Category Archives: Gambling

LAS VEGAS (KSNV News3LV)

Ever since Las Vegas legalized gambling in '31, you've had to be 21 to place a bet.

86 years later, the assemblyman in the cowboy hat says, I think if you're old enough to go to Afghanistan, or Yemen, or Iraq and fight - if you're old enough to drink in some states - if you're old enough to vote - then you ought to be old enough to gamble, if that's what you want to do, says Jim Wheeler, a Republican who represents Minden, NV.

Wheeler's bill was one of a flurry introduced on Monday, the first day of the session.

Nationwide, while a few states allow 18-year-olds to gamble in a casino.

Most set the legal age at 21.

Wheeler admits his bill could cause complications. If gambling becomes legal at 18, our legal drinking age is still 21.

So it's going to make it a little tougher on the cocktail servers, for instance, to check ID's. But the fact is they're supposed to be checking anyway, Wheeler says.

The Assemblyman says hes open to feedback.

News 3 received some on Wednesday from Nevada's gaming industry.

"We are not aware of any compelling benefits from doing this, yet there are uncertain risks. Absent a clear policy rationale, we are opposed," says Virginia Valentine, President of the Nevada Resort Association.

Wheeler says he introduced the bill to start the discussion. Well, the fact is in this business you actually have to put a bill out before you get comments on it, he told me.

He also says if the proposal has negative consequences, he wants to hear about those, too, especially from those who treat problem gambling.

"I definitely think this could lead to more problems as far as problem gambling, Nick Tangeman, Clinical Director at Center Youth Services, told me. Tangeman works with young people fighting issues with addiction. Those are very formative years for a teenager. Developmentally, the teenage brain is primed for addition, he says.

I just have a little concern we'd be making available to a risk-taking group of people a new risk activity, that most of them would handle but some would not do well with, says Dr. Robert Hunter, the founder of Las Vegas Problem Gambling Center.

For his part, Wheeler is going into this eyes open.

This bill very well may not go anywhere, he says.

The idea was floated in 2008 as a way to attract new gamblers to help Nevada ride out what was a growing recession.

It went nowhere.

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Proposal to lower legal gambling age gets cold reception from gaming industry - News3LV

R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian

The owner of the former Gearhart Grocery was denied in his bid to install four lottery machines in a new brew pub. He is seeking to reverse that decision in an appeal.

R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian

Pub owner Terry Lowenberg at the Planning Commission hearing in January.

GEARHART The owner of a brew pub at the former Gearhart Grocery has accused the city of rejecting video lottery machines because of a bias against gambling.

In an appeal delivered to the city Tuesday, Terry Lowenberg states the denial of a conditional use permit does not appear to be based on any relevant fact, but rather on a prejudice against gaming and the people that participate in gaming.

Lowenberg states that city code does not exclude lottery machines, gambling or gaming.

Last year, Lowenberg won approval for a brew pub and deli on Pacific Way, but at a Planning Commission hearing in January he told commissioners he needed the lottery machines to survive economic hardship in winter months. The machines four to start, with a maximum of six would be placed in an enclosed area next to the deli separated by an 8-foot wall.

Lowenberg closed his grocery store in November after citing competition from larger supermarkets in the region.

Simply exist

In his January request, Lowenberg said he needed the lottery machines to simply exist, and if the permit was not granted, he would end up having to close the store.

Commissioners denied the request 5-2. They said the lottery machines could open the door to gambling machines downtown, and pointed to video gaming establishments on nearby U.S. Highway 101. Others were skeptical that video poker could prop up Lowenbergs failing business.

Two commissioners, Virginia Dideum and Jeremy Davis, praised the brew pubs design plan and opposed the denial.

Gambling and drinking

Lowenbergs appeal takes City Planner Carole Connell to task for failing to provide evidence for her staff report recommendation to deny the machines, based on what she said were studies linking gambling and drinking. The city finds gambling stations that encourage alcohol consumption do not coincide with the intent of a neighborhood cafe as defined.

This is clearly a highly-biased opinion from someone who is adamantly against the proposed use rather than independent review of an application, Lowenberg wrote. It seems the planner is trying to find arguments against the lottery machines by linking gambling and drinking, he said.

Lowenberg disputes the planners contention that lottery machines are not a use devoted to the use of food while customers are seated at tables.

Lottery dollars support many resources in Oregon and locally, he said, and if customers want to participate in lottery while waiting on a meal, this is good for Gearhart and good for Oregon.

City Administrator Chad Sweet said the City Council will set a date to hear the appeal at a public meeting. A decision must be rendered by March 28, within 120 days of the original application.

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Is gambling 'good for Gearhart'? - Daily Astorian

Gamblers placed wagers totaling a record $132 million on Super Bowl LI Sunday at Nevada sports books. However that amount represents a drop in bucket compared to the $4.5 billion of bets placed illegally on the game.

Nevada is currently the only state where gambling on sports is legal, but the black sports betting market is estimated to account for 97% of all wagers placed, according to theAmerican Gaming Association.

These bettors rely on offshore sports books, online means and illegal bookies to satisfy their tax-free gambling needs thanks to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act signed in 1992 that made Nevada the only state to legally place bets on sports.

"Vegas currently has a monopoly on sports betting," Erik Balsbaugh of the American Gaming Association toldTheStreet. "The internet has changed a lot of things in the industry though, and it's time for the U.S. to catch up."

The sportsbook from companies like MGM Resorts (MGM) andLas Vegas Sands (LVS) on the Las Vegas Strip comprises between 1.5% and 2% of total gaming revenue annually, according to Union Gaming analyst John DeCree.

Betting on the Super Bowl, both legal and illegal, was up year over year in spite of the fact that viewership for the big game was down from a year ago.

Legal sports gambling is good for the game, Balsbaugh argued, because people with something riding on the game tend to be more attentive to the games and are more likely to even watch the commercials during a broadcast.

Continued here:

Super Bowl Betting Tally Helps Make the Case for Legalized Sports Gambling - TheStreet.com

BOISE, Idaho (AP) The ongoing battle over appropriate Indian gambling is once again coming to a head in the Idaho Legislature, with both sides preparing to rip open old wounds.

Rep. Tom Loertscher, a Republican from Iona, introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban lucrative video gambling terminals inside the tribes' casinos. The proposal was tepidly accepted by the House State Affairs Committee, with some lawmakers raising concerns about the ripple effects of the bill.

"We've been bothered by several gambling issues over the last few years," said Loertscher, chairman of the House panel. "This is a major policy thing that we need to address."

The move comes two years after lawmakers banned the use of so-called historical horse racing due to fears that the electronic betting machines resembled slot machines. The repeal effort generated outrage from the horse racing industry. It claimed the tribes were unfairly trying to squelch competition because they have a monopoly on video gambling in Idaho.

Yet the fight over Indian gambling has been a sore subject since 1988 when the Idaho Lottery was established.

Under federal Indian gambling law, Idaho tribes can only operate their own bingo and lottery operations as long as the state has already authorized that form of gambling. This has created lingering tension between the state and tribes over what types of gambling devices are legal.

According to the tribes, they operate what the state allows: A video form of the state lottery.

However, prolonged disagreement led the tribe to successfully push a 2002 ballot initiative amending Idaho's law to say as long as the tribe's machines do not have a lever or dispense coins only cash out tickets then the machines could not be defined as a slot machines and are not a simulation of casino gambling.

Then in 2006, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the tribes' ability to offer video gambling devices after the state sued. The court's decision also influenced a 2009 ruling where the Idaho Supreme Court declared Idaho could no longer sue regarding the constitutionality of the tribes' machines.

Loertscher's bill would remove a key section of the law amended in 2002 so that even if the tribe's machines do not have a lever or dispense coins, they would still be banned from possessing slot machines. It's a subtle difference, but one that would could potentially upend the entire system.

"This issue has been addressed in the judicial branch and now they want to get the Legislature involved," said House Assistant Majority Leader Brent Crane, R-Nampa, who said he only voted to introduce the proposal to learn more about the issue. "I'm not convinced that's going to happen."

Other lawmakers contend that the Idaho Constitution outlaws casino-style gambling but claim tribes are violating that ban due to a loophole in the law.

"We simply can't have any statute that would attempt to override the constitution," said Rep. Steven Harris, R-Meridian, who has supported other efforts to limit gambling in Idaho this year.

For the tribes, the issue comes down to protecting their sovereignty.

"This is highly unnecessary," said Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, a member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, who voted against introducing Loertscher's bill. "I don't believe this bill will make it out of committee and I would urge the chairman to reread our laws."

A full hearing for the bill has not been scheduled.

Read more:

Idaho House panel introduces bill limiting Indian gambling - Virginian-Pilot

Defense Department datashows that 514 active duty military service members and Coast Guard and 72 Reserve members were treated for or diagnosed with a gambling disorder from 2011-2015, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

Though this number represents only .03 percent of the active and reserve population, the GAO, a federal agency that provides oversight and investigative services for Congress, wants the military to get more serious about identifying and treating gambling addiction.

Other organizations have placed the number of at risk active duty service members much higher. The National Council on Gambling Problemsays36,000 active duty troops meet the criteria for gambling addiction.

"Previous surveys found average rates of gambling problems among active duty personnel at 5%, approximately twice the average civilian rate," Executive Director Keith Whyte told Military Times.

Adding to the dilemma, nearly 3,000 slot machines are available to soldiers deployed to bases around the globe, accumulating roughly $539 million in profits between 2011 and 2015, according to the GAO report.

"At the very least, this jackpot comes with an obligation to minimize harm related to gambling addiction. When DoD promotes and profits from slot machines they have a high obligation to take extensive measures to treat military personnel who develop gambling problems," Whyte said.

Currently, the military does not provide annual screenings and its present medical screening process does not include questions that could indicate susceptibility to gambling problems, as it does for other addictive disorders. They do not screen for gambling disorder because they focus on mental-health disorders that are high risk to overall readiness, high volume and have validated measures for assessment, according to the GAO report.

However, gambling disorders can have a resounding impact on military operations. The preoccupation with gambling, financial hardship and increased risk of suicide can pose a risk to individual readiness, the report argues. The service branches provide guidance on substance abuse for medical and non-medical staff, "however, it refers only to problematic substance use," GAO said.

The GAO recommends annual screenings to identify gambling addiction and updating policy guidance. DoD and Coast Guard officials have agreed to update its guidance on gambling disorders but have rejected calls for annual screenings, citing the low prevalence of gambling addiction in the military. "It is impractical to screen for every low prevalence disorder," DoD officials said in a response to the GAO report.

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Federal oversight agency wants the military to screen for gambling addiction - Military Times

As food containers made of polystyrene continue jamming San Diegos landfills, a maker of the ubiquitous plastic has been pouring money into the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerces political action committee at a record-setting pace.

A January 25 disclosure filing with the city clerks office shows that Dart Container Corp. of Mason, Michigan, kicked in another $20,000 to the PAC on October 25, matching an earlier $20,000 it gave in the first half of 2016. Dart wants recycling considered before San Diego bans the troublesome material, an option the city has resisted. To make its point, the firm has retained the services of lobbyist Clarissa Falcon to include recycling of polystyrene food containers in the Citys Zero Waste Plan.

Other special interests kicking in for the chamber PAC include LHR Investment Company, backer of the failed Lilac Hills Ranch ballot measure, with $15,000, on October 28 and Walmart Stores of Bentonville, Arkansas, $10,000 on October 27. Among the expenses listed for the political action committee was a $7500 consulting fee paid to Stephen Puetz, chief of staff to Republican mayor Kevin Faulconer. The candidate drawing the most cash from the group, per the filing, was failed GOP city attorney hopeful Robert Hickey, who lost out to Democrat Mara Elliott.

The GOP Lincoln Club collected a total of $199,185 during the period from October 25 to the end of the year, finishing the 12-month period with a total of $1,097,123 in total contributions and an ending cash balance of $41,338. Among the donations was $5000 received on October 25 from LE Gaming. The operation belongs to Certified Player Corporation of Placentia, which provides so-called third party proposition players, who serve as bankers in cardroom games, including those offered at Chula Vistas Seven Mile Casino, per its website.

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Gambling and plastic politics - San Diego Reader

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report from theUnited States Government Accountability Office is recommending that the military screenits members for gambling disorder addiction.

The government watchdog agency released its report on January 31st, noting Department of Defense and Coast Guard"non-medical personnel do not have clear guidance addressing gambling disorder."

According to data from the Department of Defense, "less than 0.03 percent of the average number of service members in each yearwere diagnosed with gambling disorder or were seen for problem gambling in fiscal years 2011 through 2015 in the Military Health System."

While the GAO report acknowledges that figure is low, it stated "without explicitly including gambling disorder in DoD and CG guidance on substance use, DoD and the CG may not being able to identify and provide appropriate treatment and counseling to DoD and CG service members afflicted by gambling disorder and mitigate or prevent individual readiness issues."

The GAO report makes eight recommendations, including that the Department of Defense incorporate gambling disorder questions in a systematic screening process.

In its response, the Department of Defense concurred with recommendations about updating guidance, but did not agree with incorporating questions into ascreening process.

"There is no evidence to suggest that gambling disorder is a high prevalence disorder in the DoD, and it is impractical to screen for every low prevalence disorder," the Department of Defense wrote in comments to the GAO recommendations.

It goeson to saythat there are multiple mental health disorders with similar or higher prevalence such as Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which are not routinely screened.

Keith Whyte is the Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, a non-profit that is neutral on legalized gambling.

"We are neither for nor against, we just want to help people who may have a problem," Whyte told News 3's Todd Corillo Tuesday.

Whyte says the NCPG has been advocating for better screening in the military for the past decade.

"The military surveys of behavioral health used to include gambling addiction questions and those questions were returning rates of up to 5% of active duty troops who were meeting criteria for a gambling problem," he stated.

According to the NCPG, the rate of military members impacted is low now because it is based only on those who seek treatment and not on a general screening.

The NCPG argues that because the military generates revenue from Department of Defense run slot machines overseas, they have a greater obligation to screen service members.

"If you are providing, promoting and profiting from slot machines at overseas bases, youve got a higher ethical and economical obligation to take care of the health of your service members," Whyte argues.

Data in the Government Accountability Office report shows that the Department of Defense generated $538.9 million in revenue from DoD run slot machines on military installations overseas in fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

You can read the entire report from the GAO here:

DOD and the Coast Guard Need to Screen for Gambling Disorder Addiction and Update Guidance

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GAO report recommends military members be screened for ... - wtkr.com

Did you win any money from your Super Bowl pool?

Congratulations!

Now make sure you report iton your2017 tax return.

Yep. Gambling winnings of any kind are taxable income, and Uncle Sam wants his cut.

So if you had winnings from the Super Bowl, a fantasy league or even the local lotto, make sure you tally them all up with the money made in Vegas last year.

All gambling winnings are reported as "Other Income" on line 21 of your Form 1040.

Your losses, on the other hand, are limited.

You only can deduct your losses to the extent of your winnings, says Nathan Rigney of The Tax Institute at H&R Block.

So if you won $1,000 last year but lost $1,500, you can only report $1,000 in losses.

The other $500 is, well, lost.

And you can't carry those losses back or forward, like you can in other situations, notes Cari Weston, director of tax practice and ethics for the AICPA.

It gets worse. Your losses are reported on line 28 of your Schedule A - Itemized Deductions.

So if you are a high earner, your itemized deductions may be reduced because of the overall adjusted gross income limitation. Then you won't be able to deduct the full amount of your gambling losses.

The good news is that losses from one kind of gambling are deductible against gains from another kind.

So let's say in 2016 you played the lotteryevery week at $10 a pop and didn't win a thing. But you did hit it big at your Church bingo night and won $3,000. Since you had winnings, you at least can take a deduction for the $520 you dropped (wasted) on the lotto.

Read the rest here:

How to Handle Gambling Wins and Losses This Tax Season - TheStreet.com

Why it matters to you

This court ruling is the first time we've seen a big-name YouTuber get properly punished for scamming viewers.

After pleading guilty to gambling charges concerning his ownership of the FIFA video game-focused gambling site FUT Galaxy, YouTube personality Craig Douglas, known online as Nepenthez, has been court-ordered to pay more than 90,000 pounds in fines.

Douglas was first charged with illegally encouraging gambling on the site back in September, a violation of the United Kingdoms Gambling Act and the first video game-related case concerning the law. He had uploaded videos to his YouTube channel showing him using FUT Galaxy to win FIFA Ultimate coins without disclosing that the site was, in fact, his own, and, according to district judge Jack McCarva, he and business partner Dylan Rigby did nothing to discourage children from using it Douglas even said that the site didnt require users to be 18 because this is a virtual currency.

More: Valve starts cracking down on Team Fortress 2 gambling websites

In my opinion, both of you were aware of the use of the site by children and the attractiveness of it to children. At the very least, you both turned a blind eye to it, McCarva said.

Three years ago, Douglas sang a much different tune, saying that minors shouldnt be gambling but that doing so is only on their parents and not the responsibility of outside influencers.

This isnt the first time such a controversy has erupted in the YouTube gaming space. Last summer, popular streamers Tom Syndicate Cassell and Trevor TMartn Martin were caught doing almost the exact same thing via their Counter-Strike: GO gambling website, CSGO Lotto.

Both intentionally misled users into believing that they had simply stumbled upon the site and made several videos showing them winning pots of cash. Cassell has remained almost entirely silent on the subject, while Martin made an apology video, since taken down from his own channel, that attempted to minimize his wrongdoing. Neither Cassell nor Martin has been charged with a crime, but Martin is in the middle of a Florida lawsuit regarding CSGO Lotto. You can find a detailed rundown of their situation as well as Douglas case over at YouTube channel HonorTheCall.

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FIFA gaming YouTuber faces huge fine after pleading guilty to gambling charges - Digital Trends

One consistent theme for gaming stocks over the past two decades is that growth hasn't been hard to come by. Ever since Steve Wynn opened the Mirage in Las Vegas in 1989, it seemed like the industry was on a tear to build bigger and better casinos around the world. First Las Vegas and Atlantic City were built out, then Macau and Singapore came online, and now there's an East Coast gaming boom.

But growth for casino operators is becoming harder to come by, and that may signal a major shift for the gaming industry. Maybe it's even time for gaming companies to look past growth to returning cash to shareholders?

Macau's skyline at night. Image source: Getty Images.

For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the world's two most important gaming markets were Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Gaming companies rapidly built new casinos, which drew more customers, which led to more casinos being built, and an upward cycle emerged. But in the last decade, the pattern has been a little different.

Gaming revenue in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Data Source: Las Vegas Gaming Commission and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Chart by the author.

As the chart above shows, gaming revenue in Las Vegas has stagnated over the past decade, and Atlantic City's numbers have fallen off a cliff. It's no wonder that no major resort has been built in Las Vegas in six years (the Cosmopolitan, which went bankrupt during construction but opened in December 2010, was the last) and Atlantic City can't even keep new casinos operating. Growth has dried up in both markets.

For many years, gaming companies focused their growth dollars on Macau, where Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), and MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) have all opened properties. But Macau has suffered its own hardships over the last three years.

Data source: Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Chart by the author.

So, three of the biggest markets in gaming are all experiencing challenges, if not downright collapses. What can the gaming companies do to grow?

When there aren't any big growth markets, gaming companies have gone looking for opportunity in other locales. MGM Resorts recently completed National Harbor near Washington, D.C., and has a resort under construction in Springfield, Massachusetts. Wynn is building a property in Everett, Massachusetts, just outside of downtown Boston; Las Vegas Sands opened Sands Bethlehem in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The problem with all of these resorts is that they're entering, and further diluting, the barely profitable East Coast gaming market. They're also searching for growth in areas where gambling and high-end resorts aren't really a staple, which could be a big risk, long term. The decline of regional gaming was a big reason Caesars Entertainment's largest subsidiary was forced into bankruptcy, and why Foxwoods, Trump, Revel, and Stations Casinos have either had financial trouble or gone into bankruptcy. Yet it's these same regional markets where it has proved difficult to make money that major casinos are building in.

Gone are the days where casino companies could just expand up and down the Las Vegas Strip. That was the tactic that made MGM, Mirage, Mandalay Group, and Caesars Entertainment what they were before they consolidated. So if growth opportunities aren't attractive anymore, it may be time to try another strategy.

Rather than bringing new casinos to markets that aren't all that attractive to begin with, gaming companies could transform themselves into cash flow machines for investors. Las Vegas Sands has started paying a dividend and currently yields 5.6%, while Wynn Resorts pays a more modest 2.1% yield. With growth options limited, paying dividends may be the best use of cash in today's casino business. That's a change from what investors have expected in the past, but today's gaming giants may become tomorrow's dividend aristocrats, given the limited opportunities they have for growth.

Travis Hoium owns shares of Wynn Resorts. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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The Newest Challenge in Gambling: Finding Growth - Motley Fool