G3-247 Report INDIA
Nayak, Director of Casino Pride offshore casino and three land based casinos and of the Casino Operations Association, said the ban on locals will only give rise to issues such as identifying indigenous Goans from the many casino patrons who enter.
At the moment around 80 per cent of gamblers at onshore casinos in South Goa are locals and 50 per cent of clients at onshore casinos in North Goa are Goans. For offshore casinos 70 per cent of clients are tourists so these are less affected.
Manohar Parrika, Chief Minister of Goa has said no more
licences will now be issued. In June 2013 some 29 of 30
elected city council members in Panaji voted to close all casino
offices in the city on the riverside and wanted floating casinos pushed out to sea.
The legislative bill was passed in the assembly more than a year ago but has received heavy criticism as to how it can be implemented and enforced. The rules were due to be notified in February.
It is thought people will resort to document forgery and it could affect the casino industry heavily particularly in the out of season periods.
Some say the idea of banning Goans from casinos is contrary to a section in the Indian Constitution where it is prohibited to ban anyone of ‘religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth’ from ‘access to shops, public restau- rants, hotels and places of public entertainment.’
John Snowball, Vice President of Crown Casino Goa said: “The amazing thing is very few people seem to have made an issue of this. Frankly it has far reaching consequences for every citizen of India. If one state gov- ernment can start interfering with the basic rights of its citizens, where does it end?”
and not pay back dollars (only Rupees) so currency con- vertibility is often a hindrance and some say this is why India only attracts one tenth of the gambling audience of major casino markets.
Earlier this year Goa’s Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced that local Goans would be banned from entering casinos. The ban was due to come into place on February 28th. This will also coincide with the promised set up of the casino gaming commission.
The idea is to permit only tourists in the casinos in a bid to stop gambling addiction problems. However Shrinivas
Meanwhile there are calls now to remove all offshore casinos out of the Mandovi River. Things began to brew in the summer of 2013 in Goa when Delta Corp unveiled the MV Horseshoe. The idea was to change an existing vessel in the Mandovi River for one which was bigger. The Horseshoe was three times bigger and has now catalysed an anti gambling war in Goa.
The Horseshoe was previously operated by Caesars Entertainment in the US Great Lakes, and houses a 40,000 sq.ft casino and is now named the Deltin Royale.
Manohar Parrika, Chief Minister of Goa has said no more licences will now be issued. In June 2013 some 29 of 30 elected city council members in Panaji voted to close all casino offices in the city on the riverside and wanted floating casinos pushed out to sea.
However this is thought to be a unfeasible option. John
Snowball added: “The continual references to moving casinos out of the Mandovi River are just so much politi- cal ‘noise’. It is completely unfeasible for the vessels to operate in anything other than sheltered water. The issue is not one of sea worthiness or otherwise of the vessels, but it is the safety issue regarding moving hun- dreds of people from shores to ship and back again in the dead of night and in water where wave height between June and end of September can be up to two metres high.
“Plus the politicians, and casino opposition, seem to have forgotten the Mumbai terrorist attacks where the terrorists arrived by small boat from a vessel offshore. How could the hundreds of passenger transfers per week possibly be monitored?”
Meanwhile back in 2010 it was announced that the Goan gaming industry would soon be regulated by a gaming commission which would be set up to monitor both onshore and offshore casinos.
Despite the initial announcement however nothing really happened under the Congress government which was in power at the time. Nor under the BJP led coalition government which took over in 2012.
However following the death of 20 year old Sai Dhanush the idea of forming a gaming commission has been given new momentum and a renewed push to introduce. The commission was said to be ready by August 2013. However it is still not set up.
Dhanush under the law should not have been allowed to enter a Goan casino where the age limit is 21. He fell from a second level of an offshore casino vessel and drowned.
Once it is set up the commission will enable constant checks and inspections to make sure rules are followed and have penalising powers. It would also specify a minimum payout ratio. At the moment there is no gov- ernment system to oversee the ratio of monies won by gamblers in comparison to the money netted by the casino operators.
Meanwhile the number of land based casinos has dropped over the last year or so partly due to the large increase in annual licensing frees. At the moment those which remain include:
CHANCES RESORT AND CASINOin the Vainguinim Valley Resort in Dona Paula which is located in a five star boutique hotel with 53 rooms and suites. The hotel is just 30 minutes drive from Dabolim Airport. The casi- no is Goa’s first and largest land based casino and offers gaming and VIP room plus a kid’s garden and restau- rants. The casino is open 11am until 4am and includes American Roulette, Mini Baccarat, Blackjack, electronic roulette, 35 slots and video slots.
CASINO CARNIVAL in Goa Marriott Resort is located adjacent to the Miramar beach near the capital Panaji. It is one of the finest five star resort offering. Casino Carnival is a Vegas style casino with electronic roulettes, Blackjack, Baccarat, the Sigma Serby and the largest selection of slots in Goa. It is open from noon until 2am. It was associated with the offshore Carnival before its sale (not part of the sale).
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