{"id":21163,"date":"2018-02-13T08:04:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T16:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=21163"},"modified":"2018-02-13T08:04:49","modified_gmt":"2018-02-13T16:04:49","slug":"mgms-sincerity-challenged-probe-continues-at-wynncore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgms-sincerity-challenged-probe-continues-at-wynncore\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM’s sincerity challenged; Probe continues at Wynncore"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Is this legislature capable of setting a course and sticking with it?” That’s the very legitimate question posed by the editorial board of The Day<\/em>, with regard to the Lege’s \"\"rather addled behavior<\/a> on whether to stand\u00a0by the satellite casino it authorized in East Windsor<\/strong> or entertain overtures from MGM Resorts International<\/strong>. “There are several problems with following MGM down this primrose path,” opined The Day<\/em>. “MGM’s sincerity in building a Bridgeport<\/strong> casino is much in question. The company has been telling investors <\/a>it is not planning more casinos in the United States<\/strong>. MGM is asking state lawmakers to believe it would make another massive investment not terribly far from Springfield<\/strong> to tap a New York<\/strong> market already saturated.”<\/p>\n

The paper points out that Fairfield County<\/strong> already voted down a casino, albeit two decades ago. Noting that tinkering with the current tribal compacts imperils Connecticut<\/strong>‘s 25% slot-revenue share, The Day describes MGM’s endgame as “really about is derailing the East Windsor casino plan or at least delaying it long enough to get MGM Springfield open and established before Connecticut\u2019s casino operators can muster a response.” As for the stalling of the Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/strong>, the paper \"\"suggests lawmakers amend the enabling legislation to cut the BIA out of the loop. As for MGM’s complaint that it wasn’t allowed to bid on the Hartford<\/strong> area, the paper cuts to the quick, noting that the company was forbidden from building within such proximity to Springfield due to its preexisting Massachusetts<\/strong> license. As much as we admire the quality of MGM’s resorts, we have to agree with The Day<\/em> and suggest that Nutmeg State solons grow a spine.<\/p>\n

As for MGM, it continues to bet the house<\/a> on Japan<\/strong>. Last week, Executive Vice President for Global Development Ed Bowers<\/strong> gave a speech in which he warned about excessively cautious casino development in Nippon.\u00a0\u201cFor political reasons, you end up inserting different things that result in unintended consequences \u2013 such as if you apply too much pressure, a high tax rate, high entry free, or limit to the floor space. As you push one lever, it may have repercussions on other areas,\u201d he cautioned. Such rival suitors as Hard Rock International<\/strong> and Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> also spoke at the session, which was politely conducted and didn’t descend into fisticuffs, no matter how badly anyone is slavering for a piece of the Japanese pie.<\/p>\n

* Wynn Resorts<\/strong> made two announcements of consequence in an SEC<\/strong> filing. It said it \"\"would be enlarging its board of directors (no nominations yet) and that the internal investigation that helped speed Steve Wynn<\/strong>‘s departure would continue<\/a>. The company said it \u201cwill conduct an expanded and comprehensive review of Wynn Resorts’ internal policies and procedures with the goal of ensuring the company employs best practices to maintain a safe and respectful workplace for all employees.\u201d We’re glad to hear it.<\/p>\n

* Florida<\/strong> lawmakers are getting closer to compromise on an omnibus gaming bill. Both the House and Senate have agreed against allowing “pre-reveal” slot machines and both appear ready to ratify the Seminole Tribe<\/strong>‘s 20-year compact with the state. However, the state Senate favors “designated-player” card games, which are a kind of house-banked \"\"card game in drag and which the Seminoles oppose as an infringement upon their compacted monopoly. Legislators in the upper house hope to entice the Seminoles into acquiescence with exclusivity on roulette and craps for the next two decades. Meanwhile a ballot drive backed by the Seminole\/Disney<\/strong> odd couple to take gaming policy out of the Lege’s hands and give it to local communities is polling 76% in favor, so if lawmakers are going to do anything sweeping they’d better get it done by election time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* Myanmar<\/strong> may be the next country to evolve into a casino destination.\u201cAlthough casinos are banned under the current gambling law, the concerned ministry has no objection against them,\u201d said Ohn Maung<\/strong> of the Ministry for Hotels & Tourism<\/strong>. They would be tourist-only casino<\/a>s in the country’s resort areas. Added parliamentarian Aung Hlaing Win<\/strong>, \u201cThere are very good businesses in Macao<\/strong> and Singapore<\/strong>. Our country has large sum of foreign debt that we need to pay back. We need to find solutions to make money for the debt. Casinos could be a major source of income.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Is this legislature capable of setting a course and sticking with it?” That’s the very legitimate question posed by the editorial board of The Day, with regard to the Lege’s rather addled behavior on whether to stand\u00a0by the satellite casino … 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":[26,166,165,7,22,171,62,11,167,33,25,232,108,31,233],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21163"}],"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=21163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21166,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21163\/revisions\/21166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}