In a “So there!” move, Carl Icahn has petitioned, as part of a sale process, to have a five-year deed restriction placed on the Trump Taj Mahal, preventing anyone from reopening it as a casino until 2022. He’s 
also surrendering the casino license, proving that he’s serious about getting out of Atlantic City. Who’d buy the Taj as a non-gaming property is quite another question. However, with an anti-Icahn bill to prevent casino owners who shut down from reopening for another five years — directed at Icahn’s attempt to reboot the Taj as a scab casino — sailing through the New Jersey Legislature, Icahn clearly decided to beat lawmakers to the punch. Due to the proposed law’s dubious constitutionality, we’re surprised Icahn didn’t stay and fight, but unpredictability is his trademark and his inventory of white-elephant casino properties is starting to mount up.
* With land values plummeting and investors literally dying off, things look bleaker than ever for revival of the Moulin Rouge site. So hard is the 15.5-acre parcel to move that its receiver may subdivide it to get a better price. And that would pretty much spell the end for all those dreams of bringing the spirit of the Moulin Rouge back.
*Scott Kreeger has evidently decided he’s had enough of SLS Las Vegas. Or maybe Stockbridge Capital Partners decided it was time for a new apporoach. Either way, Stockbridge is turning to newly unemployed Terry Downey, late of Aliante Casino, as its new COO. Downey’s bringing aboard another Aliante refugee, CFO Robert Schauffhauser, to help turn around the mess at Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. The duo was successful at Aliante and their landing at SLS makes one wonder if a new orientation on locals is in the works. Schaffhauser’s 15 years with Station Casinos, running various properties, would seem to foretell a repositioning of SLS.
* With Gov. Nikki Haley (R) headed for the United Nations, pro-casino lawmakers in South Carolina are trying to restart the Palmetto State casino debate. State Rep. Todd Rutherford (D) is sponsoring a bill to legalize casino gambling. It would, among other things, legitimize poker, illegal since 1802. However, since the Rutherford bill calls for legalized sports betting, it’s hostage to what happens in Washington, D.C. It’s going to be hard enough to make casinos lawful in South Carolina. Why on earth did Rutherford add this contortion?
