{"id":18367,"date":"2016-06-13T16:24:34","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T00:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=18367"},"modified":"2016-06-13T16:24:34","modified_gmt":"2016-06-14T00:24:34","slug":"more-gridlock-in-california-caesars-ownership-ups-the-ante-sorta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/more-gridlock-in-california-caesars-ownership-ups-the-ante-sorta\/","title":{"rendered":"More gridlock in California; Caesars ownership ups the ante … sorta"},"content":{"rendered":"

California<\/strong> lawmakers’ push for legalized i-gaming appears to run into an insuperable obstacle. Just when it looked like state Rep. Adam Gray<\/strong> had devised language that would \"Adamtap-dance around<\/a> the “bad actor” issue, the\u00a0Pechanga Band of Luise\u00f1o Indians<\/strong> and Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians<\/strong>, along with their allies, wrote him to say, “we regret that your amendments related to suitability standards and taxation force us to oppose the bill.\u201d This returns us to a familiar impasse<\/a> in California, dividing the supporters of PokerStars<\/strong> (Gray’s allies) from those for whom PokerStars is toxic. Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro<\/strong> basically called upon PokerStars’ adherents to abandon it:\u00a0\u201cWe have made concessions. Racing has made concessions. It\u2019s time for the other group to make meaningful concessions if they truly want iPoker legalized in California,\u201d he wrote. In case anybody didn’t the message, he added,\u00a0\u201cOur position is rooted in shaping policy that protects tribal rights, not give a boost to the stock prices of publicly traded companies desperate to get iPoker at any cost.\u201d Publicly traded companies? Trying to peddle iPoker? Nah, doesn’t sound like anybody we know.<\/p>\n

* Now that even first-tier bondholders are balking at Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>‘s emergence-from-bankruptcy plan, owners Apollo Global Management<\/strong> and Texas Pacific Group<\/strong> are making noises about sweetening the pot. An adviser to the private equity firms said Apollo’s Marc Rowan<\/strong> and David Sambur<\/strong>, and TPG’s David Bonderman<\/strong> “may make a contribution” to a settlement amount if it makes those fraudulent-transfer issues go away<\/a>. \u201cI think it\u2019s possible that they may participate in the contribution,\u201d said a rapidly equivocating Caesars flunky. It’s not even clear if the executives are opening their thick wallets or will require their investors\u00a0to make financial amends. Why anyone should trust Caesars at this point was a question left unasked. Rowan has already taken one bullet for Caesars, resigning from its board after a court-appointed examiner identified $5.1 billion in fraudulent conveyances. He, Sambur and Bonderman have good reason to fear litigation, as news reports indicate that adverse judgments could pull Apollo and TPG into the bankruptcy void alongside Caesars.<\/p>\n

* Despite having been hung out to dry on its big Miami<\/strong> real estate play, Genting Group<\/strong> is getting some of its investment back<\/a>. The little-known Value Adjustment Board<\/strong> of Miami-Dade County<\/strong> marked down three years’ worth of property-tax assessments on \"Gentingthe land, including a 33% discount on 2012’s assessment. Site pollution and height restrictions were cited as contributing factors. According to the Miami Herald<\/em>, “The reductions have come at a time when Miami-Dade land costs have soared to historic highs.” Required to refund $2,322,434 to Resorts World Miami<\/strong>, the county isn’t taking it down and has filed a trio of lawsuits. Genting has countersued but the combatants have not yet crossed swords in court. Genting is also suing to be allowed card games and slots in a former Omni<\/strong> hotel it owns adjacent to the Resorts World site. It’s a big comedown from Genting’s former, grandiose plans for the area but it’s got to monetize its real estate holdings somehow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California lawmakers’ push for legalized i-gaming appears to run into an insuperable obstacle. Just when it looked like state Rep. Adam Gray had devised language that would tap-dance around the “bad actor” issue, the\u00a0Pechanga Band of Luise\u00f1o Indians and Agua … 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":[34,36,120,7,178,33,31,20,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18367"}],"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=18367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18368,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18367\/revisions\/18368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}