Wynn thinks even bigger; Showdown looming in Atlantic City

Perhaps to provide a diversion from a flat first quarter, Steve Wynn has been tinkering with the plans for Wynn Paradise Park, making them more grandiose. That modest little island in the middle of the lagoon has swelled into an eight- to 10-story mountain with two summits connected by a rope bridge. The fast-growing island will also sprout “cabanas and other special effects platforms … [a] beach bar with white sand,” plus zip lines. Evidently, Wynn had second thoughts about his initially announced concept, telling investors, “We’re not just building a body of water with a promenade around the edge — the American public has seen that before. When we do something here, we do something that hasn’t been seen before.” Rather than go to the ocean, Wynn is making the ocean come to him. In other words, he’s telling Alon and Resorts World Las Vegas that it’s game on. The latter has finally announced a late-2016 start to serious construction (Genting Group has been tinkering around the edges of the former Echelon property), with a view toward finishing in early 2019. Can SLS Las Vegas hang on that long?

* In a coup for the Vegas economy, DEQ Systems is relocating its executive staff, product compliance, product development and sales and marketing staff here from Quebec City. OK, it’s only 25 jobs but, after a year that saw mad consolidation in the manufacturing sector, it’s nice to be able to report some growth. “If you’re going to be in the gaming business, you got to be in Las Vegas,” CEO Joe Bertolone told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, adding, “A lot of our business is based out of the West Coast and Asia. It’s much more convenient to access those customers, and our suppliers and supply chain is here.” Locally, its customers include Boyd Gaming, Station Casinos and MGM Resorts International, which use DEQ’s table-games products. If you’ve played EZ Baccarat, then you’ve experienced DEQ’s technology. Incidentally, new R-J gaming beat reporter Buck Wargo is doing an impressive job and hopefully will be kept on it full time.

* “The success we had in Atlantic City in the ’80s and ’90s made it possible for everyone to have a Cadillac-type contract. But when economics change, it’s up to the unions to do what’s best for employees, even if that means negotiating reduced wages and benefits, so they can keep their jobs. We lost our monopoly on casinos, and the monopoly-level benefits need to change,” says former Resorts Atlantic City Vice President Steve Norton, forecasting a bitter and hard-fought labor negotiation between Atlantic City casinos and their workers. Forget pay increases — despite improved operating profits — Local 54 of Unite-Here is going to be hard-pressed to maintain the status quo on health insurance and benefits. They’ve already been rolled back at Trump Taj Mahal and other casino owners may try to follow Carl Icahn‘s example.

Tropicana Atlantic City buffet server and Icahn employee Rodney Mills paints a grim picture. He’s making $10.98 an hour but working as few as 18 hours a week. That means he has to chip in toward his health coverage. “You have to decide, ‘Do I pay for my benefits, or do I pay the electricity bill, or the heat,'” he lamented. “We gave back a lot of things to keep our health insurance from going up too much, but now we’re afraid we’re going to lose it altogether.” One of the arguments for bringing casino gambling to the Boardwalk was that good-paying jobs would come with it. Wouldn’t it be a cruel irony if, in their attempt to save themselves, casinos threw workers under the bus? Talk about destroying the village in order to save it!