Busted!

Former New York Knicks great Charles Oakley fouled out big-time at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The veteran roundballer, who made $46 million during his playing career, wound up in the clink over a $100 casino chip. Oakley tried to withdraw said chip from play when it became clear that he was going to lose a hand of blackjack. Unfortunately for him, his hand was not as quick as the eye in the sky and Oakley finds himself facing charges of attempted fraud. Although Oakley could, if convicted, wind up serving as much as six years in the pokey (an extreme scenario), attorney Alex Spiro tried to whistle past the graveyard, saying, “This is not a significant matter, and we expect it to be resolved quickly.”

Given that the likes of Steve Wynn have extended massive lines of credit to gamblers with millions of dollars in dishonored markers trailing behind them, Spiro may be right, although Cosmo management appears to be playing hardball. Oakey himself responded to the whole kerfuffle with an ambiguous query: “The truth always comes out, right?” In this case, the truth will emerge when the surveillance tape is introduced in court and Oakley may not like the result. Given that Oakley recently beat the rap with regard to a brawl at Madison Square Garden, luck might still be on his side.

* Guess what? Long-suffering Resorts World Las Vegas is “a candidate for delays.” Knock me over with a feather. The other slowpoke is Fontainebleau/The Drew. No surprise there. “However, both properties recently came out and said they expected openings in 2020,” wrote gaming analyst Bruce McGill. Had Genting Group held to its initial deadline, Resorts World LV would have been long since open by now. Instead, the company fiddled around with (underperforming) Resorts World Catskills and some white-elephant acquisitions in Miami while blowing hot and cold on the gambling capital of America. According to McGill, those most likely to be inconvenienced were slot manufacturers: “As a rule of thumb, it is expected that slots will ship into [a] property 60 to 90 days ahead of the opening. This is when the manufacturers will recognise the sale typically.”

* While the Culinary Union continues to be coy about just how much in raises it is achieving for its members, 730 Tropicana Las Vegas employees will be seeing more in their paychecks. Penn National Gaming has also committed to (unspecified) sexual-harassment protections for its employees. Good on them.

* Casino workers in Macao are less fortunate. A bill on the verge of passage will ban them from gaming floors outside of work hours (the only hitch is that the bill, as written, could also keep them out of adjacent restaurants, etc.). Stiff fines accompany the legislation, which is intended as a forcible curb on problem gambling.