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Casinos
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This Sunday, 60 Minutes will be airing a feature on gambling â slot machines, in particular â and whether the machines themselves might be ... addictive.
That this *shocking* possibility still evades nearly every mainstream news outlet in Pennsylvania is another story, considering the abundance of evidence readily available at your local casino.
In any case, The 60 Minutes piece, called "The Big Gamble," appears to contain something of a gem: In a preview (available online), Governor Ed Rendell appears to flip out on the reporters, calling them "simpletons," and "idiots" if they "dont get that," â althought what "that" is isn't clear from the clip.
It looks like it'll be an interesting watch, and there's a bonus: expect Ben Franklin flanked by sequin-bikini-clad women, from the opening of Sugarhouse in September.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bertromavich Reibold, Philly News Now. Philly News Now said: Rendell to flip out on 60 minutes: This Sunday, 60 Minutes will be airing a feature on gambling â slot machines... http://bit.ly/fYcghW [...]
[...] 38 states and its main attraction, the slot machine, newer versions of which some scientists …Rendell to flip out on 60 minutesPhiladelphia Citypaper (blog)Rendell defends bringing slots to [...]
[...] Calls "60 Minutes" Staff "Idiots."Capitol Ideas with John L. Micek (blog)Philadelphia Citypaper (blog) -UPI.com -Comedy Centralall 19 news articles » var a2a_config = [...]
[...] Rendell to flip out on 60 minutes :: The Clog :: Blog Archive :: Staff Blog :: Philadelphia City Pap... [...]
[...] Rendell to flip out on 60 minutes :: The Clog :: Blog Archive … [...]
Fast Eddied's flippant comment to the general public and Leslie is a dead give away as to where his heart, soul and mind is! He has blood on his hand!
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Since having its license finally revoked by the Pennsylvania gaming Control Board last week, the Casino Formerly Known as Foxwoods has been much in the news.
But another story seems to be slipping through the cracks: even without the (presumed) competition from a second Philadelphia casino, Sugarhouse Casino, which opened in September, has shown a surprisingly poor performance.
City Paper finds that Sugarhouse is bringing in less than half the revenue it told the state to expect just six months ago.
In two presentations in May, Sugarhouse offered the Gaming Board revenue estimates that bear little resemblance to the business the casino has brought in so far.
On May 13, Sugarhouse officials made a presentation estimating $240M in net slots revenues for its first year in business with $132M going directly to the state or city in taxes and local share assessment. On May 19, Sugarhouse repeated those projections in another presentation.
Let's do some math: 240 million expected total slot revenue / 52 weeks = 4.6 million per week â right?
And $132 million in tax revenue for the state and city / 52 weeks = $2.5 million weekly â right?
But Sugarhouse isn't bringing in close to that much.
Even during its opening week, Sugarhouse reported just $$3.6M in revenue â still less than the target $4.6.
Since then, slot revenues have dropped by half: last week, they raked in $1.86 million before taxes: that's about forty percent what they're supposed to be making.
To be fair, Sugarhouse's table games are actually ahead of schedule, bringing roughly double the projected amount. But they account for much less of the casino's total earnings: even if table games bring double the expected revenue, it would amount to $5 million dollars extra. The current slots earnings, meanwhile, suggest the casino may bring in as much as $38 million less than expected.
As state officials prepare to bid another casino license for Philadelphia, maybe it's worth asking whether a second casino â or even a first â is even remotely viable.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philadelphia. Philadelphia said: Saturation point? Even without Foxwoods, Sugarhouse is way behind projections: Since having it... http://t.jfm.tv/ehIcpu #CitypaperBlogs [...]
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[...] Saturation point? Even without Foxwoods, Sugarhouse is way behind projections :: The Clog :: Blog Ar... [...]
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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board revoked the license for the proposed South Philly casino (formerly known as Foxwoods Casino), after investor asked â yet again â for an extention to find financing.
The decision does not, however, mean that the state has decided against building a second casino in Philadelphia, as directed by Act 71, the 2004 surprise legislation that legalized casinos in Pennsylvania in a single late-night session.
The Board will, presumably, seek new proposals for a new casino. This news comes, however, amid surprisingly low performance by Sugarhouse Casino, which saw a drastic decline in revenue after opening and has been significantly below state goals â all raising the question of whether the proliferation of casinos has reached a saturation point.
Casino Free Philadelphia, a grassroots organization that opposes casinos in the city, issued the following statement via email:
We know the fight is not over. Assuming the Foxwoods revocation stands, the PGCB will now seek to solicit new bids from other companies for a second casino in Philadelphia. We'll continue to fight against a casino anywhere in the city.
Our objective now is to prevent the casino rebidding process from taking place -- all while keeping pressure on SugarHouse through our Casino Town Watch, exposing the casino's predatory tactics and making clear the community opposition any casino in Philadelphia will face.
[...] Barre Times-LeaderCasino group crosses fingers on decision dayPhiladelphia Daily NewsFoxwoods license revokedPhiladelphia Citypaper (blog)Las Cruces Sun-Newsall 120 news [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Evelyn Yaari, Philly News Now. Philly News Now said: Foxwoods license revoked: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board revoked the license for the proposed South Phill... http://bit.ly/icTfI6 [...]
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[...] Foxwoods license revoked :: The Clog :: Blog Archive :: Staff Blog … [...]
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Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board granted yet another deadline extension to the proposed South Philly casino that was to be operated by Foxwoods, and which is now courting a partnership with Harrah's Entertainment.
Investors now have until Dec. 16 now to produce a business agreement with Harrah's or face the revocation of their license (or, judging by history, simply get another deadline extension!).
Meanwhile, the latest plans for the Casino Formerly Known As Foxwoods have been revealed — and what they reveal is a plan that contrasts starkly to that presented back in 2007, when Pennsylvania casinos still pretended to be "destination," not "convenience." casinos, with hotels, pretty landscaping, and other amenities, like an "Asian gaming room."
That detail avails itself just after Asian Americans United's Helen Gym circulated an ad, posted by Sugarhouse, seeking an "Asian Marketing Executive" for the casino — exactly the kind of targeted marketing Asian community activists feared when the casino was nearly moved to Chinatown.
Meanwhile, the casino's design concept has changed substantially. (Pictures thanks to the Inquirer).
Here's Foxwoods a la 2007: Note the multi-level parking lot and terraced lawn, and long promenade. As late as 2008, Foxwoods was still talking about a having a hotel.
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Here's the most recent plan:
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philly City Paper, Philly News Now. Philly News Now said: The *new* Foxwoods Casino â now featuring a special âAsian gaming room' and gigantic parking lot!: Yesterday, t... http://bit.ly/9lSlwY [...]
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[...] regulators on Thursday to show the …Foxwoods Casino gets one last chancePhiladelphia InquirerThe *new* Foxwoods Casino â now featuring a special 'Asian gaming room' and …Philadelphia Citypaper (blog)Foxwoods investors under pressure to ante up on plan for Philadelphia [...]
[...] regulators on Thursday to show the …Foxwoods Casino gets one last chancePhiladelphia InquirerThe *new* Foxwoods Casino â now featuring a special 'Asian gaming room' and …Philadelphia Citypaper (blog)Foxwoods investors under pressure to ante up on plan for Philadelphia [...]
Over the weekend, the Inquirer published an article about crime at SugarHouse, claiming that before Friday's pistol-whipping, "police had received three reports of crime at SugarHouse since the casino's Sept. 23 opening: two reports of theft from cars in the parking lot, and one of a broken car window."
City Paper found otherwise.
According to statistics from the Philadelphia Police Department (see below), there have been 22 reports of crime — not four — since the casino's opening: one robbery by handgun, three reports of theft from cars, two reports of theft that occurred elsewhere, one report of fraudulent conversion, three reports of private-property vandalism, two D.U.I.s, four reports of disorderly conduct, and six reports of trespassing.
This is an especially egregious error given the general theme of the article — that SugarHouse is "one of the most thoroughly policed areas in the city," and Friday's pistol-whipping criminals "defeated tight security." How can you quantify how good or bad security is without accurate statistics?
Two months after the casino's opening, it's too soon to judge security, really. It's also too soon to know if SugarHouse will provide another example of how casinos bring more violent crime to communities, as economist Earl Grinols and others argue.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philly City Paper, Holly Otterbein, Gary Ransome, Merilyn Jackson, johncecilprice and others. johncecilprice said: RT @citypaper: Inquirer incorrectly says 4 crimes were reported at SugarHouse casino since opening. The real number? 22: http://ow.ly/3a9tS [...]
If you want to publish clear, meaningful and non-misleading stats - as you advocate - you should provide stats reported in the same vicinity during the same time period in each of the past 3 years. Then the claim that the casino did "bring" crimes to the area can be better substantiated. Standalone stats like this is don't provide even correlation let alone causation. What is the mean and median number of crimes reported in Philadelphia within any comparable area (that is being occupied by the casino) during the same time period? Trends before/after the casino? I would love to learn about the crime and community impact of the casino. I would also like to learn about the "real" economic impact of the casino (other than the stats that politicians/proponents/opponents are touting around). If I know anything about stats (and I do), you can make any sets of stats to look like anything you want. Give me the GIS raw data and I will analyze it for everyone, fairly and objectively.
What a ridiculous comment! The CityPaper blog post is entirely objective. It provides hard data to expose the inaccuracies in the Inquirer article. And it says the jury is still out. (Oh, and I doubt these types of crimes existed at this property over the past 3 years . . . because before the casino it was a vacant lot!)
"Doubt" is an subjective judgement. Crimes don't happen in vacant lots? Where do they find all the bodies in Kensington? Let me show you what you can done with stats. According to the same set of data published above: in the 2 week period between Sept. 28th and Oct. 11th. Only 1 crime (disorderly conduct) was reported at the casino. How many districts can boast that? Let's see some trends. If stats support an increase of crimes reported, then casino "brought" crimes to the area. If not, then it is not substantiated. A snap shot like that is called "statistically insignificant". Like I said, you can't even find correlation without historic data, let along identify causation. Let me just clear this: Inquirer was wrong, but touting 2-month crime stats is premature regardless of over or under reporting. It's best to just report the stats without putting any spin/shade on the issue. By quoting an economist, you preposition the tone of the post.
Your comments don't hold water. You improperly compare a 2-week time period of only one reported crime at this particular address with the amount of reported crime at a "district"? That's ridiculous. And the CityPaper doesn't quote an economist, it questions openly whether the situation at SugarHouse will bear out one of his general conclusions. And it's not "2-month old crime data." It doesn't seem like you have any legitimate complaints about this blog post. You just would've written it differently, which is fine.
Look up the definition for quote. My comments does hold water, the only think this blog post does correctly is to point out that Inquirer posted incomplete crime data. On top of that, crimes reported != crimes committed.
[...] Gets Its Robocall OnThis Moment In DrifterHouse: False Media, We Don’t Need It, Do We?From this crazy-making post on The Clog about The Inky under-reporting crime at SugarHouse: Click to enlarge.“Fraudulent conversation,” indeed. This entry was [...]
Wow, sixphilly, maybe I'm reading your comments wrong, but you seem to me to be really working the defense for SugarHouse. And no one really accused them of anything (yet). I do not find the post anything more than pointing out that the Inky report was wrong and misleading. Four crimes vs 22 over a less than two month period is certainly a statistically significant difference. The difference of four vs 22 over just 54 or 55 days makes the Inky reporter look like she didn't do her own research or she's purposefully interpreting the stats in a particular way. Either of which would make me question their competence as a journalist. It's a difference of once a fortnight vs once every 2.5 days. Your point about whether or not there's more or less crime at the casino than elsewhere in the area is a good question, but the Clog post doesn't speak to that. In fact, they say "it's too soon to judge security, really." Perhaps the post was worded differently before I read it? Because I don't see anything in this post claiming that SugarHouse brought crime/more crime to the vicinity, just a reference to studies of other casinos. But either way, I don't think there's enough meaningful data to make pronouncements yet.
Thanks City Paper for nailing this one down! Might I also add that these are the stats that are reported to police. When Sugarhouse targets vulnerable Asian communities (http://newsworks.org/index.php/homepage-feature/item/7372-15spcasino&Itemid=&Itemid=11), there's on-going concern that these communities may be fully reporting crimes committed against them.
Clarification: There is on-going concern that Asian community members may NOT be fully reporting crimes committed against them.
Agree with comments of both Paul Boni and Helen Gym here. To collect stats that relate to crime IN the casino is also somewhat misleading, since crimes that are committed BECAUSE of the casino, but OUTSIDE it are perhaps the biggest worry, longer term. Domestic violence, child neglect in the home, fraud, embezzlement all may spring from issues that are directly connected with the casino, yet are not identified in reporting because they occurred way off-site. Time will prove Grinols' predictions to be very sadly true, I fear. These disturbing statistics would be the 'tip of the iceberg'! Wait until that casino has developed a whole new population of desperately overspending people, with family responsibilities that they can no longer meet. What harms will occur then? What crimes will be committed that are not reported by embarrassed families, too ashamed to 'go public'? I am not referring to crimes caused by the blatantly addicted patrons here either! The largest number of people who are harmed by excessive casino gambling are the ones we never hear about...the 'at risk over-spenders'...still 'apparently recreational' gamblers with their innocent children whose lives and futures will be wrecked by lack of money. These parents are not officially addicted yet...they are just depleting the family resources savagely...whilst they deny being hooked on gambling! Biggest crime of all is that the government is apparently condoning it! Who is game to report THAT?
[...] Inky incorrectly says 4 crimes were reported at SugarHouse since ... This post was mentioned on Twitter by Philly City Paper, Holly Otterbein, Gary Ransome, Merilyn Jackson, johncecilprice and others. johncecilprice said: RT @citypaper: Inquirer incorrectly says 4 crimes were reported at SugarHouse . [...]
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Maybe it isn't a surprise that SugarHouse Casino didn't offer a public apology after three women were mugged, and one pistol whipped in the SugarHouse parking on their way into the casino (making it the second SugarHouse-related pistol whipping, after the same fate befell a gambler who'd been followed home after leaving). After all, they odds that they're about to be facing a lawsuit aren't bad, and perhaps SugarHouse doesn't feel like apologizing would be consistent with a "not our fault" claim in court.
Fine.
Still, it was hard not to notice in the terse press release issued by SugarHouse the following day the odd emphasis its executives seemed to place on the fact that the three women were entering, and not leaving, the casino. Here's the release (emphasis added):
At approximately 1 a.m. three women were followed from an off-site location into our parking lot. Before ever entering the casino, surveillance footage indicates that two men approached and mugged the women.
On the phone, spokesman Mike Gross told CP the phrase had been included simply to point out that the women had not been followed out — as had the last person pistol-whipped after going to SugarHouse.
SugarHouse Casino has a fleet of round-the-clock security personnel, in addition to an onsite Pennsylvania State Police barracks. With 500 surveillance cameras recording 24/7, the entire incident was captured on film, and footage has been turned over to Philadelphia Police.
SugarHouse will continue cooperating fully with authorities as the investigation continues.
Notice the emphasis on the fact that the women had come from "off-site" (where else would they come from?) and that this happened "before they had ever entered the casino."
These details matter . . . why? The women, after all, were assaulted on their way into the casino, and on its property, right? CP put it to Gross plainly: does the casino accept responsibility for happened or not? But as to that question, we haven't heard back.
The apology should come from the casino, Governor and Mayor who all promised and bent over backwards to assure everyone that the casino would not bring additional crime to the city. They have all been made out to be liars (again) who care more about public relations spin than public safety. They need to fix this and quick before more people get hurt or worse.
Thanks Mr. Mayor for changing your position after you won the election by ceasing to fight against casinos. Thanks Mr. Governor for never losing sight that the solution to Pennsylvania's fiscal problems is to park senior citizens on fixed-incomes in front of slot machines.
gawd this picture and this story are so depressing. and we need more of these cesspools in town?
I'm surprised they didn't say something about the robbers getting the money that was intended for their coffers.
The casino didn't rob the victims... why aren't you blaming the robbers? Oh, because you're an irrational asshole. Blame the rape victim for dressing sexy while you're at it.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by NorthernLibertiesOrg, Rachel Carney. Rachel Carney said: RP's Gambling Update Sugarhouse unapologetic on pistol whipping http://bit.ly/b691ug #gambling,#casino [...]
[...] SugarHouse unapologetic upon pistol defeat :: The Clog :: Blog … [...]
This is consistent with Sugarhouse's refusal to properly account for all related crime - including "off-site" DUIs that start at their casino - a crime that DOES start with them. Plus considering that the women who were mugged and psitol whipped happened to be Asian, doesn't that make them wonder how to better handle things when Sugarhouse is advertising for an Asian marketing executive: http://tinyurl.com/26oggzb
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Even as Foxwoods continues to plead for a second chance to build a second Philadelphia casino, now with Harrah's as management, Sugarhouse Casino's revenues have dropped almost every week since it opened, according to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).
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| Revenue (in millions of dollars, on left) over the past six weeks |
There are only so many senior citizens on fixed-incomes to prey on and the cash-for-gold and pawn shops haven't sprung up yet across the street on Frankford Avenue. Just give it time and it will get better. Remember, this was good for Philadelphia and these were good jobs that have been created. Thanks Ed!
Can we ship Rendell to Siberia as a big thank you/fuck you now that he's being replaced by an asshole from the GOP? God, I love bipartisanship.
It must be nice to say anything you want without having a clue what it is your talking about...if you checked the facts a revenue drop always happens to a casino after it opens because of all the people that rush to it when it first opens its doors..then the casino signs people up for their card program and begins to build its marketing base from there it then brings the best players back through different incentive programs in order maximize table game drop and win per unit on their slots..its a basic tenant of the gaming industry I work as a business consultant and don't work for Sugarhouse but I felt as though I had to respond to your ridiculous comments..for you to say that Sugarhouse is somehow doing poorly is absurd have you seen their numbers for their size and lack of customer data base their doing fantastic in fact their 3rd in the state in slot win per unit which is unbelievable considering the other casinos have a several year head start on them..so please if you don't know what your talking about please just don't make absurd condescending remarks because it makes you sound like complete idiots..just one persons opinion.
Hey there "Joe e on", Just for clarification, exactly who are you excoriating here? The City Paper is objectively reporting pure data. And the two previous commenters make some reasonable comments. Also, while you point out that SugarHouse is 3rd in the state in revenue per unit, you conveniently fail to mention a few things. First, you are looking at the monthly numbers that include the first week, which even you admit is not a representative week; if you look at only the most recent week's figures, you'll see that SugarHouse is only 5th in the state. Second, SugarHouse has, by far, the fewest slot machines in the state, so the revenue per machine is a misleading figure when you leave out this important fact (for instance, if they had only a single machine, I'm sure they'd be 1st in the state . . yay!). I'd be interested to see your response to these points. Oh, and try not to call me an idiot. Thanks.
How do these numbers translate into revenue for the lengthy list of private investors attached to Sugarhouse? And how do those numbers compare with the money they put up at the start of their venture? If you factor in the delayed opening as lost returns on their investments, where are the investors in terms of breaking even or clearing profits?
[...] the casino revenue picture may not be as rosy as some had hoped – as early returns for SugarHouse look somewhat [...]
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Of course you've been waiting, as we have, with near-uncontrollable anticipation for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's annual "Diversity Report" â and finally, it's out.
It contains various tidbits of interesting info — the fact, for example that Harrah's Chester, nestled in an almost all-black city — has managed to get away with not disclosing information regarding the diversity of its workforce for a second year in a row
Nonetheless, says the report, "The Diversity Officer is of the opinion that the entity has engaged in a good faith effort to promote and ensure diversity in its operations."
Who needs numbers when you've got opinions?
But one piece of info missing this year is a figure we found most interesting last year: the annual turnover rate of casino employees, which seemed, at the time, surprisingly high:
According to the 2008 Diversity Report, employee turnover ranged from 24%-66% â in other words, some casinos saw more than half their employees gone within a year of being hired.
PGCB spokesman Richard McGarvey told CP in an email that while the PGCB did not include those figures this time around, "There has been no significant change in the turnover rate from the 2008 report to this report."
Anyone out there work at a PA casino, or know someone who does? Do these seemingly-high turnover rates ring true and, if so, what's behind them?
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Eleven people, including lobbyists, casino operators and 4 Alabama state senators, have been indicted for a "conspiracy" to help pass favorable legislation in exchange for campaign contributions and other campaign help â like the appearance of country music stars at rallies.
According to the indictment, which you can read in its entirety here:
Alabama State legislators and legislative staff, as agents of the State of Alabama, corruptly solicited, demanded, accepted and agreed to accept money and things of value from defendants and others, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with pro-gambling legislation.
What's most striking about the alleged crime is, well, how un-striking it really is â especially by the standards of Pennsylvania.
Our Great Commonwealth places almost no limits whatsoever on campaign contributions.
The key notion in these allegations, of course, is that the politicians "corruptly" accepted money and things of value, "intending to be influenced."
In Pennsylvania, politicians â Democrats especially â have received vast amounts of money from pro-gambling interests, and have voted favorably for all kinds of concessions to casinos â their legalization, of course, but also such goodies as the ability to extend credit to slots players (a nicety packed quietly into the recent table games bill).
It's all perfectly legal â as long as those politicians don't "intend to be influenced" by the wads of money they receive.
I'm reminded in particular of the case of lobbyist Stephen Wojdak, which I wrote about during the table games debate last winter. Wojdak, a powerful lobbyist said to have a hand in all legislation casino-related, and who represents several casinos, controls a political action committee which has given generously to Harrisburg lawmakers.
As the table games legislation was being drafted, an obscure clause appeared in it that would favor one casino venture, that he represented, over another. Asked if he held any interest in the favored casino, Wojdak did not reply to several inquiries.
I should emphasize that I'm not implying any crime here. On the contrary: I'm implying this kind of stuff is business as usual.
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| Casino-related child abandonment: the Simpsons saw it coming (S05E10, 1993) |
As casino gambling in Pennsylvania amps up, so too, apparently, do instances of parents leaving children unattended - sometimes for hours - in casino parking lots while they gamble.
It's happened â that is, the parents have been caught â at least five times in the last two months at Parx casino alone. In one case, a man left a 15-month baby in a running car.
Most recently, Sharon Belek, 35:
... was charged Thursday with child endangerment for leaving her 8- and 15-year old daughters in the parking lot on Aug. 1 while she played the slot machines - for six hours.
The teenage daughter - stuck with a nonworking cell phone - flagged down a passerby at about 12:30 a.m. and borrowed a phone to call her father.
Enter the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, which announced at a meeting this month its displeasure with the instances of child abandonment.
The Board might have used this as an opportunity to reexamine how much of casino activity is, in fact, what most of us would consider problem or compulsive gambling (a prominent study suggests as much as two-thirds).
But that would be, well, un-Board-like. The PGCB, after all, has the dual mission of regulating gambling on the one hand and ensuring its profitibility and success on the other.
Instead, the Board focused on parking lot security â which is well and good â but not, Parx claims, its responsibility.
Parx is apparently only responsible according to state law for security inside its facility. And so the casino pointed its finger, in turn, at local police, who, in turn, said they cannot patrol Parx' 7,000-car lot.
Commented Bensalem public safety chief Fred Harran:
"We've had calls through the years with kids left in shopping center, but what's making this hot is that we've had five in just a two-month period," said Fred Harran, public safety director in Bensalem. "The gambling addiction, the glitter of it all, people go into gamble and forget the kids. I just don't get it."
It's a revealing statement, and one of the first times we've seen public officials come out and say that casinos are attracting (perhaps creating?) addicts.
While the Gaming Board and casinos try to figure out how to make this ugly little problemo disappear, maybe the rest of us ought to start asking if the problem isn't so much what's happening in casino parking lots as inside slot parlors.
Child abandonment is child abandonment, whether the child is ignored while mommy gambles or while mommy empties a bottle of vodka. The state's responsibility is to punish the offender, and when it comes to kids, the best move is to take the kids away, first offense.
Child abondonment isn't a "first-time" crime. These lovely parents just didn't abondon their kids for the first-time in a casino parking lot. Its been going on for years at home and now we have an opportunity to find the offenders and correct the actions. You would silly to believe otherwise. I say this is a BOON, not a bane.
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