{"id":16552,"date":"2015-08-10T12:00:13","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=16552"},"modified":"2021-12-14T08:53:35","modified_gmt":"2021-12-14T16:53:35","slug":"bluhm-presses-case-in-massachusetts-lawrence-ho-tells-it-like-it-is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/bluhm-presses-case-in-massachusetts-lawrence-ho-tells-it-like-it-is\/","title":{"rendered":"Bluhm presses case in Massachusetts; Lawrence Ho tells it like it is"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite having to wait at least until early next year to start building, a potential Brockton<\/strong> casino could be “up and running by 2018,” sometime in the second quarter, according to Neil Bluhm<\/strong>. “We are shovel-ready to go.” Unfortunately for Bluhm, the sluggish Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> is far from gavel-ready to approve the project. Chairman Stephen Crosby<\/strong> voiced mild skepticism about Bluhm’s financing and the economic viability of the project.<\/p>\n

He also continued to flash some ankle<\/a>, in hopes of getting a\u00a0fantasy competitor into the running.\u00a0\u201cWe want to know what we can get from the commercial markets before we make the final decision on whether \"Baker\"<\/a>to proceed or not,” he rationalized. In other (unsurprising) business, the MGC assented to MGM Resorts International<\/strong>‘s request to postpone MGM Springfield<\/strong> until September 2018. This will cost the state $125 million in taxes on which it was banking but opening the casino while work continues on the adjacent I-91 viaduct would, it is generally agreed, be catastrophic. The Gov. Charlie Baker<\/strong> (R, left<\/em>) administration is optimistic that the viaduct\u00a0can be finished but MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis<\/strong> pointed to the unlikelihood of public works projects<\/a> to finish on schedule. (Casinos, too.)<\/p>\n

* Former dentist Vincent Michael Malfitano<\/strong> underwent some regulatory root canal at the hands of the Nevada Gaming Control Board<\/strong> and came away without the license<\/a> he sought for two small Virginia City<\/strong> casinos. Malfitano evidently didn’t think it pertinent to disclose tax liens or having obstructed a police officer. Would that the NGCB had shown the same discipline to Sam Nazarian<\/strong> as it did to this miscreant.<\/p>\n

* Defying the ordained wisdom of the moment, Melco Crown Entertainment<\/strong> CEO Lawrence<\/strong> Ho<\/strong> says non-gaming attractions will \"Lawrence<\/a>always be a loss-leader<\/a> in Macao<\/strong>. Or, as he puts it, “The cold hard truth is, non-gaming doesn\u2019t make any money and it will never make any money.\u00a0 For all the foolish people out there that think non-gaming is going to save the day, it\u2019s not …\u00a0Unless Macao wants to pick itself up and move to Las Vegas<\/strong>, it\u2019s never going to change.”<\/p>\n

* No matter what comes out of Donald Trump<\/strong>‘s mouth, it seems to be good for business<\/a> at his non-gaming properties … at least if Donald Trump Jr.<\/strong> is to be believed.<\/p>\n

* Illinois<\/strong> may soon have a new casino player at the table, if the Prairie Band Potowatomi Nation<\/strong> can get land taken into trust near Shabbona<\/strong>, making for the state’s first tribal casino<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0DeKalb County<\/strong> has been supportive so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite having to wait at least until early next year to start building, a potential Brockton casino could be “up and running by 2018,” sometime in the second quarter, according to Neil Bluhm. “We are shovel-ready to go.” Unfortunately for … 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":[4,58,94,62,112,93,11,91,25,162,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16552"}],"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=16552"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30470,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16552\/revisions\/30470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}