West Virginia joins ‘Net-bet pack; Conventioneers flood the Strip

And then there were five. Internet gambling was legalized in West Virginia this week, as was i-poker. Gov. Jim Justice (R) appears to have been opposed to the law—or to giving political opponents a stick to beat him with—so he sat on his hands, letting it become effective without his signature. Justice similarly hid under his desk when a sports-betting bill came his way last year. There will be five i-gaming permits and, by a remarkable coincidence, the state has five brick-and-mortar casinos. Licenses will cost $250,000 and be effective for five years, whereupon renewal will require a $100,000 levy. Suppliers will pay $10,000 apiece to be licensed.

As for a product launch, don’t hold your breath: It took nine months for sports betting to come on line. A ‘Net-betting debut isn’t expected until next year. Worse still, all the casinos offering it went offline just in time for March Madness, so there will be no sports wagering until that train wreck is sorted out.

* As we said yesterday, were it not for baccarat, February would have been a good month for the Las Vegas Strip. For instance, visitation was up 2%, leading to an 11% increase in revenue per available room. Convention business was strong, as the National Association of Home Builders and the Kitchen & Bath Show led the way toward an overall 748,600 attendees. Room rates averaged $140/night as occupancy ran to 88%. Thank God for conventioneers, as drive-in traffic was down, especially at the California border, off 6%.

* “The bottom line is, of course, they overestimated the size of the gaming market that they were trying to serve.” That’s University of Texas casino expert Clyde Barrow on the wave of slot-floor reductions sweeping upstate New York. Already del Lago Resort & Casino has been put on bankruptcy watch by Moody’s Investors Service. Now it wants to remove an unspecified number of slot machines in order to make room for a sports book. Already Resorts World Catskills has petitioned the state to reduce its slot inventory by 26% and Tioga Downs is taking out 50 one-armed bandits. That leaves Rivers Casino, the only one of the newbies to stand pat on its slot inventory. Let’s hope Empire State lawmakers remember this when casino developers bring inflated revenue projections for the Manhattan area before them in 2023.

* Congratulations to Scientific Games for setting a U.S. record for one week of lottery sales. The company, vendor to the Florida Lottery, sold $126,250,558 in tickets in the week ending March 3. Of that amount, $23.3 million trickled down to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. The bonanza is credited to the introduction of a new game, $15 Million Gold Rush Special Edition, which costs $30 a ticket. Buy a few of those and pretty soon we’re talking about real money.

* Give Plaza Hotel CEO Jonathan Jossel credit for always trying new things. The latest is a demolition derby, to be held this weekend at the hotel’s Core Arena. Finally, a Downtown event that lets you vicariously vent some of your Fremont Street Experience frustration.

* If you’re a self-excluded gambler and think you can get away with breaking your vow, forget it: The Man *will* find you. Borgata just forfeited $107,000 in winnings by self-excluded and underage gamblers. Its online affiliate bwin.party was fined an additional $81,000, for not properly vetting its players. “Borgata consistently self-reports to uphold our operational integrity, as indicated by the instances of forfeited funds rather than fines,” said casino President Marcus Glover, deftly spinning a negative into a PR positive.

Other casinos in the dock this week were Bally’s ($1,398), Caesars Atlantic City ($3,530) and Hard Rock Atlantic City ($1K for underage gamblers—the downside of a hip brand). Two ‘Net-betting sites were also fined.