Atlantic City gambling halls like Ocean Casino Resort (pictured) may get a summer’s reprieve from a smoking ban, as the New Jersey legislative session winds down without resolution on the contentious issue. Even if both chambers were to vote by June 30, there’s a good chance that the legislation would contain a grace period to soften the blow. A pre-Labor Day ban seems out of the question. The bill in question is creeping toward majority support with 16 state senators and 35 assemblymen having co-sponsored it. “Passing this legislation is the least we can do for frontline casino employees who worked throughout the pandemic, keeping our already struggling gaming industry open for business during some of the bleakest moments over the last couple of years,” said Assemblyman William Spearman (D), one of the newest signatories.
“The dangers of secondhand smoke have been well documented for many years and for Atlantic City casino workers, getting rid of smoking in their workplace is a life-or-death fight,” seconded Assemblywoman Carol Murphy (D). “We cannot continue ignoring the health risks to our state’s casino workers.” Of course, that is exactly what the casinos wish that the Lege would keep ignoring. Even though they’re coming off their most profitable first quarter since 2008, the casinos continue to pretend that they’re paupers. They even bought a Union Gaming Group study that says a smoking ban would result in a 25% plunge in revenues and the loss of 2,500 jobs (funny how those numbers coincide for mnemonic effect, huh). What’s a few dead or disabled casino employees compared to phat executive bonuses and stock options, right?
Asks the ever-vigilant John L. Smith, “Why did it take Resorts World so long to get wise to the [Tacos] El Cabron’s ownership’s eye-popping proximity to one of the larger illegal gambling and bookmaking cases in California led by longtime wiseguy Dave Stroj?” Good question, especially as Stroj did time for money laundering, some of which happened right in Las Vegas. He’s even admitted to violating his parole by gambling again in Sin City. Smith dismisses as “thin as gazpacho” Resorts World Las Vegas‘ defense that Stroj wasn’t involved with the now-infamous taqueria. But confederates Jaime Behar and Jean-Paul Rojo owned the taco stand, and they were implicated in the money-laundering case, as was now-86’d gambler Craig Kolk.
Whatever else it did or didn’t do, Resorts World clearly fell down on the job when it came to due diligence. Beyond the appearance of impropriety there is the actuality of dangerous complacency. The question now is whether the unreliable Nevada Gaming Control Board will look into Resorts World’s lax vetting process or focus on matters for salacious, like the drugs-and-orgies charges leveled at resort prexy Scott Sibella. As Genting Group seeks full-casino status in New York State, authorities there may take an interest in the Stroj scenario—as well as Arturo Diaz-Ramirez, Stroj’s arm-twister of preference. It harkens back to the worst days of gambling when you’re associated with people who say things like, “You don’t owe me anymore. Now you owe Arturo.”
Locked into their collective-bargaining agreement, those Vegas casino workers who still have jobs find themselves caught in a pincer between the increased cost of living and artificially depressed staffing levels at their places of employment. True, Nevada‘s unemployment rate (3.5%) is enviably low and the casinos claim they’re having a hard time finding employees. Tourists are free with their money, and cash-flow and profit margins are at record levels. You’d think Big Gaming could loosen up and lay on some extra staff, but no. According to The Guardian, “workers are angry about how they were treated during the pandemic and after, and tourists are unhappy with shortages and poor service.”
Calling this “a very unique time,” analyst Brian Gordon explained, “Right at the time when the recovery is taking hold, global economic factors are taking a hold. Global inflation, supply chain challenges, rising interest rates, all of that is putting downwards pressure on spending.” Culinary Union members often find themselves in an on-call limbo that Mandalay Bay food server James Loreto described thusly, “I have to sit by the phone. I can’t do anything. All that time, all those years—blood, sweat, tears—and I’m still struggling to make my hours every week. The casino is packed at the weekend and business is resuming, and yet there are still so many of us struggling to make payments to cover our healthcare.”
Visitors, meanwhile, are balking at a lack of service and finally rebelling at Sin City’s ripoff pricing ($7.90 for a bottle of water). “I think there is a certain portion of the population saying work and money is not our priority,” sniffed Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President Mary Beth Sewald. “I speak to our members and they say we can’t find anyone who will come to work and take these jobs.” Yep, just keep spouting that party line, m’am.
You can’t keep a bad man down, especially if he’s tycoon Kazuo Okada. The once-ousted casino kingpin seized control of Okada Manila and had management forcibly removed from the property. A convicted felon in his native Japan, Okada was cleared of fraud charges in the Philippines, hence the coup d’etat at Tiger Resort Leisure & Entertainment. Okada sent 50 goons and a sheriff to clean house at his namesake casino, and national gaming regulator Pagcor washed its hands of the matter. Okada oversaw the putsch via Zoom, perhaps while caressing his single share of Tiger stock. The ejected board members, attempting to regain their dignity are countersuing. It’s complicated but hinges on the contention that Tiger is incorporated in Hong Kong and thus not subject to the jurisdiction of Philippine courts.
In addition to such legal subtleties, the lawsuit hinges on Okada’s storm-trooper method of regaining control of Tiger, accusing him of “brute force and intimidation … grave coercion … unjust vexation.” Okada Manila, by the way, is the archipelago’s biggest casino, with 993 hotel rooms, 500 table games and 3,000 slots part of what is diplomatically described as “one of Asia’s most freewheeling gaming industries.” Okada himself could face trouble back home from his former company, Universal Entertainment. It is contemplating a criminal complaint against him for “trespassing, obstruction of business, unlawful occupation, theft, assault, injury and incitement … There are no administrative or judicial permits, orders, etc. to justify their actions, and these are serious criminal offences committed illegally and violently.”
Jottings: Just when it looked like MGM Resorts International was home and dry in Osaka, a citizens group wants the proposed megaresort put to a popular vote. It says it has collected enough signatures to get it on the ballot … Ohio will launch legal sports betting on January 1. Expect all hell to break loose as operators try to get their ducks in a row during the holiday period … California tribal casinos caught a break from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Going forward, indigenous projects will be exempted from the California Environmental Quality Act. Potential polluters, rejoice! … More bad news for Macao: Gimlet-eyed gaming analyst Frank Fantini is curbing his recovery projections for the enclave. He now thinks Macanese casinos will eventually regain pre-Covid strata of business but then level off instead of continuing to grow—with more than a little help from the increasingly repressive Chinese government.
With fewer workers in casinos and hotels throughout the USA there will be more problems and unfortunately I had a terrible experience staying at a Holiday Inn Express in the western suburbs of Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.
I checked in to the Holiday Inn Express at around 3 PM before the wedding I was going to that started a couple of hours later. After the wedding I went to sleep around midnight and to my shock a woman entered my room around 3 AM. I screamed “What the f$$k are you doing in my
f$$king room, god d$$n it” and more obscenities followed. She was also shocked and said something but since I was half asleep I cannot remember what she said.
I went down to the front desk and the desk clerk explained that they had an internet outage for about 30 minutes while I was checking in so my room was reassigned to a woman. So even though I reserved the room a couple of weeks before online and I was also given a room card key but since there was an ouatge I was not registered somehow.
The internet outage might have been true because I have Comcast as my internet provider and they have outages 2 or 3 times a month in Chicago and just suck pretty much as a company in my opinion. The part of Chicago I live in is Comcast or AT&T and AT&T is also bad. These two multi billion dollar companies can be lousy because they both have a large percent of customers who want cable and internet services.
I told the desk clerk I was not paying my bill and I left and drove back to Chicago. I called the next day and talked to the hotel manager and I told him I was not paying the bill and he said the best he could do was 25% off.
A couple of minutes later I called IHG (who owns Holiday Inn Express along with 16 other hotels) and talked to a representative there and explained to them what happened and told them I was not paying my hotel bill because my room was reassigned and a woman entered my hotel room when I was sleeping. A day later I called Mastercard and they said IHG had removed the charges so IHG did not charge me which was smart of them because inadvertently my room was reassigned.
It would have been much worse if my girlfriend Jenny would have been with me but she has Covid so she could not go to the wedding with me.