Update/Correction: I’m reliably informed that dog racing (see below) is illegal in Massachusetts and will remain so, praise be. Also, Neil Bluhm is now wooing Millbury for a slot-parlor site. Except for Raynham Park, all slot-parlor applicants are under the gun. If they don’t negotiate ‘host community’ agreements by early August, they’ll miss the Oct. 4 cutoff date for submitting voter-approved agreements. Confusing much?
Somebody thought better of literally floating a trial balloon to demonstrate the height of Mohegan Sun‘s projected hotel tower in Palmer. The Mohegans balked at the $20,000 cost of clearing a path through the woods 
and then cutting down trees to create a launch pad. I’m not making any of this up, by the way. As the Springfield Republican reports, Linda Leduc, Palmer’s town planner, thought that ‘conducting such a test without a site plan indicating building location, landscaping, lighting and other details “is very misleading.“‘ I mean, could anybody back in Vegas have imagined the incredible hulk that is Fontainebleau if its builders had simply hung a weather balloon at a height approximating the top of the building?
Would-be slot-parlor owners and their potential host cities have been showing a distinct lack of urgency about cutting deals, even though Continue reading
Even Horseshoe Southern Indiana (left) felt the effect of competition from its Cincy sister, off 10% from last year. But the big hurt was put on Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Lawrenceburg, down 35%, Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Belterra (-35%) and privately owned Grand Victoria (-21%). Perhaps some of this business will trickle back once the curiosity-seekers have had their fill of Cincinnati. More likely, though, 
“In March, 26 year-old Xiao Ye Bai began serving a life term for stabbing a man to death in a crowded karaoke bar near the Strip. Prosecutors said Bai was a martial-arts trained enforcer for the Taiwan-based triad United Bamboo, sent to collect a $10,000 gambling debt.” — as Las Vegas casinos vie to import high rollers from the Pacific Rim, some of Macao‘s darker elements 
industry, representing 77% of last month’s take. But Rocky Gap is getting the best bang for the buck on table games: It may have grossed but $4.7 million last month, but it was almost evenly divided between slots and (lower-taxed) taxed tables. Cordish didn’t fare so badly, drawing 30% of its revenue from tables. Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Perryville managed to make the least of its new tables, which generated 
But there are still some stirrings of activity on the casino front. For starters, Bwin.Party 
Siegel Group‘s off-street boutique hotel Rumor wants you to know that if you want to hang out with classy people … go someplace else. Doesn’t this make you glad you’re too old for this kind of shit anymore? Yes, DWMs (douchebags with money) are a vital component of the Las Vegas economy, but the year-round/all-day frat-house party atmosphere gets a bit wearisome at times.
An East Coast spy for S&G has had his ear to the ground and reports that a veritable horde of prospective purchaser are descending upon Atlantic City. Casino prices having fallen about as low as they can go, “buy” appears to be the watchword of the moment. Colony Capital may have screwed Rational Group for the Atlantic Club, but now the suddenly aggressive Churchill Downs may be making a play for the hotel-casino. (Remember, Churchill Downs is also mooted as a likely buyer for Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Four Seasons in St. Louis, its Lumiere Place and an unfinished Lake Charles casino belonging to Ameristar Casinos.) And now, with most of its value written off, Revel may be in play: Neil Bluhm‘s Rush Street Gaming is rumored to be jockeying for it — Bluhm did a similar rescue job on 
That’s the unavoidable conclusion, despite the increasingly comical protestations of local developer Howard Bulloch‘s sidekicks. Caesars Entertainment‘s rival Ferris wheel may be in a terrible location, it may be progressing slowly but — but — it is progressing. 
Colony Capital is free to keep trying to sell the Atlantic Club, says a New Jersey court of appeals. This puts would-be buyer PokerStars in an interesting pickle: What if it wins its argument at the state Supreme Court level — but Tom Barrack has already gone and sold the casino to someone else? PokerStars owner Rational Group‘s fixation on trying to buy an asset from someone who doesn’t want to sell it — and already bargained quite cynically — looks most irrational. Further complicating the situation, Atlantic Club COO Michael Frawley 
My expectation that Caesars Entertainment, leveraging its World Series of Poker brand, would outstrip Station Casinos‘ online-gaming offerings is looking unduly optimistic. Caesars Interactive hasn’t been able to get out of the driveway while Ultimate Gaming 
Somebody’s finally found a good use for Crystals: as a museum. Daniel Liebeskind‘s design of the property would be more conducive to viewing art than to shopping and it never has trouble drawing lookie-lous. (Customers, eh, not so much.) Somebody at MGM Resorts International must have been thinking along the same lines for the high-end mall is playing host to a pair of James Turrell installations. One is on the monorail platform. The other occupies an empty, upper floor of the Louis Vuitton store. Akhob, as it is called, can only be viewed by appointment but it sounds though it would be worth the trouble.
Caesars Entertainment to take some form of action, particularly if it wants to preserve its reputation as a champion of progressive social views. After it was reported that Caesars was only severing its business relationship with Deen at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, a clarification came from Executive Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs Jan Jones Blackhurst. To wit: Caesars’ contracts with all four Deen-run restaurants (at Horseshoe SI, Harrah’s Cherokee, Harrah’s Tunica and Harrah’s Joliet) 
(Update: J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff vented frustration to investors over yet another “self-inflicted negative headline,” while remaining upbeat on LVS stock. He did not relate Kay’s departure to “any negative event … We note that Mr. Kay worked for LVS for 5 years, the first 3 years on a contract, the last 2 years not (source proxy). So we deduce that not being offered an employment contract may have been an issue. We understand that Mr. Kay is not leaving for a position at another company.” Greff speculates that Sands will try to poach a CFO from another company “with China exposure,” so Asia-savvy executives at MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts suddenly have valuable new bargaining chips with their employers.)
become not only California‘s 63rd gaming-enabled tribe but 
Andrew Breibart heir Matthew Boyle has his bloomers in a twist over the fact that Nevada Sens. Harry Reid (D) and Dean Heller (R) have tweaked the immigration bill currently before the Senate 
As expected, voters in Everett, Massachusetts, went to the polls, expressed their approval of Wynn Resorts‘ proposed resort — 
It’s looking that way. Amounts donated by Wynn Resorts and Wynn affiliates toward this weekend’s referendum: $465,000. Amount spent in opposition: $0. That’s right, nothing. Steve Wynn has also been careful not to stir up potential anti-casino ire by avoiding media buys,