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Canadian Casino Forced to Close After Pipes Burst

Playtime Casino, located on Water Street in Kelowna, British Columbia, was overcome by water this week. Pipes burst and water flowed onto the floor and outside the building.

Playtime Casino Kelowna
Playtime Casino Kelowna, pictured above. The Canadian gaming property closed temporarily after pipes burst. (Image; Playtime Casino)

Kelowna Capital News reported that the flooding caused the gaming property to shut down for about a half hour on Sunday afternoon.

Local firefighters responded to a report of a broken sprinkler head at the property at about 3:30 p.m., according to the local news outlet.

Visitors were allowed back on the gaming floor after the water was cleaned up, and the casino was operating normally on Monday.

Cold Temps Blamed

The burst pipes allowed water to flow from the second floor of the gaming property to the outside and onto Water Street, according to Castanet, a local online news site.

No official damage estimate was released by the casino, but the repair costs were believed to be minimal. No injuries were reported.

Casino General Manager Clarissa Pruden told the news site that pipes running between the casino’s kitchen and its parking facility had frozen because of cold temperatures. Temperatures in Kelowna on Sunday ranged between 28 and 34 degrees, according to AccuWeather.

Clinton Wood, a casino visitor, told Castanet that he was playing a table game on Sunday afternoon when an alarm went off and officials ordered all visitors to leave.

Water was running all over the place and onto the street below by the parkade,” Wood recalled. “We got a pretty good car wash. All these people making all that money, and then the alarm went off. I joked that we were making too much money.”

He added there were “quite a few people” who were there at the time playing table games and slots.

Playtime Casino Kelowna features more than 450 slot machines along with a variety of table games, including blackjack, e-roulette, ultimate Texas hold ’em, and EZ baccarat.

Kelowna is located some 242 miles east of Vancouver, Canada.

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Arkansas Supreme Court Rejects Casino Appeal, License Back to Racing Commission

The Arkansas Supreme Court will not hear an appeal petitioned by the Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) regarding its planned Legends Resort & Casino in Russellville.

Arkansas Supreme Court Cherokee Pope County
The Arkansas Supreme Court will not take up an appeal from an Oklahoma tribe seeking to build a commercial casino in Pope County. The Cherokee Nation Businesses, however, is still the presumed front-runner for the gaming license. (Image: AP)

A year ago this month, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox ruled that the Arkansas Racing Commission erred in issuing a commercial casino license earmarked for Pope County to CNB, the commercial business unit of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. In considering a lawsuit challenging the granting by a rival casino bidder, Gulfside Casino Partnership in Mississippi, Fox determined that the Cherokee bid violated rules established through Amendment 100 of the Arkansas Constitution.

State voters in November 2018 passed the amendment to allow a single casino in the counties of Crittenden, Garland, Jefferson, and Pope. The casino bidding rules, however, required the state Racing Commission to only consider pitches from single entities.

Fox concluded that CNB applied as a consortium with a newly formed company called Legends Resort & Casino, LLC. The state Supreme Court last week opted to deny reconsidering the case. The high court in October upheld Fox’s decision in a 5-2 ruling.

License Returned to Racing Commission

With the Cherokee’s appeal formally settled, the Pope County casino license has been returned to the Arkansas Racing Commission. The state gaming regulator is expected to conduct a new bidding round, but the $300 million Legends Casino will presumably be the only qualified bid.

In separate litigation, it’s been determined through the Arkansas court system that bidders must have the support of either the sitting county judge or the present county quorum court. Last month, the Pope County Quorum Court voted 7-6 to endorse the CNB proposal. Pope County Judge Ben Cross has also backed the Legends development.

Gulfside previously applied with a letter of support from former Pope County Judge Ed Gibson, who issued his backing on the final day of his tenure before he exited the position in December 2018. Gulfside pitched a $254 million casino in Russellville called River Valley Casino Resort.

While Fox ruled against the Cherokees in January 2023, he also discredited the Gulfside plan when he decided that “the county judge” in Amendment 100’s language refers to the current judge — not a former county judge.

CNB will be expected to reapply as a single entity, likely as Legends Resort & Casino, LLC, which the company fully owns.

License Dilemma Continues

More than five years since Arkansans approved a casino in Pope County, the gaming license still hasn’t been issued. Meanwhile, casinos have opened in the three other counties.

The Pope County controversy began in 2020 when it was determined that Racing Commissioner Butch Rice had a bias in his grading of the Gulfside bid a perfect 100 out of 100 and the Cherokee plan just 29/100. The Racing Commission decided to exclude Rice’s scoring, which had tipped the overall score in Gulfside’s favor and opted to issue the license to the Cherokees.

That initiated the legal controversy, with Cherokee and Gulfside attorneys battling for the casino concession ever since. Ricer is no longer a commissioner on the seven-person state agency.

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Casino Chip Grabber Nominated to Nevada ‘Black Book’

A man accused of stealing fistfuls of chips from tables and casino patrons has been nominated to Nevada’s so-called “black book,” its list of individuals who are forever banned from all casinos in the state.

A copy of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s so-called ‘black book’ of excluded persons is displayed at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. (Image: Mob Museum)

The Nevada Gaming Control Board nominated Neal Ahmed Hearne to its List of Excluded Persons at its Wednesday meeting, after watching surveillance videos of a man identified as Hearne grabbing chips from a table game at Aria in Las Vegas in January 2018.

Hearne was convicted of a crime related to the incident.

Hearne met three criteria for inclusion on the list, Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela argued during the meeting:

  1. a prior felony conviction
  2. a conviction of a crime of moral turpitude
  3. a judicial order banning him from a casino

Gaming Control Board Chair Kirk Hendrick added that nominating Hearne for inclusion was necessary because his “brazen” actions could easily escalate into dangerous situations.

If the five-member Nevada Gaming Commission votes to concur at a future meeting, then Hearne will become the 37th person added to the black book.

A Dishonor Just to be Nominated

Hearne will be notified of his nomination and given the opportunity to request a hearing before the commission to oppose his inclusion. He can choose to be represented by legal counsel who can gather evidence to counter the allegations.

Last month, the commission unanimously voted to add Shaun Joseph Benward, a Mississippi illusionist who allegedly uses his knowledge of distraction to scam roulette dealers, as the black book’s 36th excluded person.

Every few years, the attorney general’s office will review the whereabouts of individuals on list and seek a regulatory action to purge the names of those they can confirm have died.

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California Tribal Casino Debuts Kid-Friendly Ninja Course and Trampoline Park

A California tribal casino some 70 air miles southeast of Sacramento in Tuolumne is making a big bet on keeping its resort bustling in 2024 with more family-friendly draws.

California tribal casino Black Oak
Elevate is a new standalone family-friendly entertainment center located at the Black Oak Casino Resort in California. The facility brings an array of new kid-appropriate fun to the destination southeast of Sacramento. (Image: The Union Democrat)

The Black Oak Casino Resort is owned and operated by the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians. Ahead of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the tribe opened its casino’s newest attraction — a 20,000-square-foot family fun center called “Elevate.”

The facility provides entertainment for all ages. Guests can tackle a ninja warrior course, jump around on an indoor trampoline park, play dodgeball, throw axes, golf on indoor simulators, and perform high-flying slam dunks.

Elevate officially opened its doors on Dec. 20. The facility is open 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the weekend.

We aim to provide a fun entertainment experience that elevates the entire family,” a statement from the tribal casino read. “A place where not only visitors but our local community of all ages can come together and experience family fun.”

Tuolumne County residents with proof of residency receive a 10% discount on admission to Elevate. For non-residents, the family-friendly attraction offers an array of passes. A 90-minute “jump pass” to the trampoline area starts at $23 for guests aged seven and older. Guests aged six and under get in for $18.

Added Reasons to Visit

Like so many casinos across the country, Black Oak is presumably trying to add destination value by way of non-gaming amenities, as casinos continue to spread in the US and legal gaming outlets are more widely available. The Black Oak property is the primary economic engine of the tribe, which operates slot machines and table games through a Class III Indian gaming compact with the State of California.

Black Oak opened in 2001 with slots and a small restaurant. It’s undergone significant expansions since, with the resort today offering nearly 1,200 slots and 22 table games on a 50,000-square-foot casino floor. About 325 machines are located on a smoke-free second floor that measures around 11,000 square feet.

Elevate isn’t the tribe’s first non-gaming investment in the resort.

Along with its 18-hole championship golf course that it purchased in 2019, the Black Oak Casino Resort in January 2005 opened a 53,000-square-foot “Family Fun Floor.” The facility features a 24-lane bowling alley and an arcade.

Resort Expansion Planned

The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians has plans to further expand its casino resort. Though the tribe is for now staying mum on specifics, tribal leaders say the investments will include upgrades and expansions to the current resort.

Along with the aforementioned gaming and entertainment, Black Oak features a 148-room hotel with five full-serve restaurants, plus a convention and event center. An accompanying 85-space RV park has full power capabilities with restrooms and showers, a dog park, and a catch-and-release fishing pond.

The Black Oak RV park is a popular stop for recreational motorists, as the resort borders Yosemite National Park and Gold Country.

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Casino Crime Round Up: San Jose Gambling, Prostitution Raid Leads to Arrests

Five suspects were apprehended after a North San Jose, Calif., raid of an illicit gambling operation this week.

San Jose Police Department cruiser
San Jose Police Department cruiser, pictured above. Police officers raided an illegal gambling operation. (Image: San Jose Spotlight)

Authorities also seized 33 guns, about 20K in cash, 150K rounds of ammo, and some 500 pounds of suspected marijuana during Wednesday’s court-ordered raid.

The arrested suspects are Saolepea Liu, 42, of Antioch, Calif., as well as Nido Nguyen, 35, Phuong Nguyen, 44, Windie Pratt, 41, and Anai Garcia, 24, each of San Jose.

Each was booked on charges at Santa Clara County Jail. Specific counts weren’t immediately released.

The investigation began earlier this month when San Jose Police Department (SJPD) officers were tipped off there was an illegal casino operating in several units in a commercial building on Autumndale Drive in North San Jose.

It turns out there was more than illicit gambling occurring at the site. SJPD officers said they uncovered illegal drug sales and prostitution, according to San Francisco TV station KRON.

Women who were victims of sex trafficking at a brothel in the building were provided resources and assistance following the raid, KRON reported based on a SJPD statement released on Friday.

The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are possible.

Over $2K Robbed from Casino

A Bozeman, Mont. man was arrested this week after allegedly holding up a small gaming facility and burglarizing a gas station.

Duane Cantwell, 50, was charged with a count each of robbery and burglary after the theft from Bozeman’s Montana Lil’s Casino on Wednesday night.

A female clerk at the business claimed the bandit grabbed her as she tried to count money.

Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me. I have children who need me,” she pleaded with the robber.

He then ordered her to hand over the loot and said he wouldn’t harm her if he got the cash.

He fled the business after being given $2,126, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

He drove off in a white Ram 1500 pickup truck. His photo was captured on a surveillance camera.

Cantwell also allegedly burglarized a Town Pump gas station administrative office in Belgrade, Mont. on Wednesday night.

He entered the office by climbing through ceiling tiles. The office was “trashed,” police revealed. But it’s unclear if anything was stolen.

On Thursday, police had identified Cantwell as the suspect. They spotted his pickup truck at Montana’s Gallatin County Fairgrounds. He was found inside a nearby camper and apprehended.

He was booked at Gallatin County Detention Center. His case was turned over to local prosecutors.

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