For sale: One casino riverboat, heavily used. Penn National Gaming asked for — and received — dismissal of a bankruptcy petition, opting to sell the Belle of Sioux City on the open market. You might think it would be difficult to sell a riverboat casino these days, when they have become largely anachronistic. Think again:
“According to the court documents, the company said it is in the final stages of negotiating a contract with an unidentified third party to purchase the boat and two barges on the Missouri River and demolish the dockside facilities.”
Penn’s urgency to move the vessels is motivated by an urge to get them disposed of before the Missouri starts icing over. Penn says it can “satisfy all valid claims asserted against them.” The recourse to bankruptcy court had simply been a failed stratagem to block the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission from closing the casino. Of $4.3 million in unsatisfied claims, $1.6 million is owed to Missouri River Historical Development, Penn’s former nonprofit partner. Whether Penn will pay is another matter, since it claims MRHD is in breach of contract.
Still, with $10 million cash on hand as of Aug. 15, Argosy Sioux City should be able to pay all the other pipers and then some.
* After having paid $1.2 million an acre for his Everett site, Steve Wynn is offering a premium $3 million/acre for two acres of much-needed access 
land owned by the MBTA. It’s a collection of three parcels that would give Wynn Resorts a service entrance and a four-lane, grand boulevard for guests. However, the potential deal is going to hang fire until Oct. 3, as the MBTA has to wait until then for pricier offers or ones of higher civic merit to potentially come along. Still, “the three parcels that essentially ring the T yard collectively wouldn’t be of much use for anything other than for access into the property next door,” writes Jon Chesto.
Without them, though, Wynn is in something of a pickle. He’d be reliant on nearby Chemical Lane, which passes through Boston — and Wynn has long been at loggerheads with Beantown Mayor Martin Walsh. Adds Chesto, “It also would be tough to envision getting a separate service entrance to the site without the T property, as the casino site is blocked on one side by commuter rail tracks and on another side by the Mystic River.”
* At 77 feet in length, zooming halfway down the Fremont Street Experience, thrill ride Slotzilla is already plenty daunting. However, that’s nothing compared to the “superhero” ride that will be higher — and faster 
(40 mph) — when it debuts “soon” … as we have often been promised. The D is marking the occasion with “Shotzilla,” a monster of a drink. This eight-ounce concoction features vodka, melon liqueur, Apple Schnapps and sweet and sour, and is meant to give you some Dutch courage before you go thrill riding. I should hate to imagine the effects on the digestive system of Slotzilla riders who partake of a Shotzilla too many. But this is Las Vegas: We do everything a little extra crazy here.
In the same spirit, Guy Fieri’s Vegas Kitchen & Bar is offering a Sunday NFL special: Drink all 16 beers on tap and you get a free Guy Fieri T-shirt. You’ll be unconscious but, hey, you’ll score some cheap apparel.
