Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. announced today, pursuant to the terms of its previously announced cash tender offer (the "Tender Offer") to purchase up to an aggregate principal amount of $140 million of its 7% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 (the "Notes"), that holders had validly tendered and not withdrawn $322,786,000 aggregate principal amount of the Notes outstanding, or approximately 64.56%, as of 5:00 p.m. New York City Time on January 27, 2009, the expiration of the Early Tender Time and Withdrawal Deadline. Pursuant to the terms of the Tender Offer, any tender, whether made before or after the Withdrawal Deadline, may no longer be withdrawn.

 

The terms of the Tender Offer, including all capitalized terms not defined herein, are contained in the Offer to Purchase, dated January 13, 2009, and in the related Letter of Transmittal.

 

Holders that tendered Notes prior to the expiration of the Early Tender Time that were not validly withdrawn and are accepted in the Tender Offer will receive $580 per $1,000 principal amount tendered and accepted, which includes a $30 Early Tender Premium.

 

Holders whose Notes are accepted for payment but who validly tendered such Notes after the Early Tender Time, and at or prior to the Expiration Time, will only be eligible to receive the Tender Offer Consideration of $550 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes accepted for payment pursuant to the Tender Offer. The Tender Offer will expire at 12:01 a.m., New York City time, on February 11, 2009, unless extended or earlier terminated.

 

Isle's obligation to accept and pay for Notes tendered in the Tender Offer is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain conditions. The amount of Notes tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the Early Tender Time exceeds the maximum of $140 million aggregate principal amount being sought and will be accepted on a pro rata basis with all Notes tendered prior to the Expiration Time. As a result, the pro ration factor cannot be determined prior to the Expiration Time.

 

This press release is not an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities, which is being made only pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal. Isle has retained Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC to serve as Dealer Manager and D. F. King & Co., Inc. to serve as the Tender Agent and the Information Agent for the tender offer. Requests for documents may be directed to D. F. King & Co., Inc. at (800) 431-9643 or, if a Bank or Broker, by calling (212) 269-5550 collect or in writing at 48 Wall Street, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10005. Questions regarding the tender offer may be directed to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC.

 

None of Isle, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, or D. F. King & Co., Inc., makes any recommendation that the holders should tender or refrain from tendering all or any portion of the principal amount of their Notes pursuant to the tender offer. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender their Notes.

 

The Offer to Purchase does not constitute an offer to purchase any Notes in any jurisdiction in which, or to or from any person to or from whom, it is unlawful to make such offer under applicable securities or "blue sky" or other laws. In any jurisdiction where the laws require the tender offer to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the tender offer will be deemed made on behalf of Isle by Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, or one or more registered brokers or dealers under the laws of such jurisdiction.

 

About Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.

 

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc., founded in 1992, is dedicated to providing its customers with an exceptional gaming and entertainment experience at each of its 18 casino properties. Isle owns and operates casinos in Biloxi, Lula and Natchez, Mississippi; Lake Charles, Louisiana; Bettendorf, Davenport, Marquette and Waterloo, Iowa; Boonville, Caruthersville, Kansas City, Missouri; two casinos in Black Hawk, Colorado; and a casino and harness track in Pompano Beach, Florida. Isle's international gaming interests include a casino that it operates in Freeport, Grand Bahama, a casino in Coventry, England, and a two-thirds ownership interest in casinos in Dudley and Wolverhampton, England.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are subject to change. These forward-looking statements may be significantly impacted, either positively or negatively by various factors, including without limitation, licensing and other regulatory conditions, the economy, financing sources, development and construction activities, costs and delays, weather, permits, competition and business conditions in the gaming industry.

 

The forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the statements herein.

 

Additional information concerning potential factors that could affect Isle's financial condition and results of operations is included in Isle's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Isle's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended April 27, 2008 and its Quarterly Report on form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 26, 2008.

Celebrated casino personality Gary Green has signed an agreement to be the public face of Synergy Gaming, a Florida-based slot machine company that has recently been showing up on the radar of gaming Industry analysts and casino operators.

 

Green is best known as a flamboyant developer and operator of Native American and Commercial casinos across the United States; he is also author of the popular casino book "Gambling Man".

 

Synergy CEO Luc Marcoux announced Green's appointment as "Executive Vice President" of Synergy Gaming and the official public face of the company. Green will lead the company's growth into the traditional and Native casino markets where he has spent the last three decades.

 

"This is an amazing little company that out-of-the-gate offers a complete package of both Class III and Class II game titles, as well as a back-of-the-house system, player tracking, and even a progressive; it is a package rarely seen in a company this size," said Green, who is a former Donald Trump Vice President of Casino Marketing and Player Development.

 

"Most amazingly, Synergy has a revenue-tracking solution that is a dream-come-true for regulators, tax boards, and gaming commissions," Green continued. "We have a little board that tracks machine revenue, compiles it real time, computes taxes that are owed, and delivers it all to the desk of the regulatory authority real-time; and it is tamper-proof," Green said.

 

"There is a clear reason that Synergy is on the radar screen of the analysts and casino-insiders; the product offering is phenomenal, especially for a small company," Green added. "That incredible offering is why I wanted to be a part of this company," he concluded.

 

Green's appointment begins immediately and he will be appearing at a Synergy Gaming booth at the Bingo World trade show in Las Vegas of March 3rd and 4th.

Major gambling companies' ledgers have told the same, sinking story for a year: Fewer people are visiting casinos, their trips are getting shorter and they're not gambling as much.

 

Casino construction has slowed or halted from one end of the Las Vegas Strip to the other, more than a dozen projects across the U.S. and abroad have been modified or dropped, and more than 40,000 new rooms in Las Vegas planned by some of the industry's biggest players are on hold.

 

Among other bids to entice customers in the lagging economy, casinos across the country also have slashed room rates. But executives are heralding bigger changes than two-for-one deals on rooms as a decade of rapid revenue growth based on physical expansion and easy credit has stopped short.

 

Industry leaders are following the widespread layoffs, debt reduction and other cost-cutting of recent months with calls for innovation and a back-to-basics approach that focuses on delivering quality at good prices.

 

Most casino markets in the United States already are saturated, said Jonathan Halkyard, chief financial officer for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., and operators have to start thinking beyond their next construction project while the economy retrenches, he said.
era of excess on hold

 

MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Jim Murren said he's seeing small signs that travelers are opening up to Las Vegas again, but not enough to predict when a recovery might happen.

 

"We have a consumer that is not confident, that has been scared, and has every reason to be scared," said Murren, whose company has more casinos on the Las Vegas Strip than any other.

 

The world's four largest casino operators — MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., all based in Las Vegas — are preparing to play the hands they have. There are no new plans afoot for new flourishes like the multimillion-dollar volcanoes or fountains that already grace the Strip or for expensive new clubs or hotels built substantially on credit.

 

"The executives' optimism is shaking," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

 

Gambling revenue for commercial casinos across the U.S. dropped $1.1 billion, or 3.6 percent, to $30.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, according to the American Gaming Association. Many states saw much more dramatic drops, except Pennsylvania, where casino gambling began only in 2007.

 

The figures include only private gambling operations and not, for example, casinos owned by Indian tribes, which also have seen revenue tumble and some of which have cut staff and other costs in response.
plunging profits

 

Visitor volume in Las Vegas declined 3.8 percent for the first 11 months of 2008 compared with 2007 — meaning 1 million fewer people showed up to gamble, shop and dine out — and revenue dropped 9.3 percent, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

 

Wynn Resorts was the only operator among the four largest that saw growth between the first three quarters of 2007 and the same period in 2008: Its net income rose 92 percent to $369.8 million from $192.7 million.

 

Las Vegas Sands and Harrah's both lost money during the first nine months of 2008, while MGM Mirage's profit plunged. Sands lost $52.2 million from January through September 2008, after earning $76.8 million for the same three quarters in 2007. Harrah's lost $415.1 million in the period in 2008 after earning $667.2 million in 2007.

 

MGM Mirage earned $292.7 million, down nearly 59 percent from $712.21 in the period in 2007, creating some uncertainty, especially in Las Vegas. CEO Murren said he told 2,700 casino managers during two meetings last week that he didn't know if his company would trim more workers — it has laid off 3,200 since October 2007 — or sell other casinos. It recently sold the Treasure Island for $775 million. He also told the managers that MGM Mirage may sell noncore assets, including two airplanes and nearly 300 acres of land in Nevada and Atlantic City, N.J., he said.

 

"If the market doesn't grow, it's going to be a market share discussion," Murren said in an interview.

 

The company must stay its course by finishing CityCenter, its $8.6 billion project on the Strip, he said. But, instead of borrowing more and spending more, the company is exploring a half-dozen deals around the world in which it will lend out its name and expertise, he said.

 

"We have vastly under-leveraged brands," Murren said. "Who does not know Bellagio, and yet there's only one Bellagio? And MGM is one of the most recognized brands in the world — a lot of people still think we make movies — and how do you not try to leverage that?"
need for innovation

 

That sentiment is reverberating through the industry.

 

"Here's an idea: How about innovation? I mean if you look at the slot machine, it's basically the same as it was 75 years ago," said Halkyard, the CFO at Harrah's, the world's largest gambling company by revenue.

 

"There has been a shocking lack of innovation around our core product in this industry when compared to virtually any other consumer entertainment product over decades," Halkyard said.

 

Last week, the privately held company — which owns or manages 50 casinos in six countries, including 20,000 rooms in Las Vegas alone — said it would wait for demand to pick up before it finishes more than 600 new rooms at its flagship Caesars Palace on the Strip. Harrah's has been restructuring its debt and in November withdrew a proposal made with partners to manage a $535 million state-owned casino in Kansas.

 

Instead, Halkyard said the company is experimenting with ideas like sending guests same-day specials at shows, restaurants and clubs by text message.

 

"Once people are here, it is fierce competition for their attention," Halkyard said.

 

Sands' president and chief operating officer, William Weidner, said at a conference this month that his company's strategy is not changing much, however, in the hope that it can take quick advantage when the economy rebounds.

 

"But again, we are very mindful of the degree of difficulty," Weidner said. "We're very mindful of how difficult '09 is going to be, and we're focused on operating through '09 as we get into '10."

A new speaker with family ties to horse racing is leading the Texas House. A chairman who oversaw gambling legislation two years ago is under investigation and likely out of the picture. And a slowing state economy leaves lawmakers looking for budget cuts or new revenue.

 

Gambling legislation barely got out of the gate two years ago. This time, a changing political landscape makes handicapping the fate of gambling expansion a bit like picking a trifecta at the horse races.

 

Casino developers, racetrack owners and Indian tribes are all in the running, but it's hard to predict the order of finish. Their plans were derailed two years ago when track owners and casino developers couldn't agree on how to split the spoils. And gambling's opponents, including the Texas Baptist Convention's General Life Commission, will be back to play the role of spoiler.

 

Chris Shields with the Texas Gaming Association, which is championing Las Vegas-style casinos for Texas, is hand-delivering the first of several pamphlets over several weeks to lawmakers.

 

"We feel like now is our time," Shields said. "And we're going to tell our story."

 

It's a story that will promise billions for tuition assistance and transportation as well as aid to the horse racing industry and the state's three tribes who want their own casinos. There's polling information that the association believes will make it possible to get the two-thirds vote they need (100 in the House; 21 in the Senate) to put gambling expansion on a ballot for Texans to decide.

 

Owners of the state's horse and dog tracks will have their own competing proposal — video lottery terminals (a version of slot machines) to buttress their sinking fortunes.

 

The tribes will join the others — or go it alone if the pro-gambling factions undercut one another again.

 

Meanwhile, gambling opponents are waiting in the wings with their own data about crime, problem gamblers, economic projections and a different view of the public's sentiment on the issue.

 

Here's what to watch for:

 

Speaker's family ties

 

Relatives of the new speaker, Joe Straus, are investors in San Antonio's Retama Park racetrack. Straus has vowed to stay away from the issue, but dodging it may be hard for the House leader to do. The speaker selects committee leaders and will decide which committee considers gambling bills. When Straus announces the committees, gambling proponents and opponents will reassess their chances. The Senate probably will wait to see whether the House can muster the votes for gambling.

 

New gambling chairman

 

There will be a new House chairman overseeing gambling legislation. Rep. Kino Flores did that job two years ago. The South Texas Democrat favored his constituents, the LaMantia family, who are beer wholesalers and the developers of a quarter horse track.

 

When casino proponents and track owners couldn't agree, Flores' committee stalled all legislation because neither side wanted the other to gain an advantage. The new chairman will have to see whether he can resolve the impasse.

 

Flores was late to support Straus in the speaker's race this month so it's unlikely he will return as chairman. But an investigation by a Travis County grand jury into his business dealings and travel probably would have reduced the prominence of his role anyway.

 

New allies

 

Texans for Economic Development, largely financed by horse- and dog-track owners, spent about $1.25 million in legislative elections, mostly on incumbents, last year. They had little luck defeating gambling opponents except Rep. Nathan Macias, whom former New Braunfels Mayor Doug Miller beat.

 

But track owners picked up a new ally. The Texas Farm Bureau, for the first time, endorsed video lottery terminals at racetracks as a way to help horse breeders. But the group opposed casino gambling.

 

"This is not a moral issue; this is a money decision," said Dee Warren, a farm bureau delegate for Henderson County, in the organization's news release.

 

Licenses

 

In the end, it is all about money. Consider what a casino or racing license in Dallas-Fort Worth, for example, would be worth. Lawmakers will have to decide who wins and who loses billions. Should the state's horse and dog tracks, which have been struggling, automatically get licenses? Or should the state award them to the highest bidders in the hopes of getting more money?

 

Indian tribes

 

The state's three tribes are the wild cards: the Alabama-Coushatta in East Texas, the Tiguas in El Paso and the Kickapoos in Eagle Pass. Because of a quirk in federal Indian laws, the tribes are treated differently from one another when it comes to gambling.

 

The Kickapoos have a small casino (limited to poker and bingo), but they want more games, including slots. The state shut down the casinos for the other two tribes in 2002. Both want to reopen their casinos.

 

"We are fighting for equality," said Carlos Bullock, chairman of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribal Council.

 

On one hand, the tribal members have higher rates of unemployment and lower income levels than many other Texans. Casinos, they argue, will lift tribe members out of poverty.

 

On the other hand, gambling opponents point to the proliferation of Indian gaming in California as an indication that casinos cannot be limited to just the tribal homelands. They fear that the tribes can purchase other tribal lands or that other tribes that aren't recognized in Texas today will assert their ancestral land rights just to build casinos.

 

Bullock dismisses those arguments as scare tactics.

 

Rob Kohler, a consultant to the Texas Baptist Convention's General Life Commission, disagrees.

 

"Is that scare tactics?" he asked. "Or learning from someone else's mistakes?"

Google, so dominant a search engine that the company's brand name has become an officially-recognized verb, recently announced that it would allow UK gambling affiliates to bid on Google Adwords.


The announcement comes just months after the company allowed gambling operators to buy Adwords.


Almost all Google users would be familiar with the concept of Adwords, although they might not realize it.


Adwords allow companies to create advertisements and choose keywords, which are words or phrases related to the business. When people search on Google using one of the keywords, the ad then has a chance of appearing next to the search results.


With Google commanding over 50 percent of the market share in the field of online search engines, it's no wonder UK affiliates will be ecstatic at the good news.


Affiliates will be limited for the time being, however, with operator terms such as Gala Bingo or Bet365 not able to be bid on.


Advertisers must be registered with the UK Gambling Commission and have a valid license held in the United Kingdom or a number of other UK dependencies.


Income Access, which offers affiliate marketing solutions for the online gaming industry, has begun offering new PPC tracking tools that allow UK gambling affiliates to track their referrals from Adwords.


Nicky Senyard, CEO of Income Access, said: "Through our Affiliate Custom Tracking tools, UK gambling affiliates will be able to track their referrals right from when they acquire them via Adwords. This functionality will be available to affiliates in both Income Access network and third party program powered by our software."

The U.S. state of Delaware could go a step closer to legalizing sports betting when Governor Ruth Ann Minner leaves office on January 20, legislators have said.

The push to legalize betting in the tiny east coast state was put on hold in 2007 when the Democrat governor announced that she would veto any legislation to legalize it.

Minner will be replaced by governor-elect Jack Markell, also a Democrat. Markell has already promised to consider legalization, saying he needs to "understand the costs and the benefits."

House Speaker Bob Gilligan (Democrat) said he believes betting could be approved in the upcoming legislative session, saying "If we're going to do it, we're going to do it quickly."

The last attempt to legalize sports betting in Delaware was knocked back in the Senate Finance Committee after being approved by the House.

But Senate Speaker Thurman Adams (Democrat) said he expects the legislation will be pushed through to a Senate hearing, a big step toward eventual legalization.


Estimating the benefits
Sports betting is sure to bring extra revenue to the Delaware state coffers, although there is debate over exactly how much the figure would be.

A recent report by the state's gaming industry said sports betting could bring in as much as $71 million. A Governor's Task Force Report gave a more modest total, estimating an additional $22.5 million to $30.6 in the first year.

One this is for certain - the close proximity of Delaware to the large population centers of neighboring New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, means it is more than just Delaware residents who are waiting to see what happens.

The Macworld 2009 Conference & Expo was recently hosted in San Francisco. Over 40,000 Mac enthusiasts shared their innovative ideas, products and services relating to the Mac OS platform.

In and amongst the frenzied activity, was a fresh new perspective on the future of high-tech products like the iPhone and its implications for online gambling in 2009.

iPhones and gambling
The notable achievements in innovative design and functionality achieved by the next generation of smart phones including the iPhone and Google's G-Phone have upped the stakes for online mobile gaming. Online gaming in 2009 looks set to benefit from the latest features, ease-of-use and mobility afforded by such products.

Mobile entertainment gaming has come on in leaps and bounds. Mac users will relish the news, as games like Poker Stars Mac-compatible poker was released in the third quarter of 2008. iPhone users now have the luxury of playing mobile online casino games - an industry first for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Better than before
Not long ago players had to choose phone models from a list on the online casino and then wait for a text messages in order to download the platforms. Today Mac users can even play directly, no download required, on their iPhone with its integrated Web browser.

Games you can play
The successes of Tomb Raider and Blackjack join Major Millions as the leading games on top mobile casinos such as Euro Grand. The all new iPhone mobile casino games offer players hi-resolution graphics and fully enhanced in-game effects.

All Slots Casino too offers its casino for iPhone and iPod Touch mobiles. Players can play in either Play4Fun or Play4Real modes. Another mobile version is available for consumers who don’t own an iPhone or iPod Touch, with a simple to download application - compatible with more than 1200 Java-supporting phones.

Fancy a career in the gambling industry but don't know how to get started? A course at the UK's National Gaming Academy (NGA) might be just the right place to get the ball rolling.

The NGA was launched in January 2008 with three campuses: at Blackpool and the Fylde College, an associate of Lancaster University; at Greenwich Community College in London; and at North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.

Previously, it existed as the Blackpool and Fylde College Regional Gaming Academy, which existed for two years before the launch of the NGA. The Blackpool campus offers six courses:

Foundation degree in casino management
Validated by Lancaster University, this is a two-year, full-time course (or four years for part-timers). Its stated aim is to develop knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of the gaming industry, and to prepare its students for employment in a variety of jobs in the gaming industry.

Classes include: Gaming in the UK context; Security Management within the Casino Environment; Operations Management (for the UK Gaming industry) and Regional and Local Considerations in UK Gaming (Trends and Developments).

Foundation degree in gaming machine technology
Obviously focusing on the technological side of the gaming industry, this two-year course offers classes dealing with topics such as: Mechanism and Coin Operation Technology; Law for the Leisure/Gaming Industry; Networking Principles and Progressive Gaming Systems; Health and Safety and Risk Assessment; and Security Systems and Fraud Detection.

City and guilds level 3 coin slot
A one-year course without university accreditation aimed at those looking to find their way straight into a job, the Coin Slot Engineer/Technician course teaches students how to carry out the duties of an engineer/technician to a level 3 technician standard.

BTEC intermediate and advanced diplomas in casino operations
These two courses are aimed at existing casino personnel wanting to upgrade their supervisory and management skills.

Gaming floor operative
Running for a length of half-a-year, this is an intensive course combining the Advanced Diploma in Casino Operations and the City and Guilds Level 3 Coin Slot course.

Real casino atmosphere
With facilities including a training casino, coin slot workshops and a hospitality area, the Blackpool school is designed to give its students a feel of already being in a real casino.

In accordance with the recent push by British casinos to ensure the earn income from bars, restaurants, gaming machines and other attractions, rather than just the traditional gambling pursuits such as poker and blackjack, the NGA's schools offer the students a wide range of courses on the gambling industry.

And who knows, maybe in a few years time the academy will begin to attract students from abroad, who will then bring their new skills back to the gambling industry in their country of origin.

Online bingo games at online bingo halls can be played using either use 75-ball or 90-ball rules depending on the country. The rules are very straightforward; all that is needed to win bingo is to get all the numbers in a given bingo pattern.

 

In the United States and Canada a 75-ball bingo version is played. There are 75 numbers on the online bingo board, as opposed to the 90 number UK bingo rules. Of these 75 numbers, there are over 6,000 possible number combinations on a bingo card, which consists of 24 random numbers between 1 and 75. The bingo caller calls out the numbers that come out on the bingo board. To win bingo, online bingo players need to mark matching numbers that appear on their cards as soon as they are called.

 

Online bingo cards have five columns that are each marked with a B-I-N-G-O letter. These make 25 squares, comprised of five down and five across. Numbers in the ‘B’ column range between 1 and 15, numbers in the ‘I’ column are between 16 and 30, in the ‘N’ column the numbers are between 31 and 45, in the ‘G’ column are between 46 and 60 and numbers in the ‘O’ column are between 61 and 75.

 

Online bingo site rules vary from bingo site to bingo site. At Bingo Cafee and every gambling site, online bingo players have to be over 18 to play, as this is the legal gambling age limit. Multiple accounts are prohibited at Bingo Cafe, as this prevents online bingo players from abusing site policies. Online bingo players are held responsible for their registration details being kept safe at most sites. Once online bingo players have brought cards, they cannot undo the purchase. Basic player conduct rules are essential at Bingo Cafe, to prevent online bingo players from using abusive language and ensure bingo players are not aggressive towards fellow bingo players and Chat Leaders.

 

There are specific rules for depositing and payouts at each online bingo site, bingo players should read these rules before playing. At most sites, online bingo players have to make a deposit to play bingo. These deposits vary according to the site policies, but are generally not excessive. At Bingo Cafe, a free $10 deposit allows bingo players to play, and a 100% deposit match promotion.

 

Bingo Cafe players can win Bonus Bucks in addition to cash prizes. These bonus credits are used to fund player accounts and do not count towards cash prizes. Bingo Cafe's chat games have Bonus Bucks as prizes.

 

Online bingo players should be aware of each online site bingo rules before signing up. Online bingo players who have been playing without being fully sure of the online site rules should make sure they are familiar with policies to ensure that they are playing responsibly.

 

Just sit back relax and come and play bingo at Bingo Cafe. This site has 3D interactive games where players can have a ball and play online bingo in a fun and friendly environment and they have well run chats. The Café proudly boats some of the highest payouts ever won at any online bingo site to date. Bingo Cafe offers the best range of games of all the UK Bingo sites around, with competitions, prizes, an in depth bingo dictionary, loads of live help, super chat masters and heaps of cash to be won.

 

If Online Bingo is not all what online players are after they are in luck as the cafe’ has a massive range of games including some of the loosest slots on the Internet, Super Sevens, Fruit Frenzy, Cash Carousel, Slots of Bingo, and Bonanza are just some of the great slot games offered at Bingo Cafe.

 

If poker is what some players are after, a quick game of high low or maybe a spin at the roulette table, its all there. It is action packed and fun for all, twenty four hours a day and seven days a week at Bingo Cafe.

Two decades ago, real estate mogul Randy Black turned this blip on the Arizona border into a boomtown when he opened the first of four casinos. Nearly 1 million visitors a year followed, and hotels, restaurants and stucco homes seemed to sprout from sand.

 

"It seemed to be one of those things that 'Geez, it's just going great. It's never going to end,' " said Victor Kotalion, who left Las Vegas in 1990 for this arid patch off Interstate 15.
Locals and travelers passing through have long kept Mesquite's casinos afloat. But like the spent mines that have busted many Western towns, Mesquite's source of wealth ran out. As the economy soured, tourists hoarded their cash, and the town's gross gambling revenue plummeted 11%. Visitor volume fell 7.4% last year; the average daily room rate fell 35.4%.

 

Last month, Black laid off 347 workers at the Oasis and shuttered much of the casino. Kotalion, a 60-year-old dealer and floor supervisor, was one of the ones let go.

"As you get older, what do you do?" Kotalion said. "There aren't a lot of options here . . . not for me. Actually, not for anybody that's in the gaming industry."

 

During the last 20 years, a number of states bet on gambling -- a supposedly recession-proof business. But this downturn has wiped out even conventional wisdom: In the third quarter of 2008, revenue dropped in six of the 12 states with commercial casinos, the American Gaming Assn. said.

 

Resorts are typically reluctant to cut staff, experts said, because training new hires costs thousands of dollars. Yet in the last year, commercial and tribal casinos have trimmed workforces in Riverside County and on the Las Vegas Strip as well as in Michigan, Oregon, Connecticut and New York.

 

The industry's losses can be seen vividly in Mesquite, whose reliance on gambling resembles a Rust Belt town tied to an auto plant. Job losses hurt restaurants and retailers, overwhelm social service providers and demoralize the remaining employees.

 

"If you have one, two, maybe three key industries, if one goes out, the whole town suffers," said William Eadington, director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno. "It's like cutting one of the legs off a stool."

 

Before Randy Black arrived, Mesquite was barely more than a cluster of dairy farms and alfalfa fields along the Virgin River. The Oasis was the sole casino. Black envisioned the city as a rural desert destination, "halfway between where you are and where you're going."

 

After opening the Virgin River hotel-casino in 1990, he bought the CasaBlanca, the Oasis and the Mesquite Star (since closed), becoming Mesquite's largest employer, with up to 2,800 casino workers.

 

Mesquite's population soared, to nearly 20,000 last year from 1,960 in 1990. From 2002 to 2007, yearly gambling revenue climbed an average of 8.2%.

"It was too fast, too hot and heavy," Kotalion said from his home on the outskirts of the mountain-ringed town. "You could see things going bad, but there was not much you could do about it."

 

Over the years, Black took on $200 million in debt to expand his casino business and buy out his partners; he became owner of all but one Mesquite casino, the Eureka. Like magnates in such industries as finance and real estate, he thought business would keep booming. Then the "bubble" burst, he said.

 

Black mothballed the Oasis in December. Its gambling tables are shrouded in heavy plastic. The buffet, bars and lounge are empty. Dozens of unplugged slot machines sit dark. On a recent afternoon, fewer than a dozen gamblers played the remaining penny slots.

"Has it hit bottom yet? No one knows," Black said at the CasaBlanca.

 

If business continues to drop, Black plans more cuts; similarly, he says he'll rehire staff if demand returns. "If everybody in the planet or in Las Vegas or in the world would say, 'OK, things are better' . . . we could open [the Oasis] back up in a day."

 

Residents, meanwhile, are struggling. Traffic at nonprofit Virgin Valley Family Services tripled to 100 people a day. Case manager Alex Corral said about 15% of casino employees he had helped decided to leave town.

 

"Right now, with the Oasis shut down, it's really hard to decide if anything's going to come here," he said. "There's no money coming into town at all."

Kotalion is holding out for a casino job. He and his wife, Gail, a floor supervisor at the CasaBlanca, filed for bankruptcy five months before he was laid off. The couple has struggled to pay for medical care and to repair flood damage to their home. He's stretching unemployment checks that are at least $500 less than his former monthly income. And the Kotalions are fearful that other casinos -- including the CasaBlanca -- might close or be sold.

 

Still, Mayor Susan Holecheck remains sanguine about her city of new sunset-colored tract homes. "Mesquite is going to evolve," she said. "Gaming is not going to be as much of a focus, I don't think, as it was before."

 

The town recently built a soccer complex and softball fields, hoping to lure sporting events. A second Walgreens is on the way. The Census Bureau arrived last month to recruit as many as 150 people. But none of them can match the casinos, which employed nearly 3,000 in the spring. The next-largest employers, the Clark County School District and Wal-Mart, provided about 330 jobs each.

 

In fact, the town is awaiting the phased opening of another casino: The 190-acre Solstice, a high-end gambling, retail and resort complex, is slated to bring up to 1,000 jobs when Barcelona Partners fully opens it next year.

 

Down the street from the construction site, freshly paved roads halt at leveled dirt lots, ready for the next boom.