When the smoking ban in the state of Connecticut took effect in bowling facilities about 5 years ago, Bill DeDominicis watched earnings from his cocktail lounge drop by fourteen percent and they have not recovered since. That is why DeDominicis, the owner of Sky Top Lanes in Torrington and the director of the Connecticut Bowling Proprietors Association is willing to take a gamble on a proposal being pushed at the Connecticut Capitol to permit Keno-an electronic lottery game-at bars, restaurants, clubs and bowling establishment.
On April 6th, 2009, while there is no formal proposal before the General Assembly yet, but there have been informal talks among state legislators, the bowling facilities, the restaurant associations and Scientific Games Corporation, an organization that supplies keno machines and already possess a contract with the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, about the possibility of permitting the game. Supporters say that the state could earn about $20 million to $40 million in brand new revenue at time when the state of Connecticut faces a $8.7 billion budget deficit over the next two fiscal years, starting July 1st, 2009.
Rep. Bruce Zalaski, a Democrat from Southington and a member of the legislature's Finance Revenue and Bonding said that he knows that keno is a big money producer and they are looking for a way to raise state revenue without raising taxes. The recent tax package by the Democratic dominated committee did not include the game of keno as a possible revenue source. Some legislators have voiced apprehensions that permitting keno might worsen gaming addiction in the state.
The executive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gaming, Martin A. Steinberg said that he is very worried about the potential addictive nature of the game. He added that there is a big difference between the game of keno, where players can immediately learn whether they have won or not and regular lottery games, where lottery enthusiasts can wait one or two days. A dozen states, including the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York, allow the game of keno.
Both of Connecticut's tribal casino facilities, Foxwoods casino and Mohegan Sun feature keno. The game of keno is played using a group of eighty numbers. Players picked up to ten numbers and a computer randomly pick twenty numbers. A player's win will be base on how many digits they match. According to a lottery study, 2004 keno sales in the state of Massachusetts totaled $775 million; $88 million in Rhode Island and $532 million in New York. But in the state of Ohio, which started offering keno last summer to solve the budget deficit, has not seen the level of revenue predicted by state officials.
Ohio officials blamed the financial crisis and the problem of getting keno started at the two thousand bars and restaurants in Ohio. Keno has improved business at the Colonial Restaurant in Webster, Massachusetts located just over the Connecticut border. Bartender Kathleen Hogan estimates that about forty percent of her customers travel from the northeastern part of Connecticut to play. Some decide to play keno for fun while enjoying dinner while others are dedicated keno enthusiasts.
The executive director of the state's Division of Special Revenue, Paul Young, which regulates gaming in the state of Connecticut, said that the gaming compact between the two tribe and Connecticut would permit the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to feature keno game because it is essentially a variation of the lottery. A spokesperson For Foxwoods Casino said that if the proposal for the game is submitted to the General Assembly for review, the tribe's legal team would study it.
[22-04]
John Sullivan
