Lucina Laam may be the most important person in Macao‘s turbulent casino history. As Wife #2 of Stanley Ho she bore Daisy Ho, Pansy Ho, Lawrence Ho and two other 
daughters not involved in the gaming biz. Now, in an attempt to consolidate power over Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, Daisy has teamed with co-chairman Timothy Fok of the powerful Hong Kong Fok clan. “The shareholders in the alliance all possess irreplaceable goodwill, accumulated through prolonged understanding and exposure in various industry sectors in Macau and mainland China,” said Daisy of the Fok-up, which throws into question the future role of SJM boss Angela Leong, another Ho spouse and power player in this Chinese opera.
The question hanging over the move is whether it can return SJM to its glory days. Complacent from its days of enjoying a casino monopoly in Macao, SJM operated also-ran facilities and was tortoise-slow to move onto the Cotai Strip. As a consequence, its share of the market has dwindled to 14%. However, Timothy Fok is tight with the 
Communist Party, which bodes well for SJM’s attempt to get its concession renewed next year. (On the other hand, Caesars Entertainment has filed for trademark protection in Macao, a clear sign that it is hoping to poach one of the casino concession as they come up for possible re-bidding.) The reintegration of the alliance’s resources with SJM will reinvigorate the gaming operator with the gravity it needs to move the needle on non-gaming investments, and will undoubtedly assist it in gaining a new concession,” said IGamiX consultant Ben Lee.
However, Joseph Fan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong took a different tack. “I have questions about the extent to which the successors are able to maintain the social and political connections their father had as that’s the bread 
and butter of the gaming business,” he told Bloomberg. “My biggest concern is that does this create a situation at the company and at the board that leads to a lot of in-fighting and that leads to things being delayed and operations of the business not performing as they should?” questioned Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Vitaly Umansky. Based on recent history he’s probably right. Over at Melco Resorts & Entertainment, CEO Lawrence Ho is happily out of the family feud: “What I have built on my own is so much more exciting,” he said, throwing shade on the current state of SJM. Touché.
* When Atlantic City was in its darkest days the most toxic brand on the market was that of Donald Trump. Now CIM Group, owners of the Downtown Grand, have experienced the same phenomenon with their Trump-branded hotel 
in New York City‘s SoHo neighborhood. After a near-death experience as Trump SoHo New York, the property was partially reinvented as the Dominick and CIM Group hasn’t looked back since. Ivanka Trump-branded beauty products have been banished. Revenue per available room and room rates are both 20% higher in a city where a 2% boost is considered good. Brand consultant Gesina Gudehus-Wittern explains, “If you’re in town on business and billing a client, you want to leave politics out of the equation. And if Trump’s perspectives don’t align with your own, you don’t want to show yourself on social media at a hotel that bears his name.” Another side benefit: LeBron James will no longer boycott the hotel.
* “We bring to life the vision for this entertainment experience.” With those words the Aquinnah Wampanoag announced the commencement of construction on its Class II casino on Martha’s Vineyard — and woe betide Mr. Charlie if he tries to interfere. The 10,000-square-foot casino will eschew restaurants in favor 
of food trucks but will have a bar in addition to 250 electronic-bingo machines. The Wampanoag reached out to Oklahoma‘s Chickasaw Nation to do much of the heavy lifting through its Global Gaming Solutions. Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais fired a warning shot over the bow of local government: “Please be advised that any repeated effort by the town to stop the tribe’s gaming operation will be countered with an aggressive legal defense by the tribe. Frankly, the tribe is surprised that the town would even raise the possibility of further litigation by trying to force the [Martha’s Vineyard Commission] into a position to pursue or be the recipient of litigation in the wake of the town’s unmitigated loss at the First Circuit and then again at the United States Supreme Court.”
* Legislation to approve casino referenda in five Virginia cities passed the Legislature with comfortable majorities and now goes to embattled Gov. Ralph Northam (D) for his blackface, er, signature. The bill has to be re-passed in the 
2020 Lege and no referenda can be held after Jan. 1, 20201, so the race is to the swift. Giving MGM National Harbor a wide berth, the bill targets Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, Norfolk and Richmond. Given the difficulty of obtaining land-into-trust approvals from the Trump administration, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is expected to vie for one, maybe two of the casino sites on a commercial basis. Casinos will be taxed on a sliding scale of 13%-15%, based on their gross gaming receipts. It’s something of a Rube Goldberg contraption but it’s better than nothing.
* Skill-based slots are a flop (no surprise to us), although some are whistling past the graveyard. Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, daily fantasy sports is proving to be a volatile revenue source, receipts having fallen for two consecutive months.
* Sheldon Adelson isn’t resting on his laurels at Marina Bay Sands (memorably featured in Crazy Rich Asians). The megaresort is adding a Tao 
Group nightclub, complete with an indoor Ferris wheel. MBS is also looking to hire as many as 700 more employees, bringing its workforce close to 11,000. The hiring push is driven by a 14% attrition rate at the hotel-casino (better than the industry average of 29%). Positions open include bar staff, sous-chefs, security guards, butlers and slot-machine attendants. Over 50% of the MBS workforce has been there in excess of five years … then again, if you have casino job skills there aren’t many other places in Singapore you can go.
* Hotel rooms that disinfect themselves? It’s the Culinary Union‘s worst nightmare. Actually, there’s a hidden benefit for housekeepers: “Housekeepers don’t have to apply chemical detergents and cleaners or breathe their fumes. They can vacuum, dry-clean linens, and wipe down surfaces, and CleanCoat does the rest,” reports Bloomberg. “The technology is expensive but we’ve reduced the labor load by 50 percent. It’s giving our staff a much easier day and reducing our water consumption,” explains Brocker Hotels CEO Karim Nielsen. It’s currently being used in Danish boutique hotels. Whether or not it can be scaled to 4,000-room hostelries is a question as yet unanswered, especially as you have to empty each room in order for the CleanCoat to be applied.
