{"id":19809,"date":"2017-06-07T09:31:47","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T17:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=19809"},"modified":"2017-06-07T09:40:02","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T17:40:02","slug":"mgm-caesars-join-forces-a-casino-in-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-caesars-join-forces-a-casino-in-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM, Caesars join forces; A casino in Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-14789\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Borgata_ac.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Borgata_ac.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Borgata_ac-150x112.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><br \/>\nThere&#8217;s intrigue surrounding <strong>Atlantic City<\/strong>&#8216;s <strong>H-Tract<\/strong>, which separates <strong>Borgata<\/strong> from <strong>Harrah&#8217;s Resort<\/strong>. That&#8217;s adjacent to 15 acres of land <strong>Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> has never developed. MGM Resorts International, for its part, has acreage which it has tried and failed to sell, so we know it&#8217;s trying to monetize the site. With all that land lying around unused, Caesars and MGM <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressofatlanticcity.com\/news\/breaking\/could-atlantic-city-s-h-tract-be-home-to-a\/article_d2649d98-bbb5-5e09-a03f-959289315cb6.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">are putting their heads together<\/a>, trying to dream up a joint venture. Anything connected with <strong>Borgata<\/strong> turns to gold, so MGM&#8217;s interest in explicable but Caesars&#8217; desire for higher exposure in Atlantic City is <!--more-->less understandable. This is a company that decided it had too much inventory on the Atlantic City market and closed &#8212; and later sold &#8212; the <strong>Showboat<\/strong>. We wish both companies well but this is a bit of a head-scratcher. Still, it is good to see MGM and Caesars taking <strong>Hard Rock International<\/strong> CEO <strong>Jim Allen<\/strong>&#8216;s advice and working together instead of at cross-purposes.<\/p>\n<p>We know one thing the new partners <em>aren&#8217;t<\/em> going to,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t want to lead anyone to believe that we\u2019re going to build another casino and connect that, at least in the near term. But we have an awful lot of land,&#8221; said MGM General Counsel <strong>John McManus<\/strong> last year. Instead, he floated the idea of something like <strong>The Park<\/strong> just off the <strong>Las Vegas Strip<\/strong>. They&#8217;ve also not ruled out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pressofatlanticcity.com\/news\/breaking\/mgm-and-caesars-look-to-partner-on-atlantic-city-project\/article_ed8c1b08-a5e9-5727-98af-4c93e1705ceb.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">doing something along the Boardwalk<\/a>. Hey, maybe <strong>Glenn Straub<\/strong> can get <strong>Jim Murren<\/strong> and <strong>Mark Frissora<\/strong> to extricate him from <strong>Revel<\/strong>. It comes cheap.<\/p>\n<p>* A casino could be opening in <strong>Cuba<\/strong> &#8230; Cuba, <strong>Missouri<\/strong>, that is. A provision in the <strong>Indian Gaming &amp; Regulation Act<\/strong> enables the <strong>Osage Nation<\/strong> to <a href=\"http:\/\/themissouritimes.com\/41275\/american-gaming-association-touts-benefits-show-state-osage-seek-new-casino\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">build a casino anywhere in Missouri<\/a> (because the entire state has been identified as their ancestral territory). The tribe is eyeing three sites but Cuba is at the head of the list, partly because it is the home to a monument to Osage warriors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAm I counting on it? We\u2019re not there yet. The governor has to bless this to move it forward,&#8221; said <strong>Cuba Development Group<\/strong> President <strong>Dennis Roedemeier<\/strong>. Meanwhile, Chief <strong>Geoffrey Standing Bear<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.osagenews.org\/en\/article\/2017\/01\/09\/standing-bear-reveals-possible-gaming-sites-missouri-gaming-enterprise-board\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"broken_link\">is juggling possible sites<\/a>, including Cuba, <strong>Kimberling City<\/strong> and along <strong>I-44<\/strong>. He&#8217;s also mulling whether to go small, say, 400 slot machines or as big as a half-billion-dollar facility. The addition of a Missouri casino would also relieve some of the pressure faced by the tribe in the <strong>Tulsa<\/strong> area, where it has to compete with two other tribal casinos. As for us, we can&#8217;t wait to file stories reading, &#8220;Dateline Cuba.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>* In a particularly onerous move, the State of<strong> Connecticut<\/strong> is proposing to impose <a href=\"http:\/\/www.yankeeinstitute.org\/2017\/06\/casino-workers-would-pay-more-in-state-licensing-fees-than-casino-developer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a $40\/year licensing fee<\/a> on anyone applying for a gaming-related position. We realize that a gaming license is a privileged position but putting a fee on a job applicant goes a step too far, to our way of thinking. (Gaming vendors would pay even steeper levies under the proposal.) Meanwhile, <strong>Foxwoods Resort Casino<\/strong> and <strong>Mohegan Sun<\/strong> are getting off scot-free in their quest for a satellite casino. No licensing fee for them. There are 241 job categories in Connecticut that require licensure, so job seekers in the Nutmeg State have our sympathy.<\/p>\n<p>* <strong>Kong Linghui<\/strong>, a former Olympian, owes $329,000 to <strong>Marina Bay Sands<\/strong> and <strong>Sheldon Adelson<\/strong> is trying to sue Linghui to get the money. Too bad, we say &#8212; not just because Adelson is a jerk but <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-16877\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Marina-Bay-Sands-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Marina-Bay-Sands-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Marina-Bay-Sands-150x95.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Marina-Bay-Sands.jpg 625w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/why-singapores-casinos-cant-collect-from-the-high-rollers-of-china-2017-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he had every reason to know\u00a0this sort of thing could happen<\/a> when he went into <strong>Singapore<\/strong> but started courting his-risk Chinese VIPs with eyes open. Linghui is small potatoes compared to <strong>DMG Entertainment<\/strong> Chairman <strong>Xiao Wenge<\/strong>, who owes $12 million. The problem is compounded by a slippage in Singapore casino play. Quite simply, you can&#8217;t enforce unpaid markers in <strong>China<\/strong>, which makes for some disgruntled casino execs. And with only three junket operators licensed in Singapore, casino execs can&#8217;t sicc junketeers on deadbeat VIP and whatever happens, happens.<\/p>\n<p>* Trickle-down economics <a href=\"http:\/\/triblive.com\/aande\/gambling\/12363688-74\/aspinwall-firms-growth-shows-casinos-broad-economic-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">are alive and well<\/a> at <strong>Pennsylvania<\/strong> casinos, praise be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There&#8217;s intrigue surrounding Atlantic City&#8216;s H-Tract, which separates Borgata from Harrah&#8217;s Resort. That&#8217;s adjacent to 15 acres of land Caesars Entertainment has never developed. MGM Resorts International, for its part, has acreage which it has tried and failed to sell, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-caesars-join-forces-a-casino-in-cuba\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,166,165,7,11,39,167,25,12,108,31,9,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19809"}],"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=19809"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19814,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19809\/revisions\/19814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}