Rather than accept three potential casino closings as a fait accompli, Unite-Here is out beating the bushes for potential buyers. Given, the 
casinos aren’t Unite-Here’s to sell but there’s no law that says the union can’t play matchmaker. “We want the world to know that we’re looking for partners, not saviors or messiahs. We will work with them,” spake local president Robert McDevitt, which is a fancy way of saying that wage and benefit concessions are on the table, as an enticement.
“The union plans to contact potential buyers for the casinos, saying they can be profitably run if bought at a low enough price,” reports The Associated Press. Of course, price is something over which the union exerts no control. Caesars Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman has to get his bondholders the best price he can for the Showboat. And what Trump Entertainment Resorts is willing to sell Trump Plaza for and what creditor Carl Icahn will allow it to accept could be two very different things. We know Hard Rock International has been circling Revel for a while but how much is it disposed to offer at the bankruptcy auction? Or does Caesars covet it and is using the Showboat closure to screen itself from antitrust action?
At the end of the day, it’s not a matter of who owns the casinos or how thriftily they can be run — which might be a cure worse than the disease. (McDevitt should remember better than most how Columbia Sussex penny-pinched the Tropicana Atlantic City into near-ruin.) It’s that there aren’t enough customers to go around. Pending a change in Atlantic City‘s image, it may just have too many casinos.
* International Game Technology gave itself a firm pat on the back for selling itself to Gtech. I don’t buy CEO Patti Hart‘s argument that 
fewer slotmakers = more innovation. It sounds like self-serving bullshit. The more players you have in the industry, the more urgency exists to differentiate oneself. Indeed, we could see the slot sector drift into a period of complacency and debt retirement. IGT now becomes just one of three slot firms owned by Gtech, along with Atronic and Spielo. (Admittedly, the best of the three.)
“This opportunity comes along once in a CEO’s lifetime,” added Hart. “The ability to start from scratch and create a company with this strength is all about the perfect timing.” Of course, those won’t Vice Chairman Hart’s calls to make. She’s also not in a position to guarantee the job security of IGT’s workforce but she maintains it was one of the attractions of the company to Gtech. So was DoubleDown Casino, a pricey acquisition for which Hart was much pilloried at the time but which has saved her bacon more than once.
* Here’s a shocking development. (Not.) Trying to save jobs — and commerce — at Argosy Sioux City, owner Penn National Gaming has taken its case to the Iowa Supreme Court. Contending that it knows Hawkeye State law best, Penn argues that both the Iowa Gaming & Racing Commission‘s closure order and Judge Elizabeth Ovrom‘s upholding of same are predicated in “errors of law and …not supported by 
substantial evidence.” Since the Supremes only have until Tuesday to act before the riverboat closes, Penn has asked for a brief extension of Ovrom’s one-week stay of execution. Not only would hundreds of employees be out of work otherwise, Penn says it would lose a $100 million asset. This is as good as a thriller, going right down to the wire — although Penn would be pardoned if it didn’t share the excitement.
UNITE could do worse than partner with a buyer for the Showboat. I stayed there last month midweek and was surprised with how busy it was. A motivated owner might turn that place around, especially with few prospects for the Trump Plaza. Revel needs time and probably an awful lot of cash too but somehow, someday I’d bet someone will make money there.