Last week I wrote that my son-in-law passed away recently. My wife Bonnie is very close to her daughter, Joyce, so we’ve spent more time than usual hanging out together.
It probably had to happen. One of my gambling buddies, “Al,” lost his wife to a lengthy illness some time ago. Bonnie likes Al a lot. After Joyce signaled that she might be ready to date, setting up Al and Joyce for at least one blind date became inevitable. So, we made it happen. Although Al and Joyce were both involved in Bonnie’s and my wedding party eight years ago, they didn’t remember each other. They were both married at the time and not at all on the make. They were polite to each other, but I guess neither did anything particularly memorable that day!
Whoever killed reporter Jeff German may not be too terribly smart. Las Vegas Metro released photos of its prime suspect, dressed in “a bright orange reflective long-sleeve shirt, a pair of jeans and a straw hat that covered much of his face. He was also seen carrying a dark gym bag over his shoulder.” The hat covers so much of the face that one can’t even be sure it was a he. If this person was trying to be conspicuous, they succeeded. Metro’s working theory is that “the alleged killer was surveying the area to commit other crimes before German’s homicide Friday.” Wouldn’t it be bitterly ironic if the Las Vegas reporter with the most enemies in town died at the hands of some random, panicked prowler with bad fashion sense?
Is Wynncore still a haven for Steve Wynn minions doing the master’s bidding? That’s the allegation of a new lawsuit, which accuses Wynn Resorts of retaliating against a massage therapist and creating a hostile work environment to this day. Her crime? Being Steve Wynn’s “on-call sexual servant.” According to the lawsuit, plaintiff Brenna Schrader “was subjected to rape and sexual assaults beginning in 2012 until 2018 by either Mr. Wynn or a VIP guest and was required to remain on call for Mr. Wynn’s sexual satisfaction. This left Plaintiff unable to defend herself or escape and, in many instances, exhibiting symptoms of Stockholm syndrome.” Whether you sympathize with that argument or not, there can be no doubt that Steve Wynn’s sultan-like behavior typified the worst aspects of Sin City, aided and abetted by former Las Vegas Review-Journal leadership, which swept the story under the rug way back in 1998.
In case you missed it, crusading, veteran investigative journalist Jeff German was murdered near his home on Friday. He was stabbed to death following an “altercation” with someone as yet unknown. The up-close-and-personal manner of the crime puts the mind to work and the Las Vegas Review-Journal has published a litany of potential suspects, people and agencies who betrayed the public trust and—in some cases—lost their jobs because of German’s work. I never knew the man. I doubt I ever even spoke to him on the phone. But he was the best at what he did. An attack on German is an attack on everybody who covers Southern Nevada and a message has been sent: Don’t mess with The Man. At least Las Vegas Metro is on the case and the R-J continues to ask questions. Metro says it has a suspect. I hope it’s not some patsy, a convenient meth head thought to have been rummaging through German’s garbage—though it may well have been someone with dirty laundry all right. As R-J Editor Glenn Cook said, “I’m relieved that police have identified a suspect, and I hope an arrest can answer the question we are all asking right now: Why would someone kill Jeff?” I can think of a few reasons.
Aside from the launch of sports betting in Kansas—spearheaded byHollywood Casino and Kansas Star—it’s been a slow news week. Casino gambling is headed the wrong way in Alabama, where employee-owned GreeneTrack Class II casino was forced to shut down, thanks to the state Supreme Court. The latter levied a $106 million tax bill on GreenTrack, an impost that exceeded revenues. With similar levies facing other private-sector, electronic-bingo casinos in the state (except for tribal ones), other closings may well follow … Florida-based No Casinos will be the next party to wade into the lawsuit involving the Seminole Tribe‘s dubiously constitutional sports-betting compact (above). Group spokesman John Sowinski argues that the Seminoles are trying to have their cake and eat it too by expanding gambling across the state—in violation of Amendment 3—and yet claiming it is exempt by being tribal. “It’s an intellectually dishonest argument. It is an argument that is an affront to the people of Florida who have the right in their constitution to control what forms of gambling exist outside of tribal lands,” said Sowinski …
“There is no evidence to suggest that casinos could not meet their PILOT obligations.” With those words Judge Michael Blee tossed New Jersey‘s current Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) special-status tax program for casinos, which has lost round after round in the courts. The PILOT quasi-subsidy assesses each Atlantic City casino a share of its gross gaming revenue rather than levy property taxes. This has been the rule since 2016 but last year, in an overreach sped through the Lege by Gov. Phil Murphy (D), online gambling revenues are excluded from the PILOT assessment. This was done at the behest of alarmist casino owners, who said they needed the financial relief to get past the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Judge Bee found these grounds, in a word, dubious. They resulted in a $55 million shortfall that disproportionately affected Atlantic City proper.
My son-in-law, or perhaps a more correct term is step-son-in-law, Michael, passed away recently after a long illness. Michael was married to Bonnie’s daughter Joyce. He was more than 20 years older than Joyce, and in fact was a few months older than me.
After a somewhat rocky start, where Joyce and Michael were initially opposed to Bonnie marrying a professional gambler and did their best to sabotage the wedding. Over time we all got to know each other well and became friends.
Inflation and depleted discretionary income seem finally to have caught up with the Las Vegas Strip. July’s gambling win was 2.5% from the year previous (while locals casinos slipped 3%). The diñero, especially on the Strip, is so elevated from banner year 2019 that last month’s slight decline may not be cause for worry except for those on Wall Street who can’t see beyond one quarter to the next. But a heated (overheated?) casino recovery is definitely cooling if the Strip is off its 2021 pace. In dollar terms, Strip casinos booked $773.5 million while locals ones racked up $233 million. Strip slot revenue ($391 million) dipped 4.5% despite 1.5% more coin-in while table games ($247 million) gained 9% on 6% less wagering. Baccarat was off 14%, bringing in $135.5 million on a lower hold percentage. Locals simply didn’t have as much stomach for gambling, losing $191.5 million at the slots (-3%) on lower coin-in (-4%), while table play was down 1.5%, bringing in $41.5 million (-4.5%).
We wouldn’t have believed it but it appears that bothCalifornia sports-betting ballot initiatives could go down to defeat in November. While we favor sports betting, on principle, we don’t have a dog in this fight. Both Proposition 26 (tribal) and Proposition 27 (Big Gaming) have their merits and drawbacks. Thus you’ll not see us endorse either one prior to Election Day. Promise. The gloomy prospect of a double-barreled defeat comes from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a source that should be taken seriously. “The political power and deep pockets of interests with dogs in this hunt … together with competing sports betting measures whose back-to-back presentation on the ballot is likely to confuse voters have us leaning negative on California’s sports betting legalization prospects this fall,” they forecast.
It’s in full swing at Marina Bay Sands and we’re covering it for CDC Gaming Reports, which means there won’t be much S&G this week. In the meantime, check out this he-said/she-said scandal involving former Interior SecretaryRyan Zinke (who seems to have a problematic relationship with the truth) and his apparent hanky-panky involving the attempted Tribal Winds casino in Connecticut. That project would be totally forgotten and unnecessary, given the struggles of once-feared MGM Springfield, had not Zinke’s inability to come clean not brought it back into the headlines.
In last week’s blog I described a loss rebate promotion at Molly’s, a chain of local 15-machine pubs in Las Vegas. I know many of my readers aren’t Vegas locals. While the specifics of today’s enhancement concern Molly’s, I’m hoping to make the discussion general enough so that it might be useful elsewhere as well.
