Cleveland Plain Dealer...
Gov. John Kasich moving fast on racetrack slots, asks Controlling Board for approval of no-bid contract
By Joe Guillen 

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. John Kasich on Monday asked for approval of a no-bid, multimillion contract the administration says will help speed the arrival of slots-like gambling at Ohio’s racetracks. 

If the state’s Controlling Board agrees, the $9 million, two-year contract will go to Intralot, a Greek gaming company, to develop a central monitoring system to track the activity of the gambling machines, called video lottery terminals. 

Exactly when the games will debut at the tracks still remains uncertain. But Ohio Lottery officials said approval of a no-bid contract would allow the VLT monitoring system to be ready by the end of January, four months earlier than if the state goes out to bid. 

“There’s a lot of revenue for the state and others at issue here,” Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols said. “We’d like to see VLTs up and running as quickly as possible. This is an important step to that end.”

The Controlling Board, which provides legislative oversight on certain state expenditures, is scheduled to vote on the request next Monday.[jgu: Sept. 26: ] 

Slots-like games are expected to be a lifeline for the state’s struggling racetracks. Legislation passed in the summer paved the way for the gambling expansion, including the relocation of racetracks in Toledo and Columbus - two cities about to each get a new casino - to new markets in Dayton and Youngstown. 

Kasich, a Republican, proposes bypassing a competitive bidding process in the interest of time. Intralot already manages the Ohio Lottery Commission’s back-room operations that run Mega Millions and other games. 

But GTECH Corp., a potential Intralot competitor, contends the state hasn’t given a compelling reason for bypassing the process. 

GTECH spokesman Robert Vincent said maximizing revenue is always a priority for states with a similar gaming plan. And those states went out to bid, he said. 

“Our expectation is that it would’ve gone to a competitive procurement,” Vincent said. “We just don’t see it as a particularly compelling reason not to go to competitively bid.” 

The Lottery Commission estimated the state would lose nearly $2 million in revenue for each month a single race track with 1,000 machines is not operating. 

“VLTs are a promising new source of much-needed revenue for the state, and as such, the Ohio Lottery must ensure its back-office systems are implemented ahead of the race tracks’ VLT opening dates,” said Pat McDonald, chairman of the Ohio Lottery. “Intralot will bring a state-of-the-art technology solution to Ohio.” 

The contract is worth about $5.2 million for fiscal year 2012 and $3.8 million for fiscal year 2013. The central monitoring system will keep track of money deposited in each terminal, wins, payouts and machine maintenance. The award would be an amendment to Intralot’s existing contract with the Ohio Lottery that began in 2008 and is worth about $20 million a year. 

Both GTECH and Intralot hired lobbyists with ties to Kasich after he was elected governor last year. 

Kasich’s preference to fast-track the slots project was encouraging to those in the race track and gaming industries. 

“In the sense that this is moving it forward, that’s a good thing,” said Bob Tenenbaum, a spokesman for Penn National Gaming Inc., which is planning to relocate the racetracks it owns in Toledo and Columbus. 

Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer