Category: Casino News

Be careful what you wish for, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, you are liable to get it. Silver wanted sports betting and, over the last seven years, has seen the consequences come home to roost in his league. Whereas the NFL cleaned up its sports betting problem (consisting mainly of player stupidity) fairly expeditiously and Major League Baseball comes down like a ton of bricks on offenders, the NBA remains dogged by scandal. (Can you say “Jontay Porter“? We thought so. How about “Malik Beasley“?)

Continue reading Foul Play

After a good summer, gambling winnings in Atlantic City have plateaued in September, achieving $230.5 million. The coffee achiever of the Boardwalk was Ocean Casino Resort (above), catapulting 39% to $39.5 million. Hard Rock Atlantic City was still ahead at $45.5 million (2%) but that might be too close for comfort. Borgata led with $63 million but had the flattest grosses in town.

Continue reading Atlantic City Levels Off

Having been run from pillar to post at Global Gaming Expo all week, we’re still in recovery. Ergo, we turn the bulk of this installment over to our Atlantic CIty bureau. What follows are a pair of letters sent to (but unlikely to be printed in) The Press of Atlantic City. Please enjoy them.

Continue reading Letters to Atlantic City

It’s the easiest thing in the world to build a casino megaresort if you don’t plan on paying for it. We learned that from Sheldon Adelson, who erected The Venetian out of other people’s pockets. By dint of releasing a new rendering of failsino Bally’s Las Vegas, Chairman Soo Kim scored himself a great deal of free media last weekend. The deck chairs on the Titanic have been duly rearranged.

Continue reading Pretty Pictures and B.S.

See that weird-looking collection of high-rises above? Yeah, it’s not happening. Freedom Plaza, the something-for-everybody, New York City megaresort proposal of Soloviev Group and Mohegan Sun, got canned today. The relevant Community Advisory Committee voted it down, 4-2. Quality-of-life concerns were cited. Not even the transparent, last-minute offer to add a thousand more affordable-housing units to Freedom Plaza swayed votes. The CAC clearly saw it for the desperation (and stalling) tactic that it was. As usual, surrogates for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Mayor Eric Adams (I) flouted public sentiment, pimping for an unpopular development. They’d vote for anything spelled c-a-s-i-n-o. Will anyone remember at the next election?

Continue reading Freedom Plaza Fails