Divide and Conquer
Significantly Indebted
Adelson Funded iGaming Study Comes Out Swinging, To No-one’s Surprise
Las vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson has funded a study that is four-state, unsurprisingly, doesn’t come up in favor of iGaming.
The benefit of studies is, you can generally speaking get them to support just about any viewpoint on just about anything, dependent on who’s included and just how you interpret the information. And when it is mega-billionaire Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson funding the findings, you will be sure the studies will get any which way you want ’em to.
Adelson No iGaming Fan Himself
It’s no news that Adelson for reasons which can be perhaps not totally clear towards the remaining portion of the mostly pro-iGaming casino industry is vehemently, adamantly in opposition to the whole concept of Internet gambling. He has been proven to refer to the very concept as ‘a cancer waiting to happen’ and ‘a toxin which all good people need to resist,’ and even funded television and print adverts earlier this summer towards that end.
Now Adelson’s commissioned poll results with this topic have now been released and obtained by Nevada public affairs reporter Jon Ralston. The findings focus on four states that are potentially key this matter: California, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. Kentucky? Who knew. And journalist that is even seasoned whom hosts the nightly Las Vegas political news show ‘Face to Face’ has noted on his web log that the findings of this research were ‘quite startling’; mainly, the rather demonstrably self-serving leanings towards land gaming and away from the Internet form of the same. Namely, legal brick-and-mortar gambling enterprises were found to be ‘a means to generate income for hawaii,’ with approval ratings including most of 66 percent in Pennsylvania (which includes already proved as much with their current development in that arena), 61 per cent in Kentucky, 57 percent in California and 54 percent in Virginia.
But the opinions on iGaming were not quite so friendly.
State Budget Crises Affect Outlooks
Specially interesting there is that neither Kentucky nor Virginia actually have any land that is legal at this juncture in time. For Pennsylvania and California, the support stemmed largely from a aspire to help offset state budget deficits, despite the fact that land-based casino saturation nationwide is currently starting to rear its ugly head and there is more flatlining to come, according to some industry experts. In fact, the latest land casino to go up in Pennsylvania Isle of Capri, located in southwestern area Farmington had been forced to layoff 15 per cent of its workforce only two months after opening.
Virginia study participants reportedly showed a disdain for ‘Las Vegas-style gaming.’ We guess that’s different than state, ‘Indian casino-style gaming’ or ‘politicians-from-the-suburbs-style gaming.’ Exactly What?
Where this supposedly unbiased study gets interesting is with its reported findings on Internet gambling, however. Because, according to the research, in all four queried states, 3x as many of those who participated didn’t have a positive view of iGaming, with an average that is overall off 66-22 on the ‘ we don’t enjoy it’ part of the fence. According to wording (surprise, surprise), the views shifted slightly, and Kentucky and Virginia participants stated most vehemently that they had been and only online casino bans, by 63-27 and 55-33 margins respectively.
The poll did not obviously differentiate between general Internet gambling and poker that is online se, however, and before anyone freaks out a lot of in what any one of this could potentially mean for the future of state-by-state iGaming being regulated and legalized, remember that, according to poker advocate Marco Valerio back in 2011, 67 percent of New Jerseyans were dead set against online gambling enterprises, and now we see how that played out.
Supreme Court Judge Rejects Challenge to New York Casino Referendum
Tioga Downs lets its feelings be understood in no uncertain terms regarding brand new York State’s upcoming casino referendum by voters. (Image source: Ithacajournal.com)
A brand New York State judge has refused a challenge to the wording of New York’s upcoming casino referendum, paving the method for voters within the state to vote regarding the measure in November.
The lawsuit had been dismissed by State Supreme Court Justice Richard M. Platkin, who found the challenge that is legal be ‘untimely and with a lack of legal merit.’
Delayed Vote Shot Down
That had been a blow that is big opponents associated with the measure, whom had hoped that they might delay a vote, or at least replace the wording that would appear on the ballot. The case had been brought up by Brooklyn bankruptcy lawyer Eric J. Snyder, whom objected towards the language used into the referendum question. On the ballot, the measure is going to be described as ‘promoting job growth, increasing aid to schools and permitting local governments to lessen property taxes.’
That was the language that had been approved by the State Board of Elections in July, which consulted with Governor Andrew Cuomo to craft the measure. The governor is a strong supporter of the measure, and crafted a quantity of compromises and handles different passions in hawaii in order to make such a proposal feasible.
However, Snyder and others said that the language used was unjust. Since the language included suggested good outcomes of the casino expansion, it could unfairly bias the outcomes of the referendum. These concerns gained extra merit when a poll by Siena College found that help for the ballot referendum increased by nine percentage points as soon as the positive language was included, compared to when more neutral language had been used.
Justice Platkin dismissed these claims, though. He said that Snyder’s lawsuit had been filed far after the 14-day window in which challenges to ballot-language are permitted had passed away. That window began on August 19 or maybe August 23, according to Snyder, though that would have made difference that is little the challenge wasn’t made until October 1.
Obviously, the state was delighted that their arguments that are legal accepted, and that the vote would carry on as prepared.
‘We’re pleased that Judge Platkin accepted the arguments that are legal we raised and that the election process can continue moving forward,’ said Board of Elections spokesman Thomas Connolly.
Opponents Voice Disappointment
Meanwhile, opponents of the measure were let down by predictably your decision.
‘We’re disappointed that the judge chose to block a discussion that is legitimate the merits of whether their state gamed the language of the casino amendment to tilt New Yorkers to a yes vote,’ stated a statement by the newest York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG).
But Snyder says that he’s not done yet. He plans to seek emergency relief from the appellate courts, and points out that the Board of Elections had the opportunity to use an previous form of the referendum suggested by the state attorney general’s workplace that did not range from the ‘advocacy language.’
‘Ignoring the attorney general’s recommendation, the Board of Elections changed the neutrally worded casino amendment by adding language to gain voter support,’ Snyder told The New York circumstances.
In the event that measure should pass, it would talk about to seven brand new casino resorts to selected regions of the Empire State. They would join a quantity of existing casinos that are owned and operated by native groups that are american the area.