{"id":20468,"date":"2017-10-30T10:25:33","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T18:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=20468"},"modified":"2017-10-30T10:25:33","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T18:25:33","slug":"tally-ho-friends-ny-state-casinos-cry-uncle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/tally-ho-friends-ny-state-casinos-cry-uncle\/","title":{"rendered":"Tally-ho, friends!; NY State casinos cry uncle"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Sigma Derby<\/em> games at MGM Grand<\/strong> and The D<\/strong> continue to eke out a perilous existence, getting by on spare parts cannibalized from other machines, they have a new rival. Konami Gaming<\/strong> has taken note of the enduring \"\"popularity of Sigma Derby<\/em> and come up with its own variant, Fortune Cup<\/em>. Konami is also cracking the skill-based-slot market with Frogger: Get Hoppin’<\/em>, to be found at the Green Monster (look for it in the Level Up<\/strong> lounge). That’s just the tip <\/a>of the Konami iceberg. Konami veep Thomas Jingoli<\/strong> pays tribute to Sigma Derby<\/em>, saying, “on any given night, there\u2019s not a seat open. So it certainly brings another dynamic to the casino floor, and our casino customers look at it as potential incremental revenue for their slot floor.\u201d Development of Fortune Cup<\/em> took five years and included such upgrades as a digital video screen providing real-time game updates.\u00a0\u201cAdvanced engineering allows the horses to move flexibly across the track\u2014passing one another, crisscrossing formations, and switching directions with variant speeds,\u201d Jingoli adds. Throw in a progressive jackpot feature and Sigma Derby<\/em> will finally have a true rival for players’ hearts.<\/p>\n

* Faced with inarguably disappointing numbers from New York State<\/strong>‘s new upstate casinos, their champions are pushing a revisionist argument<\/a> that amounts to ‘Wait ’til next year.’ Said financial analyst Frank Fantini<\/strong>, who\u00a0argues that the newcomers \"\"are growing the market, not cannibalizing it, \u201cIt may take 18, 24, even 36 months for them to ramp up to what you\u2019d call their run rate. It will take that long for new customers to visit, sign up for player cards, and get into the database so the casinos can market to them. The numbers a year from now might be closer to the forecast.\u201d They might, but none of the expansion proponents said it would take three years to reach peak business. They said it could be done in one. Besides, Fantini thinks the Washington<\/strong>–Baltimore<\/strong> corridor could absorb another casino (tell that one to Maryland Live<\/strong>), which suggests he doesn’t have his head screwed on straight.<\/p>\n

Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/strong> (D), meanwhile, remains in deep denial.\u00a0\u201cThe variance with the projections doesn\u2019t bother me that much.\u00a0They\u2019ve all been wildly successful in creating jobs and \"\"building beautiful complexes. Now they have actual data; they\u2019ll adjust.\u201d That’s cold comfort to\u00a0in-progress Resorts World Catskills<\/strong>, which heads toward opening knowing almost for certain that revenue will be less that what it was pinning its hopes upon. With the benefit of 20\/20 hindsight, Tioga Downs<\/strong> owner Jeff Gural<\/strong> says, “basically upstate New York is saturated,” throwing the blame on rival Del Lago<\/strong>. \u201cIt\u2019s right in the middle of so many other casinos. It made it hard for them to succeed and hard for me too, because we\u2019re competing for the same customers.” In the meantime he must brace himself for the impact of the Oneida Nation<\/strong>‘s oncoming, $40 million Point Place Casino<\/strong> (500 slots, 20 tables).<\/p>\n

Casino owners are already mewing for lower tax rates (Vernon Downs<\/strong> got one), prompting gambling\u00a0proponent Assemblyman Gary Pretlow<\/strong>\u00a0(D) to respond,\u00a0\u201cYou give a better tax rate, that money doesn\u2019t go to education; it goes to a millionaire,\u00a0Give me a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

* Sports betting is now in the hands of the Supreme Court<\/strong>, so it probably doesn’t matter much what the commissioner of Major League Soccer<\/strong> thinks about it, but we want to thank commish Don Garber<\/strong> for coming out in favor of ‘having a flutter’ on MLS games. \u201cGambling on games, betting on games, is part of the \"\"DNA of football around the world. Go to a game in Chelsea<\/strong> or in Stamford Bridge<\/strong>, somebody\u2019s coming to your seat or in your box with a tout sheet, and you can place a bet,\u201d said Garber, showing a welcome grasp of historical context. His support is all the more valuable now that the NHL<\/strong>‘s Gary Bettman<\/strong>, having just put a team in Las Vegas<\/strong>, has pronounced himself to be an “agnostic” on sports betting, one who hopes SCOTUS upholds the Bradley Act<\/strong>. By contrast, Garber says \u201cI am a big proponent that it\u2019s going to happen, we might as well be in front of it. I think there are great values to our tax revenues to be able to do that, I don\u2019t think we can stop it, so maybe we\u2019d even lead the charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

* A thank-you to International Game Technology<\/strong> for incorporating USB ports<\/a> into its Wheel of Fortune Megatower<\/em>. The upgrade will enable players to recharge their cellphones while not missing a spin of the reels.<\/p>\n

* Another thank-you to Rampart Casino<\/strong>, which is comping \"\"military vets’ meals on Veterans Day<\/strong>. Just don’t leave your service ID at home, troopers.<\/p>\n

* If you happen to be dining in Macao<\/strong> that day, here are some options<\/a> you might wish to consider. Sadly, Tasting Table<\/em> doesn’t mention casino affiliations, if any, so you’ve got to hope your helpful hotel concierge can direct you to Caf\u00e9 Litoral<\/strong> or The 8<\/strong>, depending on whether your tastes are Occidental or Oriental.<\/p>\n

* If World Series<\/strong> games were played in the daytime, where they belong, this 318-minute, 10-inning slugfest<\/a> could be enjoyed by working people, who can hardly be expected to still be watching baseball at half-past one on the East Coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Sigma Derby games at MGM Grand and The D continue to eke out a perilous existence, getting by on spare parts cannibalized from other machines, they have a new rival. Konami Gaming has taken note of the enduring popularity … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[113,155,18,14,120,29,22,230,62,11,101,74,31,8,19,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20468"}],"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=20468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20480,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20468\/revisions\/20480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}