Sahara vs. Roeben, Round Two; Colorado sportsbooks boom

The filing is a tutorial in SLAPP lawsuits and how to defeat them, as Randazzo slaps down the Sahara’s far-fetched anti-Roeben allegations (such as that the story was knowingly false). He perforates the Sahara’s attorneys with citations of precedent upon precedent that will have them burning the midnight oil doing their homework. He has particular fun with the Sahara’s claim of having suffered “mental distress.” (Think of all the mental distress The Drew must suffer when we ridicule its architecture.) As for Roeben being the architect of a larger plot, “a conspiracy must have an unlawful objective. Providing truthful information protected under the First Amendment to the general public cannot form the basis of a conspiracy claim. No other analysis or discovery is necessary, and this claim must fail.” Indeed it must.

In the course of a (favorable) review of the rebooted Oyo Las Vegas, Roeben mentions en passant that “we hear Nevada’s 50-person gathering limit will soon be bumped to 250 people.” That’s not much help to the big showrooms but is good news for the many more small- and medium-sized shows in town, provided they can balance higher capacity with social distancing, a tricky tightrope act if ever there was one. They have our sympathies.

With revenue streams limited predominantly to gaming, casinos have been resorting to schemes like higher table limits in an effort to artificially boost revenue. Now Roeben has sussed out a new trick: triple-zero roulette. Yup, not one, not two, but three zeroes on the green felt. OK, so The Venetian snuck it into the market back in 2016, but only on one table. Caveat emptor. Now you can find it up and down the Strip, even at low-roller joints like Harrah’s Las Vegas. It’s bad math for players, raising the house edge a good 2.5%. The trend has also penetrated Downtown casinos like Terry Caudill‘s (gotta make back that ‘no resort fees’ money somewhere, we guess). At least the Plaza Hotel still hews to single-zero roulette. No wonder players rank it so highly.

In an empty victory for the Culinary Union, the National Labor Relations Board has moved toward upholding the outcome of a 2019 unionization vote at Fiesta Henderson. 57% of Fiesta workers voted “aye” but, as usual, Station Casinos went back on its word and refused to honor the election. “I recommend that the Employer’s objections be overruled in their entirety.  The Employer has failed to meet the Board’s standard and therefore has not provided evidence that raises a reasonable doubt as to the fairness and validity of the election. Therefore, I recommend that an appropriate Certification of Representative issue,” wrote hearing officer Alvaro Medina. The reason the win rings hollow for the Culinary is that Fiesta Henderson is closed until June of next year, rendering the fate of its workforce basically moot.

Station CEO Frank Fertitta III could easily shut it down entirely, thereby voiding the union vote. (It’s what Sue Lowden did when the Culinary won at what is now Santa Fe Station.) In spite of Absurdist situation, Culinary Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Argüello-Kline fumed, “We call on Station Casinos to immediately to negotiate and settle a fair contract for the workers at Red Rock Resort, Fiesta Henderson [closed], Fiesta Rancho [closed], Sunset Station, Palms [closed], Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station and Boulder Station.” Station is in the wrong but the Culinary looks foolish taking a Henderson victory lap when 100% of the affected workers are unemployed.

Colorado sports betting was big in August, with the state registering $128.5 million in handle, thanks to a full slate of major-league sports. Calling Colorado’s success basically premature, analyst Dustin Gouker wrote, “Considering the obstacles Colorado’s market has had to face since it launched in May, the results so far have surpassed the expectations of all but the most optimistic.” While we tend not to report sequential growth, in Colorado’s case it was 117% from July. Casinos kept $2 million, net, and would have had even higher gross revenue had they not splurged on marketing. The shifting fortunes of the Denver Nuggets kept bettors busy, plunking down $38 million on the NBA. The Colorado Rockies propelled $23 million in MLB bets and the NHL generated $13.5 million of action, thanks to the Colorado Avalanche‘s playoff drive. (The postponement of major sports is providing a hidden benefit for the books, which were forcibly closed during what otherwise would have been NBA, MLB and NHL play.)

With the Nuggets pressing forward and the Denver Broncos off to a rocky start (get well soon, Drew Lock), September is likely to obliterate August. Gouker concludes, “Colorado started as a relatively open market for sportsbook operators and a well-conceived regulatory framework have made the state especially appealing.” Look out, Indiana, the Rocky Mountain State is nipping at your heels.

Jottings: It’ll be a lonesome Yuletide on the Las Vegas Strip. Staple Cowboy Christmas has defected, joining the National Finals Rodeo. Both will be held in Texas this year, although NFR has already committed to a 2021 return to Vegas … According to Las Vegas Metro, a woman suffered “minor injuries” in a Sept. 23 shooting at Aria‘s valet-parking area. “Heavy police presence remains on part of the LV Strip,” reported 8 News Now. Sadly, it’s needed. In addition to the brawl at Encore (video footage of which looked like a Donald Trump campaign ad), two people were shot near Paris-Las Vegas recently. We’re no criminologist but the ongoing pandemic seems to have brought out extraordinary aggressiveness in the public. The Paris shooter has been caught but the Aria gunman remains at large …

Wallpaper in the Downtown Grand‘s new hotel rooms may be the stuff of nightmares. Muralist Camila Magrane (not “Migraine”) has executed virtual art—restricted to certain rooms and viewable on with a Transmigrations app—that turns your hotel walls into a portal to a parallel universe. We applaud the creativity, even if the results are a little unsettling. However, it’s this kind of thing that will keep people coming back to Vegas, so it’s all good in the final analysis.