North Jersey Casino Expansion Ad Campaign Boils Down, Amid Growing Sense It Ain’t Gonna Happen

Backers of a North Jersey casino expansion ad campaign, one which supported a referendum vote to take gaming to the north part of the Garden State, have thrown within the towel.
Investor and real estate mogul Jeff Gural (right) with brand New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (left) says that general public mistrust of politicians is really a major reason New Jersey’s casino expansion proposal is doomed to failure. Gural had been a backer of the expansion push.
OUR Turn NJ, that has been backed by billionaire investor Paul Fireman and estate that is real Jeff Gural, pulled its media marketing campaign, apparently unwilling to plow additional money into just what seems like a lost cause. Fireman and Gural had hoped to build one casino apiece, into the north associated with state close to the border with New York.
The OUR Turn NJ (OTNJ) group said that polling showed appetite that is little voters for the proposal to split Atlantic City’s longstanding monopoly on casino gaming and create two new licenses in the north. Voters are set to select the issue on a 8 ballot, but otnj now appears resigned to the idea that residents will likely vote overwhelmingly against expansion november.
Blindsided by Media Blitz
OUR Turn NJ said on Thursday said that an internal poll found just 37 percent of the latest Jersey residents supported amending the constitution to pave the way in which for the new casinos. Meanwhile, a poll that is external this week by Rutgers-Eagleton place the quantity also lower, at just 35 percent, while noting that 57 percent had been from the idea.
The pro-expansion group admitted that it been blindsided by the news blitz launched by the opposition campaign, ‘Trenton’s Bad Bet,’ which concentrated nearly completely on the perceived untrustworthiness of hawaii’s politicians, rather than the casinos on their own.
‘Trenton governmental bosses are up to their old games,’ proclaims one TV spot, which goes on to claim that politicians will use the new casino revenue nevertheless they want, ‘just they bailed out Donald Trump’s failing casinos. like they did whenever’
Mistrust of Trenton
The campaign has been markedly effective in experiencing public distrust of lawmakers. Polling by OTNJ found that just ten per cent of voters believed politicians would deliver on using the revenue for the purposes promised. Voters had been also concerned about the not enough details, such as precisely where the casinos would be built, or the exact rate of taxes they would probably pay.
‘We think profoundly that gaming expansion to Northern New Jersey is a remarkable opportunity that shouldn’t be squandered,’ Gural and Fireman said in a statement that is official.
‘ We now have committed $4 billion in private investment to the state to create world-class resort destinations with gaming. The advantages include 43,000 new jobs and vast sums of dollars in recaptured revenue, an opportunity that is rare New Jersey.
‘The data, however, speaks for it self,’ the investors noted. ‘The present climate that is political brand New Jersey and voters’ issues about the dearth of details relating to the effort have proved overwhelming.’
American Gaming Association Recommends Repealing Sports Betting Ban
American Gaming Association employer Geoff Freeman, left, wants sports wagering legalized, but which could hamper DraftKings CEO Jason Robins’ day-to-day fantasy sports market. (Image: Jeff Scheid/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
The American Gaming Association (AGA) is recommending to Congress that it repeal the nearly quarter-century old ban that is federal sports betting.
The pro and recreational Sports Protection Act (PASPA) passed in 1992 prevented states from offering gambling lines on sports. Nevada, Oregon, Delaware, and Montana were given exemptions that are special as all four of those states were offering some variation of sports lotteries in 1992.
Now 24 years later, the AGA believes it’s time to annul PASPA.
This past year, the AGA formed its Illegal Gambling Advisory Board (IGAB) led by former FBI Deputy Director Tim Murphy. This week, the board issued five conclusions why PASPA should be revoked.
Murphy’s IGAB consists of former police officials now attempting to expose the massive illegal gambling black colored market in the United States.
‘ The current way of sports wagering into the United States is not working,’ Murphy stated this week in a statement. ‘It’s fueling enterprises that are criminal. The full time has come to repeal the present activities betting ban and replace it with rigorous laws that benefit states, protect consumers and keep maintaining the integrity of the games.’
PASPA Strikeout
In its ‘Law Enforcement Summit on Illegal Sports Betting,’ the IGAB opines that PASPA did precisely the opposite of what it designed to accomplish.
‘Instead of curbing illegal betting, the law has driven recreations betting underground, creating a thriving, $150-$500 billion black market with no consumer protection,’ the IGAB reports.
The IGAB thinks illegal sports wagering fuels criminal syndicates, and that an open, transparent, and regulated activities betting industry would deliver a blow to those rogue gambling bands.
The leagues are slowly easing their hardline stances though the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, along with the NCAA, recently won a federal appeals court decision against New Jersey to block the state from offering sports gambling.
The NHL is bringing a franchise to Las Vegas for the 2017-18 season, and NFL owner Mark Davis is wanting to bring his Oakland Raiders to Sin City. Leagues have typically opposed Las Vegas because of its legalized sports gambling.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is also up to speed. ‘we have no basic idea what’s happening and there’s no transparency,’ Silver said in May. ‘it is thought by me should be legal; I think it should be controlled; it should be clear.’
Canada Fighting Too
Sports gambling in Canada continues to be illegal, but that was nearly changed recently, almost.
Unfortunately for all those looking to place wagers legally on sporting events in Canada, a bill to authorize single-game betting was refused within the House of Commons this week.
The ‘secure and Regulated Sports Betting Act’ legislation failed 155 votes against to 133 in help.
Much like the AGA, the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) was campaigning for a governed recreations industry that is betting.
‘I regret that I don’t have better news for Canadians,’ CGA President Bill Rutsey stated in a statement. ‘ Those who comprehend what exactly is in danger, and the benefits that could exist by implementing legislation, are frustrated and dissatisfied by the vote.’
The CGA estimates over $10.5 billion is wagered illegally on sports by Canadians each year.
Maryland Lottery Controversy Over-Inflated $262 Million Tech Contract
Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica was a executive that is senior a business venture that ended up being partially owned by Scientific Games. (Image: Kaitlin Newman)
The Maryland Lottery deliberately inflated the price of a $262 million technology contract, wasting an incredible number of dollars that would otherwise have been spent on public training and wellness programs, based on the losing bidder, London-based IGT.
An eight-year deal to provide central monitoring and a control system for ticket sales, by including forms of internet gambling that are not legal in the state in a letter of complaint seen by the Associated Press, IGT complains that lottery officials overstated the value of the contract.
The contract was ultimately awarded to incumbent provider Scientific Games, the bidder that is highest by $50 million.
Flawed Assessment
IGT says lottery officials later told them they bloated the contract to include online gambling in order ‘to avoid future review and approvals by the [Board of Public Functions,’ in the event that online gambling is legalized. The Board of Public Functions, is necessary to accept all contracts over $200,000 by state law.
But this amounted to ‘materially flawed evaluation,’ stated IGT, particularly for the state facing an $800 million spending plan shortfall.
Curiously, Maryland will not be making any noises about regulating online gambling in the future that is near. Senator Edward Kasemeyer (D-Baltimore and Howard counties), the Senate’s main spending plan writer, told the Baltimore Sun recently that the legislature is ‘strongly opposed’ to legalizing gaming that is online.
Concerns over Lottery Directors’ Links to Scientific
IGT noted that once the provider that is incumbent Scientific Games needs to have been in a situation to produce a lower offer because it already has staff and infrastructure in place.
And now, conservative news blog RedState.com is questioning whether Lottery Director Gordon Medenica’s past professional association with Scientific has such a thing regarding the problem.
It quotes an anonymous ‘industry insider’ whom stated: ‘ The multiple bid protests and legislative scrutiny will really be uncomfortable for Gordon Medenica. Medenica had been an executive that is senior a nj-new jersey business venture that was partially owned by Scientific Games. Offered this direct and well-known relationship, it is curious that he did not recuse himself from your whole bidding procedure.’
But Scientific Games’ senior vice president of Global Lottery Systems, Patrick McHugh, said his business won the bidding process fair and square as it outperformed its competitors in testing. He additionally noted that in 2016 the lottery generated record admission sales of $1.9 billion producing $570 million to be utilized for good factors.
‘ Our high rating reflects Scientific Games’ investment in new services and services designed to continue the lottery’s sales and profitability momentum for the beneficiaries regarding the state of Maryland,’ he said in a statement.
Wisconsin Gambling Addict Gets Probation for Delivering a huge selection of Pounds of Marijuana
Gambling can be risky business, but a Wisconsin gambling addict discovered that paying for your wagers by delivering marijuana is really a bet that certainly doesn’t repay. As a result of Judge James Peterson, pictured above he’ll be getting a 2nd possibility. (Image: Scripps Media/rightwisconsin.com)
Wisconsin gambling addict Kongsaden Khammanivong has been given a second chance by a Madison judge.
In July of 2015, Khammanivong was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to circulate more than 50 kilograms (100 pounds) of marijuana between January 2014 and their arrest in July of 2015.
Khammanivong admitted he turned to delivering drugs to fuel his gambling addiction. During his September sentencing that is 20th Khammanivong sobbed to the judge as he explained how gambling took over his life.
Khammanivong revealed he’s attended Gamblers Anonymous and has prevented casinos since his arrest 445 days prior.
In total, Khammanivong faced as much as 25 years in prison. But this week District Judge James Peterson in the Western District of Wisconsin went easy on Khammanivong in hopes that the gambling addict can change their life around.
Instead of sending the 49-year-old behind bars, Peterson sentenced Khammanivong to 11 days in prison. A free man with credit for time served stemming from 2015, Khammanivong left the courtroom.
‘He hasn’t relapsed. He is doubled straight down on helping his family members. He gets just how serious this is,’ Khammanivong’s lawyer Marcus Berghahn told the Wausau Daily Herald.
Khammanivong’s casino addiction reportedly cost him his marriage, though it is not clear where or how much cash he lost gambling. The court was told by him he was compensated several hundred dollars for each marijuana transport.
Pretty Peterson Please
The Western District of Wisconsin estimated Khammanivong delivered as much as 176 pounds of marijuana during the 17-month period.
According to Narcotic Information, a pound of marijuana is presently selling for upwards of $4,000 in Wisconsin. Meaning Khammanivong helped transport over $700,000 worth of marijuana.
Needless to say, marijuana just isn’t heroin. Peterson apparently believed Khammanivong’s claims which he didn’t play a role that is integral the medication ring, but merely served as a transporter.
Regardless, Peterson’s sentencing is truly light taking into consideration the amount of cannabis Khammanivong was moving.
Simply last month, a previous steel company CEO in Alabama was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for making use of insurance funds to pay off gambling debts incurred at Wynn Las Vegas.
Also in August, a story that is bizarre about two similar yet split incidents involving female gambling addicts. Both women had stolen precisely $1.7 million from their respective employers in Connecticut and Minnesota, and both lost all the money gambling.
Diane Eiler of Minnesota ended up being sentenced to 42 months in jail and three years of supervised probation. Patricia Meehan of Connecticut, who was first charged this year and served 46 months behind bars, violated her parole in 2016 and was handed an additional two months in jail and two years of supervised home release.
Like Brother, Like Brother
The feds nevertheless have a case against Khammanivong, however Kongsaden Khammanivong but their younger bro Khongkha Khammanivong.
Khongkha, 43, is facing more serious charges. A total of nine counts for distributing methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine have been levied on younger Khammanivong, and he’s additionally being accused of facilitating money laundering.
He dolphin treasure slots youtube is dealing with a total of 60 years in jail and $5.5 million in fines.
Kongsaden Khammanivong is simply another example of a Vietnamese or Thailand migrant living in the United States whom is promoting a gambling addiction. The problem that is rampant recently gained much unwarranted attention as Little Saigon communities have trouble with illegal gambling houses.
