“Defense attorney Kevin Barrs said Holly Clark ‘got in over her head’ with a group of about six people who police said were using stolen credit card numbers to obtain cash advances at the local casinos.

“…A state police detective assigned to the Foxwoods casino unit received a credit card fraud report in February from the sheriff’s office in Tampa, Fla. A man reported a $3,107 charge on his credit card from the casino, but told authorities he had never been to Connecticut and still had the credit card.

“…Judge Susan B. Handy said Clark is to be deported and ‘will no longer be welcome in the United States of America…’”  Seems a bit harsh for the crime she committed.

• Game: $200/$400 - Omaha
• Table: Oboe (heads up)
• Players: Ziigmund, MR B 2 U SON
• Date: Nov 24,2008 5:38:28 ET

http://www.pokerlistings.com/hand-replayer_h9140871814_c1901

While Goldman’s seems to appreciate that the footfall to many US based casino groups may not be largely affected by the downturn, there has been a drop in the amount of money spent by each visitor. It is this rather than any footfall change which has alerted analysts to the fact they need to revise their thoughts and their figures.

However when you see the target price for the likes of Las Vegas Sands reduced from $60 to $25 and MGM Mirage form $32 to $17 you can get a sense of the changes going on in the sector. There have also been substantial changes in the price target of groups such as Wynn resorts, Ameristar Casinos, Boyd Gaming and a number of other casinos outfits.

If I was a heavy investor I would hold on to all my gambling related stocks for the long-term because the pay-off will come.  I also like companies that are diversified into online poker, online caisno, bingo online and more.

While the main blue chip casino stocks are well down on their levels over the last twelve months, we saw a number of rises such as Pinnacle Entertainment Inc +12.1%, MGM Mirage +4.1% and Las Vegas Sands Corp +9.8%. Many of the stocks which have risen are those which have either committed themselves to expansion in the future and were struggling or companies which recently took on substantial debt and were struggling to finance it. Now that the ‘oil’ is back in the money markets things should start to improve.

There are also hopes that the economy may well start to show signs of life again as the authorities attempt to bring the consumer out of their shells and back onto the high street. The only real long term fix is to reduce the risks of consumers being drowned by debt and losing their homes, and encourage them to get out and spend again. Expectations are high for return on casino industy investment over the next decade.

The take for casinos along the Las Vegas Strip — the heart of Nevada’s casino industry — fell 14.7 percent to $519.2 million for the month.