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Lakes Entertainment Inc. chairman Lyle Berman inked a deal for the company to fund 10% of the cost of the ballot referendum brought up by Penn Ventures and Rock Ohio Ventures. In exchange Lakes has the chance to walk away with a 10% share in each of the casinos erected, if they decide for the option. The paperwork filed by Berman was with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and it confirmed that Lakes has already extended their first payment of $1.9 million to Penn and $2.4 million to Rock Ohio. Each one is developing the Columbus and Toledo casinos and the Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos, respectively. The four facilities should be premiere gaming houses that offer all casino games including slots, craps, backgammon, poker and roulette.

Ohio has long been contemplating expanding its casino market. The recession has been hard-hitting to the communities in the state. They are hoping that the four casinos in Columbus, Toledo, Cleveland and Cincinnati are enough to pull the state through the huge deficits they are under.  Legalization and regulation of gambling is what is hoped to bring in billions of tax-dollars.  Citizens are also hoping that the casinos are able to make good on their claims that four casinos in the area will bring in jobs. With a staggering unemployment rate and difficulty coaxing businesses into creating jobs, bringing new businesses into the market may be the only solution.  Also, the state government is hoping that spreading out the casinos in multiple Ohio-based areas will help to bring jobs to every large market in the state.

Lakes Entertainment, Inc first lost the deal for the Ohio slots parlors last year but now managed to turn their luck around and are laying claim to the facilities. It is hoped that the four casinos will bring in billions of dollars not only to the government, but millions to Lake Entertainment Inc.  If they can bring in huge revenues that they anticipate, the company will continue to grow and develop more casinos throughout the US. Their hope is that this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of casinos and growing the Lakes Entertainment brand in the casino market.

Casinos in Ohio are hopeful that gamblers will continue to bring money into their operations. The state is going through a lot of changes as of late due to four casinos looking for the ok to begin operations. There are four major cities looking to build casinos and unfortunately the existing facilities are worried.

The Mountaineer is one facility that has bee in the area for a number of years now. It offers full service gaming including slots, poker, baccarat and various table games.  There is also the race track in the northern West Virginia panhandle that is just an hour from Ohio gambling.  Both are in precarious positions now because they are worried about the state of the gaming economy. Numbers have been down since the recession first began and they have yet to resume normal operations.  Richard O’Brien, patron of the casino stated, ”To a certain degree Mountaineer will lose. If the [new clientele] thinks the new casinos are comparable, they will stay.” O’Brien’s sentiment could be true. Unfortunately for the Mountaineer the new casinos are set to be top-notch in gaming and luxury.  The state is hoping to bring in much-needed revenue with premiere gaming facilities that serve gamers and offer them the casino-feel they want. 

On the other hand, some believe that the casinos will lose out on customers. Marty Deak another gamer who was within walking distance of the Mountaineer believes that the casino will suffer but only “in the beginning because everyone will be curious” about the casinos to be built in Ohio’s four largest cities after Tuesday’s passage of a constitutional amendment allowing gambling. Deak believes that patrons will go back to their own casino because it is what they are familiar with. He added, “Slots players know exactly where the slots they want are located. They don’t want to go back to searching and learning a new layout.”

Spokesperson for the Wheeling Island race track Kim Florence stated, “Overall, it’s too early to speculate on the market impact – based on the fact there is opposition and proposed amendments that could come into play. We do feel in Ohio it will take a couple of years to get up and running. During that time, we will continue to focus on our business plans and focus on the Ohio market – as we’ve always intended to do. Pennsylvania and Ohio are our core audiences, and we will take advantage of any time we might have as this unfolds. We will continue to monitor efforts to build casinos in Ohio. As this unfolds, we will plan accordingly.”

Lakes Entertainment Inc just inked a deal with Penn National Gaming Inc and Dan Gilbert, lead owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  The deal would see the construction of four new casinos in Ohio with one in each city: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Toledo. The proposal sank quickly last year but this year the voters have spoken. A referendum added to the ballot showed that voters were in support of the additional four casinos to be constructed in the cities.

Lakes Entertainment made the announcement recently citing that Dan Gilbert was the one who gave a 10% stake in the casino ventures. Lakes underwrote 10% of the cost of the ballot issue also, in exchange for a 10% piece of the venture if it went through. Penn National Gaming confirmed however that Lakes Entertainment will not be active in the operations of the casinos in Toledo or Columbus. Penn National spokesman Eric Schippers stated, “Lakes Entertainment Inc. is purely coming in as a passive investor. With all the positive momentum we are experiencing, they approached us literally in the final week to ask if they could invest for a small-equity piece in our facilities in Columbus and Toledo. They got 10 percent, but they will have no operational say or role in the campaign nor will they have any role or say in the running of these facilities.”

The Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee behind Issue 3 had reported spending $32 million to promote the ballot issue throughout the month of October. Senator Teresa Fedor stated, “Back in October, we asked for full disclosure of Issue 3 players. We believe that if you’re going to be given the keys to the constitution, we should know who we’re giving them to. Penn National was not forthcoming in disclosing who its investors were. We were told Berman was not an investor. It leads to the question of whether we can trust them.”

A partnership between Lakes Entertainment and Penn National may see odd due to the fact the Penn was the one who spent an initial $37 million last year to persuade voters to reject Issue 6. This was an old proposal for a casino resort to be built at the outskirts of Cincinnati. Lakes Entertainment owned 80% of that project.  Schippers added, “Our opposition to Issue 6 last time around was amendment- specific. It was nothing personal against Mr. Berman, and it was not personal for Mr. Berman either.”