{"id":11862,"date":"2013-10-21T12:46:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T20:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=11862"},"modified":"2021-03-01T13:22:55","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T21:22:55","slug":"caesars-fiasco-in-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/caesars-fiasco-in-boston\/","title":{"rendered":"Caesars: Fiasco in Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"suffolk-downs-casino-thumb-520x301-92384jpg-7517a160501587b8\"<\/a>Suffolk Downs<\/strong> will be moving forward … without Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>. The track dropped Caesars like a bad habit<\/a> over the weekend. Caesars tried to make it sound like the decision was its own. Spokesman Stephen Cohen<\/strong> threw a hissy fit, saying the Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> was “attempting to set standards of suitability that are arbitrary, unreasonable and inconsistent with those that exist in every other gaming jurisdiction<\/em>.” Now Mr. Cohen, the MGC had long stated that the fiscal health of a company would be<\/em> a criterion. Business ties to alleged Mob associates (see below<\/em>) also tend to be frowned upon in most jurisdictions. “It\u2019s going to be very difficult for sophisticated, multi-jurisdictional operators to tolerate the environment this commission has created<\/em>,” CEO Gary Loveman<\/strong> responded in a characteristically phrased blast of hydrogen, doubtless feeling umbrage over the rejection from his home state. Industry apologist Roger Gros<\/strong> was also quick to play Chicken Little<\/strong>, wailing that\u00a0\u201cPeople could walk away and [Massachusetts<\/strong>] could end up with second-rate casino companies.\u201d What a load of baloney. There are enough approved, first-tier operators already to ensure that scenario won’t come to pass.\u00a0Two of them, Hard Rock International<\/strong> and Rush Street Gaming<\/strong> are still eligible to play in the Bay State — and Suffolk is talking to both<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Loveman_x220\"<\/a>A lack of due diligence seems to be to blame for the termination of the Gansevoort deal. Money man Arik Kislin<\/strong> is mooted to have ties to Russian organized crime<\/a>. (Ditto Suffolk’s lack of research on Caesars, some say<\/a>.) Whether Caesars didn’t know or knew and didn’t care, either it makes the company look like a carelessly run outfit. In the meantime, Caesars continues to do the only thing it really can: restructure its debt. The latest game of musical chairs was so elaborate it required a 900-page report to explain it<\/a>. Do you think anyone will read the whole thing?\u00a0Caesars tried to palliate Massachusetts by giving Gansevoort the heave-ho<\/a> but the company’s $23.5 billion in debt was just too big to ignore. Loveman has a point when he harrumphs<\/a> that “To apply this kind of standard to what was a trademark license \u2014 a passive business venture unrelated to gaming \u2014 is just extraordinary<\/em>,” but he still comes off sound liking he knew about l’affaire Kislin<\/em><\/a> and didn’t give a tinker’s damn unless forced to. Such a cavalier attitude says much about how Caesars got into this pickle. Caesars’ business relationship with i-gaming exec Mitch Garber<\/strong> also played a role <\/a>in the adverse finding. (How Wynn Resorts<\/strong> and MGM Resorts International<\/strong> finesse their potentially tricky relationships in Macao<\/strong> has already been very interesting to see.)<\/p>\n

A brand-new\u00a0Treasury Department<\/strong>\u00a0investigation into alleged money laundering<\/a>\u00a0would have hammered the last nail into Caesars’ coffin, regardless of other factors. And then there was the\u00a0Terrance Watanabe<\/strong>\u00a0scandal,\u00a0which came back to bite Loveman in the butt<\/a>.\u00a0Suffolk Downs boss Richard Fields<\/strong> now has less than three weeks to find a new operating partner<\/a> before the scheduled, Nov. 5 referendum on the casino, although Boston<\/strong> Mayor Thomas Menino<\/strong> wants the vote postponed.<\/p>\n

Bottom line<\/strong>: There was no shortage of arrows with which the MGC could have shot down Loveman’s hot air balloon. The Gansevoort connection simply happened to be the sharpest.<\/p>\n

“Really far out.”<\/strong> That’s how Steve Wynn<\/strong> describes the research being done on blindness at the University of Iowa<\/strong>, new recipient of his munificence, where mice are now carrying his DNA<\/a>. The mogul bestowed $25 million<\/a> on the school in part to make up for a lack of federal funding. Whatever his reason, anyone with failing eyesight should give Wynn a vote of thinks.<\/p>\n

Dotty’s<\/strong> is taking its storefront-casino model and going on the road. Constrained by a lack of political clout in Nevada<\/strong>, it’s trying to make a go of it in Illinois<\/strong> and the early results look promising<\/a>. Of course, the popularity of slot routes and little, demi-casinos gives the state’s big operators one less reason to be cheerful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Suffolk Downs will be moving forward … without Caesars Entertainment. The track dropped Caesars like a bad habit over the weekend. Caesars tried to make it sound like the decision was its own. Spokesman Stephen Cohen threw a hissy fit, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[165,7,58,37,112,11,91,90,25,92,32,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11862"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29335,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11862\/revisions\/29335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}