Creative responses to a crisis

Leave it to Derek Stevens to find a way to literally drive sports-betting business in Downtown. Starting this morning, Circa Sports began taking curbside sports bets at the Golden Gate. You pull up, flash your cash (or plastic) and a sort of sports-wagering valet takes your action. The choice of wagers includes UFC 249, Korean KBO Baseball, TaylorMade Skins Match, NASCAR, Cactus Tour Golf, the Outlaw Golf Tour, South Korea K League, Belarusian Premier League, e-sports events, major sports futures, etc. (We don’t mind saying we haven’t heard of roughly half of those … but bettors can’t be choosers these days.) For deposits and contest fees you have to have the exact amount needed. No change will be made. Winning and refund tickets will be applied to application balances. The headline wager is the parlay Circa Survivor, with its 18 legs, one for each week of NFL play. Not only is there a $1 million payout to the winner, Stevens is promising a $1 million bonus to anyone who goes 18-0. Gentlefolk, place your bets.

While on the subject, legalized sports betting was promoted as a weapon to extirpate the back-alley bookie and his ilk. This hasn’t proven to be the case, at least not so far. “People may choose to bet illegally because it’s easier, because they can bet on credit, or because they aren’t taxed on wins,” UNLV gaming pundit David G. Schwartz told journalist Bill Sokolic. The (partial) answer, according to some experts, is to keep sports-betting tax rates low … are you paying attention, Tennessee? … thereby improving sports-book profit margins, enabling the books to offer more-generous odds.

Another state with insane sports-betting taxes (36%!) is Pennsylvania. Why is this important? EPSN‘s David Purdum, interviewed by Forbes, said, “the amount that is bet on credit is often underestimated. It’s going to be difficult for regulated U.S. books to overcome, especially if they’re burdened with exorbitant tax rates.” While legal sports betting is preferable to no (legal) sports betting, it will also still take time for punters to make the transition from dealing with guys named Lefty to plunking down their money at FanDuel.

And when they do, data suggests that they will bet larger, too. Says lawyer Adam Silver, “The risk of funds on deposit is close to zero. The same cannot be guaranteed in the illegal marketplace.” He added, “It’s certainly possible that some consumers may continue to wager with illegal operators, while simultaneously shifting some of their business to licensed, legal ones. But states that make it less expensive for licensed sportsbooks to do business will have more success in getting their residents to shift to the legal marketplace.”

* Today the Culinary Union goes head-to-head with the Nevada Gaming Commission over casino-reopening protocols. The union is complaining about a lack of transparency in the regulatory process. It also wants the NGC to adopt the Culinary’s own prescription for casino cleanliness. Writes the Culinary’s Bethany Khan, “we ask the Nevada Gaming Commission to release publicly all re-opening plans submitted by Nevada gaming operators, so the public can have confidence that the Nevada gaming industry is taking all necessary actions to ensure worker and guest safety during the on-going the COVID-19 pandemic.” And if the NGC doesn’t play ball, the Culinary threatens to go to Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) to get what it wants. Sisolak owes the Culinary a big chit for helping him get elected, so that’s no idle threat.

* MGM Resorts International CEO Bill Hornbuckle has looked into his crystal ball and doesn’t like what he sees: declining travel trends. As a consequence, he is warning employees to expect their furloughs to turn into outright layoffs, anything from six months to permanency. This lends credence to JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff‘s prediction of a rolling MGM reopening that will roll well into 2021. Already 63,000 of approximately 70,000 MGM workers have been idled. Their outlook is not particularly roseate, even if MGM reopens two, maybe three resorts in early or mid-June, as seems likely. In hopes of providing a soft landing, MGM has extended benefits through Aug. 31. Even when casinos do reopen, it will be with reduced casino floors and restricted numbers of hotel rooms, so just because you had a job at Bellagio or New York-New York doesn’t mean it’s going to be there when the company is ready to come back.

And when it does, get ready to be handed a disposable menu when you dine (received from a masked employee) and forget about Ye Olde Casino Buffet. If it were an animal it would be on the Endangered Species List. Getting served will be … interesting, as workers as supposed to maintain six feet of social distance. Plastic utensils aren’t the rule yet, provided that restaurants can demonstrate that silverware can be “disinfected, washed, rinsed, and sanitized before using again.” Don’t plan on dining in groups of more than five and you may have to dispense your own water. Oh, and get accustomed to seeing booths blocked off with caution tape. The Southern Nevada Health District says that the new regimen is merely “guidance” but it looks pretty thorough to us. Oh, and in lieu of buffets, all-you-can-eat menus are encouraged. Yay!

* Harrah’s Southern California (formerly Harrah’s Rincon) is caught on the horns of a dilemma. It’s ready to reopen but is deferring that decision to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), the guy who had to close the beaches again

because people weren’t practicing social distancing. (What is it with these kamikazes?) Explains tribal chairman Bo Mazzetti, “People say they will open on a certain date. Well, you’re not going to open until the governor and the [sheriff] authorizes it. Not because they have the jurisdiction but because they control the roads.” Not that Mazzetti sees reopening as the flipping of a switch. He describes it to Global Gaming News as a four-to-six-month journey, in which revenue ramps up very slowly to previous levels.

Harrah’s was a pathfinder in the closure process, shutting down on March 16. Other casinos in the area waited until their hand was forced by Sheriff Bill Gore, who said, “Either shut down your facilities or I will shut it down.” Mazzetti, playing the role of peacemaker, replied, “I tried to get him to change his letter rather than using a health code that was unenforceable … He had the jails to deal with and I give him the benefit of the doubt.” Mazzetti plans to reopen with what are now standard social-distancing protocols, plus temperature screenings of guests. He hopes for a mid-May or early June resumption. But Harrah’s is at the mercy of the consumer: not only whether they are comfortable going back to restaurants and clubs, but how do they feel about leaving the house?

In addition to donating 12,000 pounds of food to charity, Harrah’s has kept all 145 of its tribal employees on salary. Concludes the chairman, “We feel it’s going to take a good period of time to generate increased revenue, probably four or five months at least, and that’s hopeful that everyone comes back.”

* Obligatory casino content: You get to see the slot floor of the Costa Luminosa in this disquieting video journal produced by the Wall Street Journal. If casinos onshore seem a dicey proposition during Coronavirus, cruise ships (especially Carnival Cruise Lines) are veritable virus incubators, mobile hot zones. Carnival should rename this vessel the Covid-19 when it goes back into service.

* Deprived of casinos, Las Vegans are drowning their sorrows in drink: DUI-related arrests have doubled from April 2019.