Gamblor’s World

Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery of a hotel guest.

Niagara Falls Review, Thursday, December 21, 2006 Updated @ 4:52:28 PM

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, at about 3:27 a.m., the Niagara Regional Police and officers of the Ontario Provincial Police responded to a report of a robbery of a customer staying at the Fallsview Casino Hotel.

The victim of the robbery had invited a female to his room, said police.

The female allegedly demanded money from the male, which he was unable to pay. She then called for three men to attend the room and collect the cash.

The three men allegedly threatened to kill the victim if he didn’t pay and he was forced to surrender his debit card and pin number.

The suspects were unable to retrieve money from his account and allegedly stole the victim’s wallet, a small amount of cash and other personal items. The victim was not injured.

Two of the suspects were located by the hotel video surveillance system. The two men were arrested for robbery without incident.

The males, identified as Jean Bernard St. Eloy, 26, and Pascal Robinson Calvaire, 24, are both from Montreal Quebec.

Police said the investigation is continuing.

© 2006, Osprey Media

Two men have been arrested in connection with the robbery of a hotel guest.

Niagara Falls Review, Thursday, December 21, 2006 Updated @ 4:52:28 PM

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, at about 3:27 a.m., the Niagara Regional Police and officers of the Ontario Provincial Police responded to a report of a robbery of a customer staying at the Fallsview Casino Hotel.

The victim of the robbery had invited a female to his room, said police.

The female allegedly demanded money from the male, which he was unable to pay. She then called for three men to attend the room and collect the cash.

The three men allegedly threatened to kill the victim if he didn’t pay and he was forced to surrender his debit card and pin number.

The suspects were unable to retrieve money from his account and allegedly stole the victim’s wallet, a small amount of cash and other personal items. The victim was not injured.

Two of the suspects were located by the hotel video surveillance system. The two men were arrested for robbery without incident.

The males, identified as Jean Bernard St. Eloy, 26, and Pascal Robinson Calvaire, 24, are both from Montreal Quebec.

Police said the investigation is continuing.

© 2006, Osprey Media

21.12.06

“The best thing kids can get from their parents at Christmas is time,” says Lauren Cundall, Youth Services Team Leader for the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand (PGF).

“So often parents buy into the trap of thinking that it is better to show their love by spending more money and less time on their children. The added stress of Christmas shopping, hire purchases, bills and credit card statements result in a number of people trying to get the extra money at the pokies,” says Ms Cundall.

“It is an unfortunate but much too common case, where people see gambling as a viable option to get themselves out of their social circumstances, and often end up in a worse financial position than they are already in. Then, the cycle begins again: parents try to win back their losses, there is no money for food, families rely on foodbanks, and children go without,” she says.

“This Christmas we are encouraging people to save themselves the expense and stress of the season, and make home-made gifts, or give vouchers to spend time with each other. There is no price on enjoying the great outdoors or enjoying this special time with your family,” she says.

The Whangarei Gambling Action Group also acknowledge the stress of Christmas, and have released a statement “Forget about the Bling, Do the Family Thing” which suggests that instead of material gifts, focus on those things that come at no financial cost but are often the greatest gifts – time spent with family reading bedroom stories, the promise of an afternoon of building sandcastles at the beach, a shared meal with the television turned off.

“It’s a great message. Give the gift of family: share a meal, have a laugh, create memories – the ultimate Christmas gift.”

By Brad Bumsted, STATE CAPITOL REPORTER, Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Pittsburgh Tribune Review

HARRISBURG — A dispute might be brewing among state regulators over who will oversee Pennsylvania’s multibillion-dollar casino industry.

Auditor General Jack Wagner on Tuesday told the Gaming Control Board he intends to be the “fiscal watchdog of gaming operations and related state programs.”

As the board prepared to vote today on awarding 11 slot machine casino licenses statewide, Wagner said he plans to issue a report card on each casino — showing what portion of their workforces is hired from within Pennsylvania as well as how well those operations met diversity goals and conducted background checks on employees.

Not so fast, the board responded.

Wagner’s statement “gives us pause because it appears that the Auditor General’s Office is seeking to also gain oversight of the gaming industry,” said Doug Harbach, a board spokesman.

The board “has sole regulatory authority over the gaming industry in the commonwealth,” Harbach said.

But he said the board welcomes the “interest of the auditor general in monitoring the work of this agency” and would cooperate as required by law.

“We have the legal authority to audit the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, every way and backwards,” Wagner said.

The state’s 2004 slots law does not require casinos to hire Pennsylvanians, but Wagner said his priority in an audit would be measuring to what extent the gambling industry fills jobs from within the state’s borders.

It’s fair game, because slots proponents promised 10,000 to 15,000 industry jobs in the state when the law was passed, said Wagner, a former state senator.

Jobs are important because most of the casinos will be located near the borders with West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and New York, Wagner said.

“All of that is well and good, but secondary to the real problem, which is the legislation” legalizing slots, said gambling opponent Dianne Berlin, coordinator of CasinoFreePA.

The first audit might be available by the end of 2007, Wagner said.

Asked how he would access the private personnel records of casino companies, Wagner said he expects to get the information from the Gaming Control Board.

He said he might also audit the board’s licensing process, internal cash controls and operation of programs funded by gambling taxes.

Brad Bumsted can be reached at bbumsted@tribweb.com or (717) 787-1405.

Copyright © Tribune-Review Publishing Co

NEW ORLEANS — The post-hurricane gambling boom in Louisiana more or less came to a stop in November as gamblers lost $199.7 million in state-licensed casinos.

The figure was up from $184.4 million in November 2005, but that included a time when Harrah’s New Orleans Casino was shuttered because of Hurricane Katrina. Harrah’s provided $32.6 million of the overall take last month, state police reported Tuesday.

Although last winter and spring provided the biggest numbers ever seen in Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos, the take has moved back to historically lower levels as casinos have begun reopening in Biloxi, Miss. _ all of which had been wiped out by Katrina.

The biggest drop-off was noted by the state’s 12 operating riverboat casinos. Those gambling halls won $157.4 million in November 2005, a figure that dropped to $138.3 million last month. The three slot machine casinos at race tracks won $28.7 million last month, a slight increase from $27 million in November 2005.

The Shreveport-Bossier City market, which has five riverboats and a slot casino at Louisiana Downs, won $65.4 million from gamblers in November, compared to the year-ago figure of $62.4 million.

The New Orleans market, consisting of Harrah’s and two riverboat casinos, won $55.2 million in November, up from $36.9 million in November 2005 _ sans Harrah’s downtown casino.

The Lake Charles market, which has three riverboat casinos and a slot casino at Delta Downs, took in $51.8 million last month, compared with $50.8 million in November 2005.

The Baton Rouge market, which has two riverboat casinos, won $18.9 million in November, compared to the year-ago figure $24.9 million _ a time when Baton Rouge was packed with hurricane refugees.

The other state-licensed casino, the slot machine gambling hall at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, took in $8.3 million last month, up from $7.7 million in November 2005.

The figures do not include the state’s three Indian reservation casinos, which are not required to report their revenue figures publicly.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press.

All content © Copyright 2003 - 2006 WorldNow, KATC and Associated Press.

Addiction Real Life Story - By the Problem Gambler’s Network of West Virginia

The holiday season may be especially difficult for problem gamblers and their loved ones warns the help-line supervisor of the state’s gambling addiction treatment program.

“This time of year is particularly risky for folks with a gambling problem,” explains Steve Burton, help-line supervisor of the Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia.

“For most people, spending a little extra money on holiday gifts does not create financial hardship. But problem gamblers may use the season’s demands for extra cash as a reason to increase their gambling, hoping to hit the jackpot and only succeed in further drive themselves into debt,” he said. At this time of year more than others, the gambling problem really impacts the loved ones.

“We have taken numerous calls on our help-line from loved ones who finally caught on to the gambling problem at holiday time,” Burton said. “These include calls from family members who discover that the gambler has spent all the money set aside for the children’s Christmas presents and who now have nothing to put under the tree. We also have taken calls where the gamblers have stolen other’s wrapped gifts from under the tree then returned them to the store for cash in order to use the money to gamble,” said Burton.

“Of course, one of the key signs of problem gambling is denial so we really encourage family members to call us for help even if the gambler won’t admit to a problem.”

Thirty percent of the 5,423 intake calls made to date since the start of the 1-800-GAMBLER help-line in August 2000 were made by spouses, children, and other family members concerned about a loved ones gambling problem.

“Family-related stress can also act as a trigger to send problem gamblers to the bars, bingo halls, and racetracks as an escape during the holidays,” Burton said, adding that people who don’t have families are also at-risk. “Many of the callers to our help-line say they gamble because they are lonely, bored or stressed. These moods can be more common during the holiday season,” he said.

No one knows the personal and financial hardship an untreated problem gambling can cause more then Ann Klinestiver of Milton, West Virginia.

Klinestiver, retired teacher who was married to a doctor says “in three years I managed to lie, steal, lose my husband of 45 years, and go through $300,000 gambling. Slot machines became the most important thing in my life. I had gone from knowing that I could afford whatever I wanted to living for days at a time on peanut butter-no bread or crackers-just peanut butter”, adds Klinestiver.

Before she got into recovery, she sent a holiday letter titled “An Angel Has Fallen” to her family at Christmas 2004.

In it she wrote “This is a letter asking you to keep that old/good image of me in your mind because I’m determined to be that again someday.”

That good image Klinestiver talks about was damaged due to several acts of desperation in her efforts to continue gambling.

“After I had lost all my money, maxed out my credit cards, borrowed from everyone I could, stolen from our safety deposit box things that were not mine, written bad checks, and sold nearly everything I treasured, I wish I could say I took some positive action.”

Finally, Klinestiver did take action. She called the Problem Gamblers Help Network for the second time in April, 2005 of West Virginia and was admitted to an in-patient gambling treatment program in Louisiana.

“This was a wonderful/awful time for me” Klinestiver says. “I made some terrific friends, felt more loved then I had in years, learned how to keep from gambling. Yet I also learned terrifying things about myself and my relationships.”

After returning from her in-patient stay, Klinestiver continued after-care at home in West Virginia with a specially trained in 1-800-GAMBLER provider network. Gambling free for nearly one year now, Klinestiver plans on spending her holidays and the new year living one day at a time, and adhering to her recovery program.

The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2%-3% of the American population is addicted to gambling and is at higher risk for financial woes, family and relationship strains and suicide. The 1-800-GAMBLER help-line in West Virginia has taken over 5400 calls from problem gamblers and their loved ones since starting operation August 1, 2000.

For Klinestiver, the 1-800-GAMBLER help-line and confidential one-to-one counseling along with her local gambling support has been her saving grace, “my group and the Problem Gamblers Help-line staff probably have no idea how important they are to me. Through them I’ve begun to understand that I am not now nor will I ever again be alone in my battle.”

The Problem Gamblers Help Network is funded by the WV Lottery and administered by the WV DHHR- Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction.

The Problem Gamblers Help Network of West Virginia is a program created by the West Virginia Legislature to identify and provide services to problem gamblers and their loved ones. It is funded by the WV Lottery and administered by the West Virginia DHHR. The organization offers a 24-hour, toll-free, confidential 1-800-GAMBLER help-line where callers can get more information and a referral for a FREE consultation by a specially trained counselor in their local area.

For a map of the four zones where gambling will be permitted after July
2009 see:

http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ article/0, ,13509-2513598, 00.html

The zones, which are currently infrastructure- free wilderness, are
located in the Altai region in Siberia, the rainy Pacific coast region
of Primorsky, the Kaliningrad area along the Baltic coast and an area
in Russia’s south between Rostov and Krasnodar.
http://www.guardian .co.uk/worldlate st/story/ 0,,-6293690, 00.html

Tuesday December 19, 2006
By Caroline Hummer
The deal to buy Harrah’s Entertainment would be one of the top 10 largest private equity buyouts this year.

Fresh from helping to lead the buyout of Qantas Airways, private equity firm Texas Pacific Group is close to reaching a deal to buy the world’s largest casino operator, Harrah’s Entertainment.

Texas Pacific, with equity firm Apollo Management, has made an increased US$16.7 billion ($24.2 billion) bid, sources say.

Casino deals have been rife this year as executives try to move their businesses away from the pressure of public markets amid strong demand from private equity firms that are branching out into new areas with hundreds of billions of dollars to spend.

Details of the buyout were still being worked out and the companies may fail to reach an agreement, but the transaction could be announced this week.

The latest offer may be worth up to US$90 per share, or US$16.7 billion, sources said, versus an initial US$15 billion offer.

The deal would be one of the top 10 largest private equity buyouts this year.

A deal would end a takeover saga set in motion more than two months ago, when Las Vegas-based Harrah’s said Apollo and TPG had offered to buy it for US$81 a share. According to sources, they raised the offer soon after to US$83.50 per share. Then, smaller casino operator Penn National Gaming began considering a bid, a source told Reuters at the time, and last week Apollo and TPG were prepared to bid US$87 a share.

Harrah’s, which has so far publicly acknowledged only the US$81 offer, also received a US$87 per share bid from Penn, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

Harrah’s board had set a December 12 deadline for bids and then met last week to review the offers, according to sources.

Harrah’s stock closed up 0.5 per cent at US$79.50 at the end of last week in New York as investors waited to see what the board would do.

That gap between the price offered and the level of Harrah’s shares widened at various points during the past two months as investor confidence that a deal would be reached has vacillated - partly due to concerns the casino licensing requirements could mean a gap of at least a year before the deal can be completed, experts say.

More uncertainty crept into the market last week as Harrah’s began considering the possibility that instead of a sale, it would undergo a recapitalisation, or financial restructuring, according to a source. Typically, that involves issuing new debt and then paying shareholders a special dividend.

- REUTERS

14/12/2006

NZPA

Christchurch is the gambling-related crime capital of New Zealand, according to the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand.

The foundation’s chief executive, John Stansfield, said a court case this week involving an elderly man highlighted the criminal problems associated with gambling in New Zealand.

The Christchurch Press reported on Wednesday the court appearance of problem gambler Allan Summersby, 75, who bought the bank account details of a family trust for $20, then used them to withdraw $1400.

“This is not the type of behaviour that is common to our elderly, and proves that absolutely anyone can be affected by a gambling problem,” Mr Stansfield said.

“The cost of this kind of crime falls not only on the family of the family trust but also his family and the whole community.”

Mr Stansfield said gambling-related crime was reported more frequently in Christchurch than anywhere else.

Cases reported this year included:

* A man who committed six knife-point robberies to fund his gambling problem (September).

* A man who committed public nuisance offences because of his gambling and alcohol problems (September).

* A catering manager who stole $6872 from his employer for gambling (September).

* A WINZ case manager fraudulently accessed $102,475 by inventing a client so that he could gamble the money (July).

* A man with a history of fraud, who defrauded an employer of $5761 for gambling (July).

* A lawyer who defrauded a client of $699,942 for lifestyle and gambling (April).

Mr Stansfield said thousands of New Zealanders were convicted of gambling-related crimes, including fraud, money-laundering and theft, each year.

“These people are not career criminals. They could be our loved ones, our workmates and our neighbours.

“When we look at the big picture see we can see that problem gambling has harmed us all in some way or form,” said Mr Stansfield.

“It is often not realised that problem gambling affects more than the just the individual.”

Research indicated seven people were affected for every one person’s problem gambling.

Copyright: NZPA 2006