Holy Toledo!; D-Day in Massachusetts

Citizens of Toledo put on their best wife-beater and queued up for opening day at Penn National Gaming‘s brand-new Hollywood Casino Toledo. Sure, Revel had Beyoncé but H’wood Toledo had … Jamie Farr (plus ABBA impersonators). So there, Atlantic City! That’ll show ’em, huh? And, to put an appropriately festive tone on the occasion, Mayor Mike Bell made an ill-phrased remark about the casino’s role toward the “final solution” of restoring the city’s economy. But seriously folks … Penn looks like it’s lived up to the advance hype. The opening-day turnout of 7,500 (or 100% of capacity) was 50% in excess of what Horseshoe Cleveland was ready to accommodate on opening night and Penn’s permanent facility in Toledo looks more impressive (or less underwhelming, if you prefer) than does Rock Gaming Caesars‘ ostensibly temporary one in Cleveland. Unlike Caesars Entertainment, Penn isn’t ashamed to put its best brand on its first Ohio property, either. The Toledo Blade can’t agree with itself whether Penn spent $202.5 million, $270 million or $320 million on the casino, although the paper’s editorial page is unambiguous in its approval of Penn’s discriminatory policies against potential employees who smoke.

It’s a somewhat more fretful day in Massachusetts, where voters in three cities go the poll to vote up or down on two proposed casinos. None of the referenda are binding but, judging by recent events in Foxborough, selectmen will be loath to buck the wishes of the electorate. SouthCoastToday.com‘s reading of the tea leaves suggests that the Mashee Wampanoags will have reason to celebrate in Taunton but that their Aquinnah brethren are about to get two swift kicks in the posterior from the burghers of Freetown and Lakeville. If that’s how it plays out, the Mashpee band won’t be taking too many victory laps. A legal challenge to Massachusetts’ tribal-preference clause got tossed. But the tribe still has to leap several additional hurdles including (but hardly limited to) negotiating a compact with Gov. Deval Patrick (D) and having it approved by the Lege … by July 31. That’s as impossible a proposition as one can imagine.

It’s highly doubtful the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is going to be in any shape to ponder a Mashpee application by the deadline, but the law’s is an especially stern mistress where the time frame is concerned. If it’s missed, the Mashpee have to take their chances along with anyone else. The good news is that the essential “Carcieri fix” overwhelming passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The bad news is that it now moves to (oh shit!) the incredibly dysfunctional U.S. Senate, a “deliberative” body where legislation goes to die. The presence within Mitt Romney‘s inner circle of three politicians with — to put it kindly — fairly obtuse attitudes toward tribal gaming (Tim Pawlenty, Sen. Marco Rubio [R-FL, right] and Jeb Bush) underscores the importance for the Mashpee of getting this done now and not rolling the dice on Election Day.