GAMBLING, GAMBLERS AND RISK TAKERS : WHAT’S LUCK GOT TO DO WITH IT?

September 15, 2008 at 11:57 am · Filed under Online Gambling

During the last local earthquake, my house convulsed in the dark. I leaped from my bed to the hall doorway moments before a bookcase fell across the spot where I had been sleeping. Was my action one of gambling or taking a calculated risk? Was I lucky? When we buy stock, change jobs, buy more computer technology, get married or buy a lottery ticket are gamblers or simply calculated risk-takers? What's luck got to do with it?

Chaos and change bring disruption and opportunity to almost every area of our lives. Job security, gender roles and viable opportunities are in continual change. To keep our balance, survive and thrive we need to be clear and focused in our actions. Every choice we make, including the choice to do nothing, involves some kind of risk. A gamble has a high probability of loss. A calculated risk has a much higher probability of a positive outcome. Knowing the difference is essential to our success.

To make successful decisions and take positive action we must be in the realistic present. Emotional decision making can be lethal when governed by unexamined personal weaknesses and wounds from childhood. Finding and resolving old patterns of emotional highs and lows increases our ability to make a calculated risk. Even if old patterns are not resolved, acknowledging them and setting them aside during decision making can create better chances for being a winner.

Here is a comparison check list of traits and tendencies for gamblers and calculated risk takers.
Gambler

* Looks for excitement and danger.
* Jumps in with the crowd momentum, not wanting to be left out or left behind.
* Blames others or luck for bad outcome.
* Lingers over losing choices and wins not taken.
* Is influenced by unacknowledged fantasies of what is possible.
* Will risk more than can afford to lose.
* Acts on impulsive decisions.
* Is unaware of unconscious motivations.
* Acts out of sense of superiority or magical thinking.
* Gets high and feels powerful on a win. Gets low and feels worthless and small on a loss.
* Lacks discipline and invests on wishful fantasy rather than recognizes reality.
* Hides losses and is secretive about taking chances.
* Procrastinates (building up excitement levels).
* Follows a favorite method no longer useful or relevant.
* When losing will take increasingly bigger risks to catch up.
* Looks for the one big win that will result in bliss.

Calculated Risk Taker

* Contains and manages emotions.
* Is aware of irrational factors swaying a crowd.
* Takes responsibility for results.
* Does not waste time with what might have been.
* Acknowledges personal fantasies and resolves them or disregards them.
* Risks a tiny fraction of equity on any individual choice (equity meaning time, money, relationship, self esteem, skill etc.).
* Concentrates on a realistic long-term strategy.
* Knows personal abilities and limitations.
* Is hardworking and open to new ideas.
* Stays emotionally even during wins and losses.
* Easily resists risks that do not fit within defined risk limitations.
* Is open about risk taking.
* Proceeds in a serious intellectual manner.
* Stays alert to present trends.
* Follows predetermined guidelines of safety.
* Analyzes situation, observes own reactions and makes realistic plans.

Being human, we will identify with some qualities on both lists. We will also lack some qualities on both lists. Our responses give us an indication of where we can congratulate ourselves and where we can apply effort.

Calculated risk takers use as much energy analyzing themselves as analyzing opportunity. In this way the realist is able to appraise the specifics of possible choices rather than be carried away by glamorous promises, inflated feelings, the desire to win a competition or seek revenge.

Actions taken on decisions made in the moment, like my leaping out of bed during the shake, may seem to be thoughtless impulsive acts. But what an action looks like is not a measure of its risk factor.

Two people spend $1000 on the same stock. One buys because it's a hot tip that will be exciting to watch go up. The other buys because he's a trend watcher and is placing a planned percentage of his equity in what looks like an uptrend breakaway.

The first bought based on his emotions and will sell based on his emotions.The second had a purchase plan and knows in advance at what point he will sell. The initial purchasing action of both looks the same. Their background decision making is very different and will determine who is the lucky one.

To be a reasonable risk taker we must address each tendency within us that propels us to gamble. Once we can create and follow our own reasonable guidelines we can take calculated risks. Then, like me under the doorjamb during the earthquake, we position ourselves for the best outcome possible and help make our own good luck.

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Blackmail theory on missing gambler

September 15, 2008 at 11:55 am · Filed under Online Gambling

A TAXI driver who disappeared eight years ago had huge losses at Star City Casino and might have been trying to blackmail the then Australian general manager of the Bank of China, Glebe Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Qing Yue Chen, then aged 40, parked his car at the casino on October 24, 2000, and 15 minutes later called a friend on his mobile phone from Chinatown. The friend could not get sensible answers from him, there were muffled voices in the background and Mr Chen has not been seen since.

An inquest into his disappearance, before coroner Hugh Dillon, heard yesterday that Mr Chen might have met the Bank of China executive, Fugen Chen (no relation), after Qing Chen told him he had information about an affair Fugen Chen had had with his secretary, Lin (Lucy) Lan.

A former detective initially in charge of the case, Craig Mills, said information had been received through Crime Stoppers that in discussions between Qing Chen and Fugen Chen, figures of $10,000 or $20,000 had been mentioned.

The informant told Crime Stoppers that Fugen Chen agreed to a private meeting with Qing Chen, despite the fact he had never met Qing Chen before. The one connection was that Qing Chen was a one-time boyfriend of Ms Lan.

Mr Mills said he was surprised that a high-ranking executive such as Fugen Chen would have agreed to a meeting. When questioned about it, Fugen Chen said the taxi driver had wanted to talk about patching up relations with Ms Lan, and that there was no extortion or blackmail.

A second caller to Crime Stoppers said another person, Augustine Chan, might have had something to do with the disappearance. The informant said Mr Chan had serious criminal connections and had the reputation of being able to "fix things", such as make people go "missing".

Mr Mills said Mr Chan was well-known to the East Asia Crime Squad and had been implicated in people smuggling and money laundering. The Bank of China had funded several of his restaurants.

Mr Dillon heard that Qing Chen had been a gambling addict and although he earned only about $70,000 to $80,000 a year driving, had put more than $1 million through the casino between 1986 and 2000, losing $366,722. There was no evidence he had obtained money from illicit sources.

Mr Mills said Ms Lan had told police that in 1999 Qing Chen had said he owed between $200,000 and $300,000 over his gambling debts and had received messages to pay up. He had borrowed $20,000 from Ms Lan and similar amounts from others.

Mr Mills thought that Qing Chen may have fallen victim to loan sharks hovering around the high rollers' room, which he had frequented as a gold member.

"My considered view is that given the fact that he was gambling well above his means, he might have taken the opportunity to extort some money from the Bank of China," he said.

After Qing Chen vanished, Ms Lan was transferred to the Haymarket branch and then to Melbourne. Detective Senior Constable David Willey said Fugen Chen had left Australia in 2006 and was in China. Mr Chan had left on August 27 last year and had not returned. Ms Lan's husband, Ji Yun Tang, a suspected people smuggler, was subject of an arrest warrant and had probably skipped the country.

The inquest resumes today.

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New Look for the Zodiac Casino

September 12, 2008 at 4:00 am · Filed under Online Gambling

It seems 2008 is the year for updates and renewals at Casino Rewards, with yet another of their 18 award winning online casinos having a major facelift. ZodiacCasino.com has long been a favourite amongst players of a certain age especially in the UK, with its attractive design and exciting game-play alluring those eager to find luck in more than just their Zodiac signs. Now the site features an attractive, modernised front page with links to regularly updated horoscopes so players can read up on their astrological predictions before heading in to the casino itself.
Believer or not, even without a favourable prediction from the stars, the new sign up bonus at Zodiac Casino ensures that everyone's a winner! Any new players signing up and depositing $100 will receive a complimentary $100 match bonus, meaning that their casino credit will immediately be $200! In addition, for a limited time only, any player who registers a credit card will also receive an additional $10 bonus. The bonus money can be used in a special one hour free play, where players can try out a range of the latest games with no personal financial risk, keeping anything they win to carry over after their one hour elapses, to be used to win real cash in Zodiac Casino. There have already been several cases this year of new players hitting jackpots from their free bonus money, so with nothing to lose and everything to gain, it's no wonder the smarter player is heading to Zodiac Casino.

Zodiac Casino is just one online casino in the ever growing Casino Rewards empire, each offering its own unique blend of generous sign up offers, free spins on the latest video slot machines, free hands at blackjack and other popular card games, and of course free turns on the ever popular roulette wheel. In addition, each casino features 24/7 toll-free telephone support, a live chat feature and weekly games promotions all served up in a fun and informative newsletter. It's easy to see why the Casino Rewards group is one of the most successful Microgaming online casino operators, with more than 5 years experience under its belt and an unrivalled support team on hand to serve players every day of the year.

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Business slams proposed luxury tax

September 12, 2008 at 3:58 am · Filed under Online Gambling

The government’s proposed special consumption tax is high, unreasonable and in breach of some of the country’s World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, businesses and economic experts said at a conference Thursday.

The new tax regime, unveiled by the Finance Ministry last month, includes taxes on more products and services as well as increases in various tax rates.

The ministry said the amendments were needed to align the 1999 Special Consumption Tax Law with the current social and economic situation as well as the requirements of the WTO. Vietnam became a member of the WTO last year.

However, business representatives said the proposed new tax regime would be a burden for consumers.

Nguyen Qui Thang, first deputy general director of Hoa Viet Joint Venture Corporation, said the 15 percent special consumption tax rate levied on golf courses could deter international players and tourists.

He said Japan, Singapore and Cambodia only collected value added tax of less than 5 percent from golfers.

The tax on under-24 seat cars, which, depending on type, could be raised to 50, 60 and 70 percent from the current 30 percent, also faced strong objections from local car manufacturers.

Pham Anh Tuan, Toyota’s Corporate Planning Department manager, said the steep increase would make car prices in Vietnam the world’s highest. The costliness could also hamper the development of the car manufacturing industry.

“It would be hard to increase the local content in our products as planned,” Tuan said, referring to domestic-sourced materials and parts. Toyota Vietnam’s Innova minivan model has the highest ratio of local content at 37 percent, he said.

Mercedes-Benz Vietnam Deputy Director Nguyen Chi Cong said the country’s automobile industry had only 10 years to prepare for the market to open to automobiles made by member countries of the Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in accordance with a regional free trade deal.

The tax, therefore, should be more reasonable as cars would soon no longer be a luxury in Vietnam, he said. Vu Ngoc Anh from the Ho Chi

Minh City Institute for Economic Research said the planned 20 percent luxury tax on motorbikes with engine capacities of more than 175 cubic centimeters would only apply to foreign makes.

No producers in Vietnam invest in manufacturing high engine capacity motorbikes, he said. The tax, therefore, may conflict with the WTO requirement of equal treatment for all members’ businesses.

The proposed special consumption tax will be applied to services, including karaoke, discos, casinos and lotteries, and to commodities like tobacco and alcohol.

Phan Thi Viet Thu, a lawyer in HCMC, said the tax would harm many blind people who worked in the massage industry.

Thu suggested the government treat therapeutic massage services differently to “relaxation” services, which could be levied with the 40 percent special consumption tariff.

The unicameral National Assembly is expected to consider and vote on the new tax regime at its November meeting. If passed, the law will take effect next August with amendments to alcohol tax to be applied in 2010.

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Nevada is ’struggling,’ may finish ‘08 poorly

September 12, 2008 at 3:42 am · Filed under Online Gambling

With July's 13 percent decline in statewide casino revenues on the books, 2008 is headed toward recording the worst ever year-over-year percentage decrease in Nevada gaming win since authorities began collecting such data more than two decades ago.

Through July, gaming revenues statewide are down 6.6 percent compared to the first seven months of 2007. On the Strip, gaming revenues are down 6.5 percent.

In 2001, statewide gaming revenues fell 1.3 percent compared with 2000, the largest ever year-over-year drop.

The Gaming Control Board began recording monthly and annual revenue figures for casinos in 1984.

"With seven months of the calendar year already in, it really doesn't bode well for a positive finish," said Frank Streshley, the control board's senior research analyst. "Only two of the months left in the year, October and December, are considered really strong months."

July's sagging gaming revenues were not the only falling numbers.

Visitation to Las Vegas fell 4.6 percent in the month while gaming tax collections were off 24 percent.

Statewide in July, casinos collected $997.3 million in gaming revenues compared with $1.146 billion in July 2007, according to control board numbers released Wednesday.

The 13 percent decline was not the largest in state history, however. That record belongs to May, when gaming revenues fell 15.2 percent.

On the Strip, gaming revenues were $519.2 million, a nearly 15 percent decline compared with $538.6 million won in July 2007.

The July decline statewide was the seventh straight month that gaming revenues fell and the eighth month out of the last nine there was a decrease.

July also marked the third straight month that statewide gaming win fell below $1 billion. Some analysts believe it's going to get worse before it gets better.

"We expect 2008 to be a transitional period for most segments of the Nevada gaming market, as consumers grapple with the higher cost of living, rising unemployment, loss of airline capacity and a weakened real estate market," Wachovia gaming analyst Dennis Farrell Jr. said in a note to investors.

The state took in $58.3 million in gaming taxes based on July's gaming revenues, a 24 percent decrease compared with $76.7 million collected for the same period a year ago.

Ben Kieckhefer, a spokesman for Gov. Jim Gibbons, said the disappointing July gaming report puts the state about $10 million in the red early in the new fiscal year that started July 1.

"We don't need any action at this point," he said. "We're waiting on other revenue reports to come in."

The first taxable sales report of the new fiscal year will come in later this month.

"Anecdotally, we've heard that August might have been better than July," Kieckhefer said. "So we may see better numbers coming in from the gaming segment. It just highlights again that the people in the state of Nevada are struggling. Both big businesses and small businesses, individuals, families, everybody. We need to be responsible about how we manage this situation."

Gibbons and lawmakers have cut nearly $1.2 billion from the two-year budget because of lower than expected tax revenues. Gaming tax revenues are down 11 percent in the first two months of this, the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

The Economic Forum projected in June that gaming revenues would grow by 2 percent this year.

In addition to declining gaming revenues, tourism figures fell during the month, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

July's 3.2 million Las Vegas visitor tally pushed the year-to-date total to 22.7 million visitors through July, a 1.1 percent decrease from the 2007 pace.

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority President Rossi Ralenkotter addressed the downturn on Tuesday, before the most recent figures became public. Ralenkotter said the local hotel occupancy rate could fall further if hotels don't attract more guests as thousands of new rooms open for business.

He said a 13.2 percent dip in the number of available airline seats could make the situation worse.

"We need to be able to fill these rooms," Ralenkotter told the authority board of directors. "The number of seats is critical to that."

Streshley said several factors contributed to July's gaming revenue decline. The $1.146 billion won in July 2007 was the single-largest monthly gaming revenue figure ever in state history. Also, gamblers played lucky; the hold percentage by casinos on the amounts wagered on table games was roughly 1 percentage point below what the state considers a normal hold percentage of 12 percent.

Several researchers said they are looking beyond the raw numbers to determine if the downturn is worsening.

The amount of money wagered on slot machines was down more than 9 percent statewide and more than 12 percent on the Strip, the ninth straight month of declines in the segment.

Streshley said lower slot wagering indicates that value-oriented customers and low-rollers are not spending as much on gambling when they visit Nevada.

The figures also translate into lower gaming revenues in the locals market outside of the tourist corridor. Casinos in North Las Vegas, along the Boulder Highway (which includes Henderson) and the balance of Clark County, all had double-digit declines in gaming revenue.

Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Bill Lerner said the situation in the tourist market is not getting incrementally worse. Table game wagering statewide in July was $2.5 billion, a 2.9 percent increase. Baccarat wagering was up 16.1 percent.

"The volumes are important to look at. It's not just about win percentages," Lerner said. "We are seeing evidence that certain segments of the market, however, are much weaker than others."

The July figures also hurt the stock prices Tuesday of the major publicly traded gaming companies with holdings in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. shares fell almost 11 percent while Wynn Resorts was off 3.5 percent. Shares of MGM Mirage and Boyd Gaming Corp. also fell.

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Penn National Gaming may halt casino in Cherokee County

September 10, 2008 at 5:17 am · Filed under Online Gambling

Penn National Gaming could be about to walk away from a state casino deal.

Spokesman Eric Schippers said company executives were in Cherokee County, Kan., on Monday, meeting privately with county officials on "our thought process and the challenges of the competitive landscape."

"We wanted to show the county a courtesy and communicate with the county first," said Schippers.

Penn was the only applicant for the southeast Kansas gambling zone -- just a few miles west of Joplin, Mo., where the $300 million, tribal-owned Downstream Casino in Oklahoma opened July 5.

Cherokee County officials had endorsed Penn's project, and state officials formally approved the company's bid Aug. 22.

The same day, however, the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facilities Review Board rejected Penn's second bid, for Sumner County south of Wichita, where three companies were vying for a deal to a manage a state-owned casino there.

State officials selected a group that included Harrah's Entertainment Inc. for that contract.

Penn had pitched its "southern strategy" to state officials, making it clear the company wanted to operate in both the southeast and south-central gambling zones, or none.

"We're clearly disappointed," Schippers said at the time.

"A Cherokee County casino on a stand-alone basis would be very difficult to justify, given the market conditions there... the competition across the street."

Penn had earlier won state permission to phase in its mandatory minimum $250 million capital investment over 12 years instead of up front.

A formal announcement by Penn is expected as soon as today.

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Former owners bid to regain control of Tropicana Casino

September 10, 2008 at 4:52 am · Filed under Online Gambling

Claiming it is a different -- and better -- company with its owner out of the picture, the firm that used to run the Tropicana Casino and Resort plans to try to regain control of the property, which is up for sale.
Tropicana Entertainment LLC filed court papers Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware stating its intention to petition the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to give the company control of the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

The main reason: William Yung III has stepped down as an officer of the company and signed away his right to control it, though he still owns it.

Yung's management of the Tropicana, including the ordering of nearly 1,000 layoffs soon after buying the casino-hotel in January 2007, was the determining factor in New Jersey stripping the company of its casino license after less than a year.

Those job cuts led to problems with service and cleanliness, including roach and bedbug infestations, that sent customers fleeing in droves.

The casino, which remains open, includes New Jersey's largest hotel at 2,129 rooms. It is being overseen by retired state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein, who is seeking a buyer.

The Tropicana in Atlantic City was not included in a bankruptcy filing the company made in May, but it is likely to seek a prepackaged sale under the auspices of the bankruptcy court once a suitable buyer is found, Stein said.

The company said it is working hard to undo self-inflicted damage.

"Tropicana, over a very short period of time, has experienced traumatic changes, many of which have been detrimental and adverse to the company, its stakeholders, employees and customers," the company wrote in its court filing. New management has set out to fix the company's problems, it added.

Tropicana's new chief executive officer is Scott Butera, who formerly ran the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and Donald Trump's three Atlantic City casinos.

Tropicana's request of New Jersey regulators should be approved "because many of the reasons for the licensing denial of Tropicana Atlantic City (control of the company by Yung, and failure to follow best practices) will have been eliminated," the company wrote.

Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the casino commission, said no request has yet been received. It would be considered and voted on by the commission "in due course," he said, declining further comment.

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Former owners bid to regain control of Tropicana Casino

September 10, 2008 at 4:52 am · Filed under Online Gambling

Claiming it is a different -- and better -- company with its owner out of the picture, the firm that used to run the Tropicana Casino and Resort plans to try to regain control of the property, which is up for sale.
Tropicana Entertainment LLC filed court papers Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware stating its intention to petition the New Jersey Casino Control Commission to give the company control of the Tropicana in Atlantic City.

The main reason: William Yung III has stepped down as an officer of the company and signed away his right to control it, though he still owns it.

Yung's management of the Tropicana, including the ordering of nearly 1,000 layoffs soon after buying the casino-hotel in January 2007, was the determining factor in New Jersey stripping the company of its casino license after less than a year.

Those job cuts led to problems with service and cleanliness, including roach and bedbug infestations, that sent customers fleeing in droves.

The casino, which remains open, includes New Jersey's largest hotel at 2,129 rooms. It is being overseen by retired state Supreme Court Justice Gary Stein, who is seeking a buyer.

The Tropicana in Atlantic City was not included in a bankruptcy filing the company made in May, but it is likely to seek a prepackaged sale under the auspices of the bankruptcy court once a suitable buyer is found, Stein said.

The company said it is working hard to undo self-inflicted damage.

"Tropicana, over a very short period of time, has experienced traumatic changes, many of which have been detrimental and adverse to the company, its stakeholders, employees and customers," the company wrote in its court filing. New management has set out to fix the company's problems, it added.

Tropicana's new chief executive officer is Scott Butera, who formerly ran the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and Donald Trump's three Atlantic City casinos.

Tropicana's request of New Jersey regulators should be approved "because many of the reasons for the licensing denial of Tropicana Atlantic City (control of the company by Yung, and failure to follow best practices) will have been eliminated," the company wrote.

Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the casino commission, said no request has yet been received. It would be considered and voted on by the commission "in due course," he said, declining further comment.

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Firing of Kickapoo casino regulators wrong, national commission says

September 9, 2008 at 2:53 am · Filed under Online Gambling

Kansas Kickapoo Nation officials have been told they violated a federal standard this summer when they improperly fired two gaming commissioners who regulate the tribe's Golden Eagle Casino near Horton, Kan.

In a letter this week to Tribal Chairman Steve Cadue, John Peterson, acting director of enforcement for the National Indian Gaming Commission, threatened formal enforcement action against the tribe it if does not "correct these violations." The federal agency this summer subpoenaed tribal records in a formal investigation of the incident.

Fred Thomas, one of the fired commissioners, said today he felt vindicated by the federal agency's action this week. "We were illegally removed," he said. "Our rights were violated."

Besides complaining to the federal agency, Thomas and Bear sued Cadue and others in Kickapoo Nation District Court.

The lawsuit alleged tribal authorities also fired gaming commission executive director Roy Murphy in a dispute over tribal council appropriations to fund the gaming commission. The case is pending.

The casino has remained open during the turmoil.

Cadue said Friday the fired commissioners had threatened to halt regulatory oversight of the casino in the monetary dispute.

"They had the money" to properly run the commission, Cadue said Friday. "Had we not acted the casino would have been shut down by state and federal authorities, and that would have been an economic catastrophe for the Kickapoo tribe."

Peterson found that Cadue and commissioner Nancy Bear, a former tribal chairwoman, were improperly removed by three of the tribal council's seven members. The tribe's gaming ordinance, which outlines to federal authorities how it will operate its reservation casino business, requires a three-fourths vote of the council to remove a gaming commissioner.

"I think the NIGC is a little behind the curve in terms of the facts," tribal lawyer Elizabeth Homer said today. She said that a subsequent vote by the tribal council garnered the four votes of a council quorum that she said had been necessary to remove the two commissioners, and that Peterson would be advised of that action.

Peterson also noted that the tribe similarly breached its own procedures by appointing a temporary commissioner to the three-member tribal oversight panel.

Peterson said his letter was intended to "give the Tribe an opportunity to come into compliance without the need for a formal enforcement action."

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MGM Mirage CEO says casinos, facing change like newspapers, had to reinvent themselves

September 9, 2008 at 2:51 am · Filed under Online Gambling

The chief executive of the world's second-largest casino company told newspaper editors Monday that he wished them the best in embracing change in the journalism industry, and said Las Vegas casinos have required reinvention to remain profitable.

MGM Mirage Inc. chief executive Terry Lanni quoted others to offer insights on responding to change and to lightly connect journalism's current challenges with the transformation of Las Vegas — from a gambling-only town to a resort destination with many other amenities.

His audience, 165 newspaper editors attending the Associated Press Managing Editors conference, was starting a four-day meeting to discuss issues facing their struggling industry.

"Suffering through the turmoil of change is never easy. But as (then) U.S. Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Shinseki said, 'If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less,'" Lanni said in prepared remarks provided to The Associated Press. "I submit the tasks before you may seem almost as daunting as the general's, but it's fair to say he was probably dealing with a larger budget than you are."
Shinseki's quote came while speaking of reshaping the Army to respond more quickly to threats.

APME is an organization of editors of newspapers served by the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP is the world's oldest and largest newsgathering organization, with 243 bureaus in 97 countries. It is owned by its 1,500 U.S. daily newspaper members, which elect a board of directors to help lead the cooperative.

APME president David Ledford, editor of The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., said the goal of the conference is to give editors of the nation's newspapers ideas to take back to their newsrooms and experiment with, giving consumers something that is both useful and appealing.

"We're not fighting for an old business model," Ledford said. "We're fighting for storytelling and watchdog journalism."

Topics for the conference included managing niche and online publications, building communities of readers through the Web and other Internet tools, and the ethics of multimedia. Also expected is a discussion of AP's new pricing plan approved last year.

The new plan is centered on offering a core service of all national, state and international breaking news, with options for adding other services or purchasing stories individually, instead of providing news feeds defined largely by the volume of news delivered — large, medium or small. The plan was approved by the board in October.

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