DOVER, Del. — Delaware lottery officials are beginning real-stakes Internet gambling in the state with a select group of preferred players whom they wouldn’t name or describe.
State lottery director Vernon Kirk said Tuesday that officials will conduct a “soft launch” of online gambling on Thursday with the group. He refused to say who those players are, how they were selected, or how many there are, saying state officials have decided to keep that information confidential.
epa03929874 (FILE) A file picture dated 18 October 2013 shows three giant mirrors errected on the hills above an industrial town reflect sunshine towards the center of Rjukan, Norway. Rjukan, known for its darkness in winter, is located in the bottom of a valley between steep mountains in Telemark County, some 150 km west of Oslo. The idea about mirrors reflecting sunshine to the town in winter was brought up already 100 years ago and only now became reallity. The mirrors will officially start operation on 31 October. EPA/TORE MEEK
Photos of the day
Giant mirrors illuminate a town, new face grown on a patient’s chest, a reactor to melt hydrogen’s atomic core and more.
Tuesday’s photos of the day
Hinting at well-publicized problems with the federal government’s new health care website, Kirk said officials want to make sure things go smoothly, including transfers between casino and player bank accounts, before a full launch of online gambling in Delaware early next month.
“We’re going to do a very soft launch,” Kirk said earlier during a brief meeting of the state Video Lottery Advisory Council.
The council, an industry group representing Delaware’s three casinos, says the casinos are suffering financially because of competition from neighboring states, and that Delaware lawmakers need to change the current models for sharing revenue with the state.
“The things we are asking for are critical, critical to our business,” council chairman and Dover Downs CEO Ed Sutor said after running through a list of recommendations the council plans to make in a report due next week.
“I don’t think there’s been a more critical time for the kinds of things we’ll be recommending,” Sutor said.
Chief among the recommendations is changing the revenue sharing structure for slot machines. Currently, vendor costs are taken from the casinos’ share after the state takes its 43.5 percent cut of slots revenue. The council recommends that vendor costs be taken off the top, before the state gets its share, and that a tiered structure for revenue sharing be reinstated. Under a tiered structure, if gambling revenue declines, the state’s percentage share also would decline.
“It gets you into a lower tax bracket until we can turn this thing around,” Sutor explained.
The council also is recommending that the state eliminate its license fee for table games, lower the tax rate, and take vendor costs off the top before the state gets its share.
The council also is calling for changes to law on Internet gambling, which gives the state the first $3.75 million of revenue. The council wants to eliminate the state’s initial cut and lower the percentage of revenue going to the general fund.
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