Getting a leg up on Massachusetts, casinos in Rhode Island will start taking sports bets in a week or so. Workers are putting the finishing touches on Twin River Casino‘s new sports book. Tiverton Casino Hotel will follow at some point. (The two casinos 
share the same ownership.) Rhode Island has legalized sports betting cautiously: no mobile wagers or prop bets, leaving a wide opening for the black market. However, with neighboring states lagging badly, Rhode Island has the ball and Twin River intends to run with it. Rhode Island may be the nation’s smallest state but it has the highest amount of gambling revenue per capita, and that’s about to get larger: “I see folks from Connecticut, from Massachusetts all coming. New Hampshire. Why not? We’re the only game in town,” said casino boss Mike Barlow, and who’s to argue with him? However, the state is a cinch to miss its $23.5 million tax projection, predicated on a badly blown Oct. 1 opening deadline. Whoops, there went the World Series, a big chunk of the NFL season, and early NBA and NHL games. Lawmakers might loosen up those restrictions on prop and mobile wagers as sports betting is legalized in nearby states, accelerating the race for dollars.
* Las Vegas is the stoner capital of America this week, as the MBJBizCon convention is held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Wouldn’t the hypocrisy have been delicious if anti-medicinal-pot Sheldon Adelson had booked it into the Sands Convention Center? While I can’t stand the smell of lit marijuana, the bouquet of reefer would actually improve the air quality at Sheldon’s Place. Richard Velotta, of Adelson’s Las Vegas Review-Journal, has an excellent rundown of the proceedings, which were generally optimistic in the wake of the 2018 midterms, although some speakers warned that grass-fed stocks were a bubble that was about to burst.
The new enlightenment might even extend to the Trump administration, with speakers 
hinting at a 2019 federal change of attitude toward pot (fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions was firmly against it but mercifully did nothing). Casino companies, which must stay on the sidelines, have to have been frustrated to hear that cannabis might evolve like wine, ranging from brown-paper-bag strains to luxury blends. Sundial Growers CEO Torsten Kuenzlen said much remains to be done: “We have no idea what [cannabinoids] do. We have no idea what they do in combination with each other. There are decades, if not hundreds of years, of research to be done.” In the meantime, politicians like Nevada Governor-elect Steve Sisolak have shown that you can ride the pro-reefer ticket right into office.
* Since I wouldn’t be caught dead watching The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, I had no idea of who Lisa Vanderpump is. However, she’s parlayed her 15 minutes of fame (and three restaurants) into a new hangout at Caesars Palace, titled — amazingly enough — Vanderpump Cocktail Garden. It’s the latest attempt by Strip casinos to ape the Los Angeles after-hours scene. According to the Las Vegas Sun, it “will have an indoor patio leading to al fresco-style garden with towering trees and romantic lighting. The lounge will have booths and a full bar, serving craft cocktails and Vanderpump-branded Sangria and rosé wine. Small bites will be served.” No word on whether Vanderpump’s dog Gigi will be allowed to roam the premises.
* Two percent may not sound like a lot but it’s a percentage point too far for Ladbrokes. The U.K.-based bookmaker is shutting down a slew of its betting shops in retaliation for a percentage-point increase in the tax on betting handle. It’s quite a contrast to the U.S., where casino companies are willing to pay far more than 2% to get a piece of the action.
