Aqueduct: Penn screws the pooch

Since tout  le monde is fixated upon where LeBron James will play next season (is it OK for me to say I don’t care?), this seems like the moment to observe that Penn National Gaming bricked an easy layup. That’s right, Penn is suddenly out of the running for the Aqueduct Race Track racino contract.

To switch sports metaphors, both Penn and competitor Hard Rock International kicked the ball onto the fairway. Reviewing the memoranda of understanding submitted by Aqueduct suitors, New York State officials discovered that both Penn and the Hard Rock consortium had rewritten theirs to insert sweetheart provisions for themselves. That’s just not cricket in the Empire State and both competitors will be penalized by being barred from future consideration with regard to Aqueduct.

Although Genting Bhd was the sole competitor left standing, that doesn’t make it the winner, even by default. The Malaysian conglomerate will now be poked, prodded and probed by the New York Lottery. Should Genting be found unsuitable, New York will put the Aqueduct contract up for bid a third time. Since it got cute this time ’round, Penn will be watching any future Aqueduct steeplechases purely as a spectator.

Penn also may be behaving rather disingenuously toward Toledo, or at least playing fast and loose with its non-compete commitment to that city’s hotel industry. Here’s an early look at the in-the-works Hollywood Casino:

I feel kinda bad for the old guy who’s going to have Penn’s casino just a stone’s throw from his house. So much for quiet residential life.

Recession, meet Pennsylvania. The novelty factor of Pennsylvania‘s slot parlors didn’t take long to wear off, with June manifesting a 3% drop in revenue. Hardest hit were Millennium Gaming‘s Meadows Racetrack & Casino (-23%) and independently owned Mount Airy Casino Resort (-14%). Instead of acting as a stimulant, this month’s introduction of table games will have to stanch the bleeding.

Over in Atlantic City, they’re still getting that “nightlife” thing down, from the looks of this. The Strip hasn’t seen a nightclub debacle on the scale of what went down at Harrah’s Marina last weekend.