Today’s the day to get formal bids in on New York State casinos. In the process, the search criteria have been stood on their head by comparatively affluent Orange County, which now dominates the bidding, economic regeneration be damned. Liberty supervisor Charlie Barbuti, whose Catskills town was deserted by Foxwoods, says, “This is turning out to be who can generate the most revenue for the state. We can’t generate the same revenue as those closer to a city of 8 million people.”
Since the state is looking for a $430 million pot of gold at the end of the casino rainbow, don’t imagine that Orange County — 50 miles from New York City — doesn’t play into that thinking Potential tax revenue makes 
up roughly 35% of the selection criteria, after all. Robert Williams, acting executive director of New York’s gaming commission has gone on record as stating the casinos are “to provide maximum benefit to the state through bringing economic benefit to municipalities that have been economically disadvantaged.” The legislation as originally written excluded Orange County. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) put i t in, so if the Catskills get screwed in the selection process, they know whom to blame.
State Sen. John Bonacic (R) is trying to be optimistic, writing, “I do believe that proposals in the Catskills will be strong contenders for the licenses, as they most fit the spirit of the legislation.” One competitor, Genting Group, has hedged its bets by proposing a megaresort for Tuxedo, in Orange County, and one — through affiliate Empire Resorts — further upstate in Monticello. Although Foxwoods funked it, Mohegan Sun is still very much in the Sullivan County running. If it comes down to a battle of the brand names, it would have a substantial advantage on its nearby opponents. Orange County has the 800-lb. gorilla though: Caesars Entertainment, whose name recognition and Total Rewards player base forebode success. Regulators will have to wage through 6,000 pages of application materials from Caesars, although that may have been outdone by Empire Resorts’ armed car full of boxes or Traditions at the Glen Resort‘s 485 binders worth of facts and figures.
Fun facts. In this case, the subject is Elaine Wynn. Did you know she’s on the board of the Basketball Hall of Fame and collects paintings by Francis Bacon? That’s all news to me.
Online poker registers barely a footnote in Nevada casino revenues. It brought in just $862,000 last month.
Picking winners and losers. A financially crippled Cripple Creek casino has $37,000 it has to pay out to punters before it closes. From Saturday through Monday, Big Jim’s will dole out portions of the $37,000 to players in randomly selected ‘hot seats.’ [Owner Jim] Druck said the casino will give away $100 to $200 every 15 minutes during business hours.” Druck is blaming the decline and fall of Big Jim’s to diminished tourism and to the proliferation of Internet-casino cafes in Colorado. Voters could approve three racinos in November, so the challenges to the Rocky Mountain State’s traditional casinos continue to mount.
