Citing “unusual extenuating circumstances,” the West Virginia Lottery Commission recently denied the request of Deborah Carter of Christiansburg, Virginia, to be removed from the voluntary self-exclusion list at state casinos. According to state Lottery regulations, individuals may put themselves on self-exclusion lists for any one or all five state casinos. The commission’s approval is required to be removed from the list.
In Carter’s case, commissioners noted the night before she submitted her request to be removed from the self-exclusion list, she was spotted at the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro and escorted off the property. As a result, Commissioner Michael Adams said Carter not only will not have her voluntary self-exclusion rescinded, but also will be placed on the involuntary exclusion list, permanently banning her from West Virginia casinos.
Meanwhile, the West Virginia Lottery posted gross revenue of $87.67 million for November 2015, down $2.78 million from November 2014. West Virginia Lottery Commission Acting Director John Myers said the continuing drop in Lottery revenue “has been steady at about four percent.” He noted the decline has been caused by competition from casinos in neighboring Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, not by the economic downturn in the state’s southern coal fields.
At the state’s four racinos, video slot revenue dropped 3.3 percent to $42.84 million compared to November 2014. Limited Video Lottery available at more than 1,300 bars, clubs and fraternal organizations fell 2.5 percent to $28.77 million. Sales of traditional scratch-off tickets and online drawing games decreased 6 percent to $11.77 million. The state’s share of Lottery profits for November was $39.9 million, down $1.38 million from November 2014.
For the first five months of the 2015-16 budget year, Lottery gross revenue fell $17.48 million, or 3.6 percent, to $468.9 million compared to the same period last year. Racetrack video lottery dropped nearly $10 million to $229.88 million.
Year-to-date, the state’s share of Lottery profits dropped $7.88 million, or 3.6 percent, to $211.45 million, from the same point last year.
