Pennsylvania casino operators want table games

24 February 2009

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania -- As reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Yes to table games at state casinos, but no to video poker machines in thousands of bars and clubs statewide.

"That was the view today of Timothy Wilmott, president of Penn National Gaming Inc., which runs a racetrack/casino 20 miles northeast of here plus several other casinos in other states.

"Two other casino executives -- from the Pittsburgh area -- agreed about bringing table games to Pennsylvania casinos but wouldn't comment on Gov. Ed Rendell's controversial plan to allow 80,000 or so video poker machines in bars and taverns across the state.

"Ed Fasulo, president of the Rivers Casino, which will open in Pittsburgh in August, and Mike Graninger, general manager of The Meadows, which will open its enlarged, permanent casino in April, said table games would increase employment and the state's income tax base.

"But they tactfully sidestepped commenting on Mr. Rendell's idea for video poker to raise tuition relief for college students..."

Source: http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=177159

For more online casino news and gambling updates please visit http://www.casinocare.co.uk

Canada: Western lottery clerks claiming high number of prizes

11 February 2009

VICTORIA, Canada -- As reported by CBC: "Despite a consultant's report that concludes the Western Canada Lottery Corporation is not plagued by the same insider winning problems seen in other provinces, a CBC News investigation has uncovered western lottery clerks are actually claiming prizes at a disproportionately high rate.

"CBC News hired Jeffrey Rosenthal, a statistics professor at the University of Toronto, to review a 2007 report prepared for the lottery corporation by the consulting firm Ernst & Young.

"Ernst & Young found that Western Canada Lottery Corporation clerks are winning prizes at a rate that is only slightly higher than it should be — 1.16 times. Clerks won 67 of 1,586 prizes of $10,000 or more awarded to western Canadians between 2003 and 2006.

"...But Rosenthal took issue with the way Ernst & Young calculated the rate of insider wins, saying the firm misinterpreted figures for the number of retailers who play and used old estimates of how many retailers there are per lottery outlet.

"Rosenthal said 67 insider wins is, in fact, 1.94 times higher than it should be. Statistically, retailers should only have won 34 times between 2003 and 2006 — and there's less than a one in 2.3 million chance that they could have won 67 times.

"...Ontario Ombudsman André Marin, who investigated the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) and uncovered major problems, said the western lottery should have been subject to an independent review, as other lotteries have been..."

Source: http://www.casinocitytimes.com/news/article.cfm?contentID=177014

For more news of online casino please visit http://www.vivcasino.com