And then there were three; What’s next in Florida?; New problem for Illinois

While the rest of America was betting on a little thing we call the Super Bowl …

Unless it can find somebody to relieve it of a fourth and final gaming license, in southeastern Kansas, the Sunflower State’s casino-expansion program reached fruition last Friday. That’s when Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway revved the engines of its $411 million racino. Penn National Gaming operates the facility on behalf of the state lottery. After many years and false starts, Kansas’ grand scheme doesn’t look so impressive in the cold light of reality. Other than Penn, most major operators begged off and the concept of a state-owned casino industry is an experiment unlikely to be repeated.

What makes the Kansas Speedway casino particularly interesting is that International Speedway Corp. is looking for gambling revenues to prop up auto races. I hadn’t realized the sport was in so much trouble. Is it about to go the way of horseracing? And will Hollywood Casino punters even look up from the one-armed bandits when the cars come roaring around Turn Two?

Florida, Take Two. As I wrote last week, Sheldon Adelson has clearly lost the stomach for further casino-related scrapping in Florida, now preferring to sit back and count his dividends. After casino-expansion legislation died in Tallahassee last week, Las Vegas Sands is waffling on the question of whether to pursue the issue any further. “They’re going to regroup and try to evaluate whether or not Florida is interested in the destination-resort concept. They don’t want to be anywhere they’re not welcome,” pouted Sands lobbyist Nick Iarossi (left). Aw, boo-hoo. Sands got its widdow feewings hurt. Less easily discouraged is Genting Berhad, which is reloading for bear and contemplating a statewide ballot drive. That approach has the virtue of allowing Genting to dictate the terms of entry. It also has the appeal of being favored by 81% of voters surveyed. That shouldn’t be extrapolated into outright support. The poll (conducted by the error-prone Mason-Dixon firm) shows Floridians deadlocked on, or narrowly opposed to, more gambling within the Sunshine State. Latinos, men and urbanites favor it; whites, ladies and rurals are against it. “I have a feeling that if they bring in casinos and stuff, they’re going to bring up some other things too — like prostitution,” frets dowager Katherine Wrobleski. Yeah, like there’s no prostitution “and stuff” in present-day Florida, so famous for keeping its nose clean.

While parimutuel lobbyist Ron Book is somewhat disingenuous when he faults Genting’s campaign effort for the failure of the casino push, he’s not entirely wrong. The Malaysian resort giant made numerous allies but thought too big: Too much capital investment, too many hotel rooms, too much casino (larger than anything in Las Vegas), too much revenue projected. While Sands was first to (arguably) exaggerate the money-making potential of casinos in Florida, Genting wasn’t shy about pushing those blue-sky numbers, generating understandable skepticism.

Tomorrow, Joliet. A pair of Chicago suburbs, Bolingbrook and Channahon, have found a loophole whereby their bars can offer video gambling. These “electronic raffles” are a different critter from the slot routes that the Illinois Lege approved in 2009 and which has been dead in the water ever since. The two Midwestern companies behind this new wrinkle next have Joliet in their sights. The machines’ convenience and low tax rate (10%) makes them a minor nuisance for Illinois casinos. However, they’ve put a huge bug up state Rep. Lou Lang‘s ass, so there’s definitely an upside to the affair.

Ready? Set? Sure, we can meet Massachusetts‘ July 31 deadline — and laundry list of conditions — for a tribal casino, say the Mashpee Wampanoags. But just in case, we’re not foreclosing the possibility of making an end-around to the Obama administration, they add. Which means the state could find itself with one more casino than planned. Meanwhile, possible Sheldon Adelson stalking horse KG Urban Development continues to attempt to overturn Massachusetts’ casino-enabling legislation, protesting the law’s tribal set-aside. KG’s got a point: While there’s an all-out scramble taking place for the western and Bostonian licenses, would-be casino operators in the southeast have to wait and see if the Wampanoags can hit their July 31 due date before making serious pitches.