Land Casino Revenues Continue To Decline

Colorado's online gambling regulatory body has released depressing revenue figures for the state's land gambling operations reflecting the international trend to lower gambling revenues already reported from Las Vegas and Macau.The major gambling hubs in America are suffering more so due to the fact that private, usually Native American, casinos have been springing up all over the states as many of the states are turning toward their own forms of legalized gambling in order to boost revenue. Atlantic City casinos took the brunt of this change, as many of the neighboring states have already begun to launch casino enterprises en masse.

Revenues for September 2008 were down compared to the same period online casinos last year, with state-wide revenues of $59.3 million - a decline of 18.72 percent in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek.As operating and energy costs continue to grow, and hotel rooms and table games remain empty, these casinos are hit with even harder times than before. Bankruptcy and failed projects are becoming commonplace, with several of the older casinos in Vegas having already gone belly up. Atlantic City will be faced with troubling times should they fail to turn around their fortunes, though a string of luck could reinvigorate the economy, thus pumping voluntary spending back to previously attained limits.



The 2009 Fiscal year has been rough for most casino gamescompanies around the world, with many turning to bankruptcy or worse. The most recent sigh of recession was uttered from the lips of Harrah's, the largest casino operator in the world by revenue. Their margin of error has grown massive, leaving much to slip within the cracks that will soon become a chasm of fiscal loss.The third quarter ended on September 30th, and Harrah's reported a depressing decline in revenue. Despite the World Series of Poker's massive turn out, Harrah's still lost over $1 billion dollars over the three months. The value of all of their assets has, reportedly, diminished by over $1.3 billion dollars.

Many casino companies UK bingo are beginning to grasp at straws in a desperate attempt to stay afloat. Wynn Resorts, Boyd Gaming, and MGM Grand, three major casino companies within America, have also reported losses, thus causing stocks to plummet. Foreign investment, particularly in Macau, is a proposed solution to these problems, though even this may not be enough to save the companies, rather it may simply put them on life support.Central City reported revenue of $5.4 million for September, down 26.4 percent from September 2007; Black Hawk casino revenues declined 19.97 percent to $41.14 million and Cripple Creek’s casino gambling recorded a drop of 10.3 percent to $12.8 million.

Even if land based casinos are beginning to drop off in revenue and popularity, USA Players Casinos continue to grow and thrive at an exponential rate.

Danish Court Deems Poker Legal

Skill vs. luck argument aired again

The Copenhagen Post reports that a Danish municipal court has ruled that poker tournaments do not contravene Danish gaming laws.Poker is not merely a game of chance but also requires skill and is therefore legitimate competition, a municipal court in the district of Lyngby ruled Friday.The ruling acquitted the president of the Danish Poker Association, Frederik Hostrup, of charges of arranging illegal free online casino gambling events. Hostrup had been sued by hotel and restaurant trade organisation Horesta on behalf of the nation’s [land] casinos.

The ruling goes against a decision by the Justice Ministry’s legal affairs committee in 2006, which concluded that poker constituted illegal gambling.Hostrup’s attorney, Henrik Hoffmann, told Politiken newspaper that Friday’s ruling legitimises poker, which has become immensely popular in Denmark over the past couple years."Poker has become a sport of the people," he said. "There are between 200 000 and 300 000 Danes who play casinos poker at least once a week and more than half a million who now play regularly."



Illegal gambling is, according to Danish criminal law, games or competitions where the organiser "attempts to achieve a commercial economic gain". Hoffmann said poker is more about betting wisely, playing smart and getting the other players to think you have different cards than casino game those you actually have in your hands."You can win in poker based on being clever enough to hide your strategy, even though you might have a fairly poor hand," he said.

Horesta spokesperson Erik Jensen was disappointed UK bingo and surprised by the ruling. "Anytime you play for money, the risk for becoming a gambling addict increases," he said. "[Unspecified] Research has shown that there are some 85 000 Danes who are potential addicts, which is why these precautionary measures are so important." Prosecutors now have 14 days to decide whether to appeal the ruling.

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up"