There’s light at the end of Wynn Resorts‘ tunnel in Massachusetts. Trouble is, it won’t arrive until December and it will take the form of an investigative report, nearly a year in the making, from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (postponed from early 
autumn to mid-winter). The MGC is looking into sexual-misconduct allegations against Steve Wynn and, mainly, the concealment of a $7.5 million paternity settlement from Bay State regulators. The MGC has had to forgive a fair amount of questionable conduct by Wynn, both the man and the company (google “Charles Lightbody“) and the $2.4 billion question is whether the behavior of Steve Wynn and former corporate counsel Kim Sinatra was the straw that broke Encore Boston Harbor‘s back. We think most of us expect a big-ass fine and a stern lecture but the prospect of revoking Encore’s casino license has never been taken off the table, pending the investigation’s findings.
“I sat in a number of those hearings when Wynn was pushing for the license and it was pretty clear to me and others that [they] were in love with the glitz and glamour of Steve Wynn,” says Boston political analyst Jon Keller. (We plead to some guilt in that 
department as well.) If so, not anymore. The MGC has almost seemed to enjoy keeping Encore President Robert DeSalvio twisting in the wind. With pressure coming from Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on down to clean up its act, the MGC will have little choice but to be tough on Wynn. Still, realpolitik says that license revocation is 99% off the table. Even if the MGC were inclined to reverse field and aware the license to runner-up Suffolk Downs it would be forever blamed for the blight of an unfinished Wynn casino hulking on the Mystic River shore.
* Boyd Gaming‘s pickup of four Pinnacle Entertainment casinos and Valley Forge Casino Resort gets a thorough writeup in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Strangely, though, the story is illustrated with a photo of Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, which is irrelevant to the topic at hand. Can’t spring for a wire-service photo, R-J?
* Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils, is opening a William Hill-branded sports book, the latest in the Garden State. The news comes as the NHL itself has named MGM Resorts International as its official sports-betting partner. Said Hill’s U.S. CEO, Joe Asher, “Five years ago, we placed a bet on New Jersey when we invested in opening a sports bar at Monmouth Park without knowing when sports betting would be legalized,” a prescient move. In addition to Devils games, Prudential Center will host 175 concerts and other events, driving considerable foot traffic to the William Hill book. Congratulations to all involved on their good fortune.
* Stadium Casino may be in disarray but it is going ahead with its pursuit of a satellite casino in Hempfield Township, where Stadium has its eyes on a derelict department store. Hempfield was worth $40 million to the Greenwood Gaming & 
Entertainment/Cordish Gaming partnership, which plunked down that amount for the satellite license. Although a hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5, Stadium could be left sweating it out for months, as the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is in no hurry to approve or disapprove the project. The PGCB is spending the first week of December on the road, taking public comments on proposed satellite casinos in York County and Beaver County as well. As for the apparent demise of Stadium’s titular casino project in Philadelphia, state Sen. Kim Ward (R) said, “They are trying to separate, but they are moving forward in Westmoreland County. We don’t know which company will operate the casino if they decide not to sell.” I’d think the PGCB would like an answer to that before voting on Hempfield.
* Tough luck if you’re a casino operator in Russia‘s Azov City. You’ll have to shut down by Dec. 31 and the guvmint isn’t going to compensate you for it. That’s bad news for the three casinos in Azov City but good news for Caesars Entertainment, which kicked the tires on bringing the Harrah’s brand there several years ago, back when I was at the Las Vegas Business Press, but obviously thought better of the idea. The Russian government acts so capriciously, even harshly toward casino owners that it’s surely one of the worst markets in which to speculate (just ask Lawrence Ho), along with the toxic Philippines.
* Tough luck, too, if you’re Iowa or Nebraska. The Ponca Tribe is so unimpressed with your lawsuits that it’s opening Nov. 1. The Omaha-area casino (albeit on the Iowa side of the river) will offer 200 slots but no table games. According to tribal spokesman 
Jimmy Centers, casino profits will be plowed back into funding job training, a Ralston healthcare center and several other worthy causes. Host city Carter Lake also stands to collect $775K a year in revenue sharing. The casino is named Prairie Flower in honor of one of the victims of an 1877 diaspora. “Casinos aren’t a panacea, but they’ll help us to diversify and be self-sustaining,” said tribal Chairman Larry Wright Jr. The opening date is to commemorate the 28th anniversary of when recognition was restored to the Nebraska branch of the Ponca Tribe. Also litigating against Prairie Flower Casino is the city of Council Bluffs, although its argument is of the sour-grapes variety, complaining that the tribal casino — small though it is — will draw business from the three big commercial casinos in Council Bluffs.
