ANOTHER LAWSUIT PENDING

PROVIDENCE –– The attorney general’s office is investigating whether Twin River’s parent company engaged in “deceptive trade practices” and “false advertising” by calling the Lincoln gambling facility a “casino,” following a complaint by the Narragansett Indian tribe.

In a consumer complaint filed Monday with the attorney general’s office, Narragansett Tribal Councilman Randy R. Noka charged that UTGR Inc. flouted state law by “prominently advertising itself as a ‘casino’ in print and electronic media.”

“I write to you cognizant and appreciative of the fact that the Narragansetts receive a small percentage of VLT [video lottery terminal] revenue from Twin River,” Noka wrote in the complaint. “However, what’s fair is fair and the law is the law.”

Under state law, voters have to approve a constitutional amendment for a privately owned and operated casino.

UTGR has not sought a constitutional amendment to operate as a casino.

“Frankly, I am surprised and dismayed that neither Governor Carcieri, nor you have acted to order Twin River to cease holding itself out as a casino in Rhode Island,” Noka wrote in the complaint. “After all, the governor was vehemently anti-casino when we were seeking one and often referred to casinos as creating ‘economic wastelands.’ ”

The Narragansetts sought approval in 2006 to build a casino in West Warwick, but voters rejected it 241,986 (63.05 percent) to 141,806 (36.95 percent).

Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Twin River, said, “That rule does not apply to how you portray yourself on your advertising and promotional material.

“We make a legal distinction,” she said, adding that while under state law Twin River is not a casino, from a marketing perspective, “We have every right to characterize Twin River as we see fit.”

For advertising purposes, she said, “we are bound simply by a definition.”

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch said in a statement that his office will review the tribe’s complaint “in the same manner as other complaints alleging deceptive trade practices, and we will determine the appropriate response following that review.”

“Twin River’s pending bankruptcy case may affect that review, however,” Lynch said, “since there is a federal court order staying any civil case against that entity.”

UTGR Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 23.

ARTICLE IN NEW YORK TIMES ABOUT TWIN RIVER     See the article here. 

TWIN RIVER ASKS FOR FINANCIAL CONCESSIONS

The owners of the Twin River gambling casino are now offering a one time $500 million payment in exchange for lowering the amount of video slot revenue it pays to the state.  Currently they pay the state 61% but now are asking it to be reduced to 25%, coincidentally (?) the same amount the Narragansetts had offered when their bid for a casino was defeated.

TWIN RIVER EXPANDS TO VIRTUAL BLACKJACK

Claiming this is not a new form of gambling, attorney Gen. Patrick Lynch, along with Governor Carcieri's blessings, approved blackjack table games in an electronic form at Twin River.  Five players sit at a table signaling their moves to a simulated — and in promotional photographs, blond and buxom — “dealer” on a video screen went in early this week at Twin River, generating nearly double the average daily income from one of the video slots: nearly $600 per seat per day. By the end of the day yesterday, another five were expected to go online. Another dozen are on their way.

The outstanding question as Twin River went ahead with the Lottery-sponsored installation of the machines this week was whether they fell within the constitutional requirement for a public referendum on any new “type” of gambling within the state of Rhode Island.

With the addition of the six new virtual blackjack machines — with five seats each — Twin River now has a total of 4,741 seats for video-slot and blackjack players, with authorization for a total of 4,752.

In years past, the defunct Lottery Commission provided a public forum for discussion and votes on any gambling expansion proposals. But with the dismantling of the commission in the name of separation of powers, there was no public debate on virtual blackjack. 

BILL WILL BE INTRODUCED TO RAISE AGE OF ADMITTANCE  FROM 18 TO 21

Representative Deborah A. Fellela from Johnston District 43 is on the committee on separation of powers/committee on health education and welfare and last year introduced a bill to change the age of admittance at Twin River and Newport Grand from 18 to 21.  It went down in defeat as the assembly feared it would lose the projected $8 million in revenue from these young kids. She indicated that she will be resubmitting it this year again. 

Let's hope our younger people are spared the temptations of gambling in a state of the art casino designed to maximize the profit opportunity at age 18 by the passing of this bill.

TWIN RIVER FOUND IN VIOLATION OF SPECIAL PERMITS

The Town Solicitor, at the request of the Dec 18 town council meeting, ruled that Twin River requires a special permit every time it holds an event, something they did not do for the last Santa's Workshop held recently.  Actually a small fair with over 150 vendors selling various items, this was determined to be a situation that required a special permit.

Kudos to Town Council O'Grady for bringing this to the attention of solicitor DeSisto.

FACTS

• 4,752 video lottery terminals, second largest racino in the country,
• third largest video lottery casino in the country, fifth largest in the world
• 500,000+ square feet devoted to gambling
• Owners BLB Investors, consisting of three real estate companies: Kerzner International Holdings, Starwood Capital Group and Waterford Group
• CEO Len Wolman bought the old Lincoln Park for $445 million in July 2005, total cost now exceeds $665 million
• Third largest revenue generator for the state, $200 million annually
• Town of Lincoln's cut projected at $4.5 million, or 1.26% of terminal revenue
• Craig Sculos, General Manager
• 14,000 visitors per day, 20,000 on weekedns

Although the Twin River casino is a major revenue source for the state and to a lesser degree, for the town, there are many negative issues that have materialized as it transformed from the former Lincoln Greyhound Park to the mega sized, third largest slot machine casino in the country.

Much has been documented and written about the dangers of complusive and addictive gambling and now it has become a major stronghold right in the heart of our neighborhood.

See www.noslots.com for information on New Hampshire's efforts to reduce the impact of slots in that state. 

Background of the former Lincoln Park

Bought in 2005 for $435 million by BLB Inverstors, the new owners have poured $220 million into the former Lincoln Park and renamed it Twin River.  Although the sale may never have happened if Governor Carcieri did not agree to an expansion of the slot machines allowed, the casino has evolved into the third largest slot machine casino in the country, and the host town is left with no control of the casino's future.

Developer Len Wolman has made a huge bet on New England gamblers before.

The wager: spend hundreds of millions of dollars on stylish design, finely appointed restaurants and a sea of flashing slot machines.

The possible payoff: large crowds and lucrative returns for years to come.

A decade ago, it was Mohegan Sun in southeastern Connecticut. Now Wolman -- along with two high-profile partners -- is taking a similar approach in nearby Rhode Island.

When Wolman's firm and its partners bought the Lincoln Park dog track a few miles north of Providence that had slot machines for years -- a lucrative franchise, one of only two slots venues in the Ocean State, they turned it into a Las Vegas-style casino, vastly expanded with entertainment and glitzy restaurants.

The old Lincoln Park is now Twin River. Greyhounds? They're still there, as an afterthought, a state requirement for Twin River to maintain its slot machines.

Wolman's partnership -- which includes Sol Kerzner, an international casino developer who was his partner at Mohegan Sun, and Greenwich-based private equity firm Starwood Capital Group -- outbid gaming giant MGM Mirage. The partnership, BLB Investors, now holds a gambling monopoly in the turf between Boston and Providence.

"We are opportunists. We are always looking," said Wolman, chairman and CEO of Waterford Group, a hotel management and development firm that is also master developer for Adriaen's Landing in downtown Hartford.

Contrasting the new Twin River with the defeat of the Narragansett Indians casino proposal, Chief Matthew Thomas, whose bid for a similar casion was defeated in a referendum, has said "I was just curious why no one cares about having one of the biggest casinos in the USA right here in little Rhody, more slots than in any single facility in Vegas!  All the new eating establishments and great buffets in there, not to mention the entertainment venue...and a rewards program too!"   

IMPACT OF CASINOS IN CONNECTICUT

From Boston.com

NORWICH, Conn. -- Since casinos opened in two small, rural Connecticut towns in the 1990s, there has been a sharp increase in local traffic, police calls, and drunken driving arrests, according to a Globe analysis, and the changes have spilled over into neighboring towns as well.

Over the last six years , calls to the Ledyard Police Department, a short drive from the Foxwoods Resort Casino, have almost tripled , according to local authorities. And in Montville, where Mohegan Sun is located, calls to police are up 38 percent overall since 1997.

Arrests for drunken driving have risen in both towns -- up from 38 to 87 in Ledyard since 1991 and from 39 to 113 in Montville since 1997. But the big reason for the increase in police calls, according to both departments, is not casino- related vices, but the sheer volume of people passing through these towns every day, creating more opportunities for problems just by being there.

Traffic is up as much as 275 percent near the casinos -- a source of frustration for many residents. With the traffic, though, has come job growth. And with the job growth have come developers scooping up land and immigrant families seeking steady employment at the casinos as janitors, cooks, and dealers.

Together, these changes have altered life in Ledyard, population 15,215 , and Montville, population 17,019 -- and in the surrounding region. Some say for the better, others for the worse. Either way, with two casinos rising into the sky just 10 miles apart, it is impossible not to notice."It's not as quiet as it used to be," said Mary Ann Maruzo , who lives in Norwich and works in Preston, a short drive from Foxwoods. "It used to be a real country town, Preston. Real country quiet. And with the casinos, there's a lot of traffic."