Never underestimate the power of electronic bingo. It’s the capital derived therefrom that’s enabling the Poarch Band of Creek Indians to make a $1.3 billion purchase of Sands Bethlehem. The tribe is 
succeeding where Tropicana Entertainment and MGM Resorts International failed. Sheldon Adelson said, “Sands Bethlehem has become one of the leading regional entertainment and gaming destinations in the United States and we are extremely proud of the positive contributions the property has made for Bethlehem,” without explaining his motives for selling. However, it was always the red-headed stepchild of the Las Vegas Sands family so maybe the price was finally right.
Although the Poarch Band’s Wind Creek Hospitality already owns poker rooms in Florida, casinos in the Caribbean (on Aruba and Curaçao) and three Alabama casinos (and even manages the Wa She Shu Casino in rural Nevada), the acquisition of Sands Bethlehem settles any remaining doubt as to whether they’re a force with which to be reckoned. “They’ve developed some nice facilities in Alabama. This obviously is a major leap for the tribe, not just in terms of the size and performance of the asset, but also stepping into the U.S. commercial gaming industry,” said Spectrum Gaming Group‘s Joseph Weinert.
Since the approval process could take as long as a year, Wind Creek is 
out of the mini-casino derby unless Adelson buys one for them … which isn’t out of the question. One Wall Street analyst, John Cunnane, was skeptical, given Wind Creek’s inexperience with table games, Sands’ meat and drink. “This is jumping into the pool at the deepest end,” he told a reporter.
The announcement was so closely guarded that Sands didn’t bring it up at the JP Morgan investor forum. Mostly LVS underlings talked about Macao, where anticipated labor-cost increases are expected to be offset by higher gaming revenue, which “will be driven by greater transportation infrastructure, more hotel inventory, and Chinese consumers’ greater propensity to travel.” Next year will see major disruption at Sands Cotai Central as it converted into The Londoner. In additional to the Sands Bethlehem windfall, which analyst Joseph Greff expects to be plowed into Asia, the company continues to look for takers for its Marina Bay Sands retail mall, for which the company only was $2 billion, maybe three.
Sands thinks Japan will be a gaming market second only to Macao and that the political will is there to get it done by June. The company “sees a lot of support within Japan to get something done and move forward with convention based integrated resorts. The company would 
be interested in Osaka, Tokyo, and Yokohama, and estimates a property in any of these cities could generate $10b in revenue.” That sounds like a stretch — but maybe not if the Komeito Party gets its wish to confine Japanese gambling to three megaresorts. Since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe can’t get anything done in the Diet without Komeito’s assent, the minority party stands a good chance of getting its wish. “For Komeito, I think it will be extremely hard to go higher than three,” said a key party member. “If it goes well we could increase it a bit. Komeito is not saying three should be the limit forever, but let’s try three to start with.” At least Komeito is tractable to low taxes, the better to compensate for entrance fees, which the party thinks should be higher than Abe’s proposed $19.
* MGM Springfield will have a long runway, as the Foxwoods Resort Casino/Mohegan Sun satellite casino won’t be ready until December 2019 at the earliest. And that’s assuming that the federal government doesn’t intervene nor that Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) 
doesn’t make construction contingent upon explicit federal approval. “Here’s the bottom line: We know that we are on the right side of this,” opined Mohegan Tribal Chairman Kevin Brown. Even so, Brown better have some ‘wow’ factor in his new casino, the better to get Connecticut residents out of the habit of driving past it to Springfield. One journalist thinks we could be looking at a 2026 opening, at best. Said Connecticut Post Associate Editor Dan Haar, “it could take eight years to slog through two federal lawsuits, financing and actual construction.”
* Authorities say that two-time felon Joseph Whit Moody qualifies twice over for the Black Book and we think the Nevada Gaming Commission should throw it at him. Moody’s M.O. is to prey on elderly women at ATMs or ticket-redemption machines, distracting them as he grabs their money. Such brazen activity is made easier when the victims are tourists who don’t want to travel back to Las Vegas to testify in a criminal trial. Senior Deputy Attorney General John Michela said that Moody, who has two burglaries and three petty larcenies on his rap sheet, “seems to be incapable of staying out of trouble in Nevada casinos.” Preach it, brother.
* A driver “high on drugs” rammed his car into the Stratosphere this morning. We’ve been hit by a car and it’s no fun. We wish The Strat a speedy recovery.
