Las Vegas Sands is halfway out the door at Sands Bethlehem but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any unfinished business, like seeking a five-year extension of its gambling license. CEO Brian Carr flashed some impressive numbers before regulators: $1.5 billion in taxes paid, average 
annual wages of just under $45K, $628,961 in charitable donations last year and nine million satisfied customers. “Las Vegas Sands is pleased and proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the last nine years. We look forward to the future,” what little there is of it, Carr told the regulators, who grumbled a bit about Sands’ tardiness in paying local revenue-sharing fees during the period when they were declared illegal and subsequently re-legalized. (Trust me, you don’t want an explanation. That way lies madness.)
Strangely, the sale of Sands Bethlehem to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians went unmentioned at the hearing, although Carr’s views of that might be more interesting than his elaborately noncommital remarks on satellite casinos, Internet gambling and sports betting. Sands’ philanthropic good works were much praised and 
Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez, in a letter, hoped the best for the new owners, writing that “We are hopeful that this property could become a flagship enterprise for Wind Creek, and we do hope that this sale represents the opportunity to restart some stalled development and to set a new bar of corporate community involvement and investment, and to continue the momentum in south Bethlehem and indeed, for all of Bethlehem.” Sheldon Adelson has blown hot and cold on Bethlehem (developer’s remorse?) but he’s leaving with an armful of plaudits.
* Foxwoods Resorts Casino is in Unite-Here‘s crosshairs. On April 20, housekeeping employees will vote on whether to unionize. Foxwoods has made the union’s job easier by suspending three union supporters, reportedly holding one-on-one meetings between employees and bosses, and outsourcing some kitchen work to a third party. As is so often the case in these scenarios, management is its own worst enemy.
In other Connecticut news, the National Congress of American Indians has intervened in the East Windsor stalemate, appealing to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (pictured) to rule in favor of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in the matter of the amendment of their compacts to allow them to build a 
casino on non-tribal land. The Trump administration has been inexplicably mum about the compact for six months. Wrote NCAI President Jefferson Keel, “If the Secretary does not approve or disapprove a compact within 45 days, the compact shall be considered to have been approved.” The Zinke-fied Interior Department hasn’t been shy about approving tribal casinos so its hesitancy about the East Windsor one is more than a trifle baffling. Pressure from MGM Resorts International is likely to blame, especially after Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Michael Black wrote the two tribes cryptically that “action on the amendments is premature and likely unnecessary.” In what may have been a back-channel communication to MGM Resorts International (which has its own Nutmeg State agenda), the letter was copied to two Nevada congressmen. The whole thing sounds a bit fishy, if you ask us.
* Memorial Day is the target date for the opening of the newest Margaritaville-branded casino. This one sits aboard a Vicksburg riverboat, formerly the Grand Station. “We’re waiting on new furniture, so that’s the delay,” explained spokesman Greg Stewart. The new Margaritaville has had an, uh, bumpy history. It was opened in 1993 by Harrah’s Entertainment, sold 10 years later to Columbia Sussex, went bankrupt in 2010, reopened as Grand Station in 2011, bankrupt again the next year and the old casino barge was sold for scrap in 2013. Let’s hope the Parrotheads come through for the casino in its newest iteration.
* PokerStars wasted no time getting out of Washington State after a court ruling that social casinos are in fact the real thing. “Our agency did not order these sites to deny access to free poker,” tweeted the Washington Gaming Commission of those sites, like PokerStars, that have stopped offering social games to Washington punters. The Stars Group released a statement of its own, hoping that the law would be “clarified” so that “we will be able to reinstate all Washington players at their current status.” That’s pretty ‘george’ of them.
