{"id":14864,"date":"2014-10-27T13:06:28","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T21:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=14864"},"modified":"2014-10-27T13:06:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-27T21:06:28","slug":"n-y-accentuate-the-negative-sheldons-change-of-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/n-y-accentuate-the-negative-sheldons-change-of-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"N.Y.: Accentuate the negative; Sheldon’s change of heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe economy is so depressed around here, anything is a plus.\u00a0That\u2019s how bad it is around here.\u201d With that backhanded endorsement, the owner of Pepe’s Bar-B-Q<\/strong> in Binghamton<\/strong>, N.Y., gave his blessing to casinos in the area. In order to make their case \"Traditions\"<\/a>to the casino-siting board, Binghamton city fathers have had to accentuate the negative, pointing to their cities’ high poverty rate (31%) and leading status in depression, obesity and pessimism. The Binghamton area appears likely to get at least one casino — but where? Tioga Downs<\/strong> already has VLTs, so upgrading it to a full-service casino might seem redundant. Traditions at the Glen<\/strong>\u00a0(above<\/em>) at least has the resort atmosphere that New York State<\/strong> seems to want in its casinos. Those are just two of the projects<\/a> jostling for advantage in the casino-selection process.<\/p>\n

Virtually all of the casino proposals are near the ivy-clad groves of academe, a turn of events upon which some frown<\/a>. \u201cWe do not need a casino within a short drive to distract and attract our \u2026 college students who, all over this country, are already burdened with monumental student debt,\u201d harrumphed one professor, Traditions, for instance, would be\u00a0three\u00a0miles from Binghamton University<\/strong> and six\u00a0from Broome Community College<\/strong>. This means a tranche of 21-and-over\u00a0players and potential employees to draw upon. (The runaway success of a new Dave & Buster’s<\/strong> is cited as precedent.) Broome College is already offering a casino-management learning track.<\/p>\n

Rush Street Gaming<\/strong> has vowed it wouldn’t market to college students in the Schenectady<\/strong> area, in keeping with company policy. By contrast, Hard Rock International<\/strong>‘s Albany<\/strong> proposal would be aggressively positioned for\u00a0millennials for its concerts and other amenities. Given the state’s sensitivity to underage gambling, that may not be the message Albany wants to hear.<\/p>\n

* Once kicked to the curb by its parent company, Sands Bethlehem<\/strong> is now a point of pride. It has the biggest workforce of any casino in Pennsylvania<\/strong>, routinely leads in table game revenue and comps<\/a>\u00a0($143 million).\u00a0It’s raking in over $1 million a day. Its \"bethlehem\"<\/a>amenities are music to the ears of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board<\/strong>, which calls Sands Bethlehem “what the board intended when it was deciding who should get the limited number of licenses.”\u00a0Only Parx Casino<\/strong>, in the greater Philadelphia<\/strong> area, gives Sheldon Adelson<\/strong>‘s property a run for its money and even Parx can’t come close to Sands’ $177 million a year haul at the tables, fed by 50 busloads a day of New York City<\/strong> gamblers. Even the opening of Resorts World New York<\/strong> has failed to dent Sands’ firmly entrenched position. Adelson, who once characterized the investment as a mistake now says,\u00a0“Our property in Bethlehem<\/strong> is probably one of the most profitable \u2026 casinos of all the hundreds of casinos in local markets.\u00a0It’s probably one of the most profitable, if not the most profitable.” Gaming revenue in Pennsylvania slipped 3% in 2013, but Sands Bethlehem can afford a little attrition better than its competitors.<\/p>\n

* Hell is being a juror on the year-long<\/a> Harmon Hotel<\/strong> construction-defects trial.<\/p>\n

* Illinois<\/strong> casinos had the opportunity to block slot routes in the Land of Lincoln and they blew it. So now they’re losing business to an 18,000-machine industry that is estimated to be producing $180 million in taxes. There’s no going back from numbers like those. Small businesses in small towns are reporting their success stories<\/a> and the extra video-game revenue is obviously making a positive difference for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been a blessing for most everybody,\u201d says Michael Gelatka<\/strong>, president of the\u00a0Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association<\/strong>. He’d get an argument from Illinois Casino Gaming Association<\/strong> Executive Director Tom Swoik<\/strong>, who laments,\u00a0\u201cI think there is a lot of cannibalization.\u201d But how could Swoik have failed to anticipate this development? A baby could have seen it coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe economy is so depressed around here, anything is a plus.\u00a0That\u2019s how bad it is around here.\u201d With that backhanded endorsement, the owner of Pepe’s Bar-B-Q in Binghamton, N.Y., gave his blessing to casinos in the area. In order to … 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":[56,14,172,165,58,11,91,101,95,12,92,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14864"}],"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=14864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14865,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14864\/revisions\/14865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}