Gaming Law International

Former Hockey Star Accused of Financing Gambling Ring

Former NHL hockey player and Coyotes assistant coach Rick Tocchet was served with a criminal complaint yesterday on allegations of promoting gambling, money laundering and conspiracy, according to New Jersey state police. According to the complaint, Tocchet is alleged to have financed a sports gambling ring in the US, accepting football bets from a few current NHL players. The state police complaint said that in a 40-day period, the betting ring took more than 1,000 wagers exceeding $1.7 million on professional and collegiate sporting events. You can read the story directly at the Seattle Post-Intellligencer.  Updated story here.

Illinois Considers Carding Gamblers

The Illinois Gaming Board is considering implementing a requirement that gaming service providers verify the identification of all visitors to state casinos. As you can imagine, the plan is not popular among the gaming service providers who will likely have to bear the costs of the new identification requirements. The requirement would be aimed at preventing compulsive gamblers from entering casinos and prevent underage gambling.

Washington State Bill Would Increase Gambling Age to 21

If passed, a proposed bill presently before the Washington State Legislature would change the legal age for gambling in Washington state at state-regulated casinos from 18 to 21-years-old. The bill also makes it unlawful for anyone to assist, participate with or knowingly allow a person under the age of 21 to engage in any wagering activity in Washington. The amendment is available here.

Mississippi Casinos May Re-Open By Year End

Three of Mississippi's gulf coast casinos, severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, may be open by the end of 2005, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Read more here.

Gambling Machines Seized In Kentucky

The Kentucky State Police have seized 58 video gambling machines from nine businesses across the state. Read more here.

Card Games Trumping Machine Gaming

The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that card games are generating about six times as much revenue than gaming machines at tribal casinos in Oklahoma. Other states are reporting quite a rise in card game revenue as well but it may be too soon to tell if the trend is permanent.

Underwriting Online Gaming IPOs

According to TheLawyer.com, Skadden Arps is warning investment banks not to underwrite online gaming IPOs because of fears that online gaming may be illegal in the United States.

Future of Card Rooms in Washington State

The Puget Sound Business Journal has published an interesting story today about the future of card rooms in Washington State. Card rooms (or minicasinos as they are also called) generated $282 million in revenue in 2004, a 5% increase over 2003 while charitable games and horse racing lost market share. Despite the improvement in revenue, a number of Washington State muncipalities are proposing to either freeze the number of card rooms or ban them.