In Gov. Ralph Northam‘s Virginia there are two inevitabilities: death from Coronavirus and taxation of black-market slot routes. Northam wants to legitimize the devices (their unsanitary properties notwithstanding) in 
order to collect taxes off them. He rationalizes the move by arguing that they’re keeping small businesses afloat. No coincidence, the makers and distributors of these slots were heavy campaign donors during the last election cycle. Said Pace-O-Matic‘s Mike Barley, “We appreciate the governor’s leadership in this matter as he worked to address a revenue stream which greatly assists local small businesses and their employees.” From Barley’s mouth to Northam’s ear. In other news, despite making noises about the lack of a competitive bidding process, Northam signed into law a bill putting casinos in five southern Virginia cities, including Richmond. Now it’s in the hands of local voters this November.
* Trouble at Foxwoods Resort Casino? After only eight months on the job, CEO John James abruptly quit. The stated reason was that James wanted to spend more time with his family, always a sure sign than executive was 
pushed out rather than jumping voluntarily. Foxwoods hinted at ill health as a reason but offers no specifics. Senior Vice President of Resort Operations Jason Guyot will fill in while Foxwoods looks for a successor (Anthony Sanfilippo is out of a job, by the way). James (former COO of Morongo Casino Resort & Spa) must have been a disappointment to Foxwoods, having been the product of a lengthy search process to find a successor to the late, popular Felix Rappaport, only to last less than three quarters. The megaresort has furloughed 5,000 employees due to its voluntary closure. Make that 5,001.
* Speaking of Covid-19 (as one does little else these days), it has struck again at Resorts World Las Vegas, infecting a fourth construction worker. This will further slow construction, as work is now confined to 
“critical areas” and employees will receive wellness screenings every day. (Good for Resorts World.) A further pushback in the construction timeline matters little when the lives of the workforce are at stake. In addition to construction, mining and manufacturing have been deemed essential to the Silver State, continuing unabated. Asked why, Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) responded that he’d prefer to avoid “another 100,000 or more filing for unemployment if I can avoid it.” According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, social-distancing rules have been put in place for construction sites. Good.
* Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (D) is still making a nuisance of herself, clamoring via Twitter for an immediate reopening of quarantined businesses. It’s only two more weeks until Sisolak’s order expires. Remember, if it had been up to Mrs. Goodman there would have been no quarantine, rendering her a menace to public health.
* It’s now a moot point whether or not small casinos qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program: L.A. Business reports that the Small Business Administration has already blown through the $349 billion fund. Wow, time sure flies.
* Outfits like William Hill US aren’t exactly floating above the problematic economy (in their case they still have an audience but relatively little product to sell) but they’re adapting exceptionally well. “We wanted to get some content out there for our customers—not for making money, because there’s no chance of making money in this environment, but for them to have something to do to get them through the doom and gloom,” says Director of Trading Nick Bogdanovich in a highly entertaining interview. It opens with him being asked bluntly, “How on earth do you make odds on sports, teams and players you may never have heard of before?”
The answer? “It was difficult.” Bogdanovich goes on to explain that “we’ve been booking [European Union] sports forever, so we just leaned on them. We scanned the globe to see what was being played on the field, and came up with darts, sumo wrestling, chess, Belarus soccer, Russian ping pong—anything that was left to bet on. Then we found lines on them, mostly relying on our European big brother.” In case you’re wondering how punters make informed bets on Soviet table tennis, Bogdanovich adds that, with so much time on their hands, “they’re scouring the Internet, doing research—it’s amazing what Wikipedia and Google can do for you. A lot of people already know about e-sports; there are a lot of gamers out there. As far as darts, not so much, and they’re not familiar with sumo wrestling and chess. But once they bet it, they get a foundation. Then they build off that and start forming opinions.”
Speaking of forming habits, it’s worried that the combination of sheltering in place and access to online sports betting will create a “perfect storm” of problem gambling. “There’s a real danger of casual customers replacing their relatively limited sports betting with virtual casino games and sports, which are not only relentless but are unlimited, have no relationship to sport,” frets recovering addict and activist James Grimes. We’re already seeing betting limits and ad bans being placed in some EU countries, while Latvia has prohibited online gambling for the foreseeable future.
Still, there’s been a clear—and predicted—shift to Internet action. Says one confidential source, “There’s been a clear shift in people’s mentality, because they haven’t got sports … They’re probably taking an 80% loss on the sportsbook—there are still some games in Belarus and a few horse races – but making some of it up elsewhere.” The prevalence of disordered gambling in the U.K. is a troublesome 2.5% on sports betting and 9% on virtual sports. Three-minute “virtual matches,” feed the addict’s high, which a real-time game would probably not. As for e-sports, the gaming industry used to worry about how to turn e-sports players into casino customers. That model has now been stood on its head and e-sports is the lure drawing bettors to the virtual wickets.
