{"id":15572,"date":"2015-02-20T15:21:29","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T23:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=15572"},"modified":"2015-02-23T12:41:25","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T20:41:25","slug":"caesars-foe-now-its-bff-suffolk-downs-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/caesars-foe-now-its-bff-suffolk-downs-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"Caesars foe now its BFF; Suffolk Downs returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considering that it is the owner of Caesars Interactive<\/strong> and WSOP.com<\/strong>, one would hardly expect Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> to welcome PokerStars<\/strong> back to the U.S. market. But that is \"caesarscasino_1\"<\/a>precisely what it has done<\/a>, proclaiming that\u00a0“we need to focus on where our opposition really lies, and clearly it’s not Amaya<\/strong> and PokerStars. They are a strong ally in the space.” Amaya spokesman Eric Hollreiser<\/strong> returned the compliment<\/a>, saying,\u00a0“Amaya and Caesars have enjoyed a very good relationship and business partnership for a number of years.” Ah, there’s nothing like the threat of Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> to bring competitors together.<\/p>\n

Caesars’ Jan Jones Blackhurst<\/strong> praised Amaya for a “total cleansing” of PokerStars. She also hinted that the latter’s customer base wasn’t the threat it once was, PokerStars having been out of the U.S. market for three-plus years. “So the issues that were issues before we just don’t see as negatives now.” Implying that the rapprochement was nothing new, Blackhurst noted that Caesars and Amaya were collaborators in New Jersey<\/strong> (where Gov. Chris Christie<\/strong>‘s alleged interference with PokerStars continues to raise a stink<\/a>) and that Caesars has been working with PokerStars since 2009 on federal legalization.<\/p>\n

Caesars and Amaya will be pursuing a two-track strategy, continuing their federal efforts but also promoting legalization in states like New York<\/strong> and Pennsylvania<\/strong>. (In California<\/strong>, Caesars is letting tribal casinos shape the debate.) As for a rumored sale of the World Series of Poker<\/strong> to PokerStars, “Right now that’s not a consideration.”<\/p>\n

* Reports of the (self-proclaimed) demise of Suffolk Downs<\/strong> may turn out to have been greatly exaggerated<\/a>. The\u00a0New England Horsemen\u2019s Benevolent &\u00a0Protective \"suffolk<\/a>Association<\/strong>\u00a0wants to lease the track and “we have a meeting of the minds,\u201d says negotiator Louis Raffetto Jr<\/strong>. But it’s contingent on speedy legislative action and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo<\/strong> (D) doesn’t sound like he intends to be hurried.<\/p>\n

What the two parties to the deal want is a widening of the loophole whereby a portion casino revenues are redirected to fatten horseracing purses. Their demand, according to the Boston Globe<\/em>, is “broadening the allowable uses of that fund, to go beyond purses and to include expenses such as leasing the track.” The Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> is not unsympathetic but, unlike the Lege, wants speedy action from the horsemen.<\/p>\n

* Kentucky<\/strong>‘s\u00a0Senate Licensing, Occupations & Administrative Regulations Committee<\/strong> voted to ban credit card usage in the Bluegrass State’s new Internet<\/strong> lottery, dealing the latter a blow before it has even launched. In an effort to help retailers, bill sponsor \"Higdon\"<\/a>state Sen. Jimmy Higdon<\/strong> (R, right<\/em>), has expressed a preference for buying tickets with prepaid debit cards.\u00a0“Buying tickets online is a direct competition to those retailers who have sold lottery tickets for years,” he explained.<\/p>\n

Lottery President Arch Gleason<\/strong> argued that the lottery stood to lose $12 million were credit cards banned, in part because Internet players represent a different demographic from those who buy tickets in stores. Some legislators, like state Sen. Paul Hornback<\/strong> (R), worried about the inability to control behavior if credit cards were permitted. “I’m still not satisfied that through the lottery board that you all are going to control the amount of play they have when they just have a credit card they call in with,” he fretted.<\/p>\n

Gleason replied that computer programs could limit expenditures better than retailers could. He also pointed out that the ban was a double-edged sword<\/a>, forbidding retailers to sell tickets via credit card. Provided you log on from within Kentucky, consumers from any adjoining state can play.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the\u00a0Senate Committee on Licensing, Occupations &\u00a0Administrative Regulations<\/strong> approved a bill outlawing those vexing creatures<\/a>, Internet-sweepstakes cafes. The thought that these establishments were hurting charitable bingo play was sufficient to motivate a unanimous vote. Those charitable establishments were handed another present by the committee, which voted to permit the use of electronic pull-tabs. These, it was argued, would appeal to younger players and, by cutting down on the use of paper, be more eco-friendly.<\/p>\n

It nice to think that Bluegrass State solons are thinking about keeping Kentucky greener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Considering that it is the owner of Caesars Interactive and WSOP.com, one would hardly expect Caesars Entertainment to welcome PokerStars back to the U.S. market. But that is precisely what it has done, proclaiming that\u00a0“we need to focus on where … 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":[23,34,7,67,37,116,112,101,95,178,33,25,12,20,132],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572"}],"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=15572"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15580,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15572\/revisions\/15580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}