Two state governments, looking to add revenues for different projects, have voted to expand live poker offerings inside their borders.
In the state of Ohio, a Senate panel slipped an amendment into a casino regulatory bill on Tuesday that would allow every county in the state to operate a charity poker room. The proposed bill, expected to reach the Senate floor next week, would open up the potential for charity poker rooms in 88 counties. Currently, only Cuyahoga County in northeast Ohio operates a poker room that is available for rental for charitable causes.
The proposal to open up charity poker rooms for the entire state is a bit odd in that Ohio only recently opened up live casinos in the state, which could see the charitable rooms have an impact on the casino’s poker operations. In eleven days, the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland will open up a 96,000 square foot casino that will feature a 25 table poker room. Expected to open soon after that is the Hollywood Casino Toledo, which will be a 120,000 square foot operation that features a 20 table poker room. Later this year, the Hollywood Casino Columbus is planned to become the third gaming facility in the state and, in 2013, the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati will become the fourth gaming operation allowed by state regulation.
Even with the proposal to allow the counties in Ohio to have charitable poker rooms, Senate President Tom Niehaus doesn’t see that it will affect the new full-fledged casino operations. In an interview with the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, Niehaus states that the proposed charitable poker rooms are a “minor” expansion of gambling in the state of Ohio.
The new Ohio casino operations are expected to have a significant impact on two other states, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, who operate casinos and poker rooms.
Meanwhile, the state of Minnesota has also proposed to tweak some of their laws regarding live poker. The proposed legislation would allow the two thoroughbred racetracks in the state that have poker rooms, Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Park, to expand their offerings, raise their table stakes and allow for unlimited tables in tournaments. This proposal, which had been fought by the Indian casino interests in the state, only went through when the Indian casinos were given the right to offer horse racing simulcasting and off-track betting.
The two racetracks would be able to increase their poker tables from 50 to 80, increase the limits per bet from $60 to $100, allow for unlimited tables in tournaments and offer such games as blackjack against the house. The amendment to the Minnesota gaming laws passed through the Senate on Saturday by a 44-18 vote and moved through the House by a 97-34 margin. The bill is now on its way to the desk of Governor Mark Dayton.
While the bill passed through the Minnesota Legislature, it wasn’t without some heated debate. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, opponents of the gaming expansion were upset that the proposals did not go through the usual legislative channels, such as being heard in front of a committee for debate.
For the most part, however, a majority of the representatives viewed the expanded gaming in the racetrack poker rooms as a positive, with some stating it may actually save the tracks in question. It is also believed that increased gaming revenue may be a way to finance a new football stadium for the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings, something that many have said is critical to keeping the franchise in Minneapolis.
In both states, the proposed legislation – and even the existence of the gaming operations themselves – has come under debate. In Ohio, a poster discussing the four new casinos noted, “Here’s what you are really going to get when the casino’s open: ripped off, your money taken, odds of winning stacked against you, the house always wins (and) gamblers stealing to support their habit.” In Minnesota, the commentary is highly against the Indian casinos, with many seeing the increased poker tables at the racetracks a “token effort” at increasing the track’s revenues while the Indian casinos get a bigger revenue share through simulcast and OTB earnings.
At this time, neither of the proposed legislative efforts in Ohio and Minnesota has been signed off on by their respective governors.