Missouri Gaming Commission News and Information

From the St.Louis Business Journal- (link at the bottom)

Isle of Capri said Tuesday that it plans to issue $300 million in senior notes due 2019 to repay existing term loans and is seeking up to $825 million in loans to refinance its debt.

The notes will be guaranteed by certain of Isle’s existing and future domestic subsidiaries, the company said. The offering is being made only to qualified institutional buyers and to non-U.S. persons outside the country, the company said.

Isle said in a regulatory filing that concurrent with the offering, it’s in discussions with lenders to replace its existing credit facility with a revolving credit facility of up to $325 million due 2016 and a term loan of up to $500 million due 2017.

Isle said it expects to enter the new agreement shortly after completing the $300 million senior notes offering and before the end of its fiscal 2011 fourth quarter.

As of Jan. 23, the gaming company owed $810.9 million under its term loan that matures Nov. 25, 2013, and $79.5 million was outstanding under its revolving line of credit that expires July 26, 2012, according to the company’s fiscal third-quarter filing.

From the St.Louis Business Journal-

Isle of Capri Casinos said Monday it cut its loss in its fiscal third quarter to $2.6 million, compared with a loss of $10.6 million a year earlier.

The Creve Coeur-based casino operator (Nasdaq: ISLE) reported revenue of $232 million for the three months ended Jan. 23, up 2 percent from $227.1 million in the prior-year quarter.

From the Southeast Missourian Newsaper in Cape Girardeau-

Friday, February 25, 2011
User-submitted story by Sen. Jason Crowell

JEFFERSON CITY –Senator Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, has been appointed to the Joint Committee on Gaming & Wagering and reappointed to the Missouri Arts Council.

The Joint Committee on Gaming and Wagering is a committee of 10 members from the House and Senate. The committee conducts a legislative review of all state authorized gaming and wagering activities, including proposed constitutional and statutory changes or other pertinent information that may affect the integrity of gaming.

"In Cape Girardeau, we have been recently awarded the last casino license in Missouri," said Sen. Crowell. "With this role on the Joint Committee on Gaming and Wagering, I will be able to better over-see and hold accountable through transparency and rational regulation Southeast Missouri's gaming industry."

State gaming regulators announced in December that Cape Girardeau would be the location for the state's newest casino. Construction is expected to start this summer.

Fantini Gaming is reporting that Dan Lee is back in the casino business. This is the story-

      Dan Lee is back in the casino business and back in Louisiana.

            Louisiana regulators this morning awarded the state’s final casino license to Lee and his Creative Gaming Inc.

            That means Lee will develop his Mojito Point casino adjacent to L’Auberge, the highly profitable casino he built while CEO of Pinnacle. And, of course, it means he will be competing against his old company. Lee, however, has said that Mojito Point will be a catalyst to benefit both properties.

Notice of Hearing

Date:       February 18, 2011

Time:      10:30 a.m.

Place:     Missouri Gaming Commission

                3417 Knipp Drive

                Jefferson City, Missouri

Agenda

Hearing Concerning:

In the matter of IOC-Cape Girardeau, LLC’s Petition for Approval of Permanent Docking and Historic Design Elements of Excursion Gambling Boat

The Missouri Gaming Commission electronic gaming device staff has put together a very interesting brochure on how slot machines work. Take a look on the right side of the page. It's called The Truth Behind the Machine, at www.mgc.dps.mo.gov

From the St.Joseph News-Press- an editorial from January 14th.

Many people had doubts about bringing gambling to Missouri in the early 1990s.What eventually sold the issue to voters was a plan to take gambling revenues and apply them to education. And in the years since, school districts across the state have received millions of dollars, thanks to folks losing money at the blackjack and craps tables, or the slot machines.But it hasn’t been a windfall. Legislators, realizing they also must fund prisons, roads, mental health and the like, began taking some of the money that formerly went to education and applying it in those other areas. That makes the gambling revenue even more important where the schools are concerned.So it was disheartening to learn recently that Missouri schools could face a $24 million funding shortfall because casino revenues are down. Roger Stottlemyre, executive director of the Missouri Gaming Commission, said casino proceeds were expected to be almost $372 million this year, but instead will be $348 million.The commission had projected an increase because of a 2008 law, approved by voters, that repealed loss limits and increased gambling revenue taxes. But no one knew — including the commission — that the economy would turn the way it did in 2008 and 2009.Casinos across the country have been hard hit, including those in Missouri.Visit Las Vegas, and the downturn is evident: The bare skeletons of unfinished casinos, sitting on dirt lots along the Strip.In Missouri, the casinos’ lower numbers register in another way: Less money for school buildings, for teachers, for student programs.Gov. Jay Nixon’s office says it is looking at ways to fill the shortfall. Last year, general state funds were used.But the message is clear: Gambling, once despised by many — perhaps still despised by many — has become invaluable to Missouri’s financial well-being. You can bet the house on that.

Emergency crews responded to a second alarm fire at the St. Louis Admiral Riverfront shortly after 11:00 a.m. Friday. Thick black smoke was coming from the top of the boat for a time. The Admiral is the former home of the President Casino. At this point, there are no injuries. The fire has been brought under control and contained.

Fire officials stated the fire was started by a welder that was cutting through stainless steel in the former kitchen area. Sparks caught some old grease on fire and shot up the exhaust.

The century-old riverboat had been a fixture along St. Louis' Mississippi River banks couldn't survive as an aging casino in the region's fast-growing gambling market. The Admiral closed last summer .

Isle of Capri has named Virginia McDowell as its next CEO. In other news from Isle of Capri read this in the St.Louis Business Journal.