{"id":18041,"date":"2016-04-05T12:10:04","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T20:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18041"},"modified":"2016-04-05T12:10:04","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T20:10:04","slug":"genting-comes-to-massachusetts-trump-impasse-on-the-strip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/genting-comes-to-massachusetts-trump-impasse-on-the-strip\/","title":{"rendered":"Genting comes to Massachusetts; Trump impasse on the Strip"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the Mashpee Wampanoag<\/strong> were preparing to break ground on Project First Light<\/strong>, halfway around the world Genting Malaysia<\/strong> was revealing the details of its management \"Tauntoncontract with the tribe. Genting holds a seven-year pact, by way of its Genting Massachusetts<\/strong> unit, subject to National Indian Gaming Commission<\/strong> approval.\u201cWe will operate the casino while helping to build up the capacity of the tribe to operate it themselves. Our role is to work ourselves out of a job on behalf of the tribe,\u201d Genting Massachusetts President Kevin C. Jones<\/strong> told Bay State regulators.\u201cGenting is putting up millions and millions and millions, and has never stopped believing in our goal,\u201d added tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell<\/strong>, in case you wondered where the construction money was coming from. The tribe has put up $249.5 million in I.O.Us to Genting<\/a>\u00a0. The casino won’t be modest, covering 150,000 square feet, 150 table games, a 40-table poker room and 3,000 slots. The Mashpee Wampanoag are fast-tracking the casino, with an eye toward a June 2017 opening<\/a>. That would give them a huge head start on Wynn Boston Harbor<\/strong> and cut into the three uncontested years Penn National Gaming<\/strong> thought it would have at Plainridge Park<\/strong>. If the race is to the swift, you have to like the Mashpee Wampanoag’s chances.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts<\/strong> voters will likely be voting this November on whether or not to open the state to a second slot parlor, assuming the Legislature’s\u00a0Committee on Economic Development<\/strong> approves the petition before it<\/a>. If not, slot-parlor proponents will have to hit the bricks again and gather more signatures. It won’t be a free-for-all if the initiative passes: It would mandate that the slot parlors be located near a horse track<\/a>, limiting the options to Suffolk Downs<\/strong> (the likeliest location) and Plainridge Park<\/strong>, where Penn National already has a racino. Although legislators thought they had contained the Bay State gaming industry to two or three casinos and a slot parlor, a ballot question, a ballot question there and Massachusetts could be one of the biggest growth markets in the gaming industry.<\/p>\n

* Donald Trump<\/strong> is at war with the National Labor Relations Board<\/strong> again. After \"Trumpgoing 0-for-13 in objections to a pro-Culinary Union<\/strong> vote last December at Trump International<\/strong>, the mogul and Phil Ruffin<\/strong> are expected to appeal<\/a>. Trump has a history of opposing union elections at his Atlantic City<\/strong> casinos — while he still had them. At present, Trump International employees have to pick up the tab on their health insurance. A Culinary contract would transfer that onus to Trump and Ruffin, as well as requiring them to pay into the Culinary’s pension fund. And if the Trump International employees were working at Ruffin’s Treasure Island<\/strong>, for instance, they’d be getting $3.33 an hour more. Expect this battle to be dragged out until every avenue of appeal has been exhausted.<\/p>\n

* \u201cI’m confident that in the next three to five years, we’re going to see legalized sports betting … Just because you have a law that says it’s illegal doesn’t mean it stops. Prohibition we’ve found in this country doesn’t work very well. It certainly doesn’t work \"Geoff_Freeman\"with sports betting. The next president is going to have that issue of legalizing sports betting on their desk, and I’m confident they will make the right decision,\u201d predicted American Gaming Association<\/strong> President Geoff Freeman<\/strong>\u00a0(left<\/em>) this week. Perhaps he has looked into his crystal ball and seen a Trump presidency. Who knows? But with most of the major-league commissioners softening their stances against sports betting (the NCAA<\/strong> is another story), the climate will soon be propitious for revisiting this issue.\u201cIt’s time. It’s going to occur, there’s no doubt in my mind,\u201d added Ohio University<\/strong> casino expert Alan Silver<\/strong>, seconding the AGA prexy, noting that the Professional &\u00a0Amateur Sports Protection Act<\/strong> was “a terribly failed law.” Freeman also advocated less government in terms of the IRS<\/strong> using player cards to snoop on John Q. Public’s casino winnings. He also re-registered his objection to lowering the winnings-reporting requirement from $1,200 to $600. We agree with Freeman across the board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the Mashpee Wampanoag were preparing to break ground on Project First Light, halfway around the world Genting Malaysia was revealing the details of its management contract with the tribe. Genting holds a seven-year pact, by way of its Genting … 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":[151,42,26,120,174,112,69,119,74,32,31,9,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18041"}],"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=18041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18043,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18041\/revisions\/18043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}