The former president posed for an impromptu photo with two porn stars Wednesday, the celebrity news-gossip site TMZ reported. He reportedly posed at a casino in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where Clinton attended a “Nights in Monaco” fundraising gala. At least two other celebrities, actresses Diane Kruger and Rose McGowan, were in attendance.

By Las Vegas standards, the night was young when two men entered the Bellagio at 10:45 Saturday and made a beeline for the table games. The two weren’t there for traditional gambling, though. Armed with pepper spray and disguised by wigs and sunglasses, the men made a bold bid to grab and make off with more than $100,000 worth of casino chips, according to a Metro Police arrest report released Monday. Bellagio employees foiled the robbery and captured 24-year-old Michael Quinn Belton, of Nuevo, Calif., police said. His alleged accomplice ran from the casino and remained at large Monday. The...

After voting this week to raise income tax rates on the state’s highest earners, Maryland lawmakers aren’t ruling out more tax increases next year. The General Assembly passed legislation that will raise taxes on the top 14 percent of earners in an effort to balance the state’s $35.5 billion budget and cut half of Maryland’s $1 billion structural deficit, which measures expected revenue shortfalls in the future. Lawmakers could look to eliminate the remaining $500 million deficit over the next year by methods such as expanding gambling in the state, cutting spending or passing a long-debated tax increase to fund...

Gov. Martin O'Malley says he still hopes to convince the legislature to raise money for highway and transit projects — possibly by adding another penny to Maryland's six-percent sales tax and dedicating the extra revenue to transportation. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, O'Malley conceded that his initial proposal to apply the sales tax to gasoline is dead in the General Assembly. But he said an alternative would be a delayed implementation of that proposal, with the sales tax not being applied until gas prices fell to a certain level. A second option, he said, would be to raise...

<p>The hip-hop artist and actor, whose “We Fly High” was one of 2007′s top-selling rap tracks, was charged with assault on a police officer and breach of peace, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said. Vance said he was not certain how the altercation Friday night began. Jones said on Twitter that he posted $40,000 in bond, adding that he “had a ball” while in custody.</p>

Obama campaign returning $200K in contributions connected to Mexico casino ownerArticle by: KEN THOMAS, Associated Press Updated: February 7, 2012 - 12:21 AM WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's campaign is returning about $200,000 in contributions collected by family members of a Mexican casino owner who fled the U.S. after facing drug and fraud charges. The Obama campaign said Monday it had decided to return the donations arranged by Chicago brothers Carlos Cardona and Alberto Rojas Cardona, who had begun raising money for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee last year. The New York Times reported late Monday that the...

Hollywood Casino will hold a series of job fairs this month to fill some of the 800 to 900 positions needed to staff the Toledo gambling facility. The casino will hire about 1,200 people, and the job fairs are an efficient way to conduct interviews, said Chrystal Herndon, vice president of human resources for Hollywood. The casino has been flooded with job applications, and the job fairs ensure people are not left wondering whether their application has been vetted, Ms. Herndon said. The job fairs are scheduled for: 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Raceway Park, 5700 Telegraph Rd. 11...

Gunmen in northern Mexico have shot dead three relatives of a police officer being held over a deadly arson attack on a casino last month. The officer's father, stepmother and stepbrother were killed in their home in the city of Monterrey. Police believe it was an act of revenge by the Zetas drugs cartel, after the officer named gang members allegedly involved in the casino attack. The blaze killed 52 people and caused revulsion across Mexico. Police officer Miguel Angel Barraza is one of six suspects detained in connection with the 25 August arson attack on the Casino Royale in...

The death toll climbed as workers continued to pull bodies out of a burned casino in northern Mexico, where gunmen spread gasoline and ignited a fire that trapped and killed at least 53 gamblers and employees. ... Attorney General Leon Adrian de la Garza said a drug cartel was apparently responsible for the attack, though he didn't name which one. Cartels often extort casinos and other businesses, threatening to attack them or burn them to the ground if they refuse to pay. It was the second time in three months that the Casino Royale was targeted. Gunmen struck it and...

A Swiss dad celebrating the birth of his son with a trip to an Austrian casino won 43 million Euros - but then was told the cash would not be paid because it had been a "software error". Behar Merlaku, 38, won the jackpot in the Bregenz Casino operated by Casinos Austria in March but after he was told there had been a mistake he kept trying to get the prize money for four months and is now going to take the case to court. He told Austrian newspaper Heute: "When I won I was ecstatic and of course I...

China, Casinos and the Ark Royal August 4, 2011 By Harry Kazianis China has a history of buying old aircraft carriers as casinos, only to end up studying them. Is Britain's Ark Royal next? For decades now, aircraft carriers have been the dominant symbols of military power and technological strength. Nations who develop them have the ability to strike their enemy from thousands of miles away, inflicting massive damage. But these vessels also cost billions of dollars to develop and several billions more in maintenance and upgrade costs over their lifecycle. Recent reports over the curious decommissioning and sale of...

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The wife of a Florida high school football coach being held on a murder charge said Friday her husband was defending himself when he threw a punch that authorities say killed a Utah man in a Las Vegas Strip casino. Benjamin Hawkins, 37, pleaded not guilty Friday during a brief appearance before a Las Vegas judge. The judge scheduled a Tuesday bail hearing and set a July 21 date to hear evidence in the early Wednesday slaying of John Massie, 46, of Roy, Utah.

N.Korean Embassy Buildings in Moscow 'House Casino' A building that is part of the North Korean Embassy in Moscow is being used as an illegal casino, Russian media reported Thursday. According to the daily Izvestia, the North Korean government rented out a 2,000 sq. m administrative building adjoining the embassy to a company which registered it as a restaurant, but Russian authorities believe a casino has been operating there since December. The casino and the Embassy proper are separated by a fence, and only guests with bookings can enter. The casino has four roulette tables on the second floor, five...

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia is becoming the first US jurisdiction to allow Internet gambling, in a bid to bring in millions of dollars in new revenue. Permitting the online games was part of the 2011 budget, and a 30-day period for Congress to object expired last week, said Councilman Michael A. Brown, who authored the provision. The gambling would be operated by Intralot, a firm based in Greece, and would be available only to those making bets within the borders of the district. Officials were not sure when the gambling would begin. Though other states have contemplated legalizing...

Illinois House Votes to Lift Casino Smoking BanRachel Krech – 22 mins ago On Tuesday, the Illinois House voted 62-52 to end a ban on smoking inside riverboat casinos, which, if passed could affect all 10 riverboat casinos in the state of Illinois. The ban was passed back in 2007, which is when the state began the ban in all indoor work places. But today's decision to push for the lift on the smoking ban could completely change that. The House's decision came after heated debates over what was more important: the health of casino-goers and casino employees or the...

If I ever do decide to write a book about last weekend, they'll probably call it something like, "Fall From Grace: How a Good Mormon Boy Just Wanted to Watch a Little Basketball, But Ended Up Drinkin', Smokin' and Gamblin' the Weekend Away." I blame March Madness. The annual NCAA basketball tournament opened last weekend, and let's face it, some of us go a little crazy this time of year. Opening weekend alone features 48 games. Forty-eight. I did the math, and that many 40-minute games works out to 1,920 minutes -- a whopping 32 hours -- of basketball. And...

Reporting from Las Vegas and Los Angeles — The Sahara hotel-casino, a Rat Pack-era jewel of the Las Vegas Strip that age and a prolonged recession had tarnished, will close in May, owner SBE Entertainment announced Friday morning. Chief Executive Sam Nazarian, the Los Angeles nightclub impresario who purchased the Moroccan-themed casino in 2007 and vowed to restore its hipness, said in a statement that running the property was "no longer economically viable."

Las Vegas casino bosses are serving notice to the bandit who made off with $1.5m in chips from the Bellagio: Try to redeem those worth $25,000 soon or they'll become worthless. Bellagio owner MGM Resorts International is giving public notice that it's discontinuing its standard chip valued at $25,000 and calling for all gamblers holding the chips to redeem them by April 22. After that, gambling regulators say each red chip with a grey inlay won't be worth more than the plastic it's cast from. 'The bottom line is that they're not money,' said David Salas, deputy enforcement chief for...

A Chicago casino has gained the backing of nearly half of city voters following long-standing public opposition to the concept, a Tribune/WGN-TV poll found. The changing mood comes as City Hall is struggling to make ends meet and the new mayor who'll take office in May is faced with the prospects of tax increases and service cuts

VEGAS –Las Vegas police are looking for an armed casino bandit who escaped on a motorcycle with perhaps $2 million worth of gambling chips from the posh Bellagio hotel-casino. Police Lt. Clinton Nichols told Th

<p>A Gainesville woman had a profitable trip to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino -- although she missed her ride home.</p>

Boxer Resurrects Indian Tribe Deemed Defunct 40 Years Ago, Son Profits $8 Million Off It (p)It doesn't get more corrupt than this.... For the past 10 years Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has been playing a game that would make Jack Abramoff blush, a game that can best be described using the language of “Get Smart’s” Maxwell Smart as “the ole family-profiting-off-of-the-Indian-tribe-that-you-created trick.” Here’s the story. In 1998, Lynn Woolsey introduced legislation reinstating an Indian tribe in the wine country of Northern California that had been declared defunct by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1958. None of the Indians of...

Las Vegas - If Republican Sharron Angle unseats Nevada Sen. Harry Reid on Nov. 2, it would be a defeat not just for the Democratic Party but also for the gambling industry, which has historically helped turn elections in this state. The industry is so dominant here—accounting for 17% of employment and a third of state tax revenue—that Nevada is sometimes said to have just one political party: the Gaming Party.

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin filed for bankruptcy shortly before she was elected to the City Council and sought to avoid paying $119,000 in credit card bills and student loans, arguing in court documents that she suffered serious psychiatric disabilities and could not hold a full-time job. The Richmond police and firefighters' unions, who oppose the 58-year-old mayor's re-election bid, unveiled a mailer, 30-second television ad and website Tuesday that contained these potentially damaging personal details. The unions, among other labor groups, have vowed to oust the one-term mayor, largely due to her opposition to the proposed Indian casino at Point...

There are many cities across the country that are beginning to see the first glimpses of the end of the recession. This is not one of them. The nation's gambling capital is staggering under a confluence of economic forces that has sent Las Vegas into what officials describe as its deepest economic rut since casinos first began rising in the desert there in the 1940s. Even as city leaders remain hopeful that gambling revenues will rebound with the nation's economy, experts pro- ject that it will not be enough to make up for an even deeper realignment that has taken...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Six years after the state Legislature legalized gambling, Philadelphia is set to become the largest U.S. city with a casino. The opening Thursday of SugarHouse Casino, Pennsylvania's 10th casino, comes after years of community protests and delays. Now, casino officials expect thousands of gamblers to attend the first official day of business at the casino's 1,600 slot machines and 40 table games.

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The town where the Civil War's tide-turning battle was waged is fighting dissension in its own ranks, with even hard-core preservationists split over a proposed casino that would rise near the historic battlefield and be named for the line that divided North and South. It's the second time in five years that Gettysburg has fought over a plan to build a casino. This time it's the Mason Dixon Resort & Casino, proposed on a hotel and conference center site within a mile of the southern boundary of Gettysburg National Military Park. "No Casino" and "Pro Casino" signs...

Note: Photo included. "France: Riots over killing of Muslim man Cars burned, police shot at after authorities kill hold-up suspect near Grenoble" News agencies Published: 07.17.10, 17:47 / Israel News SNIPPET: "Rioters burned cars, attacked a tramway and shot at police in the French city of Grenoble overnight in protest at the death of a local Muslim man, identified as 27-year- old Karim Boudouda, fleeing police after allegedly holding up the city's casino." SNIPPET: "Police said they intervened after local residents stopped a tramway by setting a fire on the rails and stoned it. At least 50 cars were burned...

Spurred by a newspaper's report that California's welfare debit cards can be used to withdraw cash in more than half the casinos in the state, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday issued an immediate ban on state-provided cash assistance at ATMs in gambling establishments. The Los Angeles Times disclosed that Electronic Benefit Transfer cards work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms. The report also found the state Department of Social Services published a list of useable ATMs where the EBT cards that work like debit cards could be cashed. That...

Socialism run amok. Here in my State, the Socialist State of Kalifornia, we take a load of taxes from those who work and give it to any freeloader who wants it. Sure, there are those who need a helping hand for a few months until they find work....but in my experience working the streets of a low income area in South Central, many...MANY...of these people on welfare are just too lazy to get a job. Why should they? This state pays them more for doing nothing then they can make at a entry level job. If you add kids to...

With the support of Sen. Chris Dodd, D.-Conn., the federal government has awarded $54 million to Connecticut's politically well-connected Mohegan Indian tribe, which operates one of the highest grossing casinos in the U.S. The tribe runs the sprawling Mohegan Sun casino, halfway between New York City and Boston, which earned more than $1.3 billion in gross revenues in 2009. Each tribe member receives a cut of the profits, a number a tribal official said was "less than $30,000" per capita per year. The stimulus money is a loan from a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development program that is meant...

ALBANY — The Obama administration approved the Shinnecock Indians on Long Island for federal recognition on Tuesday, culminating a court battle lasting three decades and paving the way for the tribe to build a casino in New York City or its suburbs. While there is still a 30-day comment period before the matter is fully settled, the support of the administration all but assures the 1,292-member tribe’s recognition. The announcement, made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on Tuesday morning, will almost certainly change the way of life for the relatively impoverished tribe, whose members live on 800 acres in...

"Severe" may be an understatement. The prisons in Peru are known to be among the most brutal in the world. Here is one account of what happens to prisoners such as child molesters: A neighbor of Cieneguilla suffered the worst shock which could have happened. His daughter, only two years old, was raped by a drug addict and drunk who during a party at the neighbor's house went to her room and raped her. The unfortunate was saved from being lynched by the locals, but it was reported and he went to Lurigancho. The case, incredibly, didn't appeared in the...

CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. - MaryAnn and Jim McMahon thought their money troubles were over when they hit an $11 million jackpot at a Cripple Creek casino Tuesday. It turns out they were wrong. The Wildwood Casino blamed a slot machine malfunction for the $11 million jackpot. The machine was turned over to the Colorado Gaming Division for inspection. A spokesperson says their initial investigation shows the McMahon's didn't really win the $11 million prize on June 1.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio lawmakers have passed a bill setting rules for the state's four future casinos after missing their deadline. The bill passed around 4 a.m. Friday by an 86-to-12 vote in the House and a 21-to-12 vote in the Senate. Lawmakers had had a midnight deadline. It's unclear if they'll face a penalty for missing it. The bill lays out the rules for the new casinos authorized by Ohio voters last fall in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The casinos will be open to those 21 and over. Neither free drinks nor smoking will be allowed, and...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama's largest casino reopened Friday, shortly after a judge ruled that the governor's anti-gambling task force could not raid the gambling hall or seize any of its 6,400 electronic bingo machines. The doors to VictoryLand in Shorter, a town of 461 about 20 miles east of Montgomery, opened as owner Milton McGregor gambled that the court order and his surrender of the facility's liquor license would keep Gov. Bob Riley's task force at bay....

A judge faces a decision on whether a gambler must repay $75,000 in loans from a southern Indiana casino where he claims workers kept serving him bourbon drinks while he was drunk. A lawyer for Jimmy L. Vance of Corbin, Ky., said that the key issue in the case is whether Indiana law allows a casino to enter into a legal contract with a patron who is drunk.

Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas Is Closing, But There’s Still Reason To Head Out To The Lake This month there were reports that Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, Nev., would be closing its doors permanently May 2. For many Vegasofiles this comes as no surprise. The Ritz — along with other hotels such as Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort and MonteLago Village Resort, not to mention the shops at MonteLago Village —requires a concerted effort to get to when visiting Las Vegas. Lake Las Vegas is nearly a half-hour’s drive from the Strip. Still, it seems odd that a Ritz-Carlton...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas Steve Wynn, had his company's fourth quarter financial result conference call yesterday with reporters. And during the Q&A a female reporter said to Steve Wynn, "Is it too early to say that maybe 2011 would be better, in other words, how do your 2011 bookings versus 2010, or just any comments on the volume of bookings or rate of bookings for 2010 or '11 just to get a sense of whether you see any change at all?" WYNN: There are more questions afoot in this market in America that will impact '11...

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co will close its property in Las Vegas. Village Hospitality LLC, an arm of Deutsche Bank, will stop funding the Ritz-Carlton May 2. Corporate business and associations have cut back on travel spending in the past year. "The unprecedented economic downturn has had a significant impact on operations," said a spokesman. Ritz-Carlton opened seven years ago, is a division of Marriott International, located 17 miles from the Las Vegas Strip. Luxury hotels have suffered from the so-called "AIG effect," the uproar caused by AIG's flying executives to a resort shortly after receiving a US govt bailout. "The...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co will close its five-diamond property in Las Vegas this May, after the hotel struggled with a slide in demand and revenue. "It's nothing the hotel did. It's a simple lack of business and a decline in the tourism industry," said Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Vivian Deuschl. The owners of the 348-room property, Village Hospitality LLC, an arm of Deutsche Bank, will stop funding the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas day-to-day operations on May 2. "That was the owner's decision and we reluctantly agreed to go along with it," Deuschl said. Luxury properties have been hit...

TALLAHASSEE - Picture a Vegas-style Bellagio on the beach. Rows of neon-lit slot machines, blackjack dealers and craps dice. In Florida? It might not be as unlikely as it seems. For the first time, the Florida Legislature's conservative, anti-gambling façade is showing cracks. As Gov. Charlie Crist pushes his Seminole gambling deal yet again, legislators are beginning to think bigger — with even anti-gambling conservatives weighing the idea of trying to use Florida's tourist appeal to create lucrative casino complexes. Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who strongly opposed the expansion of slots in South Florida, now says that since gambling...

The name Louis DeNaples strikes fear, respect or both into many local residents because of his wealth and the behind-the-scenes power he reputedly wields. His emergence as an issue in the 10th Congressional District race this week is a good example. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thrust Mr. DeNaples into a higher profile than he prefers in former U.S. Attorney Tom Marino's nascent Republican congressional campaign. "Casino" Marino, the DCCC called Mr. Marino, alluding to his representation of Mr. DeNaples, who developed the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Paradise Twp. This much is true. Mr. Marino resigned a month after...

Sheldon Adelson on his casino company's plans for Macau, Singapore--and, perhaps, Europe. In 2007 Sheldon Adelson was America's third richest man. Before the collapse of the markets last year, shares of his Las Vegas Sands casino company traded at more than $140 a share, maxing out his personal fortune at nearly $40 billion. These days he's worth a mere $9 billion, 26th on the most recent Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans. "The Forbes 400 is a report card for the wealthy, and seeing it this year hurt," he says. "I got a bad report card." Now he's vowing...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A Daytona Beach man thought he hit the jackpot. He thought he won $166 million on a slot machine at the very popular Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near I-4 in Tampa. However, as soon as the crowds departed, the celebration ended. The casino told him that he didn't win a thing. The casino claims the slot machine malfunctioned. Bill Seebeck, who lives on a houseboat, thought his ship had come in. His blood pressure skyrocketed and said he was screaming and celebrating. But then casino workers told him there was a malfunction and wanted him...

Note: The following text is a quote: Hamilton Man Sentenced to 30 Months' Imprisonment for Threatening to Bomb Cincinnati Airport and Other Cincinnati-Area Landmarks CINCINNATI—Frederick D. Purvis, 43, of Hamilton, was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 30 months' imprisonment for a series of messages he sent in November, 2008 in which he threatened to blow up seven Cincinnati-area landmarks including the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. He was also sentenced to serve six years of supervised release after his prison term. Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, James A. Zerhusen, United...

Two aldermen are floating the idea of putting a casino and entertainment complex where Chicago had hoped to build an Olympic Village for the 2016 Games. Alds. Richard Mell, 33rd, and George Cardenas, 12th, have not yet broached the idea with Mayor Richard Daley, who for years has wavered on the notion of bringing land-based gambling to Chicago. In the week since the city lost its Olympic bid to Rio de Janeiro, Daley has said he is confident the 37-acre parcel site of the abandoned Michael Reese Hospital would be attractive to developers. The city recently bought the Near South...

He's been jobless and living on Social Security disability income for 15 years, yet Andre Michael Nestor told District Judge Jay Weller yesterday he had access to $400,000 cash to bail himself and a friend out of jail. That amount represents slightly less than what Mr. Nestor and two friends are accused of stealing from The Meadows Racetrack and Casino, in what officials have characterized as one of the biggest casino heists ever. It is certainly the largest in Pennsylvania, Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani said yesterday during a news conference to announce county grand jury indictments of Mr....

LEDYARD, Conn. - When the doors at Foxwoods first swung open in 1992, more than poker fanatics and bingo mavens began trekking to the sparkling new casino nestled in the thick forests of the Mashantucket Pequot reservation. Dozens of Pequots traveled from as far away as California and Hawaii to their native lands in southeastern Connecticut. Many came for the promise of a steady job, and to reconnect with a tribe that had come close to extinction. But Foxwoods did not just help revive the Pequot nation; it made it fabulously wealthy. Within a few years, Foxwoods was the world’s...