Betting on crime; Anniversary in Indiana

Last week’s big chip heist at Bellagio may have left MGM Resorts International with a smidgen of egg on its face but it’s not as though others in the gambling industry have failed to see the opportunity to make money. YouWager.com has laid odds on the aftermath of the robbery:

Regarding the $1.5 million stolen from the Bellagio, will an arrest be made before December 31?

81900    Yes         14.3%    (+600)

81901    No          99.9%    (-1500)

Helmet wearing gunman will rob at least 2 more casinos by year end?

81902    Yes         14.3%    (+600)

81903    No          99.9%    (-1500)

Thief turns out to be an employee of a Las Vegas casino.

81904    Yes         14.3%    (+600)

81905    No          99.9%    (-1500)

Will the thief donate chips to charity?

81906    Yes         11.10% (+800)

81907    No          99.99% (-2000)

Robbery turns out to be a setup by the Bellagio for insurance purposes.

81908    Yes         10%        (+900)

81909    No          99.99% (-3000)

**All wagers made after the result of the prop is known publicly will be deemed no action.

If this is how some people like to amuse themselves, so be it — although it seems rather cynical of YouWager to have laid these prop bets. Nor is it alone. Mobile-gambling provider Predicto held an online poll in which 66% of respondents expressed themselves of a belief that the bandit will be caught by Jan. 15. I’m sure MGM appreciates all the action its misfortune is generating for the online-betting community. (Not.)

The up and down relationship between Casino Aztar and the Evansville city fathers has been mostly up, as the casino looks back on the occasion its 15th anniversary. Gamblers leaving their money aboard the City of Evansville riverboat were responsible for one-third of the town’s tourism revenues in 2009, during the depths of the Great Recession. New owner Carl Icahn has gone a long way toward rebuilding bridges to the community that were burnt during the Columbia Sussex interregnum, during which Casino Aztar attempted to shirk its philanthropic duties. Given the general lack of capex investment in the casino, it’s maintained market share very well. Here’s to continued success during the next 15 years.

Face time with The Man. That’s what the newly recognized Shinnecock Indian Nation got last week. Given that it’s been vigorously supporting efforts to “fix” (read: circumvent) the Carcieri v. Salazar ruling that restricts land-in-trust applications, the White House could find itself in the middle of a reservation shopping-spree out on Long Island. The Shinnecock are looking at a slew of potential casino sites. Their affluent neighbors in the Hamptons are in favor of this because the alternative is for the tribe to build a casino in their tony back yard. Heaven forfend!

Possible locations include a beach, a landfill and a decommissioned nuclear power plant. Belmont Park has the obvious advantages of being a destination attraction already and one associated with gambling (to say nothing of the Triple Crown‘s glamorous cachet). For centrality, the Nassau Coliseum would be hard to beat and spares the Shinnecock from having to build from the ground up. The new administration in Albany is going to have something to say about this, too, since it holds the compacting power.

Vegas slighted again. A New York Times piece on museums devoted to pinball machines acknowledged the National Pinball Museum in our nation’s capitol, as well as less famous attractions in Asbury Park, N.J., and Alameda, Calif. But no mention of Vegas’ own Pinball Hall of Fame? Inexcusable! Where’s Mayor Oscar Goodman‘s finely honed sense of outrage when we need it?