Buy, sell, lease, buy, sell, lease …; Election: What’s at stake

No wonder Downtown casino revenues are suffering and Laughlin isn’t. A recent visitor reports, “That’s a sweet resort [Circa] and downtown is even better. Not sure when we’ll go back, in August it was a little “too rough” for us. The people we encountered were incredibly rude. Had one woman refuse to hold a door open for me—told me ‘I don’t work for you bitch.” Mark and Tammy went later that same week and said the same thing. Then they went to Laughlin and said it was a completely different crowd and much more enjoyable.”

This year’s election is a week away and here’s what you can expect to see on the ballot for gaming. S&G urges you to run the table and give every one of these a “yes” vote:

• Colorado – Constitutional Amendment 77 (initiative #257) removes wager limits and would allow for casinos to offer other game types, such as roulette and craps. 
• Louisiana – Voters will vote to legalize sports betting parish-by-parish.
• Maryland – Question 2 allows for the expansion of gaming, namely sports wagering.
• Nebraska – Initiatives 429, 430 and 431 relate to the offering of games of chance at licensed racetracks.
  • Initiative 429 is a constitutional amendment referendum that will permit gaming to be conducted at licensed racetracks. 
  • Initiative 430 sanctions the implementation of a statute to permit racetrack gaming and establish a gaming commission to license and regulate activity.  
  • Initiative 431 would authorize a gross gaming revenue tax of 20% and designates how the tax should be distributed.
• South Dakota – Constitutional Amendment B authorizes the legislature to allow sports wagering in Deadwood.
• Virginia – The cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth will have ballot measures to authorize the placement of casinos within their borders as required by the state’s casino law.

Amidst the extravagant graft of the Trump administration, the State Department did manage to score one exceptional Las Vegas Strip bargain: $74.51 a night at Trump International. We’ve stayed there too and been at Red Roof Inns that were nicer. But it’s pleasant to know that, for once, Donald Trump didn’t use an official visit an excuse to rip off John Q. Taxpayer. (As petty as $3 for Shinzo Abe‘s glass of water.)

On a lighter note, darn those Arizona Cardinals! By winning Sunday night’s game with an overtime field goal they aced three women out of a $1 million payday. The ladies had a shot—the only shot—at a Fox Bet Super 6 parlay, going into late fourth-quarter play. But the Seattle Seahawks muffed one opportunity after another to shut Arizona down, setting up the winning kick. Over one million people had entered the parlay contest but only the three unidentified lady players made it anywhere close to actually winning the thing. Fox Bet consoled them with a $10,000 parting gift but … to be oh so close to $1 million and yet so far away!

Congratulations, by the way to the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of the World Series for the first time since the legendary 1988 team of Orel Hershiser, Kirk Gibson and Mickey Hatcher. Current L.A. manager Dave Roberts was always one of our favorite players so we’re very happy for him today. As for Tampa Bay, well, you’ve got the Stanley Cup and the GOAT may bring you a Super Bowl win yet.