Video-game/slot hybrids have been licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission and will be on display for your entertainment at the next Global Gaming Expo. The lucky winner was Gamblit Gaming, which is owned by American Capital by way of Hard 8 Games. We think the game product will be more sophisticated than The Oregon Trail or Space Invaders, but you never know. Gamblit will supply the game content, based on ones current popular on mobile devices, and is looking for a slot-making partner to supply the boxes.
Gamblit CEO Eric Meyerhofer is talking up a go-slow strategy, with game rollout dictated by performance levels. The goal, of course, is to get 25-something men playing slots, which are evidently perceived as uncool (or at least unskilled). “Only 15 percent of those customers will ever touch a slot machine,” Meyerhofer told regulators. “We believe we can grow that market.”
* It’s a battle of the polls in Massachusetts, where a Boston Globe sounding of public opinion found only 41% of the public supportive of 
casino repeal, with 52% opposed. However, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was not so lucky, with only 45% holding a good opinion of its performance. “I don’t think it’s fair to put 100 percent of that on government. It’s a cauldron of conflict,” said pollster John Della Volpe, referring to distasteful elements with which the MGC has had to deal, like felon Charles Lightbody.
Seven percent of voters supported a casino in Everett, as opposed to 20% for Suffolk Downs and 39% saying either location was fine. Roughly 30% surveyed identified themselves as gamblers, a statistic expected to increase only slightly when casinos open in the Bay State. Quoth Della Volpe, “I don’t think there is an overwhelming thirst for new gambling in Massachusetts.”
The division between slot and table game players was pretty much even, although — no surprise — older demographics dominated the slot players. People making $50,000 or less were also a significant tranche of prospective customers.
* Caesars Entertainment will have to wait just a bit longer for approval by the Woodbury Town Board. Although its Orange County, New 
York, project has been unanimously waved through by the Woodbury village board (a separate body), the town board put its vote on hold until a special meeting next week. There are definitely some strong incentives for Woodbury to green-light the Caesars/Flaum Management project, such as $10 million a year in revenue sharing, $19 million in revenue-sharing and Caesars’ assistance in restarting a moribund but critical highway intersection. It would be a shocker if Caesars were voted down.
Further upstate, Hard Rock International has been revealed as the would-be developer of a casino at DeLaet’s Landing, in Rensselaer. It would sit on the erstwhile site of a high school, whose 24 acres would provide room for condos and retail as well … that’s the plan, anyway.
* Now for a word from our sponsor. It’s time for another Sunday Poker Tournament at LVA Casino. The prize pool is $500 and the biggest winner takes home $100. Just think of us as the little Web casino with heart.
