Scratch one casino; Adios, Megabus

Tunica continues to hemorrhage casinos. The latest casualty is Tunica Roadhouse. Owner Caesars Entertainment is terminating gambling at the property, although the 135-room hotel will be kept operational. This makes Horseshoe Tunica Caesars’ only remaining casino in the market. The move may have been in response to the November election, which saw voters in Arkansas approve racinos in the eastern part of the state. As Caesars said, the “difficult decision follows persistent declines in business levels in the area stemming from increased competition.” The casino will cease doing business at the end of January, although it’s unlikely the 377 employees will be able to find jobs elsewhere in the besieged Tunica market. (The hotel is run with a skeletal staff of 36, so obviously a big salary dump is in the works.)

Unlike their Las Vegas counterparts, casinos in Tunica never recovered from the Great Recession, being 47% off their 2006 pace. In addition to the new Arkansas competition, the Mississippi audience may choose to lavish its gaming dollars on the new state lottery. Tunica Roadhouse had a good, 20-year run but now goes the way of all flesh.

* Faced with the distinct possibility of federal regulation of sports betting, a who’s-who of gaming companies has basically offered to police the industry from within. They have banded together to found the Sports Wagering Integrity Monitoring Association, which will keep any eye out for suspicious events, like sudden movements in the betting lines. The participants include MGM Resorts International, Caesars, William Hill, DraftKings, Paddy Power Betfair‘s FanDuel, 888 Holdings, Bet365, Golden Nugget, Hard Rock International, Resorts Casino Hotel and Eldorado Resorts. The idea is to band to gather untoward information and disseminate it to the appropriate regulatory bodies. Now the trick is to persuade ever-skeptical politicians that the casino industry can police itself better than government can. That’s going to be a tough sell on Capitol Hill but one worth attempting. As the American Gaming Association‘s Sara Slane reacted, “The announcement comes at a critical time as dozens of states and sovereign tribal nations are poised to pursue legal sports betting in 2019.”

* People who booked a trip to Las Vegas on Megabus in the waning days of November will have to make alternate plans for getting back to Phoenix, Glendale and Tempe: The bus service is shutting down operations on Nov. 30, kicking many a customer’s vacation plans into a cocked hat. We feel for anybody who gets hit with a cancellation penalty (or who bought show tickets) from a Vegas hotel, having been left high and dry by Megabus.

* Porto Rio Hotel & Casino will see its gaming floor go dark, in a labor dispute uncannily reminiscent of the one that ended Trump Taj Mahal, right down to the pay cuts (31%) to staff. To add injury to insult, the casino is 14 months in arrears to some workers. It would have cost $903,561 to stave off catastrophe but management preferred to call it quits instead. Theros International Gaming chose to blame the victim, saying of workers, “Even this morning after stoppage and shutdown of the casino there has been an attempt by union to confiscate the reserves, which cannot continue, the company is not able to withstand it, and the company is obliged to defend its existence …” Evidently the best defense is to cease existence.

Theros blamed the ultimatum on potential bailout investors. However, its apologia pro vita sua hinted at an underlying, bad business plan: “The business exists because the shareholder has borrowed money and put it in a wound that bleeds without end. This feature has dried up.” So have the good times Porto Rio.

* Congratulations to Doug Castaneda, new director of race and sports book operations at Wynncore. Castaneda’s history in the industry dates back 23 years, to when he earned his spurs at the Stardust. He got in on the ground floor of Wynn Las Vegas in 2005, working under Johnny Avello, and now ascends to Avello’s spot. While we will miss Avello’s annual Oscar picks we wish nothing but the best for his successor.