There’s intrigue surrounding Atlantic City‘s H-Tract, which separates Borgata from Harrah’s Resort. That’s adjacent to 15 acres of land Caesars Entertainment has never developed. MGM Resorts International, for its part, has acreage which it has tried and failed to sell, so we know it’s trying to monetize the site. With all that land lying around unused, Caesars and MGM are putting their heads together, trying to dream up a joint venture. Anything connected with Borgata turns to gold, so MGM’s interest in explicable but Caesars’ desire for higher exposure in Atlantic City is less understandable. This is a company that decided it had too much inventory on the Atlantic City market and closed — and later sold — the Showboat. We wish both companies well but this is a bit of a head-scratcher. Still, it is good to see MGM and Caesars taking Hard Rock International CEO Jim Allen‘s advice and working together instead of at cross-purposes.
We know one thing the new partners aren’t going to, “I don’t want to lead anyone to believe that we’re going to build another casino and connect that, at least in the near term. But we have an awful lot of land,” said MGM General Counsel John McManus last year. Instead, he floated the idea of something like The Park just off the Las Vegas Strip. They’ve also not ruled out doing something along the Boardwalk. Hey, maybe Glenn Straub can get Jim Murren and Mark Frissora to extricate him from Revel. It comes cheap.
* A casino could be opening in Cuba … Cuba, Missouri, that is. A provision in the Indian Gaming & Regulation Act enables the Osage Nation to build a casino anywhere in Missouri (because the entire state has been identified as their ancestral territory). The tribe is eyeing three sites but Cuba is at the head of the list, partly because it is the home to a monument to Osage warriors.
“Am I counting on it? We’re not there yet. The governor has to bless this to move it forward,” said Cuba Development Group President Dennis Roedemeier. Meanwhile, Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear is juggling possible sites, including Cuba, Kimberling City and along I-44. He’s also mulling whether to go small, say, 400 slot machines or as big as a half-billion-dollar facility. The addition of a Missouri casino would also relieve some of the pressure faced by the tribe in the Tulsa area, where it has to compete with two other tribal casinos. As for us, we can’t wait to file stories reading, “Dateline Cuba.”
* In a particularly onerous move, the State of Connecticut is proposing to impose a $40/year licensing fee on anyone applying for a gaming-related position. We realize that a gaming license is a privileged position but putting a fee on a job applicant goes a step too far, to our way of thinking. (Gaming vendors would pay even steeper levies under the proposal.) Meanwhile, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun are getting off scot-free in their quest for a satellite casino. No licensing fee for them. There are 241 job categories in Connecticut that require licensure, so job seekers in the Nutmeg State have our sympathy.
* Kong Linghui, a former Olympian, owes $329,000 to Marina Bay Sands and Sheldon Adelson is trying to sue Linghui to get the money. Too bad, we say — not just because Adelson is a jerk but 
because he had every reason to know this sort of thing could happen when he went into Singapore but started courting his-risk Chinese VIPs with eyes open. Linghui is small potatoes compared to DMG Entertainment Chairman Xiao Wenge, who owes $12 million. The problem is compounded by a slippage in Singapore casino play. Quite simply, you can’t enforce unpaid markers in China, which makes for some disgruntled casino execs. And with only three junket operators licensed in Singapore, casino execs can’t sicc junketeers on deadbeat VIP and whatever happens, happens.
* Trickle-down economics are alive and well at Pennsylvania casinos, praise be.
A nice 9-hole golf course on the H-Tract would not only look much better than what is there, it would also provide a good amenity to both Borgata and Harrahs.