Lyle Berman, of Lakes Entertainment, has been announced as a partner and part-owner of the casinos planned for Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo.

Lakes Entertainment also fronted 10 percent of the cost of this years successful Issue 3 campaign.

Berman was vilified during the 2008 Issue 6 campaign when opponents suggested he was a professional gambler and had bankrupted a casino. Issue 6 was defeated by a landslide. It would have allowed Berman to build a single casino in Clinton County.

A Penn National spokesman appearing on the weekly taping of ONN's Capitol Square said that was just politics.

Issue 3 proponents insisted Berman was not involved in this years campaign.

"At the time that became an issue in the campaign back in October, there was no deal with Lyle Berman," said Bob Tenenbaum, spokesman for Issue 3 appearing on Capitol Square. "He was not part of the campaign, and actually he was never part of the operation of the campaign."

When asked why Berman's involvement was not revealed before the election, Dan Gilbert told a Cleveland newspaper, "There was concern. We were already dealing with enough of the craziness with my stuff that were throwing out there. So we didn't want to close on anything or really even say anything to anybody."

Gilbert was making reference to attacks by TruthPAC on his arrest for illegal gambling when he was a college student.

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Lakes now has the option to a 10 percent share in each casino.

The full discussion can be seen on Capitol Square this Sunday at 10 am, Noon & 7 pm on ONN.

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