Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Both sides in the closed-door talks went on to assure the patrons of the sprawling Lincoln gambling hall that a bankruptcy filing would not, in any way, effect the payout percentages or payment of winnings from the 4,751 video slots placed at Twin River by GTECH and other companies under contract with the state Lottery.

Attmepting to hammer home this point, Sasse, who oversees the Lottery, said: "The Rhode Island Lottery sets the payout percentages on all the slot machines, which offer some of the highest payouts in New England, and collects all cash at Twin River to ensure that payouts are made on a timely basis. The Rhode Island Lottery will continue to oversee this important function."

Twin River has been struggling to keep its lenders and creditors - including a phalanx of Rhode Island contractors - at bay since defaulting on its half-billion dollars' worth of loans in March 2008.

Just last week, the owners' group, known as BLB Investors, disclosed another big piece in an emerging financial package aimed at restructuring Twin River's debt under more affordable terms while averting a state takeover and a once-sought reduction in the state's anticipated share of the video-slot revenue.

Having already announced plans to suspend greyhound racing in August after running the minimum 125 days of racing required annually to keep its license, the owners disclosed their offer to buy out their $9-million-a-year contract with the dog owners to get out from under a losing end of their business that produces less than $1 million annually for the state.

But the Rhode Island Greyhound Owners Association rejected the buyout offer of $2 million a year for six years, and a Senate committee last week approved a bill requiring Twin River to keep the dogs racing.

There are only a handful of other places that Twin River's owners can turn to plug the rest of their $30-million revenue hole without reducing the state's share of the video-slot revenue. The state currently keeps close to 60 cents of every dollar left behind by losing players, after the winners have been paid.

Twin River's owners get 27.8 percent, an estimated $107.6 million this year. GTECH gets $14.5 million from Twin River as the provider of 2,599 of the video slots, while the other suppliers - IGT and Williams - get their 7 percent share: $10 million and $2.7 million, respectively, according to May estimates. The Town of Lincoln gets an estimated $5.577 million, and the Narragansett Indian Tribe $662,901.

Doyle said Twin River's owners believed they had made "significant progress" in recent weeks in their talks with the state and their lenders on a resolution that would keep them out of bankruptcy court. But this was Sasse's respose at that time: "While we continue to have constructive conversations, to suggest that a resolution is imminent is in my opinion misleading."

In her statement, Doyle said: "Discussions have lasted for more than one year in an attempt to address Twin River's over leveraged balance sheet and the burden of its significant interest expense. On several occasions, we believed that we were close to a consensus on a number of viable solutions, only to see each of those proposals fall through."

"We nonetheless remain hopeful... that in the few weeks left before the current legislative session ends, all parties involved in the negotiations will redouble their efforts to reach an agreement that avoids a bankruptcy, which is the worst outcome for everyone."

"To that end, Twin River's owners, management, and advisors are committed to intensifying talks with all constituents to hopefully forge a fair and workable compromise in the short time remaining. But absent an agreement, Twin River will have little choice but to file for bankruptcy on or soon after June 26, 2009."