Tribe trumps Trump; Rockford pleads for casino
Despite being thrown off the fast-track legislative calendar by a blast of hot air from Donald Trump, a bill to restore land-in-trust status to the Mashpee 
Wampanoags has sailed through the House of Representatives, 257-146 in a bipartisan win. “Without support from Congress it will be impossible for the Mashpee Wampanoag to engage in any type of true self government because they won’t own their own land. No economic development, no tribal headquarters, no elder housing, no pre-k programs. It means being treated as secondhand tribe with no future,” said Rep. William Keating (D). “Just two weeks ago we passed a parallel Republican-led bill for a tribe in California without a single member [of Congress] objecting.”
Trump’s umbrage is suspect, as advisor Matt Schlapp (husband to White House Strategic Communications Director Mercedes Schlapp) also moonlights as a lobbyist for nearby Twin River-branded casinos in Rhode Island, hardly an 
uninterested party. Rep. Tom Cole (R) seconded Keating’s emotions, saying, “The real conflict here is between private gaming interests that don’t want Native American competition.” The Mashpee Wampanoag’s cause still must pass through the Senate, where Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey (D) and Elizabeth Warren (D) have introduced supportive legislation. If the tribe prevails in that currently listless body and manages to get past the White House (a pretty tall order), then there’s a ghost of a chance for its Project First Light, whose future has been in much doubt since Genting Group bailed on it.
6% ($292 million) despite flat coin-in. The house lost big-time on table games, with 3% less win on 9% greater wagering. Las Vegas locals casinos cleaned up, with slot win — possibly fattened by late-November coin-in — vaulting 23% for an overall gain of 20%, on 2% higher coin-in and despite on less weekend day. The Strip grossed $566 million, while Downtown checked in with $59 million (26.5% higher) and North Las Vegas leapt 18% to $23 million. The Boulder Strip rocketed 45% higher, to $68 million, and miscellaneous Clark County casinos raked in $100.5 million for an 8% hop. Laughlin was a comparative underachiever, up only 4.5% on $32.5 million. Reno slipped 2.5% to $54 million while Lake Tahoe skilled 9% to finish with $17 million.
these people, as it has prevailed upon CEO Mark Frissora to extend his tenure through April, 
Icahn wanted to make headlines, I’m sure. Suspect Michael Pillar, the pride of Whiting, New Jersey, was charged with maintaining a drug production facility, possession of methamphetamine and criminal mischief. Ya gotta watch out for that criminal mischief. It’ll get you every time. Two man and a woman briefly got away as the fire consumed a bed and bathroom, were apprehended on the street but were released without any charges being filed. “Only a few rooms were affected by the fire. Hotel rooms have been professionally inspected, and cleared to 
share, grossed $47 million for a 2% dip. By contrast, Horseshoe Baltimore had only 17% of market share, grossing $24 million and plummeting 19.5%. The sole gainer other than MGM was Rocky Gap Casino, where Golden Entertainment juiced business 7% for a $4 million gross. Other small fry were not so lucky. Ocean Downs (pre-table games) plunged 9% to $4 million while Hollywood Perryville slipped 5.5% to $6 million. MGM continues to fortunate in the split of play at National Harbor, which only slightly favors heavily taxed slot play, with low-tax table winnings representing 49% of the tally.
spree didn’t help matters. Gambling revenues fell 6% last month along Las Vegas Boulevard. (Statewide, gaming revenues were flat.) A 6% drop-off in baccarat wagers translated into flat casino win, while non-baccarat table games were big losers — down 13% — for the house, as wagering slipped 7%. The only place where the house was even slightly lucky was slot win, down 3.5% on 4% less coin-in.
participation rate, a long time knock on the secular industry outlook.” Management “spoke optimistically” about the prosperity of acquisitions — in case you thought Caesars couldn’t get any bigger — seeing “a sudden influx of opportunities.” Bad news for players, though: Caesars is going to save its pennies by sweating comps and other promotions, validating its image as the company where the customer almost matters.
unlikely to stir controversy. In a family affair, Paragon Gaming CEO Diana Bennett joins her late father in the HoF, albeit not on the grounds that she fleeced Sam Nazarian to the tune of $1 billion when she sold the Sahara (and if he were not to be sheared, God would not have made Nazarian a sheep).
weight of Trump Taj Mahal. Gaming revenues were up 3.5% on the Boardwalk last month but add the Taj to the mix and they were almost 3%. Internet gambling ($21 million) was gangbusters, up 32.5%. Slot handle, hold and revenue were all flat, at $166 million for the month, while a 1.5% slippage in table game wagering translated into an 8.5% drop in revenue, to $55 million. Borgata grossed $70.5 million, a 7.5% increase, with table revenue up almost 15% ($21 million) and slots gaining 5% on a corresponding increase in coin-in.
one handy-dandy report. In October, for instance, table game revenue was remarkably volatile yet had no correlation to whether the casino in question had a revenue-positive month or not. For instance, winnings were up 40% at The Meadows but the casino overall was down 2% for the month. SugarHouse, by contrast, rode a 45% growth in table winnings to a 19% increase casino-wide. The Neil Bluhm-owned casino ate Harrah’s Philadelphia‘s lunch, with the latter down 11%. Bluhm’s Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh was off 2% (11% more table revenues be damned).
has inked a new 
taken him to Aristocrat Technologies, where he was the company’s new broom on the American front, to Bally Technologies, to Shuffle Master and to Scientific. Most of those companies have subsequently been consolidated (including Bally and Shuffle Master into Scientific), some of them under the Scientific banner. “This management change, we think, increases execution risk in a set of complex, low growth businesses, that were relatively recently put together in a series of M&A transactions. Losing Gavin is a loss of gaming industry talent, and SGMS loses an executive who was well thought of by its customer base globally and well respected by his competitors,” wrote a somewhat shocked J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. In other words, the incoming CEO has big shoes to fill while learning a new industry.” He took comfort in the fact that Isaacs’ resignation didn’t take effect until the end of 2016 but couldn’t help noting that Sheehan had no background in the gaming sphere. (In other news, Scientific opened a new outpost in Australia, with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval [R] partaking of the festivities.)
No, the company hasn’t been dissolved. But with the various Herbst boys having been run off — plus the negative brand equity created by their eponymous casino firm’s financial collapse — new ownership decided 
Chief among them is Michael D. Rumbolz, who’s got a long history in Nevada. From 1987-89 he was Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman, at the end of the Richard Bryan administration (perhaps the last truly enlightened period of governance in Silver State history). As such, he had the unpleasant task of investigating the Nazi Party nostalgia of Imperial Palace owner Ralph Engelstad, whose fondness for Adolf Hitler sickens the stomach to this day.