“Did Bally’s open a casino in Atlantic City and forget to tell anyone about it?” So asks our East Coast correspondent. “This is Bally’s yesterday (Sunday). A few casinos here would have more customers during a snow storm than this.” As though to prove their cluelessness, Bally’s Corp. mailed its faithful Boardwalk customers a lengthy flier touting the Tuesday promotions (including the blue-plate specials) at Dover Downs, right? Nope … Bally’s Vicksburg. What a waste of time, money and bandwidth. And this is the company that’s supposed to elevate Chicago into the casino major leagues?
Not content to be in last place in Atlantic City, Tilman Fertitta‘s management is implementing further cutbacks at the Golden Nugget. We “heard last week that [it] was going to move the Chairman’s Player lounge that now has an excellent Marina view to the former Buffet area (never re-opened after Covid). In the former buffet, the view is four walls and a new sign that says “closed Tuesday-Thursday.” On those days, the sign suggests going to Michael Patrick’s restaurant (if you’re being kind, it can just barely be considered a coffee shop) for a “Prefix [sic] Menu. It’s ironic (or moronic) that the effective date starts Nov 1st, which is this next Tuesday, when they will be closed for three days.”
Our correspondent continues, “While speaking with another slot machine player, I learned a new casino description: She said she liked being in Golden Nugget because it’s such a ‘seniors casino.’ As I looked around, I had to agree with her. The Nugget had a Saturday night slot tournament for ‘Elite’ level players. It had awards for the top three players and everyone else who played got $100 free slot play, with no need to figure out the other scores. Too much math for seniors to figure out.”
Speaking of cutbacks, Borgata has closed off and is dismantling its Miralto High Limit slot lounge. “The curtains provide privacy so you don’t have to see your favorite slot machine being torn apart and removed.” It’s not just the high-limit room that’s on the way out. Our reporter say machines being removed in quantity from the main floor. We’d understand if this were one of the on-the-bubble casinos in town … but Borgata?
One property that drew and out-and-out rave (and rightly so) was Ocean Casino Resort, which held a Friday-night Halloween party. “It was a well-staged event, with an excellent band that had the talent and stamina to play for 90 minutes without a break. There was plenty of food, open bar, and prizes for costumes and also for ‘random, selected’ tables. The one thing I noted was most of the ‘winning tables’ were in the first two rows nearest the dance floor that had ‘reserved’ markers on their tables for high rollers (on Saturday night, they had another party that anyone could buy tickets for). This was a really great event and Ocean Casino and their people understand what ‘player development’ means.”
Finally, proving that Atlantic City government will always be a shambles, last Friday Mayor Marty Small (D) “declared the A.C. Housing Authority an emergency. Seems that HUD has a ‘zero threshold’ policy in place since July 2021. Mayor Small said, ‘In a nutshell (zero threshold) means they can’t buy a pencil without getting approval from the federal government.’ I fully understand because buying a pencil would be a challenge: A) the employee who needs a pencil would need directions to the nearest store, and B) the pencil would have to come with instructions on how to use it.” On a more serious note, at some Housing Authority-run properties, garbage had not been collected in a week, there were bedbug infestations, and some units lacked heat and hot water.” Sounds like Hell on earth. Over to you, Gov. Murphy.
Halloween came early to MGM Cotai when guests and workers found themselves locked in the hotel after one of the dealers tested positive for Covid-19. Can you say ‘overreaction’? We thought you could. MGM had already nixed a planned Oktoberfest party the better to comply with government guidelines. “Government health workers were at the MGM Cotai site with no one allowed to enter or exit the building … it was not able to immediately verify how many people were inside.” Macao is experiencing the Chinese government’s idea of a Coronavirus surge: two cases in a month, four if you count the dealer’s two kids. The enclave had gone three months with no cases. Not only does this latest incident show how impractical and unrealistic China‘s zero-Covid policy is, it also threatens the re-opening of Macao that had been planned for November.
Jottings: Now we know why Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) did a quasi-flip-flop on casinos last week. He’d just banked a $1 million campaign check from Dr. Miriam Adelson. Abbott may have convictions but they evidently come with a price tag attached … Gaming interests in the United Kingdom are pleading with new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for “sensible” reforms. We support their goals but are somewhat pessimistic at present … Alvin Chau‘s trial isn’t going well. The former Macao junket boss heard testimony that his Suncity Group knowingly took illegal bets … Constituents weren’t happy with the Aurora city council. At a meeting that turned raucous, the solons approved a $50 million subsidy so that Hollywood Aurora can be moved to a new site and rebuilt … A surprising opponent has emerged against mobile sports wagering—Mississippi‘s 26 casinos. They fear (with good reason) that online action would decimate walk-up betting … Lawmakers in normally gambling-averse Vermont are tiptoeing towards legal sports betting—but they’d prefer it be, like Tennessee‘s—online only. It’s working for the Volunteer State, so why not?
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“These are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.”–Groucho Marx
Seems to apply to almost all politicians when it comes to gambling. They’re against it until they need the money, either for their campaign or to balance the books for the city/state.