What happens when a casino doesn’t have enough cash on hand to cover all the chips on the floor? If you’re California card room Magnolia House Casino, in Rancho Cordova, you get shut down by the state. The card 
room was described as “seriously underfunded,” in yet another black mark on the Golden State’s gambling demimonde. “The card room will remain closed unless it is able to demonstrate that it has addressed its funding issues,” said the office of Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The latter said it had been warning Magnolia House since June and, evidently, the card room hadn’t cleaned up its act. “[M]ultiple reviews of its finances revealed that it was seriously underfunded, threatening significant losses to patrons and players.” Perhaps even more worrisome, Magnolia House had been comingling funds from third-party vendors with its casino accounts. (Third parties act as “the bank” since the card rooms themselves cannot.) Is there any good news in this? Well, if you’re famished you can still stop by Magnolia House, as its restaurant remains open.
Congratulations to MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren on being named one of the “100 People of Power” in the NHL, along with Golden Knights owner Bill Foley. They’ve earned it. Of perhaps greater interest to S&G readers is an appearance by beloved MGM Interactive boss Scott Butera, looking healthier than when last we saw him. Keep eating, Woody.
* One of the pleasant surprises of moving to Las Vegas was the quality of the public-transit system. (You have to have one when so many service workers depend on it.) Now buying bus fares in Sin City is going to be easier now that it can be done through Uber. Following a pilot project in Denver, Vegas is going to be next up in a program for which Uber has ambitious plans. Despite the added convenience there’s going to be no upcharge for buying your bus ticket from Uber, the company says. You download the pass and scan it when you board the bus. The new service—whose debut was timed to the Consumer Electronics Show—is intended to throw a lifeline to the Regional Transit Commission, which has lost 29% of revenue since 2015. Hitherto Uber has defined some of its main competition as “public transportation, which typically provides the lowest-cost transportation option in many cities.” We applaud anything that promotes affordable transportation in Sin City.
* Speaking of CES, one of its points of interest this year is cannabis tech. Part of that interest is the show’s attempt to shun aforesaid technology. “Cannabis” is a forbidden word on the show floor, as is any allusion to it. One potential exhibitor, Keep Labs, was moved to boycott CES entirely. Vaporizer manufacturer Cortney Smith called it a cover-your-ass move, saying that vaping was being lumped in with growing and stigmatized accordingly. Expect the CES exiles to show up at MJBizCon, known as “the CES of weed.” It’s currently held in ganja-friendly Colorado. Can’t we lure that one to Vegas?
