Mike Pence having gone to Washington, D.C., we miss his existential debates over what does and does not represent an 
“expansion” of gambling in Indiana. Doubtless he would come down on the “does” side of a state House proposal to—rather than move an existing license—add a casino in Terre Haute. This supersedes an earlier move in Lege to transplant one of the two Majestic Star licenses inland, while keeping the other on the shores of Lake Michigan. If what the Ways & Means Committee propounds comes to pass, riverboat owner Spectacle Entertainment could keep one of its two existing licenses and bid on the Terre Haute one or it could stand pat. However, in a provision that will make its competitors green with envy, Spectacle could go the Terre Haute route and get double the number of games at its Gary location, “making it potentially the largest casino operation in Indiana if Spectacle chose to use all [2,764] of them.” (!) Needless to say, this supersizing of the Gary operation is viewed by its competitors with some alarm.
Lawmaker Todd Huston may say expansion is “in the eye of the beholder” but we don’t see how you split this baby and not have it be 
expansion. (In other words, we’d agree with Pence, were he still governor.) As things stand, the plan would be to open Terre Haute bidders, from whom the Indiana Gaming Commission would choose two or three finalists, who could start the final round of bidding at $25 million. In a rather dubious idea, the high bidder gets the license. In a similarly short-sighted move, the bill would legalize terrestrial sports betting but not mobile wagering, which is where the money’s at—a notion sure to be regretted come tax time.
* That was short. Wynn Resorts‘ $7 billion, here today/gone tomorrow bid for Crown Resorts may have been the briefest, most abortive courtship in casino history. Wynn chalked up the kiss-off to Crown’s premature disclosure of the talks. Crown leaked the news, probably in hopes of boosting its stock price. If that was the idea, it certainly backfired. This almost-deal was a bit of a head-scratcher so maybe its cancellation was all for the best.
* It’s Live Nation in, AEG out at the Colosseum, now that Caesars Entertainment has taken the keys to The House That Celine Built. Preparing for life after la petite quebecoise, Caesars is doing a revamp of the already impressive venue. An automated, seating-lift is being put 
in place, to make it easier to rejigger the Colosseum’s configuration. A standing-room pit will be added, thereby boosting the number of admissions that can be sold to a Colosseum concert. Said President of Entertainment Jason Gastwirth, “This allows for a fully customized environment that enables the artist to engage with the audience in a more intimate way. This is a refinement rather than a full-scale renovation. The artist remains our focus; the technology — the lighting, sound and video — is only meant to enhance the audience’s experience.” Since Las Vegas is moving aggressively to reclaim its “entertainment capital of the world” title, Caesars’ reinvention of the Colosseum is money wisely invested.
* Sheldon Adelson has momentarily steered clear of Vietnam, citing a poor return on investment. There may be another reason to stay away: dubious anti-money-laundering controls. Just ask the State Department. As citizens begin to be admitted to casinos, “Vietnam’s 
exposure to illicit finance will increase in coming years” Besides, who wants to build a casino “in a remote area around 160 kilometres (99 miles) east of Hanoi“? (Well, homeboys Sun Group, that’s who.) The State Dept. is just down on Vietnam, though. It also cited Macao and the Philippines as money-laundering hubs. “Money launderers continue to use offshore centres, free-trade zones, and gaming enterprises to launder illicit funds,” the report warned, “These sectors can offer convenience and, often, anonymity to those wishing to hide or launder the proceeds of narcotics trafficking and other serious crimes.”
To Macao’s credit, it “is taking a more stringent approach toward the licensing and supervision of gaming junket promoters … gaming 
supervisors have a good understanding of the risks posed by junket operators.” With 235 licensed junketeers, that’s a lot of policing to do. The Trump administration document warned darkly that triads “are active in the gaming services and involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking. This mingling of licit and illicit activities, together with the anonymity gained through the use of a junket operator in the transfer and commingling of funds, as well as the absence of currency and exchange controls, present vulnerabilities for money laundering.”
Macao may be an AML lark compared to the Philippines, where the threshold for reporting suspicious transactions is a lofty $100,000. Unlike Macao, the Philippines allows proxy gambling, whereby wagers and phoned into a gambling den by an offsite high roller and placed by a flunky. Despite some flirtations with the archipelago, U.S. companies have generally avoided its casino market and one can hardly blame them. (As for Burma and Laos, State considers them to be the Wild Wild East of gambling.)
* Sic transit gloria poker. Former World Series of Poker champ ‘Captain’ Tom Franklin has been reduced to selling the bracelet from his 1999 WSOP win. He’s started the eBay bidding at $50,000 but if history is any guide, he’ll be lucky to get a fifth of that.
