Archive for the Keno category.
July 31, 2007
The Supreme Court of Nebraska conducted a hearing on May 30, 2007 regarding a legal malpractice case against keno operators and the second largest law firm in the state.
Richard T. Bellino wants the state Supreme Court to permit the decision of the jury to give him $1.6 million, but District Judge Patricia Lamberty commented that the evidence presented during the trial did not specifically state the amount of money and ordered McGrath, North, Mullin and Kratz law firm to pay Bellino $229,000.
In a statement before the court, the attorneys of Bellino, David Domina and Claudia Stringfield, commented that the jury verdict should be kept under wraps by the court and the state of Nebraska does not permit a district court to immediately decide on a conclusion which is not supported by solid evidence.
The law firm wants the Supreme Court to dismiss the case immediately. In a statement from attorneys John Douglas and David Blagg, they both said that a lawyer that acts honestly believes that his actions are not illegal and lawful and are beneficial to their client, cannot be accused of malpractice.
In October 2005, a jury decided that James D. Wegner, William F. Hargens and the law firm that they are working on did not properly advise Bellino on how to cut ties with his previous business partner before starting a new business. Bellino wanted to cut ties with Robert Anderson from their La Vista Lottery and set up his own keno business.
Bellino’s attorneys advised him to maintain his 50% share in La Vista Lottery and open La Vista Keno at the same time. Anderson filed a case against Bellino after Bellino won a contract to provide keno games to the residents of La Vista.
After that, Bellino filed a case against his lawyers, saying that he had been ill advised by them as to what he should do about his keno business.
July 16, 2007
The Rhode Island Lottery proposed putting Keno machines in shops and pubs at the T.F. Green Airport to boost state profits. The Rhode Island Lottery, which already placed Powerball and scratch ticket booths in Rhode Island’s main airport, said that placing Keno games in the airport is a sensible thing to do.Travelers can play the game while waiting for their flights. Lottery Director, Gerald S. Aubin, said that they are continuously recruiting dealers because it is a common business venture. Keno is also a good way to raise the money that the state needs.
Rhode Island Airport Corporation Spokesperson, Patti Goldstein, said that they are still studying the proposal and have not yet decided on whether or not they will allow Keno in the airport after their $83 million airport expansion.
Rhode Island Airport Corporation President and CEO, Mark Brewer, will have the final decision on whether or not to allow Keno in the airport. But in a board meeting, some members voiced out their criticism of the Keno plans, saying that they do not want the visitors in Rhode Island to immediately see the gambling machines at the airport.
The Board Chairwoman and Miriam Hospital President, Dr. Kathleen Hittner, commented that she is not against the plans because it will give passengers something to amuse themselves with while waiting for their flight. There are more than 600 Keno booths in the states, a number of these machines can be found in bars and pubs.
Keno regulations state that players may pick 1 to 10 numbers from 1 to 80 and wait to see if they will be selected by the computer. All Keno retailers have a monitor that shows the winning numbers every 4 minutes. Players can win from $100,000 to $1,000,000 by utilizing the Keno Plus options.
Minimum wagers in the game start at $1. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Georgia and Michigan are the few states that offer Keno.
When the Rhode Island Lottery proposed selling Powerball and scratch ticket booths years ago, Aubin said that there was little criticism from the Airport Corporation or any organization. However, Mayor Scott Avedisian of Warwick called the proposal a terrible idea.
Aubin said that for every ticket sold, the retailers will earn $0.08. In the Airport Corporation’s case, the profits may be divided between the RIAC and the organization that operated the restaurant and pub.
July 13, 2007
Gail Mirabito did not consider herself a fortunate person, but her perspective changed last month when Mirabito, a resident from Cornelius, won all 8 numbers on her 8 number special keno ticket.Gail and her husband, Mike, were eating out at the Prime Time Sports Bar and Restaurant in Forest Grove when she decided to indulge in a game of keno. Choosing the numbers on the ticket is a routine that Mirabito has done for a long time now.
She said that for the past 5 years, she has spent a total of $30 per week, winning small amounts of cash before winning the big one.
But that evening, Mirabito had been carefully watching the numbers on the screen and was having difficulty deciding whether she should play the 8 spot or pass on the opportunity.
Mike Mirabito then asked his wife whether she would play the 8 spot. Gail told her husband that she was not sure. Next thing she knew, she won the $33,272 jackpot prize.
When asked how much money she’d spent playing keno, she said that she does not want to think about it. The ongoing joke is that she has now broken even. She now plans to take a vacation to Ireland and she has no intention of stopping to play keno, even with this big win.
July 09, 2007
When the College World Series started in Nebraska, the keno monitors temporarily shut down. That is what happened in Pauli’s Sports and Spirits since 2001 when the first owner of the bar added keno to their offering, according to co-owner Paul Griego on June 26, 2007.
Temporarily stopping keno games frees some space at the bar and allows the bar’s employees to focus on serving the thousands of baseball enthusiasts who go to the popular hangout on 40th and Leavenworth Street. But the city’s new smoking ban has changed the face of the game as Griego discovered.
The officials of the city told Griego that if they will not offer keno, it also means a total smoking ban in the pub. Deputy City Attorney Tom Mumgaard said that the pub is only exempt from the smoking ban if they offer keno to their customers while the CWS continues.
Mumgaard commented that the city has received several complaints from Pauli’s and a bar in Rosenblatt which Mumgaard declined to identify, violated the smoking ban by turning off their keno machines and allowing their customers to continue smoking.
It was the first time that he has been asked to investigate the matter. Griego said that he had no inkling that Pauli’s was not following the smoking ban when the keno games were shut down and the bar was simply continuing with their usual operations.
The partial smoking ban, which was enforced last October, does not allow smoking in most public establishments. However, the smoking ban does allow smoking to continue until May 2011 at Horsemen’s Park and at keno outlets, pubs that do not serve food and tobacco shops.
Nonetheless, Griego said that holding keno during the CWS is a logistical problem because around 2,000 - 3,000 people visit Pauli’s during that time. The keno machines were turned on last week after the bar was notified by the city officials.
But with a lot of people requesting drinks, the bartenders hardly had the time to sell keno tickets. Pauli’s has not been penalized for violating the smoking ban. Mumgaard said that the keno problem is just one of the several issues that popped up with the implementation of the smoking ban as businesses learn their way once again with the new laws.
The Benson VFW post argued to no avail that they are exempt from the ban because their eating area is located in a separate room from the bar area.
June 30, 2007
Police officers and the city’s licensing board representatives commented that they usually confiscate illegal keno machines from the back rooms of the city’s coffee shops and bodegas.
The owners of the machines are then fined and the keno machines are kept in the police department’s seize property room for 6 months. If no one claims the machines during this period, then the city will have no choice but to destroy them, according to officials.
Officials said that the keno machines are valued at $1,000 and $2,000 per piece, but no one gets them back. Police officers said that the owner of the keno machines, who are connected to crime organizations, just buy new ones.
Detective Sgt. Tom Trommelen from the city’s Special Investigations Unit said that they keep confiscating the machines and the owners just keep putting them back in. City officials said that the machines have a negative effect on the lives of people in the area.
The city’s license inspector, Ralph Gambatese Jr., commented that his office frequently receives calls from wives and children that their husbands and fathers have lost all of their money from their paychecks by playing keno games on these machines. Trommelen said that many people are affected by the seemingly harmless gambling machine.