Gambling board delays ruling
11/5/09 | 17 comments

Gambling board delays ruling


Hollywood Slots seeks approval of new ‘hosted’ machines
By Eric Russell
BDN Staff

AUGUSTA, Maine — Members of the state’s Gambling Control Board debated at length Wednesday about Hollywood Slots’ request to add a new type of slot machine, but then decided to delay the decision pending more information.

Bob Welch, executive director of the board, brought the request to bring “hosted” slot machines to the Bangor racino. The machines, Welch explained, are still automated, but instead of patrons placing money into the slots, a host employed by the racino does that for them.

The machine appears to be something of a bridge between traditional slot machines and table games such as poker and blackjack, which many would like to see eventually added at Hollywood Slots.

Some members of the Gambling Control Board said the definition of slot machine under state law is quite broad and this new machine technically fits that definition.

“It seems to me that nowhere in the statute does it demand the player has to put money in the machine,” board Chairman George McHale said. “I don’t see any grounds to deny the request.”

Others disagreed.

“To me it’s a card game,” board member Peter Danton said.

Danton pointed out that the gaming industry changes all the time but he said he’d feel better if the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee made a ruling.

Board member Richard Arnold expressed concern that the hosted machines can accommodate up to five players at a time, although Welch stressed the players would be playing against the computer, not one another.

“I agree [with Danton] that we need to have this clarified,” Arnold said.

Cushing Samp, another board member, said it’s the Gambling Control Board’s responsibility to make these types of decisions, not pass them off to the Legislature.

“I don’t want to go back to the Legislature and say we don’t know how to do our job. It sets a bad precedent,” she said.

If the machines were approved, Welch said Hollywood Slots likely would add a couple on a trial basis. The facility is not expected to change the total number of machines, which now sits at 1,000.

There has been a long-running discussion since Hollywood Slots opened in Bangor in 2005 about whether the facility would add traditional table games at some point. To do so would require a legislative act and Gov. John Baldacci has indicated in the past that he would not sign any bill that expands gambling.

In the meantime, Hollywood Slots often has brought in the latest in slot machines, and Welch said that’s all the hosted machines are, although he admitted they do have the feel of a table game.

After considerable debate, the board agreed to revisit the matter at its December meeting after Welch and Bill Stokes of the Attorney General’s Office have gathered more information.

erussell@bangordailynews.net

990-8167

Not registered? Click here
E-mail this
Print this
Guidelines for posting on bangordailynews.com

Bangordailynews.com is pleased to offer a forum for readers to react to our stories, discuss them and provide additional information. We are reluctant to delete comments, but do reserve that right for those who abuse our forum. For more on using this site, please see our terms of service.

The primary rule here is pretty simple: Treat others with the same respect you'd want for yourself. What does that mean specifically? Here are some guidelines (see more):

Comments
17 comments on this item
On 11/5/09 at 5:58 AM, NochigahnehAlnabeh wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

You mean George McHale (Massachusetts transplant, Indian hater), the Chairman of the Maine Gamblng Control Board, Hollywood Slot's statewide lobbyist. Yah know the George McHale that hosts his morning radio talk show from Hollywood Slots studio? Get it? Only in Maine would this kind of crap be allowed to go on...GOVERNOR! Well, as the man said, got no conflict, got no interest ! What a joke!

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 6:05 AM, NochigahnehAlnabeh wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

HAHAHA..Bill Stokes? Mr. AG Indian fighter?..let's see if he enforces the state gambling laws as quickly as he has been to create ficitious interpretations of Maine laws about Indian rights. Don't hold your breath. The whole bunch are nothing short of a incestuous cesspool!

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 6:08 AM, MaineSurvivor2 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I have a sincere question I need answered. Why aren't table games allowed at Hollywood Slots?

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 6:59 AM, RamRod wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If you're playing against a computer, guess what? It's not a table game. It's a slot machine. What kind of BUFFOONS are on this committee? Approve it, you JACKASSES. Danton needs to extract his cranium from his anus. Out.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 8:17 AM, Milltown wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This message is for NochigahnehAlnabeh.

Do your homework "big mouth" ... George McHale has probably lived in Maine longer than you have been here! Check out this link on how long ago he moved to the Bangor area http://www.bangormetro.com/media/Bangor-Metro/December-2005/Hale-The-Sports-Hero/

I don't agree much with George McHale but I don't like ignorant "big mouths" spouting incorrect information.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 8:37 AM, Native1710 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Why can't we get involved in the more profitable vices, too? How about wh*re houses and drug sales? Then we'd have the "Triple Header" that organized crime always seeks in its operations.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 9:25 AM, fmrmti wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Might as well...Maine clearly doesn't want "traditional" jobs, like tourism and industry.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 10:11 AM, pcme2000 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Let Hollywood Slots add tables. Why not bring more money to the area.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 10:12 AM, tommie wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

As long as Bangor continues trying to tie economic growth to the gaming industry it is going to be viewed by real businesses looking for expansion as nothing more than a stupid backwater community. Get a life Bangor! Spend the slots money on a high tech business park and leverage its proximity to UMO.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 12:22 PM, kalzar wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This message is for Milltown:

George Hale is who the article is about, but George McHale is who NochigahnehAlnabeh is talking about. Two different people.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 12:48 PM, HarryofBangor wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

How is it that George Hale can sit on a gambling control board when he takes money from Hollywood Sluts to support his radio show? That seems like a blatant conflict of interests. Since they're putting bread on his table, he should step down or be removed from the board.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 1:00 PM, HarryofBangor wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

George Hale IS George McHale. Hale is his "radio" name and McHale is his legal name. I don't know why, but a lot of the radio guys do that.

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 1:28 PM, SilenceDogooder wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Come on. We are all adults here and we know the delay is just a way for the so called gambling board to tell Hollywood slots they haven't sweetened the pot or greased the palms of enough people. As soon as this is done they will get what ever they want, ya just got to pay for it. They all know how the game is supposed to be played. The statement " I don't want to go back to the Legislature" is a code for, "if we do that, they will want their cut"..................

Report abuse
On 11/5/09 at 8:26 PM, SpecialEd wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

George is older than dirt. He's been on the radio in Maine since the 50's, maybe earlier. It was standard practice back in those days to use a different name if yours was too Irish, Italian, Jewish, etc.

I am sure the radio station pays him a salary, but its not like any particular sponsor hands cash directly to him. There are payola laws that prevent that. The studio is named that way because the radio station sold it as a package with radio ads. They use many gimmicks like this, especially now in a bad economy to help close deals.

Report abuse
On 11/6/09 at 8:08 AM, HarryofBangor wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"...radio station pays him a salary, but its not like any particular sponsor hands cash directly to him. There are payola laws that prevent that. The studio is named that way because the radio station sold it as a package with radio ads."

Oh, so the slots money goes thru other hands before is lands in Hale's paycheck. Well that makes it all okay, right? Wrong. When a guy knows that part of his pay comes from a particular company, he shouldn't be acting as a watchdog over that company. I have no knowledge that Hale has done anything illegal. But I can recognize a conflict of interests when I see one. There are plenty of competent people who don't have that conflict. Hale should be replaced by one of them.

Report abuse
On 11/7/09 at 10:04 AM, 15wbulb wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Bangor having a gambling casino with only having slots is like a woman being a little bit pregnant. Gambling is gambling. Why not have the whole experience right in the river city, what's wrong with table games?? It's the same thing as slots but with a tad more chance of actually winning some big bucks. Slots are for wimps. Just like playing the lottery, the payout is already established. I think Bangor and the surrounding area should have the whole shebang slots, table games, off track betting, massage parlors, hookers, escort service, medicinal marajuana sales, porn shop, male and female strippers, live sex shows, discount booze and cigarettes. Let's have it all right in the River City so we can increase tourism. Make it another Reno.

Report abuse
On 11/7/09 at 9:36 PM, SilenceDogooder wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"Poor George, He can't help it. He has to live on a "FIXED" income."

Report abuse
You must be logged in to post a comment. click here to log in.

Powered by: Creative Circle Advertising Solutions, Inc.