It could all wind up in court, further prolonging Wynn Resorts‘ and Mohegan Sun‘s agony, but for now Boston is a surrounding community. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously struck down Mayor Martin J. Walsh‘s demand for host-community status. Wynn was quick to extend an olive branch, saying it looked forward to talks over mitigation terms.
Gaffe-prone MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby will have to excuse himself at this point, after attending a Kentucky Derby party at Suffolk Downs. (Crosby might do well to consider stepping down altogether.) Mayor Martin J. Walsh‘s argument against Wynn — that it uses a road that runs through Boston proper — would, if taken to its logical extreme, create new “host communities” all over Massachusetts. Suffolk Downs is on slightly shakier ground, arguing that it’s merely leasing land to Mohegan Sun, regardless of the permanence of what is planned for that acreage.
Sri Lanka government ministers must have been either impressed or intimidated by James 
Packer‘s recent display of pugilistic prowess. They re-reversed their stance on casino gambling, saying Packer can have gambling at his $400 million Crown Resorts project. He has to partner with one of two local businessmen who hold all the five, existing casino licenses between them. Said government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella, “There is no legal barrier for existing casino businesses getting new partners. There are five licences issued and these licence holders can have one casino per licence. So there’ll be five casinos.” The government’s lone concessions to Buddhist opposition leaders were a vow that no new licenses would be forthcoming and a remit that gambling be confined to the D.R. Wijewardena Mawatha region of Sri Lanka.
Punchin’ Packer, meanwhile, was fined $468 for his public brawl with David Gyngell. We presume he’ll pay it and move on. If Packer contests the fine, he’ll face criminal charges.
Congratulations to Station Casinos on a $15 million profit, its best first quarter in five years and three consecutive years of positive cash flow. The profitability is especially dramatic, coming after a $141 million loss a year ago. (In California, the company also collected $7.4 million in management fees from Graton Resort & Casino.) Despite its distance from the Strip, Station is experiencing an updraft from higher convention and group bookings. The only department not pulling its weight is online poker, not expected to provide any boost this year.
Man of the Year: “The family [of the late Burton Cohen] requests that memorial donations be made to any local no-kill animal shelter.”
