Yellow is the color of Holocaust Memorial Day, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, which is commemorated tonight. Yellow is also the color associated with cowardice. This evening, Atlantic City will display two kinds of yellowness. First there is the Shoah-sensitive yellow lighting that will beam from two of the three Caesars Entertainment casinos, and from Resorts Atlantic City, Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Casino Resort. Good on them.
The yellow of cowardice and shame will shine from Borgata, Harrah’s Resort, Bally’s Atlantic City and Golden Nugget. Maybe some cheapskate casino bosses just didn’t want to spend the money. Or maybe executives at the parent companies are running scared from the waves of Holocaust denialism and outright neo-Nazism that lap increasingly at our shores. Either way, there’s no excuse for what they’re doing … or rather, not doing. For that matter, why are we not reading about Holocaust remembrance in Las Vegas? The road of Jewish history in the United States runs right down the Las Vegas Strip and through Downtown. Why not acknowledge and honor that? Big Gaming can do much better.
Last seen shooting dice at Circa with owner Derek Stevens at his elbow, the newly inaugurated president of the U.S. was in Sin City last week to receive dignitaries from Big Gaming. Their wish list for the incoming administration includes three tax concessions: 1) Eliminate the taxation of tipped income; 2) Raise the IRS-reporting threshold on slot jackpots; 3) Remove the federal excise tax on sports betting. If there were other favors requested of POTUS, they were on ‘mute.’ Although American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller was rather circumspect when we interviewed him earlier this month, he was downright fawning on the occasion of the presidential descent upon Circa.
Credit Miller with knowing his audience. There’s nothing like a well-aimed squirt of greasy flattery to lubricate the gears at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Look for gaming’s three-point wish list to become a threefold set of presidential talking points. But Congress has the power of the purse and will prove a tougher sell. None of those policy ideas has gained traction on Capitol Hill, even though the tip-tax cut has bipartisan support that includes such improbable bedfellows as Sens. Ted Cruz (R) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D). Raising the “IRS lockdown” limit has been around even longer, as Rep. Dina TItus (D, above) would be happy to tell you. But this Congress doesn’t appear eager to start handing out tax cuts to John Q. Public without revenue-raising offsets. And is the industry ready to pay more on any front? That’s be a “no.” But thanks for trying. We really do appreciate it.
In attempting to tie the average voter’s hands, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) may be lacing his and the Lege’s shoes together, at least as regards any future expansion of gambling in the Sunshine State. You may remember that, in a rebuke to legislative incompetence, the power of private-sector gaming expansion was taken away from them in a statewide ballot question several years back. Now DeSantis wants to make it much harder for state policy to be set at the ballot box. But if the pathway to more gambling in Florida leads straight to the voting booth and not by way of Tallahassee, how does DeSantis propose to enlarge the industry next time?
Or does he? This looks suspiciously like an attempt to carve current policy in stone for all eternity. There’s no way to claw back those legislative gaming powers short of another constitutional amendment, so any future Florida governor or Lege will find themselves between Scylla and Charybdis. Maybe GOP benefactor and Fontainebleau Las Vegas owner Jeffrey Soffer doesn’t get that Miami Beach casino he covets. Too bad for him, it would appear. And don’t take it from us. Just ask Florida gambling expert Daniel Wallach, who says, “This proposal would seal off competition for sports betting and casino gambling in Florida.” For that reason alone, DeSantis should be sent off with a flea in his ear, not least because what he is pitching is death to the citizen-initiative process and an elitist abomination.
Adds attorney John Lockwood, also well-versed in gambling-law matters, “You pass this legislation and you would completely close the door to any new non-tribal competition in Florida.” But the state’s part-time Lege isn’t good for much besides rubber-stamping gubernatorial decisions, so we’re not exactly optimistic. And where is the Seminole Tribe in all of this? Lying very, very low.
Say what you like, 35% off a room night at pricey Resorts World Las Vegas sounds like an expensive option to us, especially if you’re a SoCal refugee from the California wildfires. It’s a perverse sort of ‘charitable’ gesture toward the house-less. Comparable offers are being extended by Treasure Island, Fontainebleau Las Vegas and Virgin Las Vegas. All of the aforementioned except Treasure Island are struggling with financial problems, so it looks an awful lot like they’re trying to fill their rooms on the back of a natural disaster. Also participating is South Point, but at least that casino is associated with affordable rates. Phil Ruffin is offering $79/night to the displaced but probably sounds like a great amount of money to the displaced.
Casinos doing the right thing include Wynncore, which is dispatching $1 million to firefighters and the Red Cross. Considering the amount of business that Las Vegas does and money it makes off of California, we think more casinos could step forward and write seven- and eight-figure checks. C’mon: You’re publicly traded most of you so we know how much scratch you’re pulling into your coffers. Consider this a big-ass marketing opportunity and a chance to earn some priceless goodwill.