A New York State of mind; What price corruption?

New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) came out of hiding to crow about the big casino victory last Tuesday. He and his allies are being credited with keeping the Proposal One campaign focused on education aid and job creation, and on downplaying the C-word. A large swath of the state didn’t go for it, though. Saratoga, Onondaga, Erie and Monroe counties all voted “nay” on the measure. The problem in analyzing these results isn’t the lack of a reason but perhaps there are too many reasons: The region is already saturated with gaming (six venues) … but didn’t stand to get any more under the amendment. People in the Albany could land a casino — but voted against it, too. Republicans and Democrats alike displayed casino resistance (or fatigue?). ‘Tis a puzzlement.

But the week belongs to the winners and they’re already starting to carve up the Empire State like a Thanksgiving turkey. Finding four solid candidates for the initial tier of casinos won’t be a problem. Nevele resort is dickering with various unnamed operators. Both Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun want to build a casino on or near the former Grossinger’s getaway. Mohegan — along with partner Louis Capelli — also covets the Concord hotel, in Monticello … as does Empire Resorts. A co-owner of the Vernon Downs racino wants to put a casino in Greene. And circling above all this like an 800-lb. raptor is Caesars Entertainment. It wants to be somewhere, we just don’t where, although it goes without saying that Grossinger’s and the Concord are pretty well spoken for already. Perhaps a visit to Greene or Nevele is in order.

Penn National Gaming has long been the bad boy of the casino industry, pushing the envelope of what’s acceptable conduct in the public space. Now CEO Peter Carlino is advocating criminal activity as the price of spreading the gambling gospel overseas. Speaking to the Baron Investment Conference today, Carlino said he’d had a business opportunity in Asia but “we were hampered in a major way by the American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” Why? Because to close the deal, Penn would have had to bribe border guards. “It seems OK to me, frankly. If that’s the game, we’ll play it,” said Carlino, displaying a breathtaking disregard for ethics — and possibly a busted moral compass as well. He added that Penn was poking around for expansion opportunities in Burma, India and Sri Lanka. (He’s a bit late to the party in the latter jurisdiction; James Packer is well ahead of him.)

Not one to refrain from kicking a cripple, Carlino teed off on Atlantic City. His pronouncement that Boardwalk was “O-V-E-R” was one of his kinder remarks. Driven by “how do we get the most excitement for the fewest dollars,” Penn is unlikely to expand its Las Vegas presence beyond M Resort anytime soon. “That is where we excel,” he said of Penn’s second-tier portfolio of casinos. Still, by openly declaring a willingness to grease palms — and flout the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in God knows how many other ways — Carlino has shown yet again that there is no imaginable tactic to which Penn will not stoop in pursuit of a dollar.