Suicide squeeze in Macao; Is Atlantic City ready for some football?

Most of Macao‘s casinos are playing a game of chicken with the local government, daring it to enforce its smoking ban. Only 12 of 47 casinos have installed smoking lounges. Personally, I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of City Hall but certain operators seem to be inclined to stretch their luck. Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, usually a slowpoke, was first out of the gate at Ponte 16. It was followed by Studio City. If you don’t get your application in by Sept. 28 then the regulatory guillotine will fall and you can’t qualify for a smoking lounge under the new restrictions, which go into effect Jan. 1. Existing smoking lounges will have to retrofitted with upgraded HVAC equipment. Inspections of smoking lounges are exponentially higher than a year ago. Macao means business and casinos had best wake up to that fact.

* Four New Jersey betting operations got in just under the wire to offer bets on the beginning of the NFL season. These included FanDuel and William Hill, as well as Caesars Interactive (latterly joined by 888). Caught flat-footed was Hard Rock Atlantic City, which is still getting its act together where sports betting is concerned. I’m not sure there’s a good excuse for that. Meanwhile Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continues to be a maverick, being the first of his ilk to partner with a casino. The lucky gambling house is WinStar World Casino & Resort in Oklahoma.

“The Dallas Cowboys take great pride in aligning themselves with the best brands in the world. It is a privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder as partners with such a prominent entertainment brand like WinStar World Casino,” said Jones. While the Cowboys are the first team to accept advertising money from a casino, it sure as shooting won’t be the last. Now it remains to be seen if sports betting takes root in Oklahoma, which would make the WinStar/Cowboys relationship complete.

* Great Britain has a gambling problem, in two respects. Not only are 6% fewer people playing the level of disordered gambling remains the same. Almost 1% of the entire population is hooked on gambling. Not surprisingly, people with mental illness were identified as high-risk gamblers. Gambling was heaviest among Millennials and the National Lottery remained the most popular way of having a flutter. In the face of the data, Gambling Commission (at least they don’t call it “gaming”) Executive Director Tim Miller said nonsensically, “The Health Survey, along with all of our evidence and data, indicates that the problem gambling rate in Great Britain is stable.” No, when fewer people are playing but the rate of degenerate gambling remains the same you’ve got a bigger problem than before.

* Virginia is still a no-casino state but that could be changing, especially thanks to the giant sucking sound that is MGM National Harbor. Two businessmen have announced Bristol Resort & Casino, legality be damned. They’re prepared to spend $150 million but say the Lege must act quickly. Jim McGlothlin and Clyde Stacy are proposing a “massive” casino in a defunct shopping mall. “All they need is for the Virginia General Assembly to legalize gaming in the commonwealth,” understated the Bristol Herald Courier.

The duo are promising 5,000 jobs at an average salary of $46K/year. “It would solve our problems. It’s overwhelming how the match of the need coincides perfectly with something like the casino,” said McGlothlin, referring to southwest Virginia’s economically depressed condition. “Not one dollar is coming from the city of Bristol, the state of Virginia or the federal government. Clyde and myself are going to put all the money up for this,” McGlothlin said, promising at least $30 million in annual tax revenue. “It would be like manna from Heaven.”

However, the lottery and horseracing industry are likely to frown upon the Bristol duo infringing upon their turf, even if the two men really seem to be doing this at least partly from community spirit. The horsey set could be bought off with racinos but the lottery would be a tougher nut to crack. Since the nearest casino to Bristol is Harrah’s Cherokee, 130 miles away, McGlothlin and Stacy could cast a wide net for customers.

The two men have to get local approval before petitioning the Lege and even then it’s going to be heavy lifting. “I know this will be before the Kentucky Legislature this coming year. Tennessee, once they realize what we’re trying to do, may do a special session or something because this is big. It would be big for Tennessee or Kentucky. But, if we get in first, it’s not likely anyone would put a casino any closer than Knoxville,” warns Stacy, who didn’t exactly get a warm reception from state Sen. Bill Carrico (R), whose support would be crucial.

Stacy and McGlothlin won’t be going away if the casino isn’t approved. They’re also pushing for cannabis production. “Even if we get the cannabis approval, that would be 140 jobs. That’s nowhere near what we need,” warned Stacy. Yes, but maybe all their customers will be so blissed out they’ll drop their opposition to gambling.

* Kudos to Caesars Entertainment. In tandem with the Billie Jean King Leadership Institute it has studied pay equity among 32,200 employees and found itself within reaching distance of complete equality. Said King, “As a long-time champion of equal pay for equal work, seeing more companies, like Caesars Entertainment, joining in the movement is strong proof that things are improving and progressing.” Promised CEO Mark Frissora, “While I’m extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished, there is still more work to be done, and I remain committed to taking the necessary steps to ensure that we reach 100% pay equity.”