“This is the voice of delusion,” said an S&G source of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and his stated optimism of getting a casino in Chicago, an 
idea that has drawn a cavernous yawn from the gaming industry. He tried to minimize the crippling 72% tax rate as “hiccups.” We hate to say that Windy City Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has a point but unless the state funds the building of the casino and hires some underrepresented operator like MGM Resorts International to run it for a flat fee, this idea is never going to get off the ground. Kansas owns its casinos, so the notion is not entirely without precedent. Neither political party is entirely blameless in this boondoggle, the gambling expansion having passed on a bipartisan basis.
“To the extent a casino operator could pare down expenses and realize modest revenue and profits from non-gaming amenities … total enterprise profit margin would, in a best-case scenario, likely equate to a few pennies on the dollar,” concluded Union Gaming Group, offering advice that was ignored. Legislators, who evidently prefer theoretical dollars to (fewer) actual ones, have so far refused to grasp reality. Pritzker says he is “hopeful” the problem can be addressed in the upcoming Lege but does not seem to be spending any political capital on it.
* My first choice for New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas would be Lady Gaga‘s Dec. 31 performance of Jazz & Piano. But if I couldn’t afford that I’d seek out the Mob Museum‘s Prohibition-style celebration in its The Underground speakeasy. An open bar will set you back $75 but since you’re eligible for 20% off rooms at the nearby Plaza Hotel (code MOBNYE) why not imbibe freely? We think the Downtown Grand missed out on some marketing synergy here, seeing as it’s kitty-corner from the Mob Museum.
* We don’t know if Wynn Resorts is trying to fly whales from Peking to Boston. However, if the results of Quantas‘ new halfway-around-the-globe marathon flight are any indication, those high rollers won’t be in any shape to gamble.
* “Let Timmy [Lincecum] smoke!” Major League Baseball, in a rare move to keep pace with the times, has dropped wacky weed from its list of banned substances. This will give a whole new realm of meaning to a “high fly ball.”
Jottings: Our thoughts are with the family of former NBA commissioner David Stern, hospitalized with a cerebral hemorrhage … Wynn Resorts, having ceded the Osaka market, says it is focusing on Yokohama instead. In other news, Wynn Macau announced it had sold $1 billion in bonds, with the aim of redeeming debt … the giant, indoor ski slope that was long planned 
as part of American Dream (née Xanadu) at the Meadowlands has finally opened. Opined celebrity guest Lindsey Vonn, “Sometimes you hear about indoor snow being a little grainy, but it was actually nice, light, and fluffy.” It’s something else to do after you place a bet at Meadowlands Racetrack‘s FanDuel sports book … Magic mushrooms are the new anti-depressant. According to Bloomberg, scientists are planning to “explore its uses beyond depression, including for addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia, OCD and migraines.” Bob Dylan was prophetic when sang that everybody must get stoned, speaking of which, what’s Gov. Pritzker been taking?
