程阳：美国商业赌场的前世与今生

U.S. Commercial Casino Industry

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U.S. Commercial Casino Industry

 

Five Types of Legal Gaming in the United States

 

CHARITABLE GAMING*

 

Charitable gaming is run for the benefit of nonprofit organizations, although the nonprofit may not necessarily be the operator of the games. Some examples of charitable gaming are PTA Monte Carlo nights, church raffles and bingo. Charitable gaming is the least regulated area of legal gaming.

 

COMMERCIAL CASINO GAMING*

 

Casino gaming is the largest part of the commercial gaming market, and it continues to grow in popularity due to the creation of new casino destinations and the expansion of existing casino locales. A casino is usually characterized by the offering of banked games. Banked games are those in which the house is banking the game and essentially acting as a participant, meaning that the casino has a stake in who wins.

 

Commercial casino gaming takes a variety of forms, the most recognizable of which consists of what are called Las Vegas-style casinos. Other commercial gaming venues include excursion (mobile) and dockside (permanently moored) riverboats, card rooms and racetrack casinos, commonly called racinos.

 

LOTTERIES*

 

Though lotteries have a long tradition in the United States that goes back to colonial days, there were no legal, government-sponsored lotteries operating in the country from 1894 to 1964. Legal lotteries experienced a rebirth in the 1960s. The first legal lottery in the twentieth century was the New Hampshire Sweepstakes, which began on March 12, 1964. Other northeastern states quickly followed. In 1981, Arizona became the first state west of the Mississippi River to authorize a lottery.

 

NATIVE AMERICAN GAMING

 

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act legalized tribal gaming operations. Many tribes have viewed gaming as an opportunity to further economic development. Modern Native American gaming operations are owned and, in some cases, operated by sovereign tribes. Often, tribes contract with established commercial casino companies to operate the tribal gaming operations.

 

PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING*

 

Pari-mutuel wagering refers to the type of gaming where the total prize pool is based upon the amount of money wagered. The more money gambled, the bigger the prize. Horse racing is the best known and most widespread pari-mutuel betting event, but other forms of pari-mutuel wagering include dog racing and jai-alai.

 

*Adapted from Dunstan, Roger. Gambling in California. Jan. 1997. (www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/crb97003.html)

 

For location and economic information about the various types of legal gaming in the United States, refer to the AGA’s annual State of the States: The AGA Survey of Casino Entertainment (http://www.americangaming.org/survey/index.cfm).

 

 A Brief History of the Modern Commercial Casino Industry

 

75 Years of Commercial Gaming in the United States

 

1931 Nevada legalizes casino gaming

 

1947 The Flamingo, operated by mobster Bugsy Siegel, opens in Las Vegas

 

1950 The Senate Committee to Investigate Organized Crime in Interstate Commerce, chaired by Sen. Estes Kefauver, begins to hold hearings on criminal influence in the casino industry

 

1955 Nevada passes legislation creating the Gaming Control Division under the Nevada Tax Commission. This legislation establishes unequivocally that licensing of a casino owner is a privilege revocable by the state

 

1958 The Stardust Hotel opens, breaking the mold of the traditional “star headliner” entertainment act by debuting a stage spectacular as its main entertainment feature. This form of entertainment would become widespread on the Las Vegas Strip

 

1959 Nevada passes legislation creating a State Gaming Commission, independent of the Tax Commission, whose function would be establishing and administering gaming regulations. The Commission and its enforcement arm, the State Gaming Control Board, develop rigorous application and investigation processes to screen persons for their suitability for casino ownership and operation. This legislation continues to define the framework for the regulation of gaming in Nevada

 

1966- Howard Hughes purchases numerous

 

1970 casino properties in Nevada. His involvement is a strong signal that the Nevada casino industry presents investment opportunities for legitimate business people, and that the industry is not teeming with mob influence as once was thought

 

1967 Nevada passes two Corporate Gaming and Acts, which remove barriers against the

 

1969 direct involvement of corporations in the casino industry. These laws expand existing casino operators’ access to financial capital through legitimate debt and equity markets, allow existing public corporations to acquire casinos, and increase the amount of public information on the profitability and ownership of casino operations

 

1973 Harrah’s Entertainment becomes the first “pure casino” company to be traded on the New York Stock Exchange

 

1976 New Jersey becomes the second state to legalize casino gaming

 

1978 The first casino opens in Atlantic City, N.J.

 

1989 The Mirage Hotel & Casino Resort opens in Las Vegas, ushering in the era of the destination casino resort. Upon its opening, the Mirage is the most expensive hotel casino in history, with construction costs of $630 million. With more than 3,000 rooms and headliner attractions such as the Siegfried and Roy show, the Mirage sets the new standard for Las Vegas casinos

 

1989 South Dakota and Iowa legalize gaming, kicking off a five-year period of the largest expansion of gaming into new jurisdictions in U.S. history

 

1992 The first racetrack casino (racino) opens in Rhode Island. Two years later, four additional states — Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, and West Virginia — legalize Racinos

 

1992 Chef Wolfgang Puck opens Spago Las Vegas at the Forum Shops at Caesars. Puck is the first “celebrity chef” to open a contemporary fine dining restaurant in the city. The opening of Spago Las Vegas ushers in a new style of dining in the city, initiating Las Vegas as a worldwide culinary attraction and beginning the food and beverage (F&B) revolution in the commercial casino industry

 

1995 The commercial casino industry creates the American Gaming Association (AGA)

 

1996 The National Center for Responsible Gaming is created

 

1997- The National Gambling Impact Study

 

1999 Commission, a congressional study examining the economic and social impacts of commercial casinos, is conducted. Findings reveal commercial casinos provide positive economic and social benefits for casino communities

 

2003 The AGA board of directors enacts the AGA Code of Conduct for Responsible Gaming, an industry pledge to employees, patrons and the public to integrate responsible gaming practices into every aspect of daily operations

 

2005 Mega-mergers of casino companies become the norm as MGM MIRAGE acquires Mandalay Resort Group in April and Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. acquires Caesars Entertainment in June

 

2005 Gross gaming revenues in the United States top $30 billion for the first time

 

2006 The first racetrack casinos open in Florida and Pennsylvania, bringing the total number of states with racinos to 11

 

2007 The Kansas legislature, and subsequently voters in four counties, legalize stateowned casino gambling at four locations.

 

2008 Two racinos open in Indiana, bringing the number of states with racetrack casinos to 12.

 

2008 Voters in Maryland pass a statewide referendum legalizing 15,000 slot machines at five locations throughout the state

 

Sources: American Gaming Association (www.americangaming.org/industry/factsheets); Dunstan, Roger. Gambling in California. Jan. 1997. (www.library.ca.gov/CRB/97/03/crb97003.html); Eadington, William R. “The Evolution of Corporate Gambling in Nevada.” The Gambling Papers: Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking, 7. 1982; Wikipedia.

 

 

 

Today’s Commercial Casino Industry

 

The commercial casino industry is an important part of the U.S. entertainment industry and the U.S. economy. It is vital to the states and communities where it operates, creating jobs and business opportunities for local businesses and providing direct gaming tax revenues to stimulate struggling economies and help communities grow. There are few sectors in our national economy that require such considerable capital expenditures, are as labor intensive and are as supportive of thousands of outside vendors and suppliers as the commercial casino industry. Thanks to these myriad contributions, gaming companies are stable business partners, playing a key role in the broader economic landscape of their host communities.

 

Internationally, many U.S. commercial casino companies have helped to build the industry into an important part of the global economy by pursuing investment opportunities in emerging foreign markets. While expanding in size, the industry also continues to evolve in scope, providing new entertainment offerings and adopting technological innovations to deliver the best possible customer experience.

 

TAXES AND RIGOROUS REGULATION

 

The commercial casino industry is one of the most transparent, regulated, monitored and taxed industries in the United States. Many of today’s commercial casino companies and gaming equipment manufacturers are publicly held companies that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ stock exchange.

 

The strict regulation of the industry is due largely to the fact that state governments, who play the primary role in regulating the industry, depend on casino earnings for a substantial portion of their tax revenues. Gaming taxes vary by state, ranging from 6.75 percent of gross gaming revenue for the largest casinos in Nevada to 55 percent of gross gaming revenue for casinos in Pennsylvania.

 

The billions of dollars in state and local tax revenue paid by the gaming industry go to fund necessary programs and expenditures like education, public safety, historic preservation, infrastructure improvements, economic development and youth and senior services.

 

(For more information on state tax rates, see the AGA’s annual State of the States survey at www.americangaming.org/survey/index.cfm.)

 

States with legalized commercial casino gaming employ state regulating agencies to enforce a significant number of financial disclosure rules on casinos to ensure the states receive the taxes due to them each year. The agencies also direct and review audits of casino operators to ensure accurate measurement of the revenue numbers that result in state tax dollars. The total cost of state regulation reaches hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board alone employs approximately 450 individuals.

 

Most states require casinos to adopt and adhere to a set of state-designated procedures, typically called the “Minimum Internal Control Standards (MICS).” These MICS focus on several aspects of the industry, including the conduct of games, the movement and handling of cash and equivalents, and the accounting and record trail of all transactions.

 

Casino companies also are regulated at the federal level. In addition to complying with laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and other labor laws that affect all U.S. businesses, casino companies are required to comply with several regulations typically directed at financial institutions, such as banks and money-lending operations, due to the large amount of currency transferred on the casino floor. The Bank Secrecy Act was amended in 1985 to include casinos and other cash-intensive businesses in a list of financial institutions subject to special requirements designed to prevent money laundering. The Act requires casinos to report every deposit; withdrawal; exchange of currency, gambling tokens or chips, or other payment; or transfer that is made by, through, or to the casino in amounts greater than $10,000.

 

There are additional federal laws that affect commercial casinos in different ways. For example, riverboat casinos are subject to laws governing the federal Maritime Transportation Security Act. The industry also works closely with the Internal Revenue Service on a number of tax-related issues.

 

INCREASED INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE

 

The international gaming industry is rapidly growing, both in size and into new jurisdictions. A number of U.S. commercial casino companies either have operations in foreign markets or are actively pursuing expansion abroad. In the past few years, Asian gaming markets in particular have experienced exponential growth, and many U.S. companies are seeking to open new properties there. Of the Asian markets, Macau is the largest and most successful, and often is referred to as the “Las Vegas of the East.” In fact, beginning in 2006, gross gaming revenue in Macau has surpassed that of the Las Vegas Strip. Other Asian markets like Taiwan and Korea are considering casino gaming, and casino properties in Singapore will soon further expand the Asian gaming industry.

 

GROWTH OF NON-GAMING AMENITIES

 

Over the past several years, many of the commercial casinos in Las Vegas and beyond have metamorphosed into multi-component entertainment venues offering a wide variety of non-gaming amenities ranging from spas, golf courses and theater-style shows to retail shopping, fine dining and more. Building and publicizing a diverse range of amenities and food and beverage (F&B) options has been one of the key ways in which properties on the Las Vegas Strip and throughout the country differentiate themselves from their competitors and attract new customers.

 

In fact, on the Strip, non-gaming amenities have become an important part of the industry’s bottom line. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, non-gaming revenue on the Las Vegas Strip in fiscal year 2008 accounted for more than 60 percent of total revenue compared to just over 40 percent 15 years earlier. This number does not take into account independent restaurants and shops located in casinos, which account for a significant share of the overall F&B and amenity spending on the Strip.

 

While the Las Vegas Strip is not representative of all U.S. gaming jurisdictions, it does continue to lead industry trends. The importance of integrating a diverse portfolio of amenities and entertainment options into casino offerings is growing in other markets from Biloxi, Miss. to Detroit, Mich. and from Kansas City, Mo. to Atlantic City, N.J.

 

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

 

The commercial casino industry continues to introduce new technologies that improve the overall customer experience and the efficiency of casino operations. A number of technologies are changing the modern gaming floor including: a general overall movement toward completely cashless slot floors thanks to the increasing utilization of ticket-in/ticket-out (TITO) technology; the introduction of server-based games that allow operators to make changes to any slot machine on the floor from a single secure computer server within the casino; multi-player games that allow customers to compete against each other on a single machine; and radio frequency identification (RFID), which several casinos are using in their casino chips to improve security and player tracking, and to increase the rating integrity of both players and dealers.

 

For information on the technology of slot machines and similar games found on the commercial casino gaming floor, access a copy of International Game Technology’s (IGT) Introduction to Slots and Video Gaming at http://media.igt.com/Marketing/PromotionalLiterature/IntroductionToGaming.pdf.

 

GAMING EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING SECTOR

 

Gaming equipment manufacturing is an important and sometimes overlooked sector of the gaming industry. It includes suppliers of electronic gaming devices, systems, table games, key components and support products and services for the gaming industry. Gaming equipment manufacturing is a global industry with companies based in the United States and abroad and operating around the world.

 

According to a report produced by the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), in 2007, the equipment manufacturing sector’s made significant contributions to the U.S. economy, providing 28,200 jobs that paid an estimated $1.9 billion in salaries, as well as approximately $11.9 billion in direct revenues. The global gaming supplier sector also generates a significant amount of public revenues, including almost $1 billion in corporate taxes. Many gaming equipment manufacturers are members of both AGEM and the American Gaming Association (AGA) and participate with casino operators in industrywide responsible gaming, diversity and philanthropy programs.

 

GAMING INDUSTRY EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

 

The gaming entertainment industry offers some of the most dynamic and rewarding professional opportunities available today. It is a fast-paced and exciting industry, offering a multi-faceted corporate environment with extremely diverse career possibilities ranging from architecture and accounting to hotel management, computer science and information technology.

 

Employers in the gaming industry have a proven record of promoting from within and investing in their employees. Gaming industry employees receive highly competitive salaries and excellent benefits packages that can include health care benefits, retirement plans, paid vacation, child care options, training programs and tuition reimbursement. The industry consistently experiences extremely high employee satisfaction ratings and boasts impressive retention rates.

 

 COMMITMENT TO CHARITABLE GIVING

 

Members of the gaming industry are among the most philanthropically active and largest donors among corporations. They contribute millions of charity dollars each year, and employees donate thousands of volunteer hours annually. Whether through support of charities associated with medical services delivery or research, care of the elderly, local infrastructure, or environmental sustainability, casino companies post an outstanding record of corporate responsibility. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, gaming companies led in efforts to support the victims and were some of the most active in reinvesting in the Gulf Coast. During this time, the casino industry became a model for other employers for providing security of income, access to health care and a substantial infusion of capital to rebuild.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

 

The commercial casino industry is committed to environmental sustainability and is a leader in this area among hospitality and entertainment businesses. Las Vegas is a prime example of the industry’s dedication to the environment, as it is soon to be home to the world’s largest concentration of environmentally friendly hotel rooms. A total of 15 major new building projects there are seeking the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED) Certification. These properties feature environmentally responsible construction and design, including low-water pressure showerheads, fluorescent light bulbs, super-insulating windows and walls, and the use of recycled building materials.

 

Commercial casinos, resorts and manufacturers across the country have adopted additional sustainability programs to reduce their environmental impacts. Some of these green policies include replacing incandescent lights with cold-cathode lights on marquees; developing an environmentally-friendly laundry facility that uses 75 percent less water, 47 percent less natural gas and 27 percent less electricity; composting trees and plants that are no longer viable and replacing individual guest room air conditioning units with more efficient units.

 

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

 

The commercial casino industry plays a vital role in the overall U.S. travel and tourism industry. Roughly one-quarter of the U.S. adult population visits a casino at least once a year, and casinos attract a substantial number of visitors from overseas. In fact, a 2009 survey found that 65 percent of Americans think the casino industry is important to the overall U.S. travel industry. Today’s casinos provide top-notch entertainment experiences that go well beyond gaming. The diverse amenities that make up the modern casino resort attract all types of tourists who also visit neighboring attractions, thus further stimulating the local economy.

 

Many gaming facilities also include state-of-the-art convention centers and meeting facilities, making them important components of the business travel market. In fact, many gaming communities are some of the most popular convention cities in the country thanks to the level of value and service they provide. Twothirds of the national survey respondents consider casinos a vital part of the business travel market.

 

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