{"id":890019,"date":"2025-07-10T07:47:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=890019"},"modified":"2025-07-10T07:48:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:48:02","slug":"will-congress-right-a-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/will-congress-right-a-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Congress Right a Wrong?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wow, you folks must have had phones on Capitol Hill<\/strong> ringing off the hook. Momentum is building<\/a> to repeal the gambling-tax hike cosseted within the 2025 budget bill. For a while it looked as though Rep. Dina Titus<\/strong> (D) was going it alone. However, her cutely named FAIR BET Act<\/strong> is picking up support. In addition to cosponsors Rep. Troy Nehls<\/strong> (R) and Rep. Ro Khanna<\/strong> (D), it looks to have the backing of Reps. Mark Amodei <\/strong>(R), Jeff Van Drew<\/strong> (R) and Guy Reschenthaler<\/strong> (R).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

That would be sufficient votes to flip the House of Representatives<\/strong> in favor of Titus’ bill IF (and a huge “if”) Rep. Hakeem Jefferies<\/strong> can hold the Democrats together. And if it makes it out of committee and if the Speaker of the House allows it to come to the floor for a vote. There’s a lot of “ifs” between now and tax relief for gamblers. Across the building, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto<\/strong> (D) has introduced the FULL HOUSE Act<\/strong>, which would do the same thing as the Titus bill. But it would have to be passed as a unanimous-consent resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n

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“Any one senator can object to the bill\u2019s passage, but we\u2019re hopeful it could pass given the bipartisan support for fixing this issue<\/em>,\u201d said a rather wishful Cortez Masto staffer. After all, what are the odds that Sen. Mike Crapo<\/strong> (R), author of the abominable tax-code change, is going to roll over for the obliteration of his nasty little handiwork? Even Titus (above<\/em>) is dissing it as “just for show<\/em>.” One encouraging sign for us is that some GOP senators are acknowledging that they screwed the pooch vis-a-vis gamblers. It takes a big man to commit truth in politics and such a person is Sen. Thom Tillis <\/strong>(R). He confessed, “I was so focused on Medicaid<\/strong>, I wasn\u2019t looking for other reasons to be against the bill. But that would be another one.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, certain of Tillis’ colleagues fell back on dog-ate-my-homework excuses<\/a>. The Crapo provision made headlines but that didn’t keep some senators from being out to lunch. “I don\u2019t know anything about it. I\u2019m not sure what it does<\/em>,\u201d admitted Sen. John Cornyn <\/strong>(R), sounding downright clueless. \u201cIf you\u2019re asking me how it got in there, no, I don\u2019t know<\/em>,\u201d added antedlivuian Sen. Chuck Grassley<\/strong> (R). Unlike Cornyn, Grassley is Senate President Pro Tem (and fourth in line to the White House<\/strong>), so he really has no alibi for whiffing on this one. Anyway, these lads will all have a chance to right a wrong when the Cortez Masto resolution comes up for a vote, hopefully soon.<\/p>\n\n\n

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One less weekend day<\/strong> put a dent in casino grosses in Maryland<\/strong>, which were 1.5% down in June. Big dog (and we mean BIG) MGM National Harbor<\/strong> did $67 million, off 1.5%. Maryland Live <\/strong>slipped 2.5% to $59 million, while Horseshoe Baltimore<\/strong> defied the odds by being flat at $14 million. Also flat ($4.5 million) was Rocky Gap Resort<\/strong>, so that’s a modest victory for Century Casinos<\/strong>. Ocean Downs<\/strong> was actually up 4%, achieving $8.5 million as Hollywood Perryville<\/strong> slumped 3.5% to $7 million. Incidentally, racinos in Ohio<\/strong> were up 2.5% last month but J.P. Morgan<\/strong> oddly isn’t reporting revenue from the four casinos and Deutsche Bank<\/strong> hasn’t reported anything, so we’ll have to give the Buckeye State a miss.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Casinos in Illinois seemed<\/strong> to shoot up 15% in June. But when viewed on a same-store basis, the increase was 2%. New competition took an 8% chunk out of Rivers Des Plaines<\/strong>, which “only” grossed $40 million. Newbie Wind Creek Southland <\/strong>muscled into second place with $17 million, as Hard Rock Rockford<\/strong> vaulted 100% to $12 million. Dowager Grand Victoria<\/strong> gained 3% to $12 million and Bally’s Casino<\/strong> did $10.5 million (2.5%) in downtown Chicago<\/strong>. The Temporary at American Place<\/strong> accelerated 12.5% to $10 million and Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> made $10 million as well (-3.5%), whilst debutante Fairmount Park<\/strong> pulled in $1 million. Rounding out Chicagoland<\/strong> were two aged riverboats headed in opposite directions: Hollywood Joliet<\/strong> slumped 12% to $7 million but Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> climbed 5% to $8.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosperity was concentrated in Chicagoland. Par-A-Dice<\/strong>, down in Peoria<\/strong>, slipped 5.5% to $5 million, Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> was down 5% to $4.5 million and Golden Nugget Danville<\/strong> dipped 2% to $3 million. Rounding out the picture were Walker’s Bluff<\/strong> ($3 million, 11%), Bally’s Quad Cities<\/strong> ($5 million, flat), DraftKings Casino Queen<\/strong> ($7 million, -4.5%) and Argosy Alton<\/strong> ($3 million, 7%).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Visitors to gambling halls<\/strong> in the Show-Me State were feeling expansive. Missouri<\/strong> casino visitation was flat but spending was up 5%, lifting gambling grosses 4.5%. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> must have rolled out some George promotions at Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong>, which leapt 22% to $15 million. It gobbled up business from everyone except Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> ($16.5 million, 1%), whilst Bally’s Kansas City<\/strong> made $10.5 million (-5%) and Argosy Riverside<\/strong> did $13 million (-6.5%). Outstate, Century Caruthersville<\/strong> erupted 19% for $4.5 million but Century Cape<\/strong> Girardeau<\/strong> was becalmed at $6 million. Isle of Capri Boonville<\/strong> (another Caesars property) jumped 12% to $7 million, while St. Jo Frontier<\/strong> reported $4 million (-5%) and slots-only Mark Twain Casino<\/strong> was flat at $3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, of course, leaves St. Louis<\/strong>, where Horseshoe St. Louis<\/strong> catapulted 24.5% to $13.5 million. (What IS Caesars offering?) Hollywood St. Loui<\/strong>s nudged up 2% to $21 million, as nearby Ameristar St. Charles <\/strong>was up a point to $25 million, best in the state. River City<\/strong> just barely spanked sister property Hollywood ($21.5 million, 2.5%).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, you folks must have had phones on Capitol Hill ringing off the hook. Momentum is building to repeal the gambling-tax hike cosseted within the 2025 budget bill. For a while it looked as though Rep. Dina Titus (D) was going it alone. However, her cutely named FAIR BET Act is picking up support. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":847489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1728],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Capitol-Hill.jpg?fit=500%2C334&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=890019"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":890025,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/890019\/revisions\/890025"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=890019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=890019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=890019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}