A poll on Proposition One, conducted by Parkside Group, shows casino expansion in New York State enjoying a bare majority of 51%. If that doesn’t galvanize Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and other supporters into action, it ought to — especially after Cuomo suffered one high-profile defection this week. Contrary to expectations, the poll shows Prop One enjoying a wide margin of support (52% vs. 31%) in New York City, where opposition was expected to be the strongest. And, perversely, gambling expansion has but a one-point margin of support upstate, where the casinos are actually supposed to go. Casino backers, once they get over the shock of those topsy-turvy numbers, will need to get on the stick.
It seems as though the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians and Station Casinos will never be out of the woods with their Madera casino project. A group of adversaries in California say they’ve got the signatures to put the issue on the 2014 ballot. This would upend a deal brokered by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to put the casino off-
reservation, negate a decade of patient work by Station and dash the hopes of any other tribe seeking a casino off the rez. The motives of the signature gatherers are not entirely pure: They’re funded by Brigade Capital Management, a firm on Wall Street that’s got money in two existing tribal casinos. Brigade ought not show its face around Madera County, which was anticipating $500 million in economic impact and now could see those hopes dashed.
Not even a typhoon could stop gamblers in Macao, where revenues pogo-sprang 21% last month in the teeth of the gale. Analysts expected 
more, but they’re not meteorologists, are they? Storms come and go but Macao’s infrastructural problems are here to stay. “[I]ncreasing gridlock on Macau’s streets remains a sore point among residents,” reports Reuters. “At the Taipa ferry terminal on a Tuesday morning, swarms of tourists were packed together at the arrivals exit. Casino tour buses jammed together in a long queue to take eager gamblers to the resorts and the road [sic] completely blocked by incoming tour buses.” Finding gamblers isn’t a problem for Macao but getting them into the enclave obviously is.
