Just when boosters of casino expansion in Illinois thought they had a done deal, Gov. Pat Quinn (D) sprung a carefully concealed snare: No pension reform, no dice. He dismissed Rep. Lou Lang‘s endless, insane casino crusade as a “shiny object.” Even gay marriage is a higher priority for Quinn (who favors it) than adding more gambling venues. Illinois solons may have “found him to be of questionable relevance in deciding what gets voted on,” but Quinn has stymied racino-pushers like Lang for years. Yesterday’s sucker punch was yet another example of how skillfully Quinn’s played a hand that has few face cards in it.
Returning from the wilderness after being ousted from the leadership of Marina Bay Sands, 
former Sheldon Adelson lieutenant Tom Arasi landed himself a glitzy gig right on the Las Vegas Strip. As “president of hospitality,” he’ll oversee everything short of casino operations, with a particular emphasis on the Quad/Linq/Gansevoort Las Vegas development. If longtime Caesars Entertainment tribunes Tom Jenkin and John Payne had their feelings hurt, they were mollified with fancy and nebulous new titles. Jenkin will be “global president of destination markets” while Payne is to be “president of central markets and partnership developments.” That means Payne gets Flyover Country while Jenkin is tasked with the east and west coasts, plus Horseshoe Hammond, and tribal and international properties. Caesars is desperately trying to go upscale and CEO Gary Loveman clearly didn’t think either Jenkin or Payne was the man for that task. Enter Arasi, stage right.
As though private equity firms and hedge funds hadn’t spent — er, invested — your money recklessly enough during the last five to 10 years, they had the cockamamie of wagering Grandma’s retirement nest egg on Nevada sports books. State Sen. Greg Brower (R, left) was private equity’s water boy for this ‘prop bet,’ which drew the adverse attention from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Brower called it a “novel concept,” which is another way of spelling “lunatic idiocy.” Thanfully, Brower’s baby was smothered in the crib. Seriously, do you want Tom Barrack or Leon Black putting down NBA wagers with your money?
Meanwhile in Massachusetts …
As though the prospect of an $800 million casino weren’t enough to woo West Springfield, $35 million in infrastructure improvements have been added to the pot by Hard Rock International. Voters would crazy to turn this deal down, I think. It’s awfully “george.” That’s one of the nice things about casino expansion: Suitors will promise you all sorts of goodies in return for being chosen, as though they will sometimes (*cough*Sands Bethlehem*cough*) welsh on their promises if business isn’t what they imagined it would be.
(*cough*Sands Bethlehem*cough*) Hysterical. I was just there with my brother. We both loved the old mills, stacks etc. I told him that there was supposed to be a pretty lavish steel/industrial museum that was also supposed to preserve the old blasts….oh well.