BNGO News - Important enough to get a Governor elected!
UPDATE) American Bingo Shares Surge After S.C. Court Upholds Video Gambling
Dow Jones Online News, Thursday, November 19, 1998 at 16:44
CHARLOTTE -(Dow Jones)- Shares of American Bingo & Gaming Corp.
surged Thursday after the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the
legality of video gambling - an issue that helped oust the governor in
this month's elections.
In a 3-2 decision, the court ruled that most of the state's video
gambling machines don't constitute lotteries in violation of the state
constitution, according to the clerk's office and an attorney in the
firm that sought to have the games banned.
The case was argued in April. The state's attorney general filed suit
last year against gambling companies, calling video poker "the most
important social and policy issue facing the state's citizens and
elected officials."
"With 60% to 65% of revenues coming from video poker in South
Carolina, it (the ruling) removed a tremendous cloud from over the
company," said American Bingo & Gaming Vice Chairman George Harrison Jr.
"It had depressed the stock price because it had brought into
question as to whether we could continue to operate in South Carolina,"
Harrison said.
Shares of American Bingo & Gaming (BNGO) jumped $1.156, or 60%, to
close at $3.094 on volume of 1.2 million, well above the daily average
of about 37,000.
Harrison said American Bingo & Gaming is the only publicly traded
company affected by the ruling. In addition to its South Carolina
video-gaming operations, American Bingo & Gaming operates bingo centers
in the state and in Texas and Alabama.
The video gambling issue factored into the recent governor's race in
South Carolina. Republican Gov. David Beasley was defeated by challenger
Jim Hodges, the former state House Minority Leader. Beasley had raised
the ire of gambling interests by calling for an end to the $2
billion-a-year video poker industry and opposing creation of a state
lottery.
Some gambling critics have called video poker the equivalent of
"crack cocaine" because of the apparent ease with which some people can
become addicted to it.
Critics explain its addictiveness this way: It can be very cheap to
play, with some games costing as little as five cents a hand; it
requires little or no skill (players can't raise or bluff, as they do in
real poker); it is quick - a gambler can play six or more hands in a
minute - and offers instant gratification for winners. Many players
appear to be mesmerized by the machines' slick graphics and sound. Also,
unlike casino gambling, video poker appeals as much to women as men.
Last year, a 10-day-old infant died in a sweltering car while her
mother played video poker for hours.
Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
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