As though the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino didn’t have enough problems, it’s been closed following an armed confrontation on the casino floor. U.S. District 
Judge Lawrence O’Neill ordered the shutdown, seconded by the National Indian Gaming Commission, which deemed the casino a hazard to the public and slammed its doors. According to Reuters, “one faction of the tribe entered the casino and confronted another tribal group that ran the business, in a dust-up that sent guests fleeing from the gambling tables.” The dissidents were packing heat, a provocation of such severity that not only did 500 customers flee the casino, leaving their chips behind, but the California Attorney General’s office demanded the Chukchansi Gold be closed.
The intratribal dispute over who runs the casino goes back two years and control of the facility has shifted during that time. But last Thursday’s display of shootin’ irons added a shocking new twist to the quarrel. Judge O’Neill ordered the casino closed, tribal police kept away and everybody’s guns holstered.
“No shots were fired in the confrontation between the two factions and no one was badly hurt … At one point, casino patrons were locked out of their rooms,” 
according to the Madera County sheriff’s department. Prior to the shuttering of the casino, the two rival factions were staked out on different parts of the casino floor. Add guns and you’ve got the hazard to public safety that brought down the wrath of the NIGC.
“When they move the war into the casino, it meant we had to stop this,” said Sheriff John Anderson. “We have not been getting closer to a solution. If anything, we have gotten farther away.” The invading faction claimed it was there to retrieve documents needed for a grossly overdue audit but they chose the worst possible method of making their case.
* Speaking of escalation, pro-casino forces have launched another salvo in their media barrage leading up to the repeal vote. (Can you spot the cameo appearance by Aria?) Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Paul Guzzi was happy to front the spot on the strength of a 2008 study that showed numerous positive economic effects from bringing casinos to the Bay State. Backers of the pro-casino side of the repeal campaign are staying on message, talking up jobs, jobs and more jobs, not “Woo hoo! Vegas, baby!”
* Congratulations — and good luck — to Keith Causey, newly appointed chief accounting officer for Caesars Entertainment. To say he has his work cut out for him is an understatement of some magnitude. Employing a familiar industry euphemistic for a firing or sudden resignation, Caesars said previous CAO Diane Wilfong left the company “to pursue another opportunity.” In an unusual codicil, it added “There are no disagreements between Wilfong and Caesars Entertainment regarding the company’s financial reporting, operations, policies or practices.” You don’t see that kind of placebo to the SEC very often.
