We begin today with kudos to a non-casino entrepreneur, Bart Blatstein, who has erected a 150-foot Christmas tree in front of the Showboat. It’s said to be the first large-scale tree in Boardwalk history. Thank you, sir. And to get the comedy relief out of the way, our Atlantic City correspondent paid a visit to Bally’s Atlantic City and discovered another reason why it’s mired in last place. His visit began well: “We asked for a room close to the elevator with a shower (not a bathtub). We got the first room close to the elevator, with excellent ocean-front views.”
Things started to unravel from thereon. “On Sunday, I went up to their sixth floor restaurant level. Longo’s had hours posted, Sunday opens at 5 p.m. Their (alleged) VIP lounge closes at 5 p.m. but my wife refuses to go there after our last experience, so we missed the choice of ham & cheese or a hamburger. We went up at 5:30 and Longo’s never opened. Guy Fieri’s was closed. Their other restaurant closes at 2 p.m. So, the only choices for food on Sunday at 5:30 are Dunkin Donuts, their pizza place or their sandwich shop. Is Bally’s supposed to be a ‘major casino’? Not to us it’s not.” Chicagoans, be afraid. Be very afraid.
For those of our readers who observe Hanukkah, here is the menorah at the Golden Nugget, as seen last Saturday. Finally, one Monmouth County woman is going to have warm fuzzies for Harrah’s Resort. She parlayed a $5 slot bet into a $1.5 million jackpot, according to the Atlantic Daily Voice. “After winning big, the high roller decided to spread some holiday cheer by tipping table dealers at the resort more than $75,000.” She’s a true George indeed.
Gaming industry leaders and political figures alike are pushing back against a late-November series of stories in the New York Times that painted a very unflattering picture of the business in general and sports betting in particular. American Gaming Association President Bill Miller whacked the NYT for having “an agenda” (which it clearly did) and accuses the paper of releasing the five-pack on the Sunday before Thanksgiving because the stories lacked traction. But they obviously did, because people are still talking about them—including Miller, who feels it incumbent to make a response … one month later. That being said, we agree with Miller that it’s hardly shocking or newsworthy to read that lobbyists shape legislation. It’s what they get paid to do. (Sometimes they even write it.)
At least Miller engaged with the Gray Lady, unlike Barstool Sports mogul Dave Portnoy, who sulked in his S&M dungeon instead. Portnoy, incidentally, with his propensity to encourage five-figure bets, must bear some of the responsibility for data that shows disordered gambling to be surging amongst Generation Z, his followers. But we digress. As Miller says of legitimized, regulated sports wagering, “we’re removing an entire illegal market, whether it’s a corner bookie or the mob or offshore online websites … History recognizes there are some inherent risks within some people within a population that gamble, but we want to make sure that we have a long, successful and sustainable industry. The only way you do that is by putting responsibility at the core of how you want to do it.”
Lobbyist influence is exaggerated, according to West Virginia state Delegate Shawn Fluharty, who told reporter Buck Wargo, “A lot of these states are passing legislation that looks different. If there was an overabundance of influence by the sports leagues or other people of power, these pieces would be identical but they are not.” Indiana state Sen. Jon Ford (R), a leader on the gambling-legalization front, circled back to the problem-gambling issue: “When we went from horse and buggies to cars there were a lot of deaths, but we put things in place and now those numbers are back down. We are trying to get out in front of this and set policies in place that protect consumers.”
Another expert whom the Times tapped, to an extent, was UNLV‘s Alan Feldman. He found himself conducting a dialogue of the deaf. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in the articles that is true and probably deserving of some attention. There are some states where responsible gaming doesn’t come up at all. There are plenty of companies that pay lip service. It doesn’t mean all of the states and all of the companies are doing something bad, but there’s room for improvement,” he told Wargo, adding “That would have been a reasonable conclusion for a balanced story.” Do better next time, Gray Lady.
Kudos to Blatstein. He is trying like hell to do something different on the boardwalk and by what I can see and hear, he has been very successful at the old Boat (lets forget about the Playground Pier). Keep it gong Bart.
Bill Miller is a dirtbag.
The Bally’s in Atlantic City is definitely not doing well if most restaurants are closed Sunday at 5 PM. Yep Bally’s in Chicago will be interesting to say the least. Bally’s also owns the Tropicana in Vegas and obviously they do not have the money to rebrand that property with the Bally’s name. I think Bally’s is waiting and hoping that eventually the Oakland A’s will run out of options to build a new stadium in Oakland and then relocate to Vegas and build a new baseball stadium where currently the Tropicana resides.