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New Casino In Rosemont Il 2011카테고리 없음 2021. 7. 23. 04:24
Powerful investors trying to build a new casino in Rosemont, a move that ratchets up pressure on the group to give up the effort. In letters hand-delivered to officials of Emerald Casino Inc., the Illinois Gaming Board laid out its case against the investors. It alleged the group was unfit to run a casino because some shareholders had ties to. The battle for the state's 10th casino license has been long and contentious, with Rosemont and Waukegan in competition against Des Plaines, the eventual winner and the site of the new Rivers Casino. Here at New Casino Sites, you will find a great variety of the various casinos and games. Some of them are New Casino In Rosemont Il 2011 undoubtedly well known to you already, New Casino In Rosemont Il 2011 but you are guaranteed to find something new too. Some examples of the games you will find are listed below. Official MapQuest website, find driving directions, maps, live traffic updates and road conditions. Find nearby businesses, restaurants and hotels. I think it helps if you realize that this is a new casino, more to the point, a new casino in an area that has never had one before, therfore, most employees have never worked at a casino and may not know the ins and outs that many who go to casino's regularly are used to. Other than that, I did ended up leaving $500 up so no complaints.
ILLINOIS PULLS LICENSE HELD BY ROSEMONT CASINOGROUP
STATE REGULATORS' MOVE COULD BE A FATAL BLOW TOEMERALD'S CHANCES
By Douglas Holt
Tribune Staff Writer
March 7, 2001State regulators said Tuesday they were yanking a long-dormant gambling licenseheld by a consortium of powerful investors trying to build a new casino inRosemont, a move that ratchets up pressure on the group to give up the effort.
In letters hand-delivered to officials of Emerald Casino Inc., the IllinoisGaming Board laid out its case against the investors. It alleged the group wasunfit to run a casino because some shareholders had ties to organized crimewhile others had lied to board investigators about backroom ownership deals.
The letters also revealed that the Emerald group, apparently confident it wouldget a green light from the board, had already spent $25 million laying afoundation and erecting steel girders before running afoul of state regulators.Previously, Emerald officials had said they had spent less than half thatamount.
In January, a year after that money was spent, the board voted 4-1 to denypermission to the company to operate a gambling boat in Rosemont. Tuesday'sletters amplified the reasoning behind that decision while also signaling thepanel's intent to make it hard for the investor group to win permission for thecasino through an appeals process.
Under a different name the Emerald group operated the Silver Eagle casino inEast Dubuque, which closed in 1997. But the Emerald retained the license andsought to move it to Rosemont with the aid of a tailor-made 1999 state law forwhich officials of the casino lobbied intensely.
Without that license Emerald would lose any edge that it held under the lawover competing companies also seeking permission to open the state's 10thcasino.
Mob-tainted shareholders wound up as proposed owners of the Emerald, theboard said in its complaint, because Emerald officials, led by former WasteManagement executive Donald F. Flynn, failed to investigate the background ofother investors. According to the complaint, Flynn told the board he knewnothing about some proposed owners because 'if they were willing to come upwith the money, I didn't really care.'
The letters identify for the first time the investors that boardinvestigators contend have mob ties: Nick Boscarino, a former Teamsters officialand former business partner of Rosemont Mayor Donald E. Stephens, and JosephSalamone, the owner of Fair Share Foods, an Oak Park grocery on Roosevelt Road.
In a three-sentence written statement, Emerald President Kevin Larson saidthe company declined to comment other than to say it plans to appeal thedecision and 'disagrees with the preliminary findings.'
The casino had once seemed a sure bet and attracted a bevy of politicallyconnected shareholders, who bought in at a rate of roughly $1.5 million for each1 percent stake. They include the wife of Timothy Degnan, a top adviser toChicago Mayor Richard Daley; Susan A. Leonis, a consultant for Rosemont and afriend of Stephens, Daley and Daley's wife, Maggie; and John M. Sisto, nephew ofcasino champion Ralph Capparelli, a Democratic state representative fromChicago.
The roster of shareholders also includes Boscarino, who once owned atrade-show forklift rental company with Stephens. Among other directors of thatcompany, called American Trade Show Services, was William Daddano Jr., who islisted in the Chicago Crime Commission's moborganization chart. The board's letter cited Boscarino's businessrelationship with Daddano as evidence of mob association. Boscarino could not bereached Tuesday.
Boscarino was one of several casino investors who became casino owners withthe help of Stephens. In a sworn deposition last year, Stephens said heintroduced Boscarino's wife to Joe McQuaid, an Emerald senior vice president andboard member, when they attended a 1999 political fundraiser Stephens held athis home on Lake Delavan, Wis., after the casino law passed.
Salamone was identified as the brother and business partner of Vito Salamone,who the Gaming Board said has organized-crime ties. Vito Salamone originally hadbeen listed as a casino shareholder, but his name was replaced by Joseph'swithout explanation, the complaint said.
When reached Tuesday at his grocery store, Joseph Salamone denied anyconnection or association with organized-crime figures.
'That's not fair,' he said. 'That's absolutely, and I meanabsolutely, not true. What it is, is guilt by association. If you live in acertain community, you're tainted.'
Vito Salamone could not be reached for comment.
The letters also cited Emerald for hiring D&P Construction, a NorthwestSide firm with known mob connections, to do work at the casino site. D&P isowned by the wife of Peter M. DiFronzo, who in 1998 was forced out of theTeamsters Local 731 amid charges that he was chief lieutenant for his brother,Chicago mob boss John 'No Nose' DiFronzo.
Since 1999 D&P and another DiFronzo-controlled firm, JKS Ventures, havegiven more than $16,000 to political funds connected to Stephens. Stephens hasmaintained he is unaware of any problems with the company.
On Tuesday, Stephens' spokesman, Gary Mack, said the mayor is 'certainlywilling to, and I believe will, give that money to charity.'
In addition to mob-associated shareholders, the documents said Flynn and hisson, Emerald Chief Executive Officer Kevin Flynn, demonstrated a'continuous pattern ... of providing false and misleading information tothe board and its staff.'
The board faulted Emerald officials for attempting to hide the pivotalinvolvement of Stephens in pushing their bid to open the casino in his townmonths before state law was rewritten to allow it. The board did not accuseStephens of any wrongdoing.
In one case Kevin Flynn denied he had discussed or even considered Rosemontas a possible location for the casino. Under questioning he acknowledged he metwith Stephens as early as 1997 but said the sole topic was the Blue Chip Casino,in Indiana, which Flynn ran at the time.
Stephens, by contrast, told the board that 'the only subject discussedat the meeting was the relocation of the Emerald's riverboat gaming operation toRosemont and that the subject of Blue Chip Casino never came up.'
In declaring another series of statements false or misleading, the board putitself in the unusual position of deciding the merits of a federal lawsuitrelated to the casino. In the case, currently dismissed on jurisdictionalgrounds and under appeal, California billionaire Marvin Davis alleged KevinFlynn had promised large ownership stakes in the casino to himself and formerArlington Park owner Richard Duchossois.
The Flynns denied making any deals despite contradictory testimony fromDuchossois.
The board's letter said Davis and Arlington officials had provided'credible evidence contracting Kevin Flynn's statements' claiming thatno deal had been struck.
Once a month, Stephanie Klinger drives an hour to Harrah's Joliet casino, sits in front of the slots with her husband, has a few laughs, and spends about $300.
As a frequent customer, she occasionally gets a free meal or hotel room. For the 55-year-old school lunch supervisor, it's a fun little getaway from her home in Northlake.
But now that the Rivers Casino is opening in nearby Des Plaines, she's ready to change her loyalties.
'If I like this casino, I probably won't even go to Harrah's anymore,' she says.
That is what the owners of Rivers Casino are betting on when it opens Monday, and what other casino operators are trying to head off.
Sitting on one of the more desirable gambling sites in the country outside Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Rivers Casino is positioned to draw not only customers from other casinos, observers say, but newcomers from Chicago and the suburbs, conventioneers, and travelers passing through nearby O'Hare International Airport.
Industry consultants say the new casino is a sure bet to succeed, even in a soft economy that has squeezed gambling dollars across the state in recent years. Yet proposed legislation to add five new casinos in Illinois, including Chicago, means the clock is ticking.
The newcomer has a window of opportunity — perhaps two years — to establish a sustainable base no matter what other venues come along, they add.
That explains why Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC, which owns the casino, is positioning it on the Vegas model. One telling ad slogan: 'We are not a riverboat.'
When state lawmakers first allowed casinos in 1990, lawmakers required that the facilities be on moving riverboats in an effort to limit access and help struggling river towns. To provide maximum gambling space, operators put restaurants, bars and other amenities on land next to the boat, so gamblers had to leave the casino to eat, and re-enter to gamble.
Today, casinos no longer have to cruise in boats, but they still have to be over water. To comply with state law, Rivers Casino was built over a shallow pit filled with a few inches of water that's hidden to visitors.
Inside the building, though, the casino makes a bold statement. In contrast to riverboats confined by multiple smaller levels, the Rivers gaming floor spreads across 44,000 square feet on a single level, with nearly 20-foot ceilings. The gaming floor radiates with the glow of 1,050 slot machines and 48 table games, including blackjack, craps and roulette.
The high-limits area takes bets up to $50,000 for blackjack and $100,000 for mini baccarat. A separate room offers privacy for celebrities or high rollers willing to pay for their own table and dealer.
At the center of the action lies the Lotus cocktail lounge, with a jazz pianist and a 360-degree view. Surrounding the floor are a half-dozen restaurants, led by Hugo's Frog Bar & Chop House, operated by Gibson's, a prestigious outside dining brand.
Skylights — once unheard of at casinos — let in indirect sunlight and support green walls of plants. The builders aim to make it the first LEED-certified casino in the nation, denoting environmentally friendly construction.
Midwest Gaming has spent $445 million to make the facility opulent and contemporary. But CEO Greg Carlin said customer service is as important as location and design. Translators provide services in Asian, Spanish and Eastern European languages. The parking deck has green and red lights to show which spaces are open.
Managers are seeking an upscale clientele, but welcome all gamblers. In particular, they're pushing casino membership, with special previews this weekend for VIPs and Des Plaines residents who were the first to join the club. Typically, marketing officer Suzanne Trout said, members make up 20 percent of casino clientele but generate 80 percent of the revenue.
With a broad base of potential customers, state analysts said, Rivers will likely become the highest revenue-generating casino in the state, exceeding the $287 million at the Grand Victoria Casino Elgin last year, in part by stealing business from nearby competitors.
The Rivers Casino license had a tortuous journey to its final destination. It once belonged to an East Dubuque casino that went out of business in 1997. Three investor groups sought the license to build a casino in Rosemont, but the deals fell through. In 2008, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the license to Midwest Gaming.
Midwest Gaming describes itself as a partnership between affiliates of Neil Bluhm, of real estate giant JMB Realty, and Clairvest Group Inc., a Toronto investment group; and Casino Investors LLC, minority participants who make up at least 16 percent of total ownership, and female investors who make up 4 percent, including Desiree Rogers, CEO of Johnson Publishing and former social planner for President Barack Obama.
But the owners aren't the only ones waiting to rake in their chips. Suburban officials anticipate sharing millions of dollars in tax revenue to use for paving streets, flood control and other projects.
Official estimates of casino revenues have varied. Des Plaines recently estimated that the casino would generate annual revenues of $325 million to $400 million. The profits would be shared by the state, Des Plaines and 10 south suburban communities, with Des Plaines' share estimated at up to $6 million per year.
Still, amid such expectations, Rivers Casino is opening at a difficult time.
Revenues for boats in Aurora, Elgin and Joliet have fallen 33 percent since the state implemented a smoking ban three years ago. In contrast, the renovated Horseshoe Casino in Hammond has taken off, becoming the biggest moneymaker in the area, raking in $542 million last fiscal year.
Based on location, newness and likely dominance in the market, Rivers already has a rivalry with Horseshoe. The new casino hired several top floor managers from Horseshoe, and its Asian pit will compete with Horseshoe's Asian gaming area.
'If you look at their positioning, it appears they're taking a few plays from our playbook,' said Dan Nita, senior vice president and general manager of Horseshoe Casino.
Horseshoe officials aren't too worried about Rivers, he said, because new casinos always get customers to check them out, but relationships built over time get patrons to come back.
To entice them, the casino recently rolled out new promotions, like an $80,000 sweepstakes.
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Other area casinos have also stepped up efforts to hang on to customers.
Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee now offers exclusive rewards for Illinois residents to play there. Like Four Winds Casino Resort in New Buffalo, Mich., and Hollywood Casinos in Aurora and Joliet, it has been advertising recently on Chicago television, radio and billboards.
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Ultimately, the players will have the final say.
Robert Dahlen, a retired collector for a finance company, takes a bus to either Horseshoe or Grand Victoria three times a week. He spends $30 to $50 each visit and has a good time socializing, but now, he says, he and his bus mates will head to Rivers Casino because it's only two miles from his neighborhood in Chicago.
'All the people that used to ride with me,' he said, 'they're going to come to the new casino.'