Massachusetts: Now *this* is interesting; Bluhm’s shameless hypocrisy; Casino John

In an attempt to shave a few months off their casino-approval timeline, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is going to put the horse before the cart. (I guess you’d call it a “Massachusetts Miracle.”) Potential operators’ fiscal and ethical probity will be plumbed before applications are taken under consideration. This will hopefully spare the Bay State some of the unpleasant surprises that befell Kansas, for instance, such as when hand-picked Peninsula Gaming was caught committing electoral malfeasance in Iowa. Oops.

Although the Commission’s innovative gambit means all potential applicants will have to be investigated at once, if it works as planned, the first casinos could be operational by the first quarter of 2015. In the case of Caesars Entertainment, that’d be sneaking in just under the wire, considering how much is riding on Suffolk Downs turning out to be  cash cow for Gary Loveman‘s debt-saturated company. Commissioners will certainly have their work cut out for them, pondering Caesars’ balance sheet and Suffolk Downs‘ majority shareholder Richard Fields‘ farcical and drawn-out attempt to buy Trump Marina … a futile process that was more like a protracted haggle at a rug bazaar. Fields talked a good game but could never close the deal(s).

Other companies whose financial health could receive adverse scrutiny are heavily leveraged MGM Resorts International (which also has to explain why essentially getting kicked out of New Jersey shouldn’t disqualify it from Massachusetts) and Mohegan Sun, which has plenty of self-inflicted problems of its own and where debt refinancing qualifies as cause for celebration. To make the MGC’s job even harder, the healthiest-looking applicants — Ameristar Casinos, Hard Rock International and Penn National Gaming — are all jostling for the sole western license. And Lord knows what will happen if the Mashpee Wampanoags somehow flunk the test, seeing as how Gov. Deval Patrick (D, right) and lawmakers juiced the tribe into that southeastern-area license.

The MGC is talking about farming out at least some of the investigative work. Dollars to doughnuts that gig will go to Spectrum Gaming Group, which recently vetted both Caesars and Penn for under-the-gun regulators in Ohio. That should also save Massachusetts a bushel of time.

Give credit where it’s due, namely to Roger Gros for pegging Steve Wynn as being not only down in, but out of Massachusetts. “He loses interest in these things when he loses a round like this,” says Gros, doubtless remembering of comparable scenarios in Philadelphia and Singapore. Wynn had already pouted that if he couldn’t get his way in Foxborough, “To hell with it. It’s either there or it’s nowhere.” No, Steve: It’s Gary Loveman’s, that’s what it is. Wynn’s truculent slouch and foul-tempered facial expression in this December photo are priceless. Anyone care to suggest a thought balloon?

Since Mohegan Sun could lose as much as 20% of its business back in Uncasville to a Bay State rival, it’s teamed with rival Foxwoods Resort Casino to hammer out a deal with Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D). The percentage of free slot play subject to taxation will be lowered from 94.5% to 89%. While it means sacrificing $15 million per year from the state treasury, it puts Connecticut on an even footing with New York State. Casinos in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts get the best deal of all, since those states don’t recgard free play as revenue. It remains to be seen whether Mohegan Sun, currently in comp-cutback mode, will again aggressive with free play, as Foxwoods continues to be.

Double talk. Does Neil Bluhm associate Ira Schulman (right) have two heads, a schizoid personality or simply the ability to hold two diametrically opposed views at once? Just a few weeks back, he was badmouthing Rivers Casino, saying the Pittsburgh behemoth was a “terrible investment … we would not have made,” hindsight being perfect and all that. So what is Schulman’s current gambit? Buy out the 20% that was still held by the late Don Barden (below) after Bluhm took control of the runaway project, of course! (A $156 million value, at least.)

Presumably to save face, Bluhm and Schulman want whatever they pay Barden’s remaining investors to remain top-hush. That’s a request that the infamously pliable Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board ought to drop-kick as far as it can, partly because whatever Walton Street Capital pays for that last 20% could be extremely pertinent to the Rivers Casino tax assessment that Schulman is presently trying to lower. Also, to the best of my knowledge, “helping Neil Bluhm save face” is not part of the job description for a Keystone State casino regulator.

Confusing much? Although charity poker rooms will continue to run rampant in Ohio, at least one gaming company, Penn National, is claiming victory. A bill provision that would have codified and regulated the gray-market industry got stripped from racino-enabling legislation. (And, in priceless pointless legislative posturing, racinos will not be able to bill themselves as “casinos.” Oh, snap!) Likewise, Internet cafes and sweepstakes parlors will reopen, at least until the Lege can revisit the issue next year. And somehow, this harum-scarum situation is perfectly to the liking of Mr. Orderly Framework himself, Gov. John Kasich (R). If he’s not careful, his opponents will start to tag him “Casino Kasich.” So it’s basically a something-for-everybody mess that demonstrates why lawmaking is like a sausage press: not fit for close scrutiny.