{"id":20337,"date":"2017-10-13T07:24:13","date_gmt":"2017-10-13T15:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=20337"},"modified":"2018-10-15T09:12:58","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T17:12:58","slug":"ex-cons-working-casino-floors-kansas-casinos-set-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/ex-cons-working-casino-floors-kansas-casinos-set-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-cons working casino floors?; Kansas casinos set record"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’d think casinos in Massachusetts<\/strong>, where job applicants far outnumber available positions, could get by without hiring convicted criminals. Think again. A bill before the Lege would \"\"open a loophole for people with criminal records to hold down jobs in the gaming industry. It’s the brainchild of Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> Chairman Stephen Crosby<\/strong>, who found a receptive ear from Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo<\/strong> (D, left<\/em>). The latter assures reporters that cash-handling jobs would remain off-limits but “whether it be in a parking lot, whether it be in a kitchen, whether it may be in a hotel or whatever it may be,” jobs should be available for the hard to employ.<\/p>\n

In a statement that ought to set off bullshit detectors<\/a> across the Bay State,\u00a0House Ways &\u00a0Means Committee<\/strong> Chairman Jeffrey Sanchez<\/strong>\u00a0(D) painted a picture of a hiring crisis.\u00a0\u201cThis change was necessary because both MGM Casino [sic<\/em>] in Springfield<\/strong> and Wynn Boston Harbor<\/strong> in Everett<\/strong> are currently beginning their hiring processes and current restrictions could impact their ability to be adequately staffed and to fulfill our statutory goal to encourage casino employment of the unemployed, under-employed and also the hard-to-employ,\u201d he said. MGM Springfield<\/strong> and Wynn BoHar understaffed? Pardon me while I fall down laughing.<\/p>\n

* Steve Ruddock<\/strong> sampled the skill-based slots on display at Global Gaming Expo<\/strong> and reviews them in detail<\/a>. ‘Match 3’ games are described as “underwhelming,” with IGT<\/strong>‘s Lucky’s Quest<\/em> getting the harshest notice. By contrast, GameCo<\/strong>‘s Nothing But Net<\/em> is the most highly praised game. Drawing a contrast between the established manufacturers and the upstarts, Ruddock writes, “the larger companies\u2019 skill games reminded me of a blockbuster movie converted to 3D; whereas, the startups\u2019 skill-based games were originally shot in 3D and feel less forced<\/strong>.” (emphasis in original) Incidentally, if you wanted to play IGT’s Mario Kart<\/em>, you had to sign a personal-injury waiver beforehand. How dangerous could a slot machine be?<\/p>\n

* Because Wall Street<\/strong> analysts don’t cover Kansas<\/strong>, insight into its casino revenues is rare. However, last month the state-owned \"\"gaming houses had their best September on record. Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Kansas Star Casino<\/strong> led the pack with $15 million, followed by Penn National Gaming<\/strong>‘s Hollywood Casino<\/strong>\u00a0(pictured<\/em>) at Kansas Speedway<\/strong> ($12 million). Much further back were Boot Hill Casino<\/strong> in Dodge City<\/strong> ($3.5 million) and newbie Kansas Crossing<\/strong> ($2 million).<\/p>\n

* Class III compact newly in hand, Washington State<\/strong>‘s S’Kallam Tribe<\/strong> is setting about exponentially expanding the amenities<\/a> at its 7 Cedars Casino<\/strong>. It will start with the first of a planned three hotel towers, and will also add an RV park, an event center and a spa. The casino itself will be enlarged from 600 slots to 750. The S’Kallam are in no hurry: The tribe has set a 10-year timeline for the project, at a cost of $22 million. The S’Kallam also have state approval to build a second casino, but they’re keeping that ace up their sleeve for the moment.<\/p>\n

* Not so long ago, Azov City<\/strong> was a casino environment so promising that Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> was kicking the tires on it. Now it’s marked for termination<\/a> by Russian tsar Vladimir Putin<\/strong> by 2019. This is prompting much dismay<\/a> for casino operator Maxim Smolentsev<\/strong>. He leaked a letter to\u00a0\u201cdear Vladimir \"\"Vladimirovich,\u201d begging Putin not to close down the Shambala<\/strong> casino (750 slots, 40 table games) and throw its 2,000 employees out of work, to say nothing of losing its $7 million annual gross. Just to be safe,\u00a0Smolentsev is building a $34.5 million casino<\/a> near Vladivostok<\/strong>, joining Lawrence Ho<\/strong> and Cambodian NagaCorp<\/strong>, but he won’t be able to open until late 2019 at best. Ho is already making money hand over fist at Tigre de Cristal<\/strong>, so we don’t understand why Smolentsev is reluctant to open up shop nearby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’d think casinos in Massachusetts, where job applicants far outnumber available positions, could get by without hiring convicted criminals. Think again. A bill before the Lege would open a loophole for people with criminal records to hold down jobs in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60,104,218,7,29,22,45,94,112,93,11,69,33,25,32,8,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337"}],"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=20337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22692,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20337\/revisions\/22692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}