Trump card played; NBA embraces sports betting

Can casino-based Internet gambling keep going after the host casino has ceased to be? That’s the existential question faced by New Jersey regulators. Although it is closing Trump Plaza, owner Trump Entertainment Resorts wants to continue the property’s online-gambling platform, in partnership with Betfair. Since the intent of the Garden State’s Internet-gambling enactment was to prop up brick-and-mortar casinos, Trump Plaza’s plea seems like something of a bait-and-switch. However, depending on how tightly the law was written, Trump might yet wriggle through. It says it’s “exploring the economic, legal and practical feasibility of continuing its relationship with its Internet gaming provider following the cessation of gaming operations.”

It’s been no pot of gold for Trump Plaza. It and Betfair have only raked in $4.3 million through July. Meanwhile, despite having posted a gross operating profit last quarter, Trump Taj Mahal is at serious risk of defaulting on loans and is negotiating to stave off foreclosure.

* According to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, financial difficulties will bring legalized sports betting to many more states other than Nevada. Silver isn’t just OK with that, “we will ultimately participate in that.” Quoth Silver of his rationale, “If you have a gentleman’s bet or a small wager on any kind of sports contest, it makes you that much more engaged in it. That’s where we’re going to see it pay dividends. If people are watching a game and clicking to bet on their smartphones, which is what people are doing in the United Kingdom right now, then it’s much more likely you’re going to stay tuned for a long time.”

At minimum, the sports-betting market is a $280 billion cottage industry right now, so it’s understandable with the NBA might want a cut of the action. At the risk of sounding crass, Silver’s arguments imply that the NBA will get behind legalized sports betting in return for a cut of the action. It’s just a matter of time before all the major-league sports come around to a Silver-like positions. It is only surprising to see him rattling his tin cup so blatantly.

* Golden Gaming grew a bit more by purchasing four Irish-branded pubs, all of which had different names but which will be redubbed Sean Patrick’s. This gives Golden five brands in Southern Nevada, although the takeover isn’t such a big deal: Golden had already been operating the slot routes in Molly Malone’s, Sean Patrick’s, Morrissey and Kavanaugh’s. The company, which conceded that slot-route business is still weak compared to 2007, allowed that there still is room for more PT’s– and Sierra Gold-branded taverns. And who might the acquisition target be? You’ve gotta figure that at some point Blake Sartini, CEO of Golden Gaming, will try to take gadfly Dotty’s off the board by attempting to buy them all. That would create a near-monopoly on convenience gambling but the Nevada Gaming Control Board is charmingly myopic when it comes to anti-trust issues.