Barring an emergency injunction, Belle of Sioux City is doomed to shut down on July 1, a federal bankruptcy judge having been deaf to Penn National Gaming‘s pleas. Penn is arguing that the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission overstepped its authority in both closing down the riverboat and in awarding the license elsewhere. If the closure goes through, even temporarily, Penn argues it will be a death sentence for the casino.
In state court, would-be litigants Ho-Chunk Inc. (unsuccessful suitors for the Sioux City license) were rebuffed in their attempt to join Penn’s lawsuit against the IRGC. It wants the award of the casino to SCE Partners vacated and to have its own proposal reconsidered.
However, nobody — not the IRGC, not Penn, not Sioux City — wanted Ho-Chunk included in the suit. Judge Eliza Ovrom faulted the latter for tarrying to long before trying to get in on the litigation. She wrote, “this application to intervene is an attempt to make an end run around the Iowa Administrative Procedures Act,” noting that Ho-Chunk had agreed to hold the IRGC harmless as part of the selection process. “It doesn’t strike me as extremely fair,” pouted Ho-Chunk CEO Lance Morgan (above), who allowed that the chances of overturning the award of a casino license to SCE Partners were pretty remote at this stage.
The IRGC is failing to maintain intellectual consistency, having awarded just a casino license to Jefferson, an hour’s drive northwest of Des Moines. For one, IRGC Chairman Jeff Lamberti (right) called it a “very, very difficult decision,” conceding that business would be drawn away from Prairie Meadows racetrack but “I do have an interest in making sure that rural folks get part of this as well.”
“Commissioners Carl Heinrich and Kris Kramer voted against the license. Heinrich said he saw ‘no significant advantage’ to the state, given the negative impact it would have on Prairie Meadows [racino] and the small population that would be served. Kramer said there were no longer any underserved gambling markets in Iowa,” reported The Associated Press.
This drives a small cart and horses through the anti-cannibalization arguments that the IRGC used to deny Cedar Rapids a casino. What’s more, the commission’s own consultants advised against Jefferson. (Those consultants’ reports played heavily into the Cedar Rapids denial.) The IRGC is now talking about imposing a moratorium and will take it up at its next meeting. But, thanks to the Jefferson decision, the cat may be amongst the pigeons. Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett is talking about reviving his city’s casino project and he’s been het up to challenge the IRGC for some time now.
* Another day, another business plan for the extinct Moulin Rouge. The latest aspirant in New York-based CGA Leisure. The latter is keeping its 
budget fairly low ($230 million-$250 million), which is a good idea, considering the immediate customer base: “several vacant buildings, a few homeless encampments, the rescue mission, and the offices of the Review-Journal.” Not exactly the most promising environs but Tenaya Creek Brewery is putting a million dollars into the area for a brewery and taphouse. The plans for the Moulin Rouge are all over the map — “online and mobile gaming, music and film recording venues, a digital content creation facility and an institute of learning” — but more power to GCA if it can pull it off.
* Either Ben Affleck is persona non grata at Caesars Windsor Hotel & Casino or the story is a complete fabrication. If true, Caesars’ fear of card-counting has led it to ban a high-value player it could use. Back in Vegas, Wynncore has had Affleck on its watch list but has taken no action against him. Considering the volatility of baccarat play, it seems rather silly for casinos to be getting their undies in a bunch over one blackjack player, no matter how skilled.
* Add Atari to the roster of companies looking at gambling as a means of refreshing their brand. Returning CEO Fred Chesnais plans both to revise old game titles and to create games that will piggyback on casino-industry trends. With mobile gambling on the rise, Chesnais is partnering with startups Pariplay and FlowPlay to develop both social and real-money versions of a game to be called Vegas World. Chesnais hopes this will enable the company to reach players who have never played Atari before.
