Gaming Board moves to sell 10th casino license
The Illinois Gaming Board is taking preliminary steps to reissue the states long-dormant 10th casino license after a recent set of court rulings greatly limited efforts by Emerald Casino officials to open in Rosemont.
Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said the state will begin soliciting bids from investment bankers to try to find an expert to help sell the license to generate "as much money ... as we possibly can."
"This has been a long time coming," Jaffe said at Mondays board meeting. "The 10th license has been dormant since 1997 and cost the state an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue."
Emerald has been battling the board since 1997, when the state first tried to take the license as the company ran a failing casino near East Dubuque. But the General Assembly came to the rescue in 1999, passing a law that allowed Emerald to keep its license and move the casino to Rosemont.
In 2005 the board revoked Emeralds license after finding that company officials lied to state investigators and sold shares to two investors who allegedly had ties to organized crime. Emerald appealed on multiple fronts, but that lengthy effort narrowed last week when the company lost an Appellate Court decision in Chicago and the state Supreme Court declined to review a separate case.
While the Gaming Board is moving forward with plans to sell the license, Emerald officials said last week that they will continue to fight in federal Bankruptcy Court.
Jaffe did not set a timeline for the proceedings but said, "We are going to move ahead as quickly as possible."
The license is a valuable component in negotiations with lawmakers who are eyeing gambling expansion as a way to address state budget problems, although the states attempt to sell it could open up a new legal front for Emerald.
In other action the Gaming Board heard testimony on an effort to put some teeth into the states self-exclusion program for problem gamblers. The board is weighing whether it should require every gambler who walks into a casino in Illinois to present a drivers license or state identification card.
The idea is to catch underage and compulsive gamblers who have voluntarily banned themselves from the casinos but continue going to the boats anyway. Those caught gambling who are on the list can be arrested and charged with trespassing, and all chips and tokens in their possession are confiscated and donated to a non-profit gambling addiction group.
2007-12-06
