BET YOUR BOTTOM DOLLAR; CASINOS PAY OFF FOR TRIBES.Byline: Ben Schnayerson Staff Writer Twice a week, 83-year-old Mimi Shore giddily climbs aboard a van in West Covina West Covina, city (1990 pop. 96,086), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the San Gabriel valley; settled 1905, inc. 1923. Before World War II, West Covina was a small rural community where walnuts, wheat, and livestock were raised. for a free ride to San Manuel San Manuel may refer to the following places:
San Bernardino (săn bûr'nədē`nō), city (1990 pop. 164,164), seat of San Bernardino co., S Calif., at the foot of the San Bernardino Mts.; inc. 1854. . Shore usually joins six other bingo regulars in the van, one of about 30 shuttles going to the casino on the edge of north San Bernardino on an average weekday - a migration of thousands of gamblers to booming Indian casinos largely to the east of the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. metropolitan area. Some play bingo. Others prefer the slots. Some, such as Victor Valenzuela, a 44-year-old school teacher in Carlsbad, do a little of everything. ``I like (gambling) a lot,'' said Valenzuela, who wagers up to $10,000 a year at the racetrack, in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. and at card tables at the Indian-run Pala Casino, Pechanga Resort and Casino  This article or section is written like an .Please help [ rewrite this article] from a neutral point of view. Mark blatant advertising for , using . and Viejas Casino. ``I like the thrill of winning. Am I to the point where I am addicted? No.'' Dreams of a big payoff have propelled Indian gaming into a recession-proof, $14.5 billion industry and turned tiny, once-impoverished tribes into major economic entities. Indian gaming saw its revenues jump 70 percent from 1998 to 2002. Today, there are more than 330 Indian gaming operations nationwide. But the proliferation of Indian casinos has also incited strife at every turn. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] has made a bold demand for as much as $2 billion of tribal gambling money and would be happy for a good bit less than that in the face of the tribes' political clout earned by contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to campaigns for ballot measures and officials. Gambling's old guard - racetracks and card clubs - have joined in the fray, proposing a state initiative that would force the tribes to share their wealth or let the tracks and card clubs have slots. But that hasn't stopped the tribes from expanding despite lingering moral arguments and a growing concern about gambling addiction. ``(Indian gaming) has grown faster than population. It has grown faster than inflation,'' said Steve Rittvo, gaming analyst for New Orleans-based Innovation Group. It has also created vast wealth for once-poor tribes. Although financial details are a closely guarded secret under tribal sovereignty rules, insiders say that in some cases, the payoff from casino profits might range from $20,000 to $90,000 a month per adult tribe member. Some have been able to channel those dollars into other business ventures. In 2002, the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians Mission Indians, Native Americans of S and central California; so called because they were under the jurisdiction of some 21 Spanish missions that were established between 1769 and 1823. entered the lucrative bottled-water business with Big Bear Mountain Spring Water, making the tiny tribe - with fewer than 70 adult members - an even bigger force. In the past two months, the tribe has given $1 million to help in the recovery effort from the October fires, $200,000 to Lighthouse for the Blind and $5,000 each to 16 local charities that needed last-minute donations before Christmas. Humble beginnings Humble Beginnings was an American pop punk band from New Jersey. While never gaining large-scale success, many of the band's members went on to mainstream success with other outfits. Most Indian casinos are a far cry from the bingo halls or card parlors that predated the legalization LEGALIZATION. The act of making lawful. 2. By legalization, is also understood the act by which a judge or competent officer authenticates a record, or other matter, in order that the same may be lawfully read in evidence. Vide Authentication. of gambling on reservations in 1988. Now tribes are building massive casinos with hotels, golf courses and million-dollar jackpots. The keys to their success are location and a special tax status that excludes them from paying corporate income tax and only a small portion of their revenue to the state. ``Their cash flow is unbelievable,'' said Andrew Zarnett, a gaming analyst for Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. . ``That business will continue to expand.'' Especially in California, which has 107 tribes - more than any other state. In 2001, California's 48 Indian casinos brought in $2.89 billion. By the next year, there were 52 casinos posting revenues of $3.59 billion. ``California is the only rapidly growing market at this time,'' said William Eadington, director of the Institute for Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada University of Nevada could refer to either of the universities in the Nevada System of Higher Education:
In Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , 19 Indian casinos have popped up since the early 1980s and, with more than 30 tribes, more are coming. The San Manuel casino will double in size by 2006. Casino Morongo near Banning is growing from its single floor to a 23-story hotel-casino. And there are three proposals for casinos in Hesperia and Barstow. The Agua Caliente Agua Caliente (also: Aguas Calientes, Aguascalientes, etc.) means "hot springs" in Spanish. The term has several uses: Place names:
A new casino could soon pop up near Needles if the Fort Mojave Tribe can get all needed approvals. A gambling nation Gambling has taken off across America, growing from a $10.2 billion industry in 1982 to a $69.7 billion industry today with many states having legalized gambling in some form. There are limited-bet casinos in South Dakota South Dakota (dəkō`tə), state in the N central United States. It is bordered by North Dakota (N), Minnesota and Iowa (E), Nebraska (S), and Wyoming and Montana (W). and Colorado, riverboats throughout the Midwest and Louisiana, racetracks with casinos in six states and some form of Indian gaming in 29 states. ``(Casino gambling) has become a more acceptable form of entertainment,'' said Lawrence A. Klatzkin, managing director of equity research for Jefferies & Co., a New York-based investment bank. ``The fact that you could win lots of money makes it more attractive.'' The competition from California Indian California Indian Any member of the various North American Indian peoples living in and around present-day California, U.S. Of the many California groups, most were composed of independent territorial and political units that were smaller than the average groupings of other casinos prompted Nevada gaming companies to spend heavily to fight the ballot measure that legalized them, but now Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: HET) is a gaming corporation that owns and operates casinos, hotels, and six golf courses under several brands. The company, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the largest gaming company in the world, with yearly revenues around $7.11 billion. , Park Place Entertainment and Station Casinos Station Casinos Inc. NYSE: STN is a Las Vegas, Nevada based gaming company. The company purchased several sites that were gaming-entitled meaning that major casinos can be built at that location without additional approvals. have all made deals with California Indian tribes to hedge their bets. A bigger battle is being waged between the tribes and racetracks. Some tracks are so close to Indian casinos they can't keep serious gamblers. But most complain the tribes' political clout stops them from keeping up with the changing market. John Van de Kamp John Van de Kamp (born in 1936[1]) served as the District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles from 1976 until 1982, and then as 28th Attorney General of California from 1982 until 1991. , a former state attorney general who is president of the Thoroughbred Owners of California, blames tribes for holding up legislation that would expand off-track betting off-track betting n. Abbr. OTB A system of placing bets away from a racetrack. . He also said tribes have blocked big racetracks from having slot machines and tables. The California racetracks are hoping to get slots by using Schwarzenegger's recent demands that tribes share their revenues with the state. If voters approve a proposed initiative, tribes will be asked to share 25 percent of their slot-machine revenue. If the tribes refuse, five racetracks and 11 card clubs would get slot machines. Still, experts say the horse-racing industry itself is part of the problem and facing declining popularity. ``The average person doesn't really give a (bleep) about racing,'' said Joe Harper, president of Del Mar Del Mar is the name of several places in the United States of America:
California's 97 card clubs say they are having trouble keeping up with Indian casinos as well. They're restricted by law from having ``banked'' games such as blackjack blackjack, one of the world's most widely played gambling card games; also known as twenty-one or vingt-et-un. Despite contesting claims between the French and Italians, its origins are unknown. , where the casino pays the winner instead of from a players' pool. Tribes, on the other hand, can have banked games. ``We operate under these really arduous legal restrictions,'' said Andrew Schneiderman, president of the Golden State Gaming Association, a trade organization representing California card clubs. ``There is no way we can innovate our games to meet the market of the industry.'' Tribes are unwilling to give up their advantages. ``Tribes have slot machines because they are sovereign entities,'' said Mark Macarro, chairman of the Pechanga Band of Luiseo Indians near Temecula. ``That is why card clubs and racetracks can't do it. It is about economics. It is about a market base. We want to protect that.'' But the San Manuels' Deron Marquez said racetrack casinos in California are inevitable, especially since they are seen as cures for budgetary problems. ``It is going to happen by 2010,'' Marquez said. ``More and more states are looking at racinos. You see a trend and they are not going to go away.'' That might create partnership opportunities between the tribes and the tracks. ``You are going to have to think way out of the box if you are going to run a racetrack,'' Del Mar's Joe Harper said. Del Mar has teamed with the Barona Band of Mission Indians, which owns Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, northeast of Santee and a 40-minute drive from the racetrack. For $1.5 million over three years, Barona gets advertising and luxury suites at the track for its patrons. The racetrack and casino share their customers. In time, Harper said, slot machines would drive out the horses and leave just a casino. ``If I was a bottom-line guy, it wouldn't take long for me to figure out that I have to get slot machines everywhere and these horses out of here,'' he said. Community opposition to new casinos is building in some areas, and the industry has concerns there soon will be too many casinos competing. ``Is anybody oversupplied? No,'' Rittvo said. ``(But) the low-hanging fruit is gone.'' But gaming consultant Michael Lombardi said Las Vegas worried about saturation during the 1990s and never stopped building more casinos. ``Every time they built a casino, they said, 'Oh the bubble is going to burst now,' '' he said. California's Indian gaming has just as much potential to grow, Lombardi said. ``When you have people waiting in a Riverside County Indian casino for an hour and a half to play a slot machine,'' he said, ``that tells you there is a long way to go.'' Ben Schnayerson, (909) 386-3882 ben.schnayerson(at)sbsun.com CAPTION(S): 2 charts Chart: (1) CASINO GAMING vs. OTHER ENTERTAINMENT Sources: American Gaming Association The American Gaming Association (AGA) is a United States gaming industry association. The AGA was founded in 1995 with the goal of promoting, educating and lobbying on behalf of the gaming entertainment industry through education and advocacy. , National Restaurant Association, National Cable Television Association, National Gardening Association, National Golf Foundation, Snack Food Association, National Coffee Association, Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America. (2) U.S. GAMBLING PARTICIPATION RATES Source: American Gamblers Association Staff graphic |
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