Posted April 14th, 2011
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Seven of the robbers were convicted of aggravated robbery and complicity in eighth robbery – they will pay 100,000 francs in compensation to the dealer Porrentruy (AP) Eight of the casino heist of the Jura were sentenced Thursday to prison terms ranging from two years to ten years imprisonment. The Criminal Court of Porrentruy them guilty of aggravated robbery and for one of them, of complicity in aggravated robbery. They must also pay 100,000 francs in compensation to the dealer, who was badly wounded in the assault. The Court has been less severe than the Jurassic prosecution to the accused who did not participate directly in the case, committed November 28, 2002 at Casino Courrendlin. She has instead followed closely with regard to the main perpetrators of this robbery committed with the aggravating circumstance of the inhuman treatment inflicted on the victim. Described as dangerous individual, the man who shot the dealer scoop and ten years in prison and his main sidekick nine. Both denied their involvement in the attack, despite statements by other thugs. Their offense is extremely serious, noted the court and acted with cruelty and total lack of scruples.
The defendants will refund the amount of loot
The other two attackers present at the casino that night have seen sentences of eight and seven years’ imprisonment. The man who kept watch outside the establishment scoop of five years imprisonment. The Swiss girl and another member of a band of mitigating circumstances and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
Finally, the oldest of the band, gets two years’ imprisonment for complicity to aggravated robbery. All defendants must also pay 173,000 francs stolen at the casino and jointly implement a compensation of 100,000 francs for moral damages to the dealer. Some will also be expelled from the territory of Switzerland for a period of 15 years.
The band, composed of a majority of citizens of the former Yugoslavia, had violently assaulted the dealer at the casino’s closure November 28, 2002, the beating and shooting her in the leg. The thugs had then forced open the safe, before handcuffing him and flee with their booty of 170,000 francs.
Two of the principal authors of the robbery were arrested on New Year’s Day. The searches were subsequently allowed to enter the murder weapon and a veritable arsenal in the apartment of one of the thugs. Still traumatized by the attack, the dealer is now unable to work and still suffers the legacy of his injuries.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw did not complain about the new provincial control.
Instead, the smoke-free environment of these institutions seems to attract more customers.
According to information obtained by the English-language network Radio-Canada, the number of people attending the two casinos has increased following the entry into force of the smokefree law on 1 January.
Regina casino, it is reported an increase of 4% of customer in January compared to December.
Donna Pasjechnik, the Canadian Cancer Society, said he was not surprised by these numbers, since nearly 80% of Saskatchewan residents do not smoke and that they avoid areas frequented by too many smokers.
She noted that a study in the United States shows that the smoking ban does not affect the casino revenue.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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The twenty-five employees hired at the casino of the Lake Magdalene, remain on the floor if the establishment is not allowed to open.
The games are almost done. March 25, if the Department of the Interior has not moved, the Casino du Lac de la Magdeleine, never opened, will close permanently. Its employees are suspended for the final maturity of an administrative appeal. Arrived in July 2004 for an opening they believed imminent, they will find themselves without anything, victims of a war they believe casinos that eludes them. The white building, Andalusian style, was built among the pines on the road from Bordeaux to Arcachon. The works were closed in May 2004, two years after the project presented by the property company Socodem won the tender of the city Gujan-Mestras cons group Partouche and Accor. “We knew that large groups would do anything to put a spoke in the wheels, said Sentob Toledano, CEO of Socodem . We did everything so perfect. ”
Grain of sand. Remained to obtain permission from the Interior Ministry. In a report, the warden estimates that “nothing prevents the opening of the casino.” Nothing, except the Gaming Commission. In June 2004, deferred consideration of the case. Some see it already Paw Partouche , owner of two casinos, one in Arcachon (12 km), the other Andernos (30 km), not necessarily unhappy to spend the summer without competition. In October, the case finally submitted does not convince the commission that the advisory opinion of refusal is followed by the interior minister in January 2005. Reason: the market conditions do not permit the opening two casinos already present around the Arcachon basin (group Partouche ) in addition to Casino de Bordeaux (Accor). The latter, however, obtained in June 2004 an increase of fifty slot machines to its fleet, evidence that the potential exists in the region. Alain Paris, CEO of Socodem , considers this department is one of the least well endowed of the Atlantic coast with a slot for 2300 inhabitants cons, for example, for 1 320 inhabitants in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques.
Employees poached from casinos all over France, either do not believe it. They cite a “package of coastal areas where casinos are much closer than that,” with “sometimes two casinos in town, such as Le Touquet. The Department of the Interior, the decision is justified by the fact that the two casinos Partouche would “not yet reached the national average yield of casinos.” But for counsel Socodem William Golnadel, who seized the Competition Council, “the commission did not rule on competition, but only on matters of public order.”
Collective. To put pressure on the department, a group of twenty-five employees of the group was formed. “We are fighting in the middle of a political scam,” says Pauline (1). All employees are in delicate situations. They plated their job to come here, have rented houses they can no longer afford. “I live alone with my daughter, I touch 1200 euros to 900 euros Assedic and pays the rent,” says Pauline. “We said we made a commitment lightly, but this is not true. They knew that farmers already own a casino in the Tarn, were not thugs. “Some staff have signed CDD cashier, others are returned to their parents in their home region. But for all those who have enrolled their children here, leaving is impossible. While they await the response from the ministry.
(1) The name was changed.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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MACAU (AFP) – U.S. giant games Sands Macao on Friday unveiled a proposed $ 1.8 billion for the construction of an almost identical replica of its flagship casino in Las Vegas, The Venetian, in the former Portuguese enclave becoming the world capital of the game
“I saw him in a dream, it could happen and it happens,” he told the president of Sands, Sheldon Adelson, with reference to the huge growth of Macao tipped to dethrone Las Vegas this year in the first place World Game .
“Macao will be the new Las Vegas,” assured the head during a ceremony at the Sands casino waterfront of Macau, the first foreigner to play center have opened in the former colony following the liberalization of casino 2001.
American society now wants to open an even bigger institution, the Venetian Macau Resort, which will be among the dozen groups settled into a new site devoted specifically to games and called “Cotai. The area, which covers hundreds of thousands of square meters of land reclaimed from the sea, meet Hilton, Marriott, Starwood (owner of the Sheraton), InterContinental, Regal, Four Seasons …
In total, 60,000 hotel rooms are open seven to ten years, and many casinos, a stadium of 18,000 seats and a theater capable of holding two thousand spectators. The total investment is about 12 to 15 billion dollars.
The project is intended to increase the number of visitors from around 17 million last year to a term quarantine. “China can give us an unlimited number of people,” Mr. Adelson welcomed. The influx of Chinese tourists, due to the gradual liberalization of travel to Macau, the boom is the basis of the former enclave.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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The head of the Saarland Spielbanken yesterday sealed its entry into the capital of the mixed enterprise company may take over the management of the casino.
METZ. – A warm handshakes and signatures. And bodyguards everywhere. In the absence of European Minister Saar called drop everything to replace the ailing president minister, Gerd Meyer, head of the Saarland Spielbanken and its counterpart in the Saarland Sporttoto have signed yesterday with the mayor of Amnéville their official entry to the tune of 25% stake in the company of mixed European economy may take over the management of the casino amnévillois.
With a ticket to 125,000 euros and a commitment of just remuneration for the management of the casino, the dividends are re-invested each year Amnéville the Saarland render a valuable service to Dr. Jean Kiffer.
The latter, obviously much more serene than in the past weeks, detailed the genesis of this partnership. “I am in discussion with Gerd Meyer for over 2 years. On January 5, 2004 at 19h, I attended a summit meeting at the Interior Ministry in the presence of Gerard Longuet, then president of the Regional Council of Lorraine. ”
Editing site designed Beauvau
By lifting the veil on the wings of these preparations, Jean Kiffer wants to emphasize how his strategy has an implicit validation of the Ministry of Interior. “Initially, I planned to give the casino a municipal authority, but the most senior experts from the Department highlighted the legal problems that might arise, including that of the operator. So I proposed the solution of a mixed enterprise company and the high officials like the minister’s advisers told me it would surely face. ”
Jean Kiffer cites among his supporters Hortefeux, one of the closest lieutenants Nicolas Sarkozy. “I had the green light last year, but they asked me to be careful and not reveal anything before. So I made a call for tenders accepted the application of the mixed economy company. ” It will be 25% owned by the shareholders of the Spielbanken, an offshoot of the Land Saarland. These also provide executive direction, that is to say, operating the casino. “It’s really in tune with the times and in a spirit of cross-border cooperation,” says Jean Kiffer.
“Man of speech”
Gerd Meyer of Spielbanken is the first to welcome this partnership: “Amnéville enjoys a good reputation. The environment is very favorable, and we are very proud to have been chosen as partners. It is an innovative model of European cooperation, and first in the field of casinos. ” His colleague Kurt Sporttoto Bohr, a subsidiary of Spielbank who manages lotteries in the Saar, confirmed: “We hope that Paris will endorse this association where we bring our expertise to a renowned French casino.
Jean Kiffer visibly subsided, drank the whey. Gerd Meyer completes the idyll by this formula: “I thank Mayor Amnéville for quality that has prevailed during our negotiations and the nature of our relationship with what appears to be an excellent partner and a man of his word.”
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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According to a researcher from the center International Game McGill, Serge Chevalier, Loto-Quebec uses tactics indeed the absence of clocks and the presence of curtains in the windows so that players lose track of time inside the casinos.
During a TV report from Radio-Canada last Sunday, a former casino croupier Charlevoix, Eleanor Mainguy, said that the environment of players is very controlled and that “everything is considered: there is no clock, and when the sun begins to set, we close the curtains do not we make a difference, “she said.
The spokesperson for Loto-Quebec, Jean-Pierre Roy, argues that this is not a strategy to ensure that people stay longer at the casino. He said that the curtains are drawn if the night light surveillance cameras.
But the researcher of the International Centre on the game at McGill University, Serge Chevalier, maintains that the time in the casinos is a factor and that all casinos minimize benchmarks.
The frenzy of the game even lead some players to wear diapers, so as not to lose their machine to go to the toilet. Loto-Quebec says that such a scenario can be avoided, since staff may, on application, disable a machine for a few minutes.
According to the researcher, it contributes to reinforce the player feel he can control his fate.
Loto-Quebec denies it, but that does not surprise the researcher who said that Loto-Quebec is facing a class action complaint brought by players who try to demonstrate that the methods of the Crown corporation encourage problem gambling .
“Any admission of any liability of machines or their carers could be put in evidence in this class and be very unfavorable to the cause of Loto-Quebec,” says the researcher.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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It’s a quiet afternoon at the Casino du Val Andre (group Partouche ), not far from Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor). The cold that has hit the bay, has pushed back the boldest, accustomed walks along the beach. They are many, cons, to brave the inclement sky to come and play with slot machines and black jack tables casino.
The atmosphere is concentrated. No way to miss the jackpot of the century, these grandpas rollers. “During the week, the provincial casinos are meeting places for many seniors. There’s the game, of course, that attracts them, but not only. They also come to attend classes at the University of free time we have, for exhibitions or just a snack on the terrace on the waterfront, “suggests Fabrice Lebrun, director of the Casino du Val Andre.
All these clients are not “addicted”. Senior citizens receive first gambling as a harmless pastime. They are in the casinos a place for socialization. A safe place, they say well, where they have no fear of “bad surprise”.
This speech, Laurence Aufrère therapist specializing in gambling Centre of Lausanne (Switzerland), has heard repeatedly from his patients. Without doubt their sincerity, she noted nonetheless that the player is not best placed to judge his motives. “These explanations are not necessarily those that push to really play.”
Nothing predisposed Colette Allain, 74, to become an inveterate player. No taste for the Lotto, not even a passion for bridge or Scrabble. Yet there is a little less than twenty years, this former shopping Rennes fell in love with roulette and other games of carpet. At the point of no longer consider his life without that adrenaline. “I’m not going to the casino just to play. I can just grab a tea. This may be the goal of my walk the day. A strong, I know all the staff. I have real friends.”
With her companion, she agrees to a romantic getaway in casinos in the region. During a weekend or a week, they joined some friends to play together. Be reasonable? Colette Allain do not talk about his losses. She admits her life easier martingale. “Last time? I still won 45 000 euros!”
Prégoit Claire, meanwhile, is not a regular. Its like the game, she lives alone, find the sensations similar to those that came from intensive sports. “I am empty head. I am only focused on the game environment, social relations potential does not interest me.”
It is, in fact, a player atypical. The excitement of winning does not motivate. “I start losing, so I have no bad surprises. If I decide I do not spend over 300 euros during my week vacation in the game, I stand.” At most, Claire Prégoit she allows himself to bet again earned money.
REDUCE STRESS
Epidemiological studies are rare, all focused on the North American population. “As it stands, we can only make assumptions,” says Olivier Simon, a psychiatrist from the Problem Gambling Center in Lausanne. “These surveys indicate that the percentage of older players called recreational tends to increase. According to a survey United States in 1975, 23% of seniors reported engaging games. In 1999, this proportion was 50%. ”
For children, play is recognized as a means of reducing stress. It is unclear whether, in adults, let alone the elderly, this regulation also operates. Often leased, increased mnemonic faculties and powers of concentration also remains, for now, about assumptions.
But the magic of the game must not forget that hangs over this event a public health risk. In addition to an overconsumption of alcohol, the doctors point to the cardiovascular disorders associated with sitting too long. As for addiction, pure and simple, if it is treatable, it requires special handling. “There are similarities in the addictions, but all can not be treated the same way. Cognitive therapy of pathological gambling is very specific and differs from the supported lavished for alcoholics or drug addicts,” said Laurence Aufrère Center Game excessive.
Remains for the player to admit his addiction. “In our center, patients who sought help had waited on average four years to see, from their first recognized signs of addiction.”
This could be the same for seniors, under-represented in medical consultations. A particularly worrying phenomenon that, as noted by Oliver Simon: “A worker has time to rebuild its financial capital. A person who, if she loses the benefit of his retirement, may have no means of subsistence . The danger here is more important. “
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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“The problem lasted about six hours,” said chief financial officer of the casino, Janae Sternberg. “When you put the machine out of service, we needed $ 46 640,” he added.
“You know, some people saw the error and instead of saying they are back again and again,” said Sternberg.
In the meantime, management has tried to regain some lost money by watching the tapes from surveillance cameras.
The error has been committed by an employee of the place. The management wanted to fire her, but a judge ruled that all evidence showed that the employee did not commit this mistake intentionally.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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Desperate to oust the group Edge , the mayor joined a company of Saarland.
mnéville was previously a small town of Moselle barely stirred by the sound of slot machines. Transformed into a giant entertainment complex, this former mining town, which has the sixth French casino (by its gross gaming revenue), now stands by the words we exchange them and the multiplicity of legal proceedings. Several years ago that John Kiffer, the mayor, is opposed to Georges Tranchant for control of casino operations. March 11, the first filed complaint with the Dean of Judges of the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris for “death threat”. The complaint seeks Georges Tranchant , who allegedly made ??the following remarks: “I want his skin and I get it.”
Nemesis. The reason for such anger? The mayor, various right fights to appoint a board of private management of the casino, the flagship of the group Tranchant (18 establishments in France). On 21 March, it has formalized an agreement with Saarland-Spielbanken, a network of gaming facilities owned and the Land (region) of the German Saarland. A 125 000 the ticket, Saarland-Spielbanken acquired a quarter of the capital of a mixed economy (SEM) including the city Amnéville is the major shareholder with 60% share. The objective is clear: in the short to medium term, this hitch public Franco-German “in tune with the times” and a symbol of cross-border cooperation, in the words of Kiffer, hopes to manage the casino municipal Amnéville whose operation is licensed to the group since 1988 Edge .
Already last year, the fiery Kiffer in control of the town for forty years had made up his mind to oust his nemesis. For ten years, Kiffer criticizes effect Tranchant not to reinvest profits instead of casino Amnéville. To set “the top” this conflict which has already generated an extraordinary web of judicial proceedings, Kiffer planned to create a municipal authority to manage the casino (Libération, February 19, 2004). Promoting this unique public management, he promised “clarity, transparency and ethical standards” in the casino. Alas, the project was Retoque by the Interior Ministry, which held that the planned assembly had no chance of getting the necessary clearance to permit this lucrative business. Tenacious, Kiffer imagined the solution of the SEM, with a supervisory board consisting mostly of elected officials and professional gaming industry to the Executive Directory.
Had to find the appropriate operator. “With Saarland-Spielbanken, we have a competent operator, indisputable,” says Kiffer today. Founded in 1979, the company is owned by the Saarland, the majority shareholder, and the Saarland Sporttoto, a federation of sports clubs. It operates eight gaming sites in the Saar, with a gross profit of 38.8 million, ranking it 6th among the German casinos. The Director-Spielbanken Saarland, Gerd Meyer, said the turnover of the casino to Amnéville can only increase. The hotel displays a gross gaming revenue (the equivalent of sales) from 56.8 million in 2004 and “4 million per year and some” net profit after tax, dixit Georges Tranchant . The agreement between the city and Saarland-Amnéville Spielbanken provides that the German company that is paid for management of the casino profits are wholly reinvested locally. “It was out of the mouth, right?” Exults Jean Kiffer.
“Little foot nickel. For now, all that remains virtual. If the SEM has won the tender launched successor to the group Edge , whose concession expires in 2005, yet must he get permission to operate the gambling casino City. “I have the green light from the interior ministry,” proclaims Kiffer, brandishing a letter, which indicates that the solution “deserves careful consideration.” In Paris, Georges Tranchant closely follows developments in the case and “laughs softly” by Kiffer, “a little foot nickel who knows nothing about the law and makes decisions for the” Kifferland “an empire”. “What he said is nonsense. A SEM can never operate a casino. I flush cap of his posturing, “annoyed the casino operator, who denounced” embezzlement “of Kiffer. One of the complaints filed recently led to the indictment of Mayor Amnéville for “illegal taking of interest” before the fiery aedile response to his complaint for “death threats” …
“Response lightning.” Outraged by this output, Jean Kiffer seems determined to get rid of his enemy faster. His lawyer, former Secretary of State for Industry Christian Pierret (PS), claims to have prepared “a dramatic response to be developed in the coming weeks.” Central to this response: writing a “deliberation with onions” that would allow the city to cancel the concession granted to the group Tranchant to leave the field open to the SEM. “The mayor’s record is, in law, of great strength,” says Pierret. The next episode is expected “by April 15, announced deadline for convening the council must put the casino operator at the door.
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Posted April 14th, 2011
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BERN – On April 1, the bandits must have disappeared from the cafes and gaming centers in Switzerland. They will be replaced with slot machines offering games of skill. But farmers expect a significant loss of earnings. The law on gambling, which came into force on 1 April 2000, prohibits gambling outside of casinos for the benefit of a concession. A transitional period of five years, however, was scheduled for the continued operation of slot machines in public schools, where the limit was five aircraft. This deadline expires on Thursday. So as of Friday, about 6,000 slot machines will have been disconnected cafes and gaming halls of the thirteen districts that have authorized (AG, AI, AR, BE, FR, GL, LU, NW, OW, SH, BT, UR , ZG), said the Federal Gaming Board (CFMJ). They will be replaced by slot machines games of skill, such as video games and pinball reaction. Many farmers took advantage until the last moment of time allotted to them. It was only Wednesday that the company Escor began to decommission its 1,100 slot machines, said its director Norbert Mauron. Proms, however, has already replaced a slot on both, as its director Christian Blanquet. In Switzerland, industry automata generates a turnover of 162 million francs and employs about 1,200 people, according to data from its umbrella organization Swissplay. With this change, operators are worried about not hitting the jackpot. Initially, at least, for lovers of gambling are not the same as games of skill where the ability of the player determines its gain. Still, some enjoy the atmosphere of coffee and will not ever set foot in a casino, says Christian Blanquet. Escor provides a decrease of 40% of its annual sales as the company Proms talking about 50%. In their view, the situation should gradually recover toward the end of the year. Violators of the new law face a criminal prosecution and a sentence of imprisonment or a fine of up to 500,000 francs.
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