Daily Archives: May 14, 2020

Polk County Sheriffs Office

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) Fourteen people were arrested Wednesday at a gambling and rooster/cockfighting event in Mulberry.

Polk County deputies say they responded to 107 Cesara Drive and found the male suspects gambling, rolling dice and exchanging cash around a wooden table. A 10-year-old child was also present, according to deputies.

On the ground around the table, deputies say they saw bags of a white powdery substance, which tested positive for cocaine. They also saw evidence of a recent cockfight and requested detectives from the PCSO Agriculture Crimes Unit to come to the scene.

According to deputies, Agriculture Crimes detectives found seven dead roosters laying on the ground just 25 feet from where the gambling took place. Detectives also found a dissembled fighting ring, a scale for weighing roosters before fighting and chairs for people to sit and watch the fight, deputies say. Fresh feathers were also found on the ground, stuck to the sides of the ring.

Deputies say detectives found rubber boxing gloves used to train roosters to fight, knives that are strapped to roosters legs for fighting and performance-enhancing drugs for roosters. A 55-gallon metal trash barrel contained burned bodies of dead roosters. There were over 100 live roosters individually housed, and a total of 481 roosters and chickens were removed from the property during the investigation, according to deputies.

Thirty-two-year-old Jonathan Simouth, a resident of the property, told detectives that a fight occurred earlier that evening and gambling took place afterward. Deputies say detectives also found a trafficking amount of cocaine and two loaded firearms, an AK-47 and a 12-gauge shotgun.

Simouth is being charged with armed trafficking in cocaine, owning animals for fighting, operating a property for animal fighting, illegal gambling, possession of drug paraphernalia and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Police say Simouths prior criminal history includes arrests for burglary, grand theft, criminal mischief, giving false name to a LEO, resisting, DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving while license suspended or revoked.

We received a call for service regarding a cock-fighting event, and found so much more, including a small child in the presence of cocaine and firearms. This is egregious on several levels. Im glad we were able to shut this down, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

The other 13 men who were arrested were charged with attending the fighting of animals, illegal gambling and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Deputies identify the men as:

All 14 suspects were transported to the Polk County Jail in Bartow. The child was turned over to his parents, who are neighbors and were not present at the event.

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14 arrested at gambling, cockfighting event in Mulberry - WFLA

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ohios 11 casinos and racinos, out of business since mid-March under the governors coronavirus-related ban on large gatherings, are $229 million behind in gambling revenue for the first four months of 2020.

The industry has taken in $410.8 million on gambling, after paying out winnings, down from $640.1 million through April a year ago.

A third of this money is forwarded to the state as fees and taxes.

The four casinos and seven racinos across Ohio have been shuttered since March 14 following orders from Gov. Mike DeWine.

The industry had been off to a roaring start in 2020, with monthly records of $167.5 million in January and $171.4 million in February. Revenue dropped to $71.9 million in March and to nothing in April.

Here are the January through April revenue reports for the 11 facilities versus the same four months last year:

* Belterra Park - down 38% from $27.3 million to $16.8 million.

* Eldorado Gaming Scioto - down 34% from $58.5 million to $38.9 million.

* Hollywood Casino Columbus - down 37% from $77.6 million to $49 million.

* Hollywood Casino Toledo - down 40% from $67.3 million to $40.5 million.

* Hollywood Dayton - down 35% from $38.1 million to $24.8 million.

* Hollywood Mahoning Valley - down 36% from $42.3 million to $27 million.

* JACK Cincinnati Casino - down 34% from $69.7 million to $45.8 million.

* JACK Cleveland Casino - down 36% from $69.5 million to $44.6 million.

* JACK Thistldown Racino - down 35% from $45.8 million to $29.9 million.

* MGM Northfield Park - down 35% from $84.6 million to $55.1 million.

* Miami Valley Gaming - down 35% from $59.4 million to $38.3 million.

These totals from the Casino Control and Lottery commissions do not include wagering on horses at the racinos.

Rich Exner, data analysis editor for cleveland.com, writes about numbers on a variety of topics. Follow on Twitter @RichExner. Follow casino coverage at cleveland.com/casino.

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Ohio shuttered casino, racino industry now down $229 million in gambling revenue for the year - cleveland.com

The Ohio House Finance Committee has approved House Bill 282. The bill would permit veterans and fraternal organizations to offer instant electronic bingo. Proponents of the bill have positioned this as a slight tweak; however, instant electronic bingo devices are electronic gaming machines, much like slot machines and video lottery terminals.Electronic gaming machines have higher prevalence rates for problem gambling than other forms of legal gambling in Ohio. The2017 Survey of At-Risk and Problem Gambling Prevalence Among Ohioans, conducted by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, shows 24 percent of Ohioans have had a negative experience with electronic gaming machines. Increasing access to these products, without important safeguards, will harm our communities. Safeguards include responsible gambling training for operators, promotion of the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline and website and dedicated funds for support services.The Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-589-9966, andGamblingHelpOhio.orgare often the first step toward help and hope for individuals, whether it be the gambler or a loved one, struggling with a gambling problem. The2017 Survey of At-Risk and Problem Gambling Prevalence Among Ohioans, concluded that as gambling access increases, so does the rate of problems. We want to make sure there is a safety net of services in place for those who will need it.

Since there is no federal funding to support those impacted by gambling, problems that result due to expansion must be paid for with funds generated from expansion.Our veteran clubs and fraternal organizations serve a vital role in supporting Ohio communities. Were confident these safeguarding measures will both support their missions as well as provide the infrastructure necessary to mitigate harm that result from additional electronic gaming machines in Ohio, said Derek Longmeier, Problem Gambling Network of Ohio Executive Director.With so many impacted by COVID-19, it is understandable that organizations and municipalities are eager to generate additional revenue through expanded gambling. Ohioans cannot afford silence on this issue. Now is the time to speak up for those who will be impacted and demand the appropriate measures be put in place to help those in need. Together, we can maintain a healthy Ohio.

Problem Gambling Network of Ohio (PGNO) is a statewide nonprofit with the goal of ensuring help is available for problem gamblers in a time of increasing types of legalized gambling. PGNO works with individuals and organizations involved in gambling activities that address problem gambling.

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PGNO: Expanded gambling without consumer protection is a bad bet for Ohio - The Highland County Press

Iowas gaming parlors are closed. Theres no sports betting without sports. Slots are silent.

But thanks to Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa has plenty of high stakes gambling action, in every county, city and burg.

Were all rolling the dice in Kims COVID Casino now.

We have seen some positive curve-bending lately in the states effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Hospitalizations have been declining for days, although cases and deaths continue to mount. Theres been more testing and contact-tracing, key steps to containing the virus and bending the curve even further.

But testing is just ramping up. Iowa still is testing thousands fewer daily than needed. Test Iowas effort has been slow out of the gate and plagued by problems. And yet, the Utah tech firms behind the testing already have hit the jackpot.

We could stand on this hand, see how it plays out for a few more weeks. The curve may indeed flatten. Remain disciplined. Play it safe.

Instead, on Wednesday, Reynolds announced more business reopenings, while rolling back many protective measures in all 99 counties, starting Friday. Shes gambling that we wont see a second sharp surge in virus cases, even as she maintains her own modified quarantine after mingling with unmasked White House officials on her recent victory tour. Shes also quit sending out detailed daily reports on virus numbers. Dont fixate on deaths. Theyre just lagging indicators.

Have we reached the peak? Probably? Maybe? The predictive model still is under wraps.

But its no guts, no glory at COVID Casino. Its time to get back in the game. Big bucks and political power are on the table. Baby needs a new pair of shoes, and there still are plenty of ventilators for granny.

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Sure, without more testing and tracing, were flying in fog, perhaps on a casino owners borrowed jet. But, oh, what a rush. How will it all turn out? The suspense is killing us.

Standing the economy back up is necessary. But there will be no real, sustained recovery if Iowans are unconvinced weve handled the pandemic. Picking the economy over public health is a false bet. Solving the public health problem is key to economic recovery and restoring confidence.

Theres certainly an economic risk to sticking with protective measures longer and resisting more reopening for a couple more weeks. But consider the consequences of pulling that big reopening slot machine arm too soon. A second spike and a return to restrictions would be even more devastating. Instead of bouncing back, Iowas health and economic problems would intensify, while more Iowans fall ill or become lagging indicators.

Betting the lives of our most vulnerable on the personal responsibility of others before we know more about the pandemics grip here is a reckless wager, leaving thousands of Iowans and their loved ones in fearful limbo. They cant simply adjust and move on.

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the U.S. Senate this week that rapid reopening could have dire consequences. Instead, Iowas putting its money on the whiplash wisdom of the casino wizard in the White House, who is willing to bet our lives on his reelection prospects. Our guts, his glory.

So were all gamblers now, living in the COVID Casino. Win big! Or maybe buy the farm! Masks optional.

(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@tehgazette.com

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All Iowans are gamblers in Kim's COVID Casino - The Gazette

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synergy Blue today released a new report revealing consumer opinions on casino gambling in a post-COVID world.

The company surveyed gamblers to better understand what they will expect from operators in order to return to casinos. While the data shows gamblers confidence in casinos 51 percent say theyll return to casinos once they reopen it also reveals the need for some long-term changes.

The report, The Path Forward for Casinos in a Post-Covid World, is based on a survey conducted in late April 2020 of 1,000 gamblers about how their expectations have changed and multiple factors that will impact their return to casino floors, including the experiences they now seek, the role the economy plays in their confidence, and if their interest in online and mobile gambling will continue after social distancing.

The report examines the health and safety standards that gamblers would like to see. While confidence is solid, gamblers also believe casinos need to take ongoing measures to ensure health and safety. The survey found that 56 percent of gamblers said casinos need to permanently improve their health and safety standards following the pandemic.

The report also uncovers a dynamic that has long been on the radar of casinos. The data shows that a shift in casino demographics may happen much sooner than expected. Older gamblers are more hesitant to return to casinos amid higher concerns about health and safety. But younger demographics are now poised to lead the charge toward casino recovery. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of younger gamblers (ages 29 and under) and 56 percent of those ages 30-45 say theyll gamble in casinos again once stay-at-home orders have lifted. Only 40 percent of respondents over age 60 said they too would return.

While slots were the traditional main draw for casinos, a younger generation of gamblers also points to declining interest in traditional slots. The survey found less than half (47%) of those 29 and under and 58 percent of 30-45 year olds said slot games would draw them back to casinos, compared to 69 percent of 45-60 year olds, and 73 percent of those 60 and older who are drawn to slot games.

The casino industry has been hit hard by the crisis and, with high levels of uncertainty surrounding the long-term impact, its difficult to map out the best path forward, said Georg Washington, CEO of Synergy Blue. Our goal with this report is to provide the industry with resources and insight into what gamblers would like to see and, more importantly, what they expect from casinos when they return. Were all in this together. And together, we can rebuild our industry. But in order to do that, well need to reshape it to fit the changed preferences of our biggest supporters: the gamers and gamblers themselves.

Additional findings from the report include:

To download the full report, visit Synergy Blues website.

About Synergy Blue

Synergy Blue creates Fun You Can Bet On! As the leading provider of entertainment gaming solutions, the team is currently bringing arcade style, skill-influenced games (or interactive electronic gaming machines), platforms, and applications to the casino market. The companys robust HAWG (Hybrid, Arcade, Wager-based Gaming) platform blends regulatory approved chance and skill-influenced gambling with the uninterrupted entertainment of arcade-style game play. Designed for an emerging class of players, Synergy Blues technology provides casino operators with a new generation of entertainment and games that are certified and backed by industry-leading patents. Now based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the company was founded in 2013 and has products and applications placed in six countries.

For more information visit: http://www.synergyblue.us or follow @synergyblue1.

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New Report Reveals What Gamblers Want From the Post-COVID Casino Industry - Business Wire

Many anime have a high school setting, but this one is more like a high-stakes casino with a ruthless social hierarchy.

There's a whole genre of anime centered around elite high school settings. The Kakegurui manga/anime is a gambling themed twist on the "special high school" genre, The classes at Hyakkou Academy don't teach history or math, but how to bet on the Roulette table, play blackjack, poker and just about any other game that involves betting cold, hard cash. Even if gambling is technically illegal in Japan and these high school students are too young to gamble in most nations, it's all they do each day, and they're good at it... especially the new girl.

In terms of narrative style, Kakegurui is a shonen action series, where different characters bravely challenge each other, hold grudges, use unique gambling strategies and compete in tournaments. Like Food Wars!, it's a battle high school where no punches are thrown and no magic is cast. Conveniently, gambling is competitive by nature, and a winner uses a combination of luck and skill to win. This new flavor of shonen action is the right tool for the main character, Yumeko Jabami, to wow the audience with.

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Yumeko Jabami, the heroine, is a highly skilled gambler, but she's not doing it for the money or the social standing; she's here for the thrill of it. She subverts the entire system of Hyakkou Academy once she transfers there, and it seems no one can stop her from breaking all the rules. Between games, she is cheerful and friendly, but when a game starts, she comes alive and will bet reckless money (among other things) just to see what will happen. She represents chaos and hedonism in a school where everyone plays by the rules in a gambler's rat race.

Yumeko proves that creative thinking and individuality are not to be underestimated, even when everything is on the line and all the cards have been dealt. This makes her all kinds of enemies, and she can't wait to challenge them all. Her first opponent is Mary Saotome, who, despite buying off most of the class, can't beat her in a card-based variant of rock-paper-scissors. With sheer intuition and a love of dumb luck, Yumeko prevails, and she is an even match for Midari Ikishima, who also likes to gamble with incredible stakes (usually, her own safety). The viewer can vicariously live on the edge with a heroine whose gambling style is like a bull in a china shop.

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The gambling inKakegurui is only the means to the end, despite what some students may claim. This show doesn't just play like casino security camera footage; the real stakes are involved in the social hierarchy. All of the students at Hyakkou Academy come from wealth, and are used to getting things their way. This means standing atop everyone else and ruling with an iron fist, all backed up by their money and skills in exploiting others. It's a 21st-century jungle that mirrors the business world and political world. A student can either climb to the top... or fall to the bottom in crushing debt and despair. There's practically no middle ground.

Right away, Ryota Suzui loses a game to Mary Saotome and becomes a "housepet." This is the term for a debtor, and escaping housepet status is a real challenge. Housepets are degraded and trampled upon by their classmates. In contrast, the student council members enjoy great wealth, influence, and prestige. This system of ruthless hierarchy and social division is a microcosm of the ruthless world graduates will soon enter. In many ways, a business venture is indeed like gambling, where time, effort and capital are all bet on a new company. For every winner, there are hundreds of losers out there, and power and money can get consolidated fast.

Kakegurui suggests that human civilization is a ruthless, winner-takes-all system. It proves that thesis one Roulette table and poker game at a time.

Kakegurui is currently streaming on Netflix.

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I graduated high school in Kansas City in 2009, then earned my Associate's in Arts in 2011 at MCC Longview, then my BA in Creative Writing at UMKC in 2013. I have a passion for creative fiction and I've studied and practiced my craft for over ten years. Currently, I'm expanding my resume and skill set with jobs such as SEO writing and journalism.

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Kakegurui Puts a Gambling Spin on the Magic School Trope | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court throwing out the federal ban on sports betting.

The legalization of sports gambling requires an important policy choice, but the choice is not ours to make, Justice Samuel Alito, a New Jersey native, said in the opinion of the court. Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own.

Gov. Phil Murphy welcomed the ruling and the state Legislature quickly moved to establish the sports betting industry in New Jersey.

Darren Rovell, the former ESPN and CNBC sports business analyst, now writes for The Action Network. In noting Thursdays sports betting anniversary, Rovell relayed a conversation he had with a professional sports bettor. In the story, the pro explained why New Jersey is better for sports bettors.

The same six or seven guys control Vegas sportsbooks and they all talk to each other. So we certainly couldnt show up placing our own bets. Many of them wouldnt take our money. We did too well. ... In New Jersey, theres none of that. You have 20 sportsbooks competing with each other, not talking to each other. I dont have to give other people my money. I can make 13 bets under $10,000 and still get more than $100,000 down.

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Even with a market more convenient for sports bettors, the industry is taking a bath because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Murphy ordered Atlantic Citys casinos closed in March. NJ Advance Medias Keith Sargeant reported last month on the losses suffered by the industry without any sports on which to bet.

In March, $181.9 million was wagered at New Jersey sportsbooks -- a drop of 63.2% from last month and down 51.2% from March 2019.

The trend downward continued in April, according to the Associated Press.

April was the cruelest month ever for Atlantic City casinos, as state earnings figures released Wednesday shattered a record in revenue declines that had been set just a month ago. The coronavirus outbreak pushed revenue at the seaside resorts nine casinos down nearly 69% in April from the same month a year earlier. ... All told, the casinos saw $82.6 million in revenue in April, almost all of it won online from gamblers who had few other legal options. Thats down from $265.4 million in April 2019.

MGM Resorts, owner of the Borgata, released on Tuesday the health and safety plan its casino properties will follow once state officials allow them to reopen. Among the highlights: no eating on the casino floor, contactless check-ins for hotel rooms and wearing a mask unless youre drinking while gambling.

Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.

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Why N.J. is a better bet than Las Vegas for sports gamblers - NJ.com

LANDIS A Landis business owner was charged Tuesday with offenses related to operating a gambling establishment after a monthlong investigation by the Rowan County Sheriffs Office.

Jack Lewis Faggart Jr., 59, of China Grove, was charged with two counts of operating/possessing a slot machine, permitting the use of a slot machine at a location under his management or control, possessing gaming machines that allowed the machines to exceed the limits of eight accumulated credits or replays and operating more than five video gaming machines.

Faggart, the owner of Snack Shack, was operating under the guise of being a convenience store/landscaping supply business in Landis, the sheriffs office said.

The sheriffs office served a search warrant April 16 at the business, located at 3125 North Cannon Blvd.

The search warrant was based on an undercover operation and citizen complaints that the business was a gambling establishment and also violating the governors stay-at-home order, according to the sheriffs office.

The investigation showed that the Snack Shack had 19 gambling machines, all slot machines, a news release said. These gaming machines operated with several types of software. Officials said 13 machines had money receivers and some still had currency in them. The machines allowed patrons to bet more than eight credits, which violates state law. The business allegedly was paying cash for winnings, another violation of state law.

During the search of the business, detectives seized six central processing units connected to gaming terminals, three motherboards, one server, documents and $11,343 in cash. Records showed that the gaming machines were taking in more than $10,000 per week and profiting multiple thousands of dollars per week, a news release said.

On Tuesday, April 28, additional search warrants were executed by the Rowan County Sheriffs Office at the Snack Shack and a second location. Investigators seized documents and an additional $13,920 in cash.

At the time of the execution of the search warrants on April 28, Faggart was also cited for violating the governors executive order.

Faggart was released on a written promise.

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Landis business owner charged with operating illegal gambling establishment - Salisbury Post - Salisbury Post