Casinos

More than $69 million in California welfare money, meant to help the needy pay their rent and clothe their children, has been spent or withdrawn outside the state in recent years, including millions in Las Vegas, hundreds of thousands in Hawaii and thousands on cruise ships sailing from Miami. State-issued aid cards have been used at hotels, shops, restaurants, ATMs and other places in 49 other states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, according to data obtained by The Times from the California Department of Social Services.

SACRAMENTO - As state leaders sweat over another possible round of cuts from schools and social services, casino operators are offering officials a cut of the action if they will legalize Internet poker in California. After two years of hearings and study, the proponents - who are also generous political contributors - say the stars may finally be aligning for them. The California Senate leader this year is co-sponsoring legislation that he hopes will put hundreds of millions of dollars into the state treasury.

This was the end of Martina Bauhaus' job interview for one of the most sought-after positions in town: She put on black velvet high-cut briefs and a tight, low-cut bustier. When her name was called, she walked out of the fitting room to pose in front of a mirror--and half a dozen silent, staring men who measured her up like cattlemen at a livestock auction. She didn't get the job. "Maybe," said the slender 28-year-old, "they didn't like my body in their outfit."

Perhaps you've seen the ads on TV for auction sites with funny names - QuiBids, Beezid - that promise the chance to score cool things like cars and iPads for up to 99% off the retail price. So what's the catch? It's this: You may indeed win an auction and walk away with a nifty prize for considerably less than you'd pay at a store. But it's more likely you'll lose the contest plus the amount you bid, which, unlike a traditional auction, is nonrefundable. And the actual price tag for the goody could end up being many times what it would have cost to just buy the thing the old-fashioned way. "The average player loses money," said Ned Augenblick, an assistant professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business who has studied online auctions.

For California's casino customers, it's the real wild card -- a secret that the Native American gambling industry holds close to the vest. The mystery concerns the payout rates for slot machines: How much of the money pumped into the thousands of chirping contraptions -- the life's blood of the state's 50 Indian casinos -- is returned to players as winnings? Casino executives have the answer, but they tend to guard it like the house vault. State regulators are clueless.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada's largest casinos suffered a combined $4 billion loss in 2011. A report released Friday by the state Gaming Control Board shows 256 casinos grossed $1 million or more in gambling revenue for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Combined, they had total revenue of $22 billion and posted a net loss of $3.9 billion from the previous year. In 2010, the largest casinos had a net loss of $3.4 billion on total revenues of almost $20.9 billion. Total revenue includes money spent by patrons on gambling, rooms, food, beverages and attractions.

The operators behind the Agua Caliente Casino Resort are calling their splashy new 2,001-seat concert hall, the Show, nothing less than "the premier concert theater in Southern California." It's a bold claim, especially considering that the $76-million venue, which feels like a more intimate version of L.A.'s Nokia Theatre, sits outside of Palm Springs. Still, landing veteran rocker Billy Joel to christen the Show late last week was a significant get.

Kentucky has historically -- and famously -- been racehorse country. It hasn't traditionally been casino country. That may soon change, now that a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in the state appears headed to a full vote of the state Senate. What remains unclear is whether the casino amendment will end up hurting or helping the horse-racing business, the state's signature industry and one deeply tied to Kentucky's mythic sense of self. The bill, which has the backing of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, could be voted on by the Senate as early as Thursday -- although there are some calls to delay the vote.

If you've been through Gardena lately, it's hard to imagine there was a time when the town was a winner, hauling in more money from poker than any other city in California. Its six glitzy card clubs--one per square mile--drew players from as far as Santa Barbara and San Diego. Their losses became Gardena's windfall, financing virtually every aspect of the city's operations, from its police to its parks. Today, Gardena is $5 million in the hole.

This is what a recession looks like at Southern California's tribal casinos: Nearly every seat at the 25-cent slot machines is filled. Gamblers wait three deep around the cheapest blackjack tables. The reels on the penny slot machines spin almost without interruption. The Saturday night crowd at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in San Bernardino County reflects what gaming operators say is the new reality of tribal casinos: The visitors are still streaming in, but they have cut way back on spending.

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, arrested this month on suspicion of killing 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children, was prosecuted 10 years ago for assaulting a security guard at a Tacoma, Wash., casino, according to recently obtained court records. The charges, filed in local court there, were dismissed after Bales attended 20 hours of anger management courses. Bales' Seattle-based lawyer in the Afghanistan case, John Henry Browne, has said that the assault -- which occurred before Bales was married -- arose out of a disagreement with a woman.

Is Vegas on a roll? Well, maybe not a roll but certainly trying to push its way clear of a recession that showed its unemployment, 3 1/2 years after economy tanked, at 13.1% in January. (That's an improvement from 14.4% in January 2011.) Some more glimmers of hope (the opening this month of the Smith Center For the Performing Arts was one of the first) come from the announcement this week of two overhauls of downtown Vegas casinos. The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino , at 1 Fremont St., will remain open while it pours $14 million into expanding the casino and hotel, which opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada.  It's been 50 years sinice the property has had "meaningful expansions or renovation," said Mark Brandenburg, president and co-owner.

Richard Milanovich, who as chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians helped to usher in a new age of wealth and political muscle for many Native Americans through the expansion of tribal casinos in California, died Sunday at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage. He was 69 and had cancer. During Milanovich's nearly three decades as chairman, the Agua Caliente tribe rose from a harsh desert existence to the glitz and riches that accompany casino-fed wealth. The transformation coincided with the rebirth of Palm Springs, home to one of the tribe's two posh casino resorts and large swaths of tribal land, and economic gains across the checkerboard reservations in the Coachella Valley.

Like a grandma dogged by bad luck at the bingo table, federal prosecutors in Alabama have failed for a second time to score any courtroom convictions in the state's high-profile political corruption and gambling case. On Wednesday, a jury found six defendants -- including Milton McGregor, owner of the VictoryLand casino; two former state senators and a sitting senator -- not guilty of charges stemming from accusations that they either offered or accepted bribes related to a 2010 gambling bill, according to the Birmingham News . A casino developer, two lobbyists and a state representative pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges after an extensive federal investigation and testified against the defendants in court.

Jimmy Buffett's lyrics have always paired well with the  bottoms-up spirit of the Las Vegas Strip. Now the singer and entrepreneur is one step away from joining the ranks of the town's colorful casino moguls. The Nevada Gaming Control Board on Wednesday recommended that Buffett's company, Margaritaville Holdings, be granted a gambling license, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported . That would allow the company to share in the revenue of the Flamingo hotel's Margaritaville casino, which has 220 slot machines and a bar called -- what else?

An improved economy and lower unemployment rates boosted revenue at American Indian gaming casinos in 2010, helping them rebound from their first ever drop in revenue a year earlier, a report said. The 1% increase in gambling revenue generated by 448 American Indian facilities in 2010 marks a rebound from the 1% decline in revenue in 2009, according to a study released Tuesday by Alan Meister, an economist with Arlington, Va.-based Nathan Associates Inc. Non-gambling revenue, such as spending on food and entertainment at casinos, increased 0.3% in 2010.

Thank you for the Aug. 3 article "Addicts Are Overlooked in Gambling Boom." The proliferation of the gaming industry by California and some Native American tribes is terribly irresponsible and selfish in that it fosters gambling, alcohol and drug addictions. That we have resorted to gambling and a state lottery system to increase government funds is a testament to our lack of principles and creativity. Shame on the state of California, the gaming and card rooms and the Native American casinos whose desire for profits far exceed their interest in cultivating well-being and good health.

Atlantic City casinos that helped push through an exemption to a new statewide smoking ban may have to start clearing the air anyway. The City Council voted unanimously to introduce a proposal to ban smoking in all public places, including gambling floors at the 13 casinos.

Kentucky has historically -- and famously -- been racehorse country. It hasn't traditionally been casino country. That may soon change, now that a proposed constitutional amendment to allow casinos in the state appears headed to a full vote of the state Senate. What remains unclear is whether the casino amendment will end up hurting or helping the horse-racing business, the state's signature industry and one deeply tied to Kentucky's mythic sense of self. The bill, which has the backing of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, could be voted on by the Senate as early as Thursday -- although there are some calls to delay the vote.

We just returned from a three-day "staycation" in Ramona, Calif. We stayed at the San Vicente Resort, and I was impressed with what a great deal this lodge is. All the rooms have a balcony overlooking the beautiful golf course. The resort also has lighted tennis courts and an Olympic-size pool. It's a short drive to the Barona Casino and numerous antique shops. We got a AAA rate of less than $80 a night, which includes a $4-per-person (up to two people) daily discount at the on-site restaurant.