By Howard Stutz

LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana — MGM Resorts International bought its way into the Louisiana gaming market Thursday through a joint venture with Las Vegas-based Creative Casinos to develop and operate a project in Lake Charles.

The company’s real targets, however, are Houston and other communities in customer-rich Texas.

Analysts said running the planned 400-room Mojito Pointe hotel-casino in Lake Charles, roughly 145 miles east of Houston and its roughly 6 million residents, gives MGM Resorts a foothold near an important feeder market to Las Vegas and an edge in attracting new visitors to its 10 Strip resorts.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Andrew Zarnett estimated that 50 percent of visitors from Southern states to Las Vegas come from Texas.

Union Gaming Group principal Bill Lerner said Mojito Pointe could open the Lake Charles market to other Texas cities, such as Austin and San Antonio, which would eventually benefit MGM Resorts.

“(The partnership) becomes quite attractive in our view,” Lerner said.

Financial terms of the deal between MGM Resorts and Creative, which is privately owned by longtime gaming executive Dan Lee, were not revealed.

According to a joint statement, MGM Resorts gains an undisclosed ownership stake and would manage Mojito Pointe, which will be designed and developed by Creative. The agreement will place Mojito Pointe into MGM Resort’s M Life customer loyalty program. Also, Mojito Pointe would have access to MGM Resort’s database of customers worldwide.

MGM Resorts now operates two hotel-casinos in the south, Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in the Gulf Coast community of Biloxi, Miss., and the Gold Strike Casino ResortTunica in northern Mississippi, which attracts customers from nearby Memphis, Tenn.

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By Ray Poirier

As expected, the Massachusetts Senate has approved, 24-14, a bill that would authorize the licensing of three casinos and one racino.

This follows the House approval of a similar bill. Because of what was described as minor differences in the two bills, a conference committee will be established to iron out the differences.

It is expected to be on Gov. Deval Patrick’s desk soon. Patrick has expressed his approval of the gambling expansion.

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By Tim Eaton

Texas came a little closer tonight to expanded gambling, but it doesn’t look like casinos will be on the table.

In a Friday night meeting, a House committee voted out a measure to allow slot machines at racetracks and Indian reservations.

But the House’s Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee — chaired by Rep. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton, R-Mauriceville — agreed to a joint resolution that strips out full-casino gambling.

“We just didn’t know if we had the votes for it,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said that some House members indicated that they would consider voting for a bill that would only allow slots at tracks and Indian reservations.

But the House won’t even get to consider the measure unless Hamilton thinks he’s got the votes to pass it. And as of Friday, he said that is close but isn’t quite there.

In March, Hamilton had supported an all-encompassing bill that could have led to seven new Las Vegas-style casinos, slot machines at 13 horse and dog tracks across the state, slots at a few Indian reservations and slots at bingo halls across Texas.

But the measure the committee voted out tonight, House Joint Resolution 111, didn’t include casinos or bingo halls.

Mike Lavigne, a spokesman for Win for Texas, a group that backs slots at tracks, said in a statement: “We are excited to see the process moving along. This is a big step towards creating over 75,000 new jobs and keeping billions of dollars here in Texas when we need it most. Giving Texans the chance to vote on this proposal is the smart thing to do.”

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By Morgan Smith and Ben Philpott

Attention, gamblers. A Texas House committee surprised the casino lobby Friday night when it voted out legislation that would allow video lottery terminals — slot machines — at state racetracks and Indian reservations. The casinos were left behind.

Casino interests wanted any legislation approved by the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee to also allow destination casinos in major cities and on the state’s barrier islands.

Rep. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, said he still doesn’t have the 100 votes required in the House to advance the constitutional amendment his committee approved.

Time is short. The legislative session ends on Memorial Day. And next week, a joint House-Senate committee trying to reconcile their two versions of the budget will convene. They’re looking for money, and the gaming interests are hoping this is their chance.

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, has said he won’t move on any gaming bill until and unless the House passes one. With that still in doubt, nothing’s moving in the Senate right now.

The bill approved by the committee includes a constitutional amendment and the legislation putting it into effect if it passes. Those bills, by Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston, would allow VLTs at dog and horse tracks and on reservations and would raise $548.2 million for the next budget.

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By James Ridgway, Jr.

The Texas Racing Commission concluded in their 2011 “Current State of Horse and Greyhound Racing” that Texas racetracks experienced another year of decline.

In the five years preceding 2010, TRC reported that attendance dropped 12 percent, money wagered declined 23 percent, live racing dropped from 1,228 in 2005 to 578 in 2009, and available purse revenue across the state decreased.

“The Texas racing industry has declined tremendously relative to neighboring states. Comparing the purse revenue paid to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners in Louisiana with the purse dollars paid to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners in Texas underscores the depth to which Texas has fallen.

“In 2009, Louisiana purses for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses amounted to $106 million, whereas purses paid to the owners of both major breeds in Texas amounted to $30million. The difference is $76 million,” from TRC’s Industry Advisory Group Report and Recommendations.

New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana have legalized slot machine gambling within their pari-mutuel race facilities. The TRC study purported Texas racetracks are operating at a competitive disadvantage.

At the local level, Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said slot machine gaming has not been a subject of overt interest within commissioners’ court in Montgomery County.

“At this point, not having heard pros or cons, I couldn’t say how I would vote (on slot machine gaming). It’s one of those areas, for or against, we haven’t heard much about,” Doyal said. “If Austin opted to allow local options, it would definitely be something I would consider further.”

Doyal said a local option would allow county residents to vote on slot machine gaming as a community.

Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston Race Park, in earlier coverage, said Texans are losing a sizable chuck of taxable-dollars.

“At the tune of 30 percent tax rates on gaming, this is money Texas is losing to neighboring states,” Young said. “Texas is already gaming legally on horse tracks and lottery tickets. Slot machine entertainment on our facilities should be no different.”

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An online banner ad on the Austin American-Statesman’s website April 19 made us eager to try our luck.

“Thank you Texas,” says a color postcard featuring slot machines and addressed to the state of Texas. The ad, sponsored by a group that seeks to legalize slot machines in Texas, features three messages — New Mexico thanking Texas for “your” $27 million and Louisiana and Oklahoma each offering thanks for “your” $1 billion.

Text below the postcards states: “Texans spend $2.5 billion gambling in our neighboring states every year.”

That’s a lot of quarters. Is it right?

We asked Texans for Economic Development, the ad’s sponsor, for elaboration. The group, consisting of horse racing interests, wants Texas lawmakers to ask voters to permit slot machines at 13 in-state horse and greyhound tracks and three Indian reservations.

Its spokesman, Mike Lavigne, passed along a July 7, 2010, report prepared for the group by TXP, an Austin economic policy consulting group, stating that in 2009, Texans spent $2.7 billion on gaming and related activities in nearby states.

The report says Texans gambled most of that — $2.57 billion — immediate neighbors-with-casinos: Oklahoma, where the report says Texans threw down nearly $1.2 billion; Louisiana, about $1.1 billion; and New Mexico, $27 million. The state-by-state figures were based on various sources “including state gaming commissions, primary field research, convention and visitors bureaus … and other academic studies,” the report says.

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Check out this video on the Win For Texas vision of what Texas would look like with legalized gaming at Texas racetracks and recognized Indian reservations. Did you know 38 other states already offer gaming? Texas can do it better without expanding the existing footprint of gambling in Texas.

AUSTIN (KYTX) – Lyle Lovett is a well-known singer and songwriter, something he’s less known for, raising and racing horses. At the capitol Thursday, he publicly backed placing slot machines at Texas racetracks.

Lovett was one of hundreds of horseman at the state capitol rallying for a pair gambling bills. The bills would allow Texans to vote on putting slots at racetracks and Indian reservations.

“Win for Texas” is a group pushing the legislation. They said slots would generate a half-a-billion dollars for the state coffers in just the first two years. But opponents argued the money won’t come in time to help the current budget crisis and worry about it’s impact on the poor.

Earlier this week, a house committee heard hours of testimony on more than a dozen gambling bills. The senator charged with finding $5-billion of non-tax revenue says there’s not enough support for gambling. Authors of the bills hope testimony will change his mind.

“This is a significant source of non-tax revenue,” said Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. “A half billion dollars is a lot of money.”

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By Ben Hudson

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Did you know that Texans spend $2.5 billion gambling in our neighboring states every year? Texas House Bill 2111 will help keep Texas dollars in Texas by allowing slot machines at Texas racetracks and Indian reservations.

Win For Texas just launched the Thank You Texas campaign so listen for Thank You Texas radio ads airing across the state!