If you have a bridge in Brooklyn or perhaps some swamp land in Florida, then Oak Street Real Estate Capital would like to hear from you. It just paid $200 million for the site of Bally’s Chicago and $300 million for a share of an imaginary casino yet to break ground. Oak Street, understandably “declined to comment” on the deal when the Chicago Tribune came calling. You have to hand it to Bally’s Corp. It literally got something for nothing, even though it’s still at least $1.2 billion shy of the finishing line. And selling off its empire to pay for tomorrow has its limits, as Bally’s is fast running out of things it can peddle. At least Gaming & Leisure Properties got tangible value when it paid Bally’s $1 billion (insert Dr. Evil inflection here) for Bally’s Rhode Island assets. Oak Street just got played.

A family of deer feeds in a Pennsylvania yard. This charming vignette was shared by a generous reader, for which we say ‘Thank you.’

We’ll shortly see if newly reelected Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) was sincere about being willing to “take a look” at casino gambling in the Lone Star State or if he was stringing Dr. Miriam Adelson along for her money. (We kinda think it was the latter.) Legislation freshly filed by state Sen. Carol Alvarado would authorize a constitutional amendment to permit sports betting and casinos. Sounds good to us … except that it would permit greyhound racing, a pestilence that has been eradicated in most of the United States.

Casinos in Massachusetts mostly did well last month, especially by pre-pandemic standards (+24%). Unfortunately, none of that lift came from Encore Boston Harbor, which had a disappointing October, down 1% and grossing $62 million. By contrast, MGM Springfield (above) impressed with a 7% increase to $23 million. Also not doing badly, not least by its own standards, was Plainridge Park, which hopped 5% to $12.5 million. As a consequence of the Wynn Resorts underperformance, gross gaming revenues ($97 million) were up just 1.5% from last year.

Something different today from the Boardwalk: A first glimpse of new-look Caesars Atlantic City. That $400 million in capex reinvestment didn’t go to waste. There’s now a Nobu (above) and a Hell’s Kitchen (below), “both high-quality work and high prices,” says our East Coast photojournalist. Wild Wild West is all but completely gutted, its next iteration as yet unknown—something less rinky-dink, we hope.