Oklahoma, tribes ready to talk; Don’t geofence me in

Oct. 28 is the date appointed for Oklahoma gaming tribes to meet with Attorney General Mike Hunter and find out just what Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) wants from them. As one chief put it, “We’re anxiously awaiting what their proposal is.” Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton called himself “cautiously optimistic” about the talks. The two sides’ positions are well-rehearsed: Stitt wants tribes to pay more—a lot more; tribes say the compacts automatically renew Jan. 1 and their taxes are in line with national averages. “I’m hoping it’s just a simple misunderstanding,” said Greg Chilcoat, chief of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, though that seems awfully optimistic in light of Stitt’s pugnacious rhetoric. The tribes are negotiating through the media, mainly via a high-profile ad campaign. Hunter, meanwhile, is bringing in a pricey Michigan law firm to help do the talking.

One suggested negotiating point for the tribes: They should threaten to pull back their unilateral infrastructure investments if Stitt forces higher taxes (aka exclusivity fees) on them. That would hurt. “The tribes have all made a considerable investment—in fact, we’re talking billions of dollars—and we still have investments to make,” said Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby. “We’re not able to deduct any kind of expenses or anything that a corporation might be able to deduct to get to the bottom and pay taxes on it,” he added. “Ours comes off the top.”

* Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have been bad boys. Well, one has. The two incurred $547,000 in fines during FY19, a whopping hike from the $44,000 in fines recorded the year before. By far the majority of the penalties were levied on Resorts World, particularly for insufficient internal money controls. Also, underage gamblers were pinched on the Resorts World casino floor. By contrast, Sands had only two small fines, one for an underage player and one for waiving the mandatory entry fee for a Singapore citizen.

* Former Wynncore salon director Jorge Nielsen is suing CEO Matt Maddox for allegedly spying on him after blowing the whistle on randy Steve Wynn. Circling the wagons, Wynn Resorts is denying the accusation and demanding that Maddox be dismissed from the suit.

* A Vegas Message Board user reports that pens and pencils are back on the nightstands in Caesars Palace hotel rooms. Is this some kind of asymmetrical compensation for the recent resort-fee hike? If so, I doubt it will cut the mustard.

Speaking of Caesars, its customer-rewards program, Caesars Rewards, got aced by MLife at Global Gaming Expo. Gambling Insider‘s Global Gaming Awards cited the MGM Resorts International loyalty program as the year’s best. Better luck next year, Caesars.

* Wynn Resorts is breaking into the Colorado and Indiana sports-betting markets thanks to a joint venture with Full House Resorts. “We are excited to partner with Wynn Resorts, allowing them to conduct mobile sports wagering throughout Indiana and Colorado,” said Full House CEO Dan Lee. (Who used to be Steve Wynn‘s main man. How the wheel has come full circle.) Full House is being counterintuitive in Indiana, shooting for mobile wagering before there’s been even a whiff of a retail sports book. The partnership in Colorado is largely theoretical at this point, as citizens of the Rocky Mountain State will decide the fate of sports betting in November. The ballot question, which enjoys both bipartisan support and opposition, is considered too close to call at this point.

Google is chilling out about sports betting. It is permitting ads in Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. (Advertising in West Virginia, New Jersey and Nevada had already been green-lit.) The permission comes with some obvious caveats, such as “all advertisement must be sports betting related, and cannot include casino games or anything deemed enticing to potential underage gamblers.” As so often the case, DFS has been the narrow edge of the wedge, opening the door to real-sports wagering ads.

The rollout of Oregon‘s mobile sports betting has not been without hangups. In particular, if you live too close to a Native American reservation you’re liable to be geofenced out of access. Turning off your phone’s tracking doesn’t solve the problem. Better to use your good old computer. While tribal casinos are entitled to any game offered by the Oregon Lottery, so far only the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Reservation has gone into sports wagering.

* Just in time for Halloween, five casinos on the Las Vegas Strip are reliably said to be haunted and three of them are owned by MGM. Perhaps the scariest is—surprise!—inane Excalibur. Despite its abundance of coulrophobia, as well as some grisly incidents on property, Circus Circus stays out of the top spot. Phil Ruffin will undoubtedly be relieved.