We were sure this was a story from The Onion or the Babylon Bee but, no, it’s really a thing. Rodney Baker has resigned as CEO of Great Canadian Gaming Corp. after bringing disgrace upon it with a vaccination caper that made international headlines. He and his Russian trophy wife Ekaterina (young enough to be his daughter) flew to Yukon then—allegedly—chartered a private plan to the remote town of Beaver Creek. Once there, Baker, who makes $10.5 million a year, and his princess passed themselves off as employees of a local motel (allegedly) in order to qualify for high-priority Covid-19 vaccinations. Once they got what they wanted, they decided to skip town ASAP. Being afflicted with stupidity as well as an overweening sense of entitlement, they made the mistake of asking for a ride to the airport. Red flags went up and pretty soon the Mounties were on the case … and they always get their man.
It would be great to see Canadian authorities throw the book at these two freeloaders but it’s a light book: $1,150 in fines (already levied) and an optional six months in the clink, which seems highly unlikely. Needless to say, public outrage is running high. “We are deeply concerned by the actions of individuals who put our Elders and vulnerable people at risk to jump the line for selfish purposes,” remarked White River First Nation Chief Angela Demit. “Effectively what they did was they put our community and our isolation team at risk,” added Yukon Community Services Minister John Streicker. “I’m pretty angry at the whole thing.” Great Canadian did not comment on Baker’s precipitate departure but perhaps we should give the last word to Mrs. Baker, whose public posture earlier in the pandemic was, “I stay home to be part of the solution. Everyone, stay home. It’s the right thing to do.” Right then, wrong now.
Also on the outs is Apollo Management CEO Leon Black, who threw in the towel in despite having been cleared for his association with deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Mind you, this was an internal probe. But Apollo found, according to Bloomberg that “Apollo never retained Epstein for any services, that the convicted sex offender never invested in any Apollo-managed funds, and that it found no evidence that Black was ever involved with Epstein’s criminal activities.” That said, we’ll always remember Black as the man who help drive Caesars Entertainment into a ditch with a spectacularly ill-advised LBO in 2007 and we’re glad to see him go.
Did then-state Attorney General Adam Laxalt (now returned by voters to private life) attempt to strong-arm Nevada regulators on behalf of Sheldon Adelson? Veteran regulator Richard Schuetz thinks so. More relevantly, so did then-Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett, who was feeling sufficient untoward pressure that he secretly taped a phone call from Laxalt, a recipient of Adelson campaign donations and evidently a good errand boy for the doge of Venelazzo. As Schuetz writes, “Maybe none of this had to do with Mr. Adelson’s money and Adam Laxalt was working to get an amicus brief to support a position favorable to Mr. Adelson because he thought it was simply in the best interest of the state. Right.” And let me sell you this nice bridge in Brooklyn while you’re at it.
Burnett turned his tape over to the FBI and felt compelled to hand in his resignation. Then-Gov. Brian Sandoval (R), a man of integrity, appointed Becky Harris to fill out Burnett’s term. Unfortunately, incoming Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) compounded the politicization of gaming regulation by ousting the much-praised Harris for the short-tenured Sandra Morgan. Which means that the Silver State is on its fourth NGCB chair in as many years and its “gold standard” is decidedly tarnished.
Both to signify a new era in Henderson and to avoid brand confusion, the Eldorado, late of Boyd Gaming, will be renamed The Pass. That’s an homage—and branding link—to owner DeSimone Gaming‘s Railroad Pass casino. Promised is a thorough refreshing of the property that includes “a modern and Art Deco design palette, including an attractive satin finish with a blue, bronze, and white color scheme, the restoration of the neon star looming over the front entrance, and adding an LED display board above the front door.” Sounds good to us.
Trade magazines are casting doubt on whether sports betting pays the bills, at least when unaccompanied by Internet gambling. However that there is immense public demand is quantifiably irrefutable. Case in point, Tennessee. Last month saw $180 million in handle which, when combined with November’s tally, made for the strongest first two months in U.S. history. (Indiana is a distant second with $127 million.) “It seemed operators were slow to get to the state, many were concerned the 10% hold mandate would tamp down demand, and there were questions on whether or not the Tennessee Education Lottery was up to the task of regulating the industry. Those concerns seem like a distant memory now,” said PlayUSA analyst Jessica Welman. Even with only four NFL Sundays compared to November’s five, Tennessee bettors outstripped their first-month action. Despite the debatability of the high hold, which punters don’t seem to mind, lawmakers were brilliant to go with an online-only model. DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM were quick to take the field, and now WynnBet, Twin Spires and William Hill will try to cut into their market share.
Jottings: Pundits like Frank Fantini are expecting a more expansive approach to tribal gaming under the Biden administration. Even the Mashpee Wampanoag could be back in play, despite Chairman Cedric Cromwell‘s indictment. We’re also hearing talk of a “Carcieri fix” again, which would make tribes recognized after 1934 eligible for casinos. Splendid … Pointsbet has been approved by Illinois regulators to operate a posh OTB for Hawthorne Race Course. The latter says it will be the closest book to downtown Chicago … Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights is pressing President Biden to extend his mask mandate to include casinos, calling in a chit by citing the Culinary Union‘s support for both Biden and nonsmoking. ANR also noted that casinos are seeking federal tax credits for anti-Coronavirus measures but are stopping short of banning smoking, which is an effective virus-dispersal agent. The association, which gave tribal casinos an attaboy, wants federal aid to casinos made contingent upon a smoking ban … LawnStarter has ranked Las Vegas the fifth-best city in the U.S. for golfing. Sin City ranks first in “Average Monthly Precipitation in Inches” and number of courses on the PGA Tour, as well as second in the number of “prized” golf courses and the number of awards. Dragging down the score were the number of courses offering golf lessons (#52) and the amount of golf-equipment stores (#55). Gotta work on that.
I hate to be a curmudgeon, but that golf by city ranking you posted is just silly for its glaring omission of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and La Quinta California, and it does not factor pricing enough or at all… Las Vegas should never be ranked behind Anaheim California, Anaheim only has a few public courses, and they are not municipal courses, which are easily the most affordable. Las Vegas has a lot of courses, some offer locals a nice break on pricing, but most are expensive resort courses or private. I have studied it because I always dream of moving out of expensive Los Angeles when my wife retires, the problem for me would be the small number of muni’s in Vegas, a muni is where you could more easily meet avid players at your level who want to play for money. And summer in Las Vegas is scorching hot, which is dangerous for seniors to spend hours. Shadow Creek does host PGA Tour events, but it costs $600 to play, and you must be a guest at an MGM hotel to pay that ridiculous price. Golf in the desert is fabulous, Las Vegas does deserve credit, but money and weather need to be weighted properly unless its coming out of your ears, in which case rankings don’t even matter…
so what’s a little indictment for Cedric Cromwell? Isn’t an indictment without a conviction = a politician. Perhaps he could run for political office where the real money is.