President Scott Kreeger is insisting all is well at embattled Revel Resort. On one flank he’s got employees on whose behalf Unite-Here has been pressing for union representation. On the other he has the task of trying to make the casino attractive to potential buyers. Kreeger reiterated his claim that has 20 or 30 companies on the hook. Are there even that many casino operators left in the industry anymore? (Full House Resorts anyone?)
Kreeger told The Associated Press he “hopes to conclude a deal that could take the form of an outright sale of Revel, a strategic alliance with another company or a joint venture among 
two or more companies to operate it.” The last sounds like a rather forlorn hope. But he insists that nobody wants to buy Revel just to shut it down and taken off the market. Frankly, we never thought that anyway. Likely suspect Caesars Entertainment would be more wont to keep Revel open and axe either Showboat or Bally’s Wild Wild West. Lastly, Kreeger is obviously stung by criticisms that he’s using tax dollars to prop up Revel. “The Economic Redevelopment Growth Grant is a public program available to any investor who is willing to commit development dollars within the state and meets the criteria. These tax rebates are available to Revel only after it generates sales tax revenue for the state in excess of certain milestones, which has not yet occurred,” he said hotly.
Bonus: Meet the nongambling mayor of Atlantic City, Mr. Don Guardian (R).
Caesars Entertainment stock took a bit of a dive with the announcement that seven million additional shares were coming onto the market. The stock float is expected to raise $139 million or so, barely a drop in the bucket that is Caesars’ financial plight. Another million shares are available for release onto the market. As a covenant of the stock move, majority owners Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Global Management have agreed not to dilute their holdings any further for two months.
“Over here, Sheldon! Me! Me!” In preparing the guest for his hoedown this weekend for GOP bigwigs, Sheldon Adelson left at least three prominent names off the guest list. For fear of behind ignored perhaps all have issued statements saying, in essence, “Yes, Sheldon, I am so against Internet casinos.” Would-be Adelson BFFs include South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (pictured), Louisiana‘s Bobby Jindal and the egregiously overlooked Rick Perry of Texas. (And to think that Adelson once wanted casinos in the Lone Star State.) Haley and Perry basically cribbed each others texts, with catchy phrases like, “Congress needs to step in now and call a timeout.”
For extra points, Haley also drew a line in the sand against any form of gambling in the Palmetto State. Jindal gets credit for having made his feelings known last year, in an op-ed that partially read, “putting a casino in the pocket of practically every American will exploit society’s most vulnerable, threatening to saddle the poor and disadvantaged with spiraling debt.” By contrast with that smidgen of eloquence, Haley and Perry offered only standard anti-Internet boilerplate. The question is …
… will the wrath of Adelson descend upon Las Vegas Sands board member Jason Ader 
now that the latter has bought 6% of Bwin.party? Ader says the 51 million-share purchase was OK’d with Adelson beforehand. It looks like Ader is in the clear. “He’s free to do whatever he wants,” claimed Sands prexy Michael Leven. Ironically, Bwin.party has contracted to offer online poker in Nevada … with MGM Resorts International and Boyd Gaming. Describing Bwin as “undervalued and … underperforming,” Ader may seek a seat on its board. So we could have Ader sitting on the board of an online casino and of a terrestrial casino that wants to put it out of business in the U.S. How droll.
