Why is this man smiling? (And other Case Bets)
Because Sen. Harry Reid‘s decision not to importune lenders on behalf of Fontainebleau (unlike CityCenter) means he steered clear of a widening circle of litigation and recrimination, that’s why. Among those in the hot seat are hapless James Packer and ousted F’blew boss Glenn Schaeffer (a once-brilliant career blown to smithereens) along with Chief Restructuring Officer Howard Karawan. (Remember him?) Scrutiny by the courts into F’blew may unravel some of the project’s lingering mysteries, such as why the “final” budget number kept ratcheting upward with no end in sight. For that matter, why have lenders tolerated a policy of ‘build first/design later’ which essentially guarantees cost overruns? Of all the ‘failsinos’ in Vegas history, F’blew — with its estimated completion cost of $4.4 billion — was the most out of control and remains the odds-on favorite to be the first Strip resort to be imploded without ever opening.
Pit bosses sacked … potentially. An edict mandating a 20:1 table-game-to-pit-boss ratio in Atlantic City casinos has been scrubbed from the books. Fewer suits peering over one’s shoulder is certainly to go over well with dealers, as former card-pitcher
In what may be a historic first, Frank Fertitta III, Lorenzo Fertitta and their rival Texas cousin Tilman Fertitta all agree upon something: Carolyn Goodman‘s mayoral candidacy. As in, 
Actually, the Goodman money train has been hopped by every major casino player who’s within Las Vegas‘ city limits — and a few who aren’t. Tilman’s Golden Nugget is on the passenger manifest, as is another major Downtown investor, Boyd Gaming. A notorious non-investor in the area, Tamares Barrick, has managed to find some spare change on the carpet to spend on Carolyn Goodman, if not on its tumbleweed casinos. The El Cortez chipped in, as did Michael Gaughan‘s South Point, even though it sits miles and miles outside of city lines. With the exception of 
Recently in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the legalization of online gaming, pointing to the prospect of backroom gambling shops popping up all over the state, combined with undefined protection for problem gamblers. It appears Gov. Christie has not consulted with an online-gaming expert because if he did, he would understand that the customer doesn’t want to drive to a casino or backroom to play: He wants to sit on the couch in his pajamas, drinking a glass of wine, enjoying a few hours of poker or casino in the comfort of his own home. “Backroom gambling” is Prohibition Era language and it’s funny hearing it in 2011. Christie is not the only person who does not understand how the Internet works. The majority of casino operators seem to be mentally restricted by the invisible border of the State of New Jersey.
“I don’t take him seriously even as a guy who runs casinos.” — Bill Maher on the subject of Donald J. Trump, on tonight’s edition of Hardball.
It’s been years — if not decades — since Donald Trump was taken seriously. Why should his publicity-stunt “presidential campaign” 
When Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) was campaigning to reclaim his old office from Chet Culver (D), he argued against Culver’s casino-expansion plan, arguing that it was economically inadvisable. With the Iowa casino market not so much saturated as waterlogged, it was solid argument. But Candidate Branstad was a different animal than Chief Executive Branstad, who proposes to compound casinos’ difficulties with 
James Packer‘s had enough of the U.S. casino market. While not definitively ruling out a return to the American gaming industry, the minority owner of Cannery Casino Resorts makes it clear that he’s neither the stomach nor the lucre for pursuing further stateside ventures. At least, not in the foreseeable future. Ironically, had Packer waited until casino stocks and bonds were in the toilet, and debt was being sold at huge markdowns, he could have positioned himself to be a major player in this country. Instead, he blew chunks of the fortune father Kerry Packer left him on an incoherent investment strategy. It saw Crown Ltd. purchasing bits and pieces of Harrah’s Entertainment, Station Casinos and Cannery when all were at sky-high value.
Gov. Rick Scott‘s big — and rather sudden — push to bring (more) private-sector casinos to Florida has run into a road block. The governor’s Tea Party base, of all people, is throwing up opposition … and not for the reason you might think. Its objections stem not from religious conservatism but the fiscal variety, contending that 
What’s in a mile? A lot more than you might think, especially if you’re a Maine legislator. Confronted with a pesky requirement that gambling venues in the Pine Tree State must have 100-mile exclusivity zones, some would redefine a “mile” as 1.25 miles. That is to say, they’d circumvent state law by creatively reinterpreting “mile” ex post facto to mean “road mile.” So henceforth and for the purposes of job creation a mile is a mile … except when it isn’t.
Still, slot revenue increased for the first time in three years and handle was up, which it hasn’t been since the end of 2006. Weak hold percentages took table-game revenues down 13%, though. And it could be argued that, after a disastrous February last year (-16%), there wasn’t that much farther to fall. Last year, $258 million would have been good only for second-to-last status, with the market hitting bottom in December, at $237 million.
While certain politicians and even casino executives continue to keep a finger in the dike that protects Americans from — gasp! — gambling online, the dike is fast crumbling around them. Nevada 
Now that 
After much Hamlet-like deliberation, Gov. Chris Christie (R) 
After a full year of Class III gambling, the Seminole Tribe has grossed $2 billion. Depending on how considerably that amount ramps up, the State of Florida will enjoy at least a $1 billion “rake” by the end of Gov. Rick Scott‘s (first?) term.
Here’s a hypothesis for why the lenders holding the note on Colony Capital‘s underwater (more like submerged in Davey Jones’ Locker), market-lagging Atlantic City Hilton believe they can get as much as $75 million for the old place. If state Sen. Raymond Lesniak‘s bill to permit intrastate Internet betting makes it past the desk of Gov. Chris Christie (R), it’s good news for the Hilton. The measure could repose there until March 4, then be signed, vetoed — or simply allowed to become law without Christie’s signature. Only owners of Atlantic City casinos can have Garden State online gambling, so the A.C. Hilton — or rather, its license — could become considerably more valuable.
The ant at the picnic is, perversely, the biggest casino stakeholder on the Boardwalk, Caesars Entertainment President, Chairman, CEO & Pontifex Maximus Gary Loveman, Ph.D. He’s apparently 
Our long national nightmare is over. Trump Entertainment Resorts has finally unloaded that pariah known as Trump Marina 
Congratulations, Cincinnati, you’re getting a Horshoe-branded casino. Yup, the 
Once again, the Caesars imprimatur is perfectly splendid for Atlantic City and Windsor, Ontario, but too good for major American cities. If CEO Gary Loveman (left) is to achieve his dream of making his casinos as ubiquitous as McDonalds (a brand with which he displays a curious obsession), keeping the Caesars brand locked in a drawer seems an odd way of going about it.