Binion wins Horseshoe’s Indiana license renewal

Tom Coyne

Monday, Aug. 27, 2001 | 10:43 a.m.

GARY, Ind. -- The Indiana Gaming Commission voted 6-0 Friday to renew the riverboat casino license for Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp. despite questions about its chairman's business practices.

Board members said an investigation found no reason to keep Horseshoe Chairman Jack Binion from doing business in Hammond, just across the state line from Illinois where regulators last year alleged he was unfit to run a riverboat casino.

Commission member Ann Bochnowski said some of the questions raised Friday by opponents were the same questions raised when Horseshoe bought the riverboat casino in 1999.

"There wasn't any reason then and I don't think there's any reason now not to grant this," she said.

In fact, Jack Thar, the commission's executive director, said he notified the Illinois Gaming Board about some of the concerns that led the board there to its decision about Binion, but said the Indiana commission didn't think the issues were worth denying the license.

Among the 19 specific instances cited by the Illinois Gaming Board was that Binion allegedly used shell minority vendors in Louisiana to fulfill minority participation goals and had once posted a $2 million bond for a jailed high-stakes gambler in Nevada.

The Indiana commission on Friday didn't question Binion about the allegations he used shell vendors. He did, however, confirm that he had posted bail for the gambler, saying it was a business decision to try to keep the high-stakes player from Mexico to keep frequenting his business. Binion said it was a good business decision, but one he probably wouldn't do again because of the scrutiny it received.

He is now suing the high-stakes gambler for a $3 million gambling debt.

The Rev. John D. Wolf, coordinator of the Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, questioned Binion's character, saying he's associated with "unsavory characters," including his own late father and brother.

"Jack kept his own slate clean, but there is such a thing as corporate corruption," Wolf said.

Wolf asked commissioners not to approve the relicensing, saying: "It's Hoosier values against Las Vegas money and muscle."

But William Kunkle, an attorney for Binion, said it was incorrect to say that Illinois found Binion unfit to run a riverboat casino. He said it was simply a charge against him that eventually was dropped. Binion decided it would be too costly to contest the charge and instead reached an agreement to sell the riverboat casino, Kunkle said.

The license will now be granted on an annual basis, with a thorough investigation occurring every three years, Thar said.

The Gaming Commission on Tuesday also approved license renewals for the Trump Hotel Casino and the Majestic Star Casino, both in Gary.