Saipan poker licenses are to go the way of the Dodo after the government decided they will no longer issue new or additional licenses for poker after April 2, 2015.
More people watch a Manchester United home game that live in Saipan, but that hasn’t stopped the Northern Mariana Island frequenting the headlines of gambling articles in the past few months; the latest of which has popped up in the Saipan Tribune this week.
According to the daily online newspaper, the government has stated that they will no longer issue new or additional licenses for poker, pachinko or similar amusement machines on Saipan after April 2, 2015.
The news comes just weeks after the Northern Mariana Islands’ House of Representatives passed a bill to give the Lottery Commission the power to grant an exclusive casino license in the tiny island.
This change in the law was met with much delight because it will provide around $30 million in funding to take care of the islands retirees, a victory that has been blighted somewhat by the recent news.
Chairman of the House Committee on Education Roman Benavente is calling for the law to be clarified. Will owners of existing poker machines be able to renew their license beyond April 2, 2015? And more importantly, where is the money going to come from to pay the $3 million needed to fund the Saipan Higher Education Financial Assistance (SHEFA)?
Benavente is worried that the loss of $12,500 per machine means that the money for SHEFA will come out of the land casino coffers and, therefore, eat into retirement profits.
“The casino law does not say where the money for SHEFA will come from after poker machines are gone. Will it be the central government’s responsibility after realizing revenues from the casino? We need to know,” Benavente told the Saipan Tribune
Another battle that the poker machines face is a local law that was signed into effect in October 2013 declaring that any poker operator operating within 200 feet of schools, churches, parks, playgrounds and laundry facilities had to relocate before 2017.
You learn something new every day and today, I learned that cleaning your dirty knickers was a gambling trigger.
