Case Bets

Carroll JenniferFormer Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll‘s troubles with the law haven’t ended with her resignation from public office. Tens of thousands of dollars of unreported income from Internet-cafe casino operators went unreported and now Carroll has some explaining to do. She’s already refunded some “overpayment” to Allied Veterans of the World, the controversial gaming operator she represented. She also threw an aide under the bus for submitting a “placeholder” legislative bill that would have redounded to Allied’s benefit. The legality of Carroll’s activities now goes to the Sunshine State’s ethics commission, which may be able to shed some sunlight into her murky dealings.

Selection of a megaresort casino for Philadelphia has gone into silent mode, as regulators appear paralyzed by indecision … Table games at Rhode Island‘s Twin River Casino, taxed at 18%, have put another $7 million in the state’s kitty but have also produced a drop in VLT play. They’ve almost doubled the Twin Rivers workforce,  however. The cost of those 800 million employees is estimated at $48 million annually, while the tables are generating $44 million (after taxes) so far, on pace for $66 million. VLTs are taxed at a usurious 62%.

In a somewhat surprising move, Penn National Gaming is going to ask the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission to re-hear the fate of Argosy Sioux City. Considering that the IRGC just ixnayed a license extension, it’s unclear what Penn thinks it will accomplish by repeating the process. They’ll certainly not endear themselves to commissioners with public proclamations that last week’s hearing was a “complete and utter sham …  the commission made up the question to be decided at the contested case and then answered that question wrongly, by completely ignoring the undisputed facts and laws.” (Penn doesn’t react well when it fails to get its way.)

Penn accuses the IRGC of being loosely in cahoots with the Hard Rock Casino being built in Sioux City, hence the July 1 closing order for Argosy. In a parallel court case, Penn is arguing that the IRGC changed the central issue of its renewal process in mid-course, from whether Penn had a nonprofit partner to ex-partner’s Missouri River Historic Development‘s decision to let its license lapse. State commissioners, they say, continued to believe that the MRHD was licensed, making last week’s ruling a self-contradiction.

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