You’ve got to hand it to Caesars Entertainment: It is truly shameless. The company went to the Internal Revenue Service seeking a “a tax-free separation” for REIT-to-be Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., claiming that if it had to pay taxes that would 
sap the value of the bankruptcy reorganization. Oh boo-hoo. Fortunately, 15 members of Congress, including Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R, right) took notice and sent a letter to Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew. “The REIT would effectively shelter a considerable portion of the casinos’ profits, thus functioning as a taxpayer-funded subsidy to one of the largest casino companies in the U.S. and its private equity owners,” they wrote, adding that the REIT structure could be employed to dodge antitrust laws.
Caesars has done some deplorable things in the past but extending its mitt to John Q. Public for a bailout is surely its most brazen move yet.
* Lawmakers in Pennsylvania could re-vote on Internet gambling in the Keystone State next week. A bit of parliamentary confusion caused ‘Net betting to be voted down in the House when confusion arose over the authorship of two amendments. One would permit the wide-open legalization of slot routes. The other, considered more likely to succeed, would restrict them to OTBs and airport lounges. Let’s hope Pennsylvania solons vote Internet gambling into law, to continue turning the tide against those like Sheldon Adelson who would deprive Americans of it.
* In the anticlimax of the year, Sands China has settled with former CEO Steven Jacobs, who had been suing the company for wrongful termination. Even though Jacobs 
is dismissing all claims against Sands, both at the state and federal level, it has to be regarded as a win for the executive, who had been extensively vilified by Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson. The latter is a scorched-earth litigatant who normally fights to the bitter end — see his interminable lawsuit with rainmaker Richard Suen. It’s just a matter of conjecture but Sands’ attorneys must have calculated that the damage to Sands’ public image from a trial outweighed the value of grinding Jacobs into a fine powder. Jury selection was to have begun later this month. Incidentally, now that Adelson’s Las Vegas Review-Journal no longer does so, the Las Vegas Sun has taken up the responsibility of publishing photos of Adelson’s ridiculous toupee.
* Three counties in Arkansas could have casinos, now that a ballot initiative has been approved by the state’s Attorney General. The proposed constitutional amendment would tax the casinos at 20% and locate them in Washington County, Boone County and Miller County. Now the race is on to collect enough signatures to qualify for ballot inclusion.
* New York State‘s Legislature appears on track to legalize daily fantasy sports in the Empire State. Internet poker, not so much.
