Illinois judge rejects gambling parlors petition
An Illinois County judge has denied an operators’ request to negotiate the profit split between video gambling parlors and terminal operators.
US.- Gambling operators’ aspirations to split profits sharing between video gambling parlors and terminal operators have been knocked down by Cook County (Illinois) Judge Neil Cohen. He agreed with the Illinois Gaming Board and the Illinois Machine Gaming Operators Association and explained that the profit split would prevent operators form offering incentives to gambling establishment.
“Plaintiffs argue that they should be allowed to negotiate the profit split, comparing themselves to grocery stores negotiating with suppliers. Gambling, however, is not an ordinary business,” said Judge Cohen.
Despite petitioners Laredo Hospitality Ventures and Illinois Cafe & Services Co. said that they will lose customers and revenues if they can’t maintain their own machines, Cohen rejected their stance and assured that customers will only lose confidence in gambling parlors if he ruled the other way around.
“This total control and regular, observed access to the inner workings of the terminals could lead the public to believe that [parlors] were rigging the terminals,” Cohen said.
A local operator, Chris Stone, who controls 30 gambling parlors in Illinois, said that the spread of video gaming terminals have reached a turning point: “I think there are going to be some competitive drivers, now that it’s leveled out, where some gaming parlors and cafes are doing better than others,” The State Journal-Register quoted.
