Massachusetts: First one bites the dust

Turns out the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was damn serious about financial probity being grounds for disqualification. In a ruling on Plainridge Racecourse, it deemed that owner Ourway Realty displayed “a culture of fear and concealment pervasive in the operations,” including former CEO Gary Piontkowski‘s habit of siphoning money from the count room. (Can’t we just call it a “skim”?) The Commission went on to say that Plainridge could not provide “clear and convincing evidence as to business practices that will likely lead to a successful gaming operation.” Plainridge was also faulted for its tardiness in ousting Piontkowski, then replacing him with someone inexperienced in gaming.

On the flip side, Raynham Park got a passing grade from commissioners. That leaves only Penn National Gaming to have its background check completed, but no sane person expects Penn to get tossed. As for Raynham, Rush Street Gaming and Cordish Gaming — slot parlor applicants, every one — they’re probably quietly supping on schadenfreude today.

Penn’s Las Vegas outpost, better known as M Resort, is backpedaling away from poker. It’s scrapping its poker room in favor of slot-tournament space. I can’t speak for the disenfranchised poker players but, for the serious slot player, it’s got to be hella better than being stuck in a distant ballroom.

From the No Shit, Sherlock file: So, 911 calls from Colorado casinos fell after a smoking ban went into place. You could knock me over with a feather. The obvious conclusion is … don’t smoke! It’s a disgusting habit, as I’ve often said, but trying to uncouple it from gambling is not unlike attempting to sever conjoined twins.

In one of the most eccentric design decisions I’ve ever seen in Vegas, Phil Ruffin is going to cannibalize part of the Treasure Island lagoon and boardwalk to make room for a three-story retail mall. Fans of the skanky Sirens of TI needn’t worry: Some form of the tats-and-trollops show will go on. Shoehorning a retail tower into Treasure Island’s frontage is going to look weird as all get-out. Then again, Ruffin has so thoroughly crapped up the facade of the resort that what’s one more eyesore at this point?