Oxford Casino News
As we head into a new year, members of the Maine Gambling Control Board heard from representatives of the Oxford Casino about its first several months of operation and some of their plans for the future. The casino currently employs 429 workers and has 20-job openings. It donated 54-thousand dollars to local charities in 2012 and has spent nearly 9-million dollars on local vendors.
After starting off with a bang the casino's net revenue peaked in September at about 4-point-7 million dollars and has declined each month since then. December was the lowest month at 3-point-6 million dollars, about a million dollars less than that high. State gambling officials say that is to be expected after a big opening. Still they say they're pleased.
"I don't think we expected it to be as popular as it was when it originally opened up. It did open with a flurry and it's managed to continue on. They're getting a lot of patrons from the Oxford County area, Lewiston-Auburn area, the Portland area and from out of state", said Patrick Fleming, Executive Director of the Maine Gambling Control Board.
Board members gave approval to the casino to begin offering a new popular poker game called "Pai Gow". Members also indicated they would likely give the go ahead for the casino to begin hosting Black Jack Tournaments.
NH Governor Hassan: "Mass. casino plans
must be weighed in NH decision"
Gov. Maggie Hassan says Massachusetts' movement toward licensing three full-fledged casinos and a slot machines-only facility makes it even more vital that New Hampshire lawmakers strongly consider legalizing gambling here. A report last week by the Center for Public Policy Studies indicated that anticipated revenue from a New Hampshire casino might not be as much as advocates have discussed. But Hassan, who supports a single "high-end, highly-regulated" casino during her campaign for chief executive, told the New Hampshire Sunday News in an interview the center's report sent an important message.
"It depends on the type of facility that we would decide to accept through an open and competitive bidding process. But what's very clear from that report is that if we don't have our own high-end, highly regulated casino that can compete with the Massachusetts casinos and draw from that market, we would lose an enormous amount of gambling and rooms and meals tax revenue down to Massachusetts while still having social costs up here that go with gambling. So I think the study supports that it would be a very smart and appropriate thing for New Hampshire to do."
A bill is being readied by state Sens. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, and Chuck Morse, R-Salem, that would legalize casino gambling in the Granite State. D'Allesandro said he hopes to bring it to a committee hearing before the end of the month and to the state Senate floor early in February. But he said there is no time to waste. "Clearly, there is a real demand in Massachusetts for the licenses," he said. D'Allesandro said his bill would allow one licensed facility with up to 5,000 slot machines and a maximum of 150 table games. It also sets up a commission to consider the potential for future additional sites.
"Certainly," Hassan told the Sunday News, "if a gambling bill were to pass, licensing revenue would be something that I think we could anticipate."
Things up no north continue to prove interesting for the future. Could Vermont be the only state in New England NOT to have a casino by 2020?
That's all for now.
Binbin
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