{"id":18203,"date":"2016-05-03T12:32:56","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T20:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18203"},"modified":"2016-05-03T12:32:56","modified_gmt":"2016-05-03T20:32:56","slug":"wampanoags-patience-rewarded-march-mildness-at-vegas-sports-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wampanoags-patience-rewarded-march-mildness-at-vegas-sports-books\/","title":{"rendered":"Wampanoags’ patience rewarded; March Mildness at Vegas sports books"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those who set store by the fable of the tortoise and the hare can take heart from the saga of the Mashpee Wampanoag<\/strong>. It took them a long time to get their act together, federal land-in-trust approval seemed unlikely and it looked as though they’d never find a way \"Tauntonaround Carcieri v. Salazar<\/em>. But the prevailed time and again, and now are poised to build a Class III casino, having already compacted with Massachusetts<\/strong>, which stands to collect 17% of gross gaming revenues if the Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> rubber-stamps what is now a fait accompli<\/em>. The MGC could argue that Region C is saturated with gambling and not issue a license, but that’s just taking bread off the state’s plate and I don’t see gaming commissioners doing that. Besides, it’s not like the Mashpee Wampanoag haven’t worked hard to earn their seat<\/a> at the table.<\/p>\n

Plans for Project First Light<\/strong> include no fewer than three hotels (one with a water park), retail and dining — of course — and a casino with 3,000 slots, 150 table games, plus 40 tables’ worth of poker. Concludes The Cape Cod Times<\/em>, “Today, the gambling landscape in Massachusetts looks the way the Legislature drew it up \u2014 two full-fledged casinos in distinct regions, a tribal casino in Southeastern Massachusetts and a single-slot parlor.” So chalk one up in the ‘win’ column for former Gov. Deval Patrick<\/strong>, whose vision of gambling for Massachusetts ultimately panned out.<\/p>\n

\"Crosby\"\u201cThere\u2019s one critical variable in play and that\u2019s does the tribe produce the product that it has promised to produce.\u00a0If it does, I would guess that the commission would feel very satisfied with the way things worked out,\u201d cautioned MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby<\/strong>.\u00a0\u201cIf the tribe isn\u2019t able to do anything, whether it\u2019s because of the [Brockton<\/strong>] lawsuit or something else, then we will have made a mistake. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s likely, but it\u2019s a possibility. I just kept wrestling with how much can we count on the tribe\u2019s commitment?\u201d Oh, I think their commitment has been tested and proved sufficient.<\/p>\n

* A group of California<\/strong> congressman are taking the issue of off-reservation gaming to the federal level. Led by Rep. Doug LaMalfa<\/strong> (R), they’ve introduced the California Compact Protect Act<\/strong>. It would allow voters to have the final say<\/a> on whether off-\"LaMalfa\"reservation casinos would be sited in their locality. LaMalfa says he is preserving “the tribal-state compact process authorized by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act<\/strong> [to] ensure that all tribes are on a level playing field.\u201d \u201cUnder the disingenuous banner of \u2018protecting compacts and tribes,\u2019 this bill does neither \u2014 except perhaps protect the interests of a few rich gaming tribes who have long enjoyed the benefits of gaming and are now using this shameful 11th-hour attempt to stop competition by our tribe that has worked for more than a decade to comply with every requirement of federal law,\u201d replied Enterprise Rancheria<\/strong> Chairwoman Glenda Nelson<\/strong>. The inciting incident was a federal judge’s ruling that the state had to negotiate a compact with the North Fork Rancheria<\/strong>, even though voters in the area had rejected the previous compact in 2014. The federal-level proxy fight will be an acid test of whether remotely located tribes can establish casinos closer to the action — and perhaps settle the issue of “reservation shopping.”<\/p>\n

* Thanks to a bubble in sports betting in March 2015, Nevada<\/strong> sports books took it on the chin<\/a> two months ago, down 48% to $10 million. The numbers were made worse by football bettors who waited until March to collect $13 million in winnings. Other significant variables in the casino were a 17% decline in craps revenue, 18% higher winnings in roulette and 19% more in three-card poker. Mini-baccarat winning rose 12% but Let It Ride fell 13%. Bingo, although a small number on the balance sheet, plummeted\u00a035%.<\/p>\n

* Few readers have probably heard of Muckleshoot Casino<\/strong>, in Washington State<\/strong>. But it’s definitely on the map, having held a Guinness World Records<\/strong>-certified, largest-ever slot tournament<\/a>. Some 3,173 players participated in the 13-hour tourney, with top winner “Benigno T<\/strong>.” taking home $21,000 and a four-night berth in Las Vegas<\/strong> for Everi\u2019s TournEvent of Champions on Sept. 28. (Everi<\/strong> used to be known as Global Cash Access<\/strong>.) The recognition accorded Muckleshoot shows the long way it has come from being games held in sprung structure. Now let’s see if Vegas can hold a slot tournament that outdraws Muckleshoot mania.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those who set store by the fable of the tortoise and the hare can take heart from the saga of the Mashpee Wampanoag. It took them a long time to get their act together, federal land-in-trust approval seemed unlikely and … 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":[34,14,140,112,33,25,74,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18203"}],"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=18203"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18203\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18207,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18203\/revisions\/18207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}