Alabama Supremes Side With Guv

Alabama’s video bingo parlors may stay closed for a while.
The state Supreme Court has sided with Gov. Bob Riley saying a Macon County
judge did not have the jurisdiction to halt the pre-dawn raid on VictoryLand on January
29.
Victoryland and two other video bingo parlors have been closed since the raid
and another has postponed its spring opening.
Earlier, the Supreme Court gave Riley a victory by defining bingo in such a
manner as to all but rule out what amount to Class II slots.
Meanwhile, a new battle may be brewing.
The head of Riley’s anti-gaming task force says he wants more than the slot
parlors to be closed – he wants their machines out of Alabama.
That’s not likely to happen. In fact, the Birmingham News reports that the slot
parlors are likely to go to the courts this week for permission to reopen.
But with operations employing thousands of people in a recession – VictoryLand
alone has 6,400 slots – the political pressure is on to change Alabama law to allow the
machines.
One bill just introduced in the legislature calls for a November referendum to
legalize slots at existing locations and other sites if approved by following county
referendums. In all, 10 casinos would be allowed. Slot win would be taxed at 25
percent.
And a recent public opinion poll by Samford University shows that 72 percent of
Alabamans favor legalizing and taxing casinos.
Slot machine companies and Mississippi casino operators are watching intently.
Alabama has become a big market for slot makers, and it has drawn a significant
number of players away from Biloxi and Tunica.
Todd Eilers of Roth Capital estimates the permanent closing of video bingo would
hit IGT earnings by 3 cents a share, Bally 7 and Multimedia Games 7.
IGT has 3,600 machines in the market, BYI 1,700 and MGAM 1,800.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 1:43 pm and is filed under Gaming. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.