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Three casinos given penalties for banned gambler violations

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Brian Ohorilko (file photo)

Three casinos in the state agreed to pay penalties during the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission’s recent meeting for violations involving those who had banned themselves from gambling.

Iowa Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko says Lakeside Casino in Osceola ran into trouble that was caused by their ownership.

“In June of this year, the property in Missouri used their players club list and sent promotional mailings to people on the Iowa statewide list,” Ohorilko says. He says someone on the Iowa ban list tried to use some of the promotional offers.

Ohorilko says a Lakeside employee discovered the person was on the self exclusion list and did an investigation. They discovered that 17 people on the ban list had received the mailings initiated from Missouri. Lakeside had not had any other violations in the last 365 days, and agreed to a $3,000 dollar civil penalty. The Riverside Casino also found a violation where a person slipped through the system when they applied for a players club card.

Ohorilko says the person issuing the card mistyped the last name and the banned person was able to get the card and was sent promotional mailings. Another employee noticed the misspelled name was similar to the banned person when the person tried to use the card and discovered the mistake.

“Riverside promptly reported the matter to the commission… and agreed to an administrative penalty of $10,000,” Ohorilko says. He says the penalty was higher because it was the third self-ban violation at the casino in the last 365 days. Ohorilko says the three violations in one year are unusual.

“It’s not typical and I think Riverside, they had indicated to the commission that they have had some challenges in this area. With that said, they have taken extraordinary steps to try and fix the issue,” Ohorilko says. He says some of the steps Riverside took after the first two violations actually help them discover the problem with the third violation.

Prairie Meadows Casino in Altoona also had a self-ban violation. He says it was discovered that there was an error made by the casino marketing department and marketing emails were sent to players who had banned themselves. Ohorilko says Prairie Meadows has taken steps to make sure the problem is not repeated. The casino did not have any other violations in the last 365 days and agreed to a $3,000 penalty.

Stage now set for vote on Cedar Rapids casino next month

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The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. (file photo)

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission heard formal presentations at their meeting Thursday from the two groups which did market surveys to determine the impact of the proposals for a new casino in Cedar Rapids.

The studies by White Sand Gaming and Marquette Advisors were released earlier this month. Racing and Gaming Commission administrator Brian Ohorilko says the presentations were important to fill in any blanks.

“All in all it was a good opportunity to hear how those market studies came out and allow for commission members to get any additional questions answered that they might have,” Ohorilko says. The two studies came to similar conclusions that a casino in Cedar Rapids would have an impact on existing casinos by taking away some of their revenue. Ohorilko says the studies are one of the final pieces of information needed to make a decision on any new license.

He says the decision will be made at the November 16th meeting in Dubuque after the commission reviews all the information that they’ve received since the process started in July. Ohorilko says they also received information Thursday on the background investigations of the two casino groups which submitted three proposals for the casino. He says those investigations were positive and things will proceed.

A decision will be made one way or the other — obviously we can’t speculate on what the outcome will be — but there will be a decision made at that November commission meeting,” Ohorilko says. The commission met Thursday at the casino in Emmetsburg.

Studies find Cedar Rapids casinos would take profits from existing facilities

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The Wild Rose is one of 3 propsoals for casinos in Cedar Rapids.

Gambling studies released by the Iowa Racing and Gaming commission Thursday show a new casino in Cedar Rapids would have big impact on existing casinoes.

The study by White Sand Gaming says the best time to consider casino in Cedar Rapids was in 2003. Linn County voters turned down a gambling referendum back then. It says the Riverside and Isle casino in Waterloo now service the area and a Cedar Rapids casino would take money away from those two existing facilities. It says the three current proposals for Cedar Rapids casinos overstate the revenue potential of the facilities.

The other market study by Marquette Advisors came to a similar conclusion. It showed any of the three proposed Cedar Rapids casinos would cannibalize between 45 and 56 percent f their annual revenue from Riverside and Waterloo.

Cedar Rapids was denied a gambling license back in 2014 with commissioners citing the impact on current casinos as the main reason.  The commission will hear formal presentations on the two market studies at their meeting next week in Emmettsburg.

You can see both studies on the Iowa Racing and Gaming website.

92-year-old Iowa City man wins Lucky for Life game, takes cash option

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Charles Svatos and Lottery CEO Terry Rich.

An Iowa City man had a decision to make after winning the “Lucky for Life” drawing.

Chuck Svatos won the drawing on September 25th that comes with a prize of $25,000 each year for the rest of his life. There’s a guarantee of a minimum of 20 years of payments, and there’s also a cash option of $390,000.

Svatos is 92 years old — he chose the cash option — and after taxes he nets $273,000.
Svatos says he’s been trying a long time to win at any lottery game and the most he’d ever won was around four dollars.

He plans to use the money to do some traveling, possibly to Hawaii or Switzerland.

Photo courtesy of the Iowa Lottery.

New lottery machines provide more purchase options

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Old lottery machine on the left, new machine on the right.

New Iowa Lottery vending machines are now being used across the state. Iowa Lottery CEO Terry Rich says the new machines have several upgrades over the old machines.

“Our older vending machines lasted about three or four years longer than what they were expected to last, so we are replacing them with new modern machines that not only dispense the scratch tickets, but will also dispense our insta-play and our lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions,” Rich says.

He says customers should like the wider variety of tickets and  it should make it much easier for customers to buy the tickets. Rich says the machines are in high-traffic stores where they can pay for themselves. The modern machines have the most up-to-date technology.

“The new machines actually have a touch-screen front so that you can look at a particular ticket and actually turn it over and do a lot more than just look at the front side of the ticket,” Rich explains.

There are 125 new machines replacing 250 older machines.  Rich says the cost of the new machines and the current contract with the gaming company required them to buy fewer of the new machines. He says they cost around $28,000 each, and they should be able to add more machines once their contract with the gaming company is renewed.

State regulators visiting Cedar Rapids casino sites

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A rendition of what 1 of the 3 proposed casinos for Cedar Rapids will look like.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission will begin the final steps in deciding whether a new gambling license is awarded to Cedar Rapids today.

Racing and Gaming administrator, Brian Ohorilko, says the commission will  be in the city for its meeting and they will visit all three sites. Ohorilko says the meeting will also include more public input on the casino proposals.

“Those site visits will last approximately 45 minutes each and will take the good part of the morning,” according to Ohorilko. “At one o’clock…the commission will get a chance to hear from the general public.”

The next step is for commissioners to learn more about the gambling market as they  hear from the vendors who are doing a market study on gambling at the October 12th meeting in Emmettsburg.

There will be a vote the following month. “The last meeting of the year is on November 16th, that meeting is at the Diamond Jo Dubuque. A decision will be made at that time regarding the Linn County applications,” Ohorilko says.

Two groups put together the three casino proposals. The Cedar Rapids Development Group presented the commission with the same casino project that got rejected in 2014, known as Cedar Crossing on the River. It’s other proposal is a smaller casino known as Cedar River Central. The Wild Rose casino development group presented the other proposal that is a smaller casino that the group says would not hurt existing casinos in eastern Iowa.

 

 

 

Powerball jackpot is second largest ever

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Powerball ticket sales are expected to be brisk for the big drawing.

The prize in tonight’s Powerball drawing has bumped up to $700 million — making it the second largest lottery prize ever offered in North America.

Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says the big number brings in lots of new players hoping to become rich. She reminds everyone to not get carried away.

“You only have to have one ticket to have a shot at it, so please play responsibly, don’t get in over your head,” Neubauer says. “Just make it something fun that you do — like going out to eat or going to a movie — but don’t spend beyond you means I guess would be the bottom line.” She says big jackpots often lead to groups of people buying tickets together.

“When the jackpot gets big like it is now, we do see the pool play phenomenon, the office pool really kick in. Whether it’s folks playing with their neighbors, or maybe with their family, or with their coworkers,” she says. Buying tickets in a group can be fun if you win, but Neubauer says it can also cause problems if you don’t keep track of everything.

“If you’re the person buying the ticket on behalf of the group, maybe make photocopies of the ticket so that everybody in the group knows exactly what tickets were for the group,” Neubauer says. “Keep very close track of who put in money for the purchase of tickets so there’s no question about that later.”

Neubauer says if you purchase tickets for a group and want to buy some for yourself, you should buy them at a different store and different time so it is very clear that those tickets are yours. She says they have several more tips on their website to help you avoid spending the money you won in a jackpot on lawsuits afterwards.

“It’s a fun thing for everybody to be a part of the collective daydream talking about what you would do with the money if you won — but we just don’t want to see it cause complications later,” Neubauer says. There’s a history of success for pool players in Iowa as the winners of the largest Powerball prize claimed here were members of an office pool.

The group all worked together in the shipping department of the Quaker Oats plant in Cedar Rapids when they won a $241 million jackpot in June of 2012. They called themselves the “shipping 20” when they came to collect the jackpot.

Neubauer says strong sales could push the jackpot even higher before the 8:59 p.m. drawing.

Iowa Lottery photo.

Hot Lotto game will be retired in October

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The Hot Lotto game is heading into retirement this fall after a run that started back in April of 2002.

Iowa Lottery spokesperson, Mary Neubauer, says Iowa and the 13 other lotteries that sell the game decided to make the move after a performance review.

“Any game has a life span and through the years Hot Lotto has been updated just like some of our other lotto games like Powerball and Mega Millions have, to incorporated new features and give players new things to look for in the game. But over time, the sales have simply fallen off,” Neubauer says.

She says it’s a bit ironic as Hot Lotto was developed after players told the Iowa Lottery they weren’t as interested in chasing the mega jackpots generated by some of the other games.

“And that in fact is what Hot Lotto is. It’s a game that has Powerball style play, but with jackpots that start at a million dollars and with easier odds to win than Powerball, and yet the sales have fallen off over time,” according to Neubauer. “People say that’s what they want, but then they’re not backing that up with their choices when it comes to actually purchasing tickets. So, it’s kind of an interesting mindset there that we’ve looked at.”

The Hot Lotto game was at the center of one of the most convoluted stories and mysteries in Iowa that eventually led to a guilty plea in a multi-state lottery rigging scheme. Neubauer says that case had not impact on the decision to end the game.

“No, the decision that led to this point is simply a business decision. It’s based on the performance of the game,” Neubauer says. She expects something to replace the Hot Lotto game.

Neubauer says the lotteries that are members of the Hot Lotto game are working on a new game that would debut later this year, but those plans haven’t been finalized. The last Hot Lotto drawing is scheduled for October 28th.   There is the possibility that no one has the winning numbers for that jackpot.

“Just like other unclaimed prize money, here in Iowa, we will use that money for prizes in future games and promotions, “Neubauer says. And if you win some sort of prize in that last drawing, you can still collect it.

“Prizes in Hot Lotto are valid here in Iowa for up to 365 days from the date of the drawing in which they are won. And that would still be applicable even after the game ends,” Neubauer explains. “So, if you won a prize in the final drawing of Hot Lotto, you would still have another year to claim that prize.”

Iowa Lottery players have won eight jackpots in Hot Lotto since it began. That includes the largest prize ever in the game — $19.97 million jackpot won in January 2007 by John Hall of Indianola.

Iowa casinos participating in Responsible Gaming Education Week

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Iowa’s 19 state-licensed casinos are making an extra effort to reach out to customers this week as part of Responsible Gaming Education Week.

Iowa Gaming Association CEO Wes Ehrecke says the casinos have been hosting activities throughout the week. “The Responsible Gaming Education Week has always been a time over the last 18 years to focus on heightening awareness with our patrons and treatment providers and staff….that people should go to the casino for the fun and entertainment that it is intended to be and using discretionary dollars,” Ehrecke says.

A big issue being discussed this year is the change in the law on self bans from casinos. “It’s an opportunity to answer questions and get everybody sort of on the same page — kind of a learning curve here,” Ehrecke says. The new law clarifies that the ban only includes the gaming floor areas at the casinos. He says a lot of studying went into changing the law that now gives someone the option of a five-year ban — which had been limited to only a lifetime ban. Ehrecke says treatment professionals believe it may lead to more people taking advantage of it because it doesn’t last forever.

“When people maybe have the loss of a loved one, going through a divorce or loss of a job. It’s not necessarily a compulsive gambler, they just need a time out. Something that’s maybe shorter than a lifetime,” Eherecke says. “So this is giving that opportunity of a better option.” The new law began July 1st and Ehrecke says those who had banned themselves already have a chance to take another look at the issue.

“If they’ve been excluded for at least five years they would have an opportunity to be reinstated,” Ehrecke explains . “So that’s another aspect of this we’ve been trying to help educate and heighten awareness and answer questions — of which there have been plenty of in the last couple of weeks.” While this week focuses on the effort to stop problem gambling, he says casinos are working on the issue throughout the year.

“It’s absolutely important to have a focus on responsible gaming year round, and I applaud our casinos who work with respective area treatment providers. They invite them in on a periodic basis,” Ehrecke says. “Certainly this week there is a lot of attention on staff training and interaction, and just looking at signage and what can we do to improve.”

Ehrecke says there is a lot of information available on gambling and the rules in the state at the Iowa Gaming Association’s website at: iowagaming.org.

Another sales record for Iowa Lottery scratch tickets, Powerball sales down

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Total ticket sales for the Powerball lottery game fell during the past 12 months in Iowa due to the lack of high-dollar jackpots, but sales of scratch tickets continue to surge.

Iowa Lottery officials report more than $237.6 million worth of scratch tickets were sold during the past 12 months. That’s nearly $4 million above the previous year’s record and the third consecutive year of record sales for scratch tickets.

Powerball ticket sales were down 27 percent, however. There had been a big Powerball sales spike the previous year, due to a world-record jackpot.

The Lottery’s preliminary financial report for the past 12 months indicates about 81-million dollars in profits will be turned over to the state treasury. It’s the fourth time lottery profits have topped 80 million. The lottery’s CEO says the operation is in a “healthy position” and ended its fiscal year “well ahead” of sales and profit projections.