By one vote, Dotty’s eked out a four-month grace period while the Las Vegas City Council ponders whether or not to lower the boom on the newest in this mammoth chain of slot parlors and taverns. Known for 
its homey, smoker-friendly atmosphere, Dotty’s is equally notorious for living dangerously when it comes to the requirement that a restricted gaming licensee’s slot machines be “incidental” to its overall revenue. The new Dotty’s derives a robust 91% of its monies from slot play, which hardly seems “incidental” by any reasonable definition. (On a personal note, I happen to live a couple of blocks from the original Dotty’s, at the intersection of Maryland Parkway and Tropicana Avenue.)
Dotty’s and competitors like Jackpot Joanie‘s ought to be very worried if the City Council goes ahead with a suggested study of 125 restricted-license locations. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has taken a live-and-let-live stance on the issue and it’s not clear if the City Council could revoke existing business licenses. But it could draw a line in the sand at Sahara Avenue and Hualapai Way, and say “no more.” Dotty’s owner Craig Estey has had a good run of playing the small businessman put upon by The Man but his fortunes may be about to take a turn for the worse. It’s a good thing Estey has diversified into unrestricted gaming, buying the Hacienda near Boulder City (now the Boulder Dam Lodge) and the River Palms in Laughlin, now the River Lodge Casino. I have a feeling that Estey will be needing those revenue streams in the future.
* Glenn Straub can’t decide what to do about the Showboat. Yesterday, he filed suit to either void his purchase agreement with 
Stockton University or keep it indefinitely in abeyance. Midday today was his deadline to consummate the $26 million acquisition. Stockton University Acting President Harvey Kesselman‘s response was, in effect, “See ya.” He says Stockton will pursue finding a new buyer for the property “since it appears as if [Straub] has no intention of buying Showboat for the contracted price.” Trump Entertainment Resorts has been all hot and bothered about forcing the Showboat to remain a “first-class casino,” so maybe it should put its money where its mouth is. How about it, Carl Icahn?
* S&G is supportive of tribal sovereignty but some casinos appear to be pushing the envelope when it comes to what is allowed in their treatment of advantage players. Since complaints must be aired in 
tribal court, plaintiffs are perceived as being disadvantaged (pun unintended) from the get-go. And forget about taking your case to federal court. The doctrine of sovereign immunity will prevail and you’re back to Square One. One player trying to overturn that precedent is “The Queen of Sorts,” Cheung Yin Sun. Along with two cohorts, she deposited $1.6 million in earnest money with Foxwoods Resort Casino and proceeded to win $1 million more through “edge-sorting” in mini-baccarat. To Foxwoods, that was cheating and it confiscating Cheung’s winnings. To add insult to injury, it took the $1.6 million deposit, too.
What happened next smacks of a kangaroo court. According to Cheung, the tribe imposed a lawyer of its choice upon her and the tribal gaming commission found in favor of the casino. Edge-sorting takes a great deal of skill and Foxwoods should have lost graciously. To confiscate the deposit looks like outright theft. At least Cheung and her fellow players were spared the beat-down allegedly put on an advantage player at Mazatzal Casino in Arizona. But if she really wants to hit Foxwoods where it hurts she should tell her story to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which might weigh that in its consideration of Foxwoods’ pursuit of a New Bedford casino.
