{"id":27528,"date":"2020-07-15T10:19:30","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T18:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=27528"},"modified":"2020-07-15T10:19:32","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T18:19:32","slug":"slot-routes-feel-sisolaks-wrath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/slot-routes-feel-sisolaks-wrath\/","title":{"rendered":"Slot routes feel Sisolak’s wrath"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even after they were ordered to enforce mask-wearing or else, some casinos continue to flout the rules. Clark County<\/strong> conducted 1,600 inspections and found deficiencies at Silverton<\/strong>, an absence of social distancing at the Aria<\/strong> pool and no effort being made to even try<\/a> to socially distance patrons at the Mandalay Bay<\/strong> pool. Over at Venelazzo<\/strong>, ice cream parlor Cocolini<\/strong> was discovered operating without a business permit (!), an extraordinary oversight for landlord Las Vegas Sands<\/strong>. A Grand Canal Shoppes<\/strong> outlet of Subway<\/strong> was flouting mask-wearing requirements, as were sundry other restaurants around town. It’s difficult to know what it’s going to take for business like these to get serious about Covid-19<\/strong>, short of people dropping dead in the streets, God forbid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slot route operators are not merely sulking at being shut down<\/a> through July 24 by the state. They’re filing suit<\/a>. After all, some of them derive 50% of their revenue from bar-top gambling, which is now nixed<\/a>. (It’s not like people are coming for the food.) Huffed one marketing manager, \u201cWe see that casinos are still having the ability to be open and function and we feel we did everything we were asked to do and we\u2019re trying to figure out why we\u2019re being targeted.\u201d To which Gov. Steve Sisolak<\/strong> (D) would reply, \u201cWe know that Covid-19 can easily spread when people are congregating for long periods of time, like inside a bar. In states where we have seen significant spikes, such as Arizon<\/strong>a, Texas<\/strong>, and Florida<\/strong>, they have all taken actions to roll back bars.\u201d Lax conduct at those casino pools and gyms has also put them<\/a> in Sisolak’s cross-hairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

It’s not like the slot routes haven’t brought this upon themselves. Under half of those inspected by Nevada OSHA<\/strong> were found to be in compliance with state health-safety rules. The overall compliance rate for businesses was a sorry 79%<\/a>. The Silver State can (and should) do better. And if you don’t, there’s a $134,940 fine waiting for you. Incur enough of those and we’ll be talking about real money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On a happier note, sports books in New Jersey<\/strong> generated a boffo $165 million in handle in June. The amount took analysts by surprise, particularly in “a typically slow month.” The $126 million in handle generated by sports other than baseball, basketball or football was described as “shocking.” And even with the major leagues idle, futures betting was strong. Said analyst Eric Ramsey<\/strong>, “Futures will continue to gain steam, fueled by pent-up demand, as the opening of baseball, basketball, and hockey nears. If plans continue to move forward, July and August should produce a significant leap.” As for online casinos, they raked in $85 million. This inspired MGM Resorts International<\/strong> to announce a $250 million investment in its GVC Holdings<\/strong>-powered platform. Golden Nugget<\/strong> led all casinos with $29 million in win. At the risk of stating the obvious, analyst Dustin Gouker<\/strong> said, “Online gambling has proven its importance to the industry through this crisis. Even if the growth slows with the return of retail casinos, it will continue to be an enormously important vertical for the industry.” Amen to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eldorado Resorts<\/strong> takeover of Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> continues apace. Nevada<\/strong> regulators have given it their blessing. Indiana<\/strong> ones had some qualms<\/a>, particularly given that it would increase Caesars’ market share to 60%, well above the desired 40% level. As a consequence, two or three properties will have to be divested. Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> is safe but there’s a fair amount of uncertainty about the others, particularly in the southern tier. Brand-new Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong>, we hardly knew ye. Popular Tropicana Evansville<\/strong> (also newly remodeled) could also be on the chopping block. That still leaves two racinos in the portfolio. As for those up in the air, Twin River Holdings<\/strong>, your phone is ringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Tribes in California<\/strong> who are pursuing sports betting may, having been given another three months to extend their petition drive, aim for the 2020 election ballot<\/a>, not 2022 as expected. Coalition spokesman Jacob Meija<\/strong> equivocates, \u201cThere\u2019s some factors and considerations there. Our focus is to collect our remaining signatures and to get certified and qualified\u201d … First-weekend customers in Atlantic City<\/strong> casinos were observed to be doing a good job<\/a> of complying with state and industry safety protocols. Said Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong> patron Virginia Hight<\/strong>, “I feel less risk than in the supermarket. You could bowl in this place” … Gov. Phil Murphy<\/strong> (D) can’t win for losing when it comes to Unite-Here<\/strong> prexy Robert McDevitt<\/strong>. The latter groused that health safeguards “fall short in providing the protections that guest and workers need to provide a safe environment,\u201d yet howled with outrage at Murphy’s decision to ban indoor dining, saying it put Local 54<\/strong> members out of work … Of the past-posting debacle<\/a> on Korean baseball at Bellagio<\/strong>, Richard Schuetz<\/strong> says, “I\u2019m not too critical of the people who exploited the apparent dumb-ass controls that allowed the parlay betting incident to happen.” We vociferously agree.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even after they were ordered to enforce mask-wearing or else, some casinos continue to flout the rules. Clark County conducted 1,600 inspections and found deficiencies at Silverton, an absence of social distancing at the Aria pool and no effort being … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,244,34,18,199,26,287,68,37,241,245,207,248,257,25,127,92,243,9,20,196],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27528"}],"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=27528"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27532,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27528\/revisions\/27532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}