Berman Stakes Claim
November 9, 2009
As Ohio moves closer to bringing in their casinos, Lyle Berman moves
closer to getting a piece of the pie. Voters approved all four Ohio casinos
on Tuesday, making the way for Berman to be able to be a part of the
industry. Berman, a casino developer and poker champion, had been on an Ohio
slots parlor a year ago but was not successful in that attempt.
He has now cut a deal with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission to find 10% of the cost of the ballot initiative. His company
Lakes Entertainment Inc. Agreed to the option as it gives them a choice to
have a 10% share in each of the four casinos. The initiative cost almost $35
million and the price was paid for by Penn Ventures and Rock Ohio Ventures
which are the development businesses of Penn National Gaming Inc.
The poker pro has already made it the first payment of $1.9 million to the
group Penn Ventures which gives him a stake in both the Columbus and Toledo
sites. He also made a payment of $2.4 million to Rock Ohio which gives him a
share in Cleveland and Cincinnati casinos. There was discussion before the
casinos were legalized that Berman might be involved in the deal if they
were to be passed by the voters, but the state denied those allegations.
Now they say that the deal for him to be a part of these casinos was made
after the allegations had been brought forth. They say that the poker
professional was not involved in the campaign in any way, but during the
last week of the process he did call them and ask them if he could be
involved in some way.
