Daily Archives: April 23, 2017

Roxanne Brown @DC_SLP_roxbrown

EUSTIS The City of Eustis has reason to believe that at least two businesses in town may be running illegal gambling operations.

At a city meeting Thursday, City Commissioners said they want none of that going on in the city.

To make it clear, commissioners directed staff to come up with an ordinance that would prohibit the use of simulated gambling devices.

The ordinance will be considered at a meeting on June 15.

Currently, the city code only addresses Amusements & Entertainment, but does not specifically prohibit or regulate gambling devices.

A Florida State Statute does not allow them, officials said.

Technically, based on state statute, they are operating illegally," Eustis City Manager Ron Neibert said of such facilities.

"But with a local ordinance, we can get in there, enforce the violation and shut them down easier. That is why we are trying to do this, he added.

At the meeting, Development Services Director Lori Barnes outlined some of the challenges the city is facing with illegal operations and devices, calling it a new, old topic.

Development services and the police department have observed a resurgence of amusement centers utilizing simulated gambling devices that are reminiscent of internet sweepstakes cafes of the past, said Barnes.

She said there are at least two businesses in the city suspected of actively operating illegal gambling facilities.

She also pointed out an increase in robberies at such places, including one in Eustis last month. She said neighboring cities are having similar problems.

In the last few years, inquiries to operating senior amusement facilities in our city have increased. A number have opened without review and approval of development services or under false pretenses, describing their businesses as engaging in activities such as computer repair or business centers that are for legal documents like copy, fax or western union, Barnes said.

Commissioners expressed views indicating that, for the most part, prohibiting gambling devices or facilities is the way to go.

Still, they raised questions about whether other cities in Lake County had similar ordinances.

Barnes reported that Mount Dora prohibits gambling devices, Leesburg strictly regulates gaming establishments, only allowing them in certain zoning districts and Howey-in-the-Hills, who adopted a moratorium in 2011 against them, took no action when the moratorium expired.

Barnes said they are using Seminole Countys ordinance, which prohibits them, as a guideline.

No one from the public spoke on the matter, but commissioners weighed in a little regarding their views.

Im for a total prohibition in line with Mount Dora and Seminole County, Commissioner Anthony Sabatini said.

Commissioner Linda Durham Bob simply said, This is a family town.

After the meeting, Mayor Bob Morin said he believes ridding the town of such establishments would be good for the city, but also for the people who frequent them.

"The majority of people that go to these Internet Cafes are low income or down on their luck and trying to get to the point of making some fast, easy money. But it doesnt always work that way or to their benefit, Morin said. We also dont want to have problems with robberies targeted at these types of places in our city.

Neibert said suspicions surrounding businesses in question arose when city officials in the process of conducting allowable inspections, such as fire or building inspections, noticed uses going on that seemed suspicious.

But they weren't in violation of current code.

An ordinance prohibiting the uses however, would place businesses involved in that type of activity in jeopardy.

They will immediately become illegal and would need to cease and desist, Neibert said.

Neibert also said every potential new business in town is required to fill out a business tax receipt, which includes a summary of services.

The city, he said, does as much as it can to ensure each new business sticks to the services they disclosed.

When these businesses filed their tax receipts, their classifications indicated they were legitimate businesses. We take that in good faith, but now, we have reason to believe that they are operating illegally and inconsistent with their business tax receipts, Neibert said.

See more here:

Eustis cracking down on illegal gambling - Daily Commercial

Fort Worth Star Telegram

Are Texas lawmakers ready to expand gambling in Texas? | Fort ... Fort Worth Star Telegram Lawmakers have filed plans to legalize fantasy sports, casinos, eight-liners, machines at horse tracks and more. Will any proposals pass before the session ends ... and more »

Read the rest here:

Are Texas lawmakers ready to expand gambling in Texas? | Fort ... - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Reading Eagle

A look at Pennsylvania casino gambling revenue Sacramento Bee Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering an expansion of casino gambling to help the state's deficit-ridden finances. Here is a look at the existing commercial gambling industry in Pennsylvania: ___. REVENUE. Pennsylvania is the nation's No. 2 commercial ... Pennsylvania eyes leap to internet for casinos, lotteryPocono Record all 6 news articles »

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A look at Pennsylvania casino gambling revenue - Sacramento Bee

The Florida Senate will open the bidding in negotiations between House and Senate members over new gambling legislation.

A conference including six state representatives and six state senators will take place at 4 p.m. Thursday, during which the Senate will make a formal offer to House negotiators, state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, confirmed.

Galvano is the conference chairman and is experienced in gambling legislation. He did not respond to questions about what exactly the Senate would offer.

Both the Senate and House passed gambling bills earlier in the legislative session, but the bills are vastly different, hence the negotiations.

The Senate bill would grant the Seminole Tribe the right to offer craps and roulette at its casinos; pari-mutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties would get blackjack; and pari-mutuels across the state would win the right to have slot machines if county voters approve of it. So far, eight counties outside of Broward and Miami-Dade, where slots are already legal, have done so.

The Senate bill would also allow pari-mutuels to stop racing animals and simply operate as casinos.

The House bill does none of those things. In fact, it states that pari-mutuels halting races would violate an agreement between the Seminole Tribe and the state.

That agreement is at the heart of both versions of the gambling legislation. A new agreement with the tribe is needed because provisions of the original 2010 deal that granted the Seminoles the right to offer blackjack have lapsed. The tribe continues to have the game because of a court order.

The state allowed pari-mutuels to operate designated player games such as three-card poker. The tribe maintained that these games were too similar to blackjack, thus violating the agreement. A court agreed, and a provision of the agreement allows the tribe to offer blackjack for the complete, 20-year duration of the agreement in the case of such a violation.

The tribe has come out against both the Senate and House versions of the gambling legislation. It wants the craps and roulette offered in the Senate version, but does not favor the increased competition the bill would create. And the House version has the tribe paying more money to the state but getting no new games in return.

dsweeney@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4605 or Twitter @Daniel_Sweeney

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Originally posted here:

Senate to open negotiations at Thursday gambling conference - Sun ... - Sun Sentinel (blog)

Saturday April 22 2017

A man gambles at Githurai estate in Nairobi on November 27, 2015. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

A vicious battle between big industry players and smaller ones based in the countiesfor control of the betting, gaming and gambling sector has been going on even as government seeks to raise taxes of their earnings.

The big companies business model is carried in onlineand mobile platformswhile the small players have slot machines, mostly imported from China and targeting low-income earners.

On September 19 last year, the Betting Control and Licensing Board, the market regulator, wrote to all County Commissioners and directed them to mount a major crackdown, confiscate gaming machines and arraign the operators in a court of law.

The owners, fearing that they may be pushed out of business, and indicated they had licences from county governments, quickly moved to court challenging the legality of the regulators letter.

They were issued with temporary orders by Justice John Mativo. The judge directed the government, its officials and agents not to conductany crackdown on business premises where the slot machines are situated. He also directed themnot to suspend the business or close them until the hearing and determination of the suit. The suit is ongoing at the High Court.

The view of the bigger players appears to have been indicated two weeks ago when Mr Ronald Karauri, the chief executive of SportsPesa, arguably the biggest company today in the industry, waded into the debate by lauding President Uhuru Kenyatta for identifying the gambling machines as illegal.

We fully support President Uhuru Kenyattas concerns last Monday over the rising problem of underage gambling associated with illegal gambling machines, he said in press statement.

He went on to say they have previously raised the same concerns with the regulator and county governments constantly requesting them to curb this menace which has tarnished the industrys image and stands to ruin the lives of our children.

He seemed to have been reacting to the Presidents comments, during the launch of the Jubilee administration portal, on the proposed 50 per cent tax announced in the budget and the industry in general.

We were very concerned about the rise in betting especially among the school going children.

This technology has been had a positive impactbut it also had its downside. We felt as responsible government we needed to ensure we needed to make it more difficult for people to bet and those who wanted to bet that that money will go to causes that are social in nature and beneficial,: the president had said.

The president promised to ask Treasury to liaise with parliament to engage the industry players on the taxes but insisted they will not come too low.

Mr Sam Kahia, chairman of the slot machinesumbrella body, Kenya Counties Amusement and Gaming Society, said there is need to regulate the industry just like in Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi.

We commit to promote responsible gambling with interest of Kenyans coming first. Remember, Kenyansinvest and are protected by theConstitution. We went to BCLBoffices for licence but they declined so wewent to county offices and obtained licences only for the board to come later and term the operation illegal, he said.

He also claimed the machine operators employ may Kenyans and does not allow underage clients.

Board Chairman Kimani Kungu said the authority has been following the law.

Unscrupulous business people operate gaming premises with Chinese machines whose integrity cannot be verified and most have no importation documents nor evidence of payment of necessary taxes. It is mandatory that imported gaming equipment has to be authorised by Betting Control and Licensing Board, he said.

Kenya Revenue Authority is to impose a 20 per cent withholding tax on winnings

The repeat nominations will now be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The doctors began their strike on December 5 last year paralysing the public health sector.

Read the original here:

Big industry players fight over billions in gambling - Daily Nation

JACK VAN BEYNEN

Last updated05:00, April 23 2017

Stuff.co.nz

UK gambling ads have been accused of ripping off What We Do In The Shadows, a Kiwi vampire comedy directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement.

Vampires don't have reflections, but two Kiwi directors might be seeing shades of theirfanged flick in a series of copycat British ads.

Directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, 2014 mockumentaryWhat We Do In the Shadowstold the story of three vampires living in a Wellington flat.

UK online gambling site Virigin Games has been accused of plagiarising the film for a series of ads.

SUPPLIED

Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh and Jemaine Clement as vampires in What We Do In The Shadows.

The ads feature Vlad, a 21st century vampire who has learned to "live a little" by gambling on his smartphone.

READ MORE: *What We Do in the Shadows TV spinoff in the works *Plenty at stake in Taika's new film * IT guy turns accidental film star

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ

Actor and comedian Cori Gonzalez-Macuer says he thought the ad campaign's ideas were plagiarised from What We Do In The Shadows.

They appear to borrow several gags from the film, including issues over bloody dishes, disappearing reflections and a vampire dating an elderly woman.

The similarities were highlighted by English satire magazinePrivate Eye, which accused Virgin Games of "utter shamelessness".

Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, who plays reluctant vampire Nick in the Shadows, said after watching the ads he thoughtit was pretty obvious the idea had been borrowed.

SUPPLIED

What We Do In The Shadows was a mockumentary about vampires cohabiting in Wellington.

"I'm pretty sure they got the idea from What We Do In The Shadows. I mean it's not even like it's kind of like it, there's even exact lines from the movie in it." he said.

"I wasn't annoyed by it or anything, I think it's cute they tried to do it. It's not as funny, but good on them."

Gonzalez-Macuer said he failed to see the connection between the legendary denizens of the night and gambling.

"It's a weird, weird idea to put it into a gambling ad. When I think of vampires I don't really think of gambling."

Film critic James Croot said there was "no doubting" the ads were similar to Waititi and Clement's film but he wasn't convinced they were close enough to be considered plagiarism - "more of an homage or 'cheeky liberty'- as Richard Branson himself might say."

"They've deliberately chosen a contemporary looking bloke, rather than the vampiric archetypes of that film.

"Also, there were some, particularly in Britain, who saw Taika's film as borrowing liberally from the much-loved 1980s British sitcom The Young Ones, especially with its anarchic sense of humour and disparate flatmates."

He said ads riffing on popular movies was nothing new, pointing to a classic 1980s Kiwi-made commercial for Crunchie bars that was set in a world very derivative ofStar Wars.

This isn't even the first time Waititi's own work has been ripped off for an advertisement.

Earlier this year, a beer company made an ad that was almost a shot-for-shot copy of a section of Waititi's Team Thorshort,which he made to promote his latest filmThor: Ragnarok.

When a fan brought the ad to his attention on Twitter, Waititi said: "It makes me want a beer so I guess I can't be too annoyed."

Gamesys, the parent company of Virgin Games and VCCP, the Londonad agency that devised the Vlad campaign, was approached for comment, but didn't respond.

-Sunday Star Times

Original post:

What We Do In The Shadows ripped off by UK gambling ad - Stuff.co.nz

OKLAHOMA CITY While lottery sales in most states are smashing records as people spend big on scratch-off tickets, the Oklahoma Lottery is on course for one of its most dismal performances.

Officials say its a blow for the states voter-approved game of chance. The lottery was once heralded as the savior of education amid over-inflated promises from lawmakers that it could bring in as much as $300 million to $500 million a year for schools.

It was probably the best marketed thing that weve ever seen because here it is a decade later and people still think that it is still some sort of solution to education funding woes, and the reality is its probably less than 1 percent of any school districts budget, said state Sen. David Holt, R-Oklahoma City.

In just over a decade, the states lottery has contributed a little more than $750 million to education, but lottery contributions have been declining since last peaking at $71.6 million in budget year 2008. If lawmakers do nothing to address the situation, state budget officials predict the lottery will lose another $25 million over the next five years.

I dont like the lottery'

Every day for the past seven years, somebody has asked Holt about the lottery and why its not fixing the states education funding woes.

I always have to explain nothings broken about the lottery. It just didnt raise the money that was predicted, he said.

Reform advocates, though, say the states system is crippled by an antiquated, restrictive and broken framework that does little to incentivize people to gamble. In hopes of revitalizing the lotto, theyre pushing a measure that would overhaul that framework.

As other states have raised prize amounts for instant win games better known as scratch-off cards and increased the odds of winning, Oklahomas rigorous and some claim anti-gambling framework has made it impossible to offer the lucrative prizes that players demand, said Jay Finks, director of marketing and administration for the Oklahoma Lottery.

It hasnt underperformed based on the law, he said. We have overperformed based on the overly restrictive law.

Oklahomas prizes and odds of winning remain among the worst in the nation, and many players have simply deduced that the state-sponsored lottery is a bad bet, he said.

That leads people to stop playing altogether or go to another form of gaming to play, he said. People want to play and win.

In 2016, national lotto sales grossed more than $80 billion more than $22.5 billion of which flowed into state and local coffers, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, which represents the majority of lottery systems, including Oklahomas.

Oklahomas lotto sales lagged behind the national average of $216, according to a legislative budget analysis. Neighboring Arkansas, which offers larger prizes, saw per capita sales of $138 in 2015 while Oklahoma saw $44, the analysis found.

Lawmakers have long been aware that the states lottery is in crisis, said former state Rep. Mike Shelton, D-Oklahoma City. Among the legislators who initially helped set up the lottery laws, Shelton unsuccessfully pitched legislation to overhaul the program for years and was among the first to champion updates.

Our Legislature has known full well that the law needed tweaking, but theyve never touched the lottery, he said.

For those colleagues frowning upon games of chance, the idea of incentivizing gambling by making it more lucrative proved a tough sell, Shelton said.

(Lawmakers) have just told us, We dont want to increase gaming, so were not going to help the lottery,' Finks said. 'I dont like the lottery. I want you (the lottery) to die.'

Dollars and cents

Proponents of change, though, continue to push lawmakers to remove the mandated portion automatically allocated to schools so that it can be adjusted closer to the industry standard of 25 cents. The state would be able to offer more appealing games to consumers and increase the lottos overall revenue, they say.

Lawmakers are currently vetting the measure, which has passed the House, but is awaiting a Senate vote. Bill author Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, did not respond to a request for comment.

Under current law, for every $1 lottery ticket sold, 35 cents goes straight to education. Retailers, who sell tickets, receive 6 cents. The vendor who runs the games makes 4 cents, while the states lottery keeps 3 cents for administrative costs.

You cannot have a successful lottery if you only have 50 cents for prizes, Finks said. That doesnt leave you enough money to put prizes where they need to be.

At 35 cents, Oklahoma has one of the if not the highest fixed percentages in the nation, he said.

State budget officials estimate that eliminating the mandate would actually increase the lotterys contributions to education by $110 million in the next five years as more people play.

Under current law, 45 percent of the proceeds go to K-12 education. Higher education and other educational programs share another 45 percent. The remainder is split between a school consolidation fund and the Oklahoma Teachers Retirement System.

If lawmakers had adjusted that amount sooner, schools would already be benefiting, Shelton said.

I think the lottery has done what weve given it the power to do, he said. What we did was left it to fail intentionally. Oklahoma is a gambling state. We should have set it up to work. The lottery was set up to help our kids, and people are going to spend the money whether theyre going (to) casinos, whether theyre playing the lottery.

Last year, the state saw more than $3 billion spent on gambling, but only a small percentage of that $188.7 million was spent on the lottery, Finks said.

Right now, the only way we survive is to get a big jackpot, Finks said, referring to the states two non-instant win games Powerball and Mega Millions.

Last year, Oklahoma only sold $77.5 million in scratch-off tickets, he said. This year, sales are predicted to drop to less than $70 million.

The decline isnt a surprise for Ross Hutson, general manager of Duncan-based City Mart Energy, which sells lottery tickets at 16 convenience store locations in the Duncan and Pauls Valley areas.

He said fewer customers are buying the scratch-off tickets. His busiest locations sell between 70 and 100 tickets a day, he said.

If the prizes were better, it would be an increase in ticket sales, Hutson said.

Better payouts and odds'

If lawmakers approve the measure, budget officials estimate retailers like City Mart will see a windfall as well. Statewide, businesses could expect to generate an additional $25 million in new revenue over five years.

Were certainly not going to keep the lights on by selling lottery tickets with our percentage, Hutson said. He said the games help draw customers into the store, who hopefully spend money on sodas, candy bars and other items.

Checkout stands at the states retailers could have a different look in July. If lawmakers ultimately approve the overhaul, lottery officials plan to throw out their current instant win games and replace them with new games that all have better payouts and odds, Finks said.

While Holt said he supports the legislative measure, he doesnt believe it will increase lottery play tenfold.

I think the theory is sound and I think it will help but I think people need to understand it will never get the lottery proceeds up to the levels that were predicted when this was considered by voters a decade ago, Holt said.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com.

Read more from the original source:

Lottery reform gambling on bigger payoffs, better odds - Enid News & Eagle