{"id":31662,"date":"2022-09-14T08:42:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T16:42:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=31662"},"modified":"2022-09-26T12:00:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T20:00:28","slug":"atlantic-city-sexism-and-other-capers-falling-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/atlantic-city-sexism-and-other-capers-falling-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlantic City sexism and other capers; Falling Star"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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While we have no definitive idea whether Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong> CEO Bill Callahan<\/strong> is a male chauvinist pig, he certainly presents a convincing set of credentials in a Global Gaming Business<\/em> puff piece. Never mind the efforts of predecessor Terry Glebocki<\/strong> (above<\/em>, hounded out by the Illitch family), when it comes to Ocean’s reinvention from joke to overachiever, Callahan says he did it all himself, derogating previous administrations several times over in an ode to his own perspicacity. We’re sure that, by this point, Callahan has made some changes\u2014like the new sports book\u2014that are redounding to the good. But to take credit for everything … that<\/em> requires a fair amount of gall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Then again, how seriously are we to respond to a self-aggrandizing exec who says “Our goal in the next few years is to become the No. 1 casino in Atlantic City.\u201d To put that in a context<\/a> otherwise known as reality, in June, Ocean grossed $43 million … and Borgata brought home $124 million. Yup, those MGM Resorts International<\/strong> suits must be quaking in fear\u2014although convulsing with laughter would be more like it. GGB<\/em> puts no byline on this oleaginous tribute to Callahan, nor should it have one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story comes out the same day that The Associated Press<\/em> reports that the gaming industry has successfully made Atlantic City<\/strong> C-suites safe for white men again<\/a>. With the appointment of Joe Giunta<\/strong> to run Tropicana Atlantic City<\/strong> in place of Jacqueline Grace<\/strong> (who has landed on her feet at Beam Living<\/strong>), nary a women or person of color runs a casino on the Boardwalk. It’s a boys’ club again, which seems to be just the way the industry likes it. To be fair, Melonie Johnson<\/strong>‘s departure from Borgata (foreseen by us) was prompted by struggling business. However, there is a disturbing tendency to reach into the old-boy network when finding someone to sit atop an A.C. gambling house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implicit message is that only old white guys are up to the task. There’s a decidedly patriarchal movement afoot in the country today and it’s a disgrace that the casino industry is all-in on it. In addition to Caesars Entertainment<\/strong>, MGM and the Illitch clan, guilty parties include Bally’s Corp<\/strong>., which ran Karie Hall<\/strong> out of Bally’s Atlantic City<\/strong> and replaced her with a good old boy. Even the American Gaming Association<\/strong>, which can find a silver lining in almost any cloud, admits that distaff leadership of U.S. casinos hovers around 10%. We shudder to think about what kind of shape the industry would be in if only 10% of its customers were female. Still, the message coming off the Boardwalk is loud and clear: Qualified women and minorities need not apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This month’s Profiles in Cowardice award also goes to Atlantic City, specifically to longtime hack Mark Giannantonio<\/strong> of Resorts Atlantic City<\/strong>, who turned and fled<\/a> when scheduled to meet with Americans for Nonsmokers Rights<\/strong> President Cynthia Hallett<\/strong>. Maybe Giannantonio had a sudden fear of crowds, as he and Hallett were supposed to exchange views on smoking as part of a panel discussion at the East Coast Gaming Congress<\/strong> on Sept. 22. Since Giannantonio has bumbled his way to the presidency of the Casino Association of New Jersey<\/strong>, that means nobody will be appearing in his stead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallett was understandably nonplussed, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s remarkably telling that Atlantic City casinos couldn\u2019t find one person to publicly defend their position in favor of indoor smoking … It\u2019s also illogical that conference organizers chose to cancel the panel because they couldn\u2019t find someone to defend indoor smoking. They would never have canceled a forum on responsible gaming because they couldn\u2019t find an opposing voice, or on sports betting because they couldn\u2019t find panelists who oppose expansion.” True, every word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Down under, Star Entertainment<\/strong> may be booted out of Sydney<\/strong>. The Independent Casino Commission<\/strong>, issuing a condemnatory set of findings<\/a>, deemed that Star \u201cis and remains unsuitable\u201d to operate a casino in New South Wales<\/strong>. \u201cI can say from the contents of the report, doing nothing is not an option,\u201d remarked ICC Chairman Philip Crawford<\/strong>. Star has two weeks do something, especially charges that it engaged in improprieties and then acted to cover them up. Said the report, \u201cThey incurred substantial risks around the following topics: money laundering, allowing criminals to gamble in their casinos, the infiltration by organised crime. And they paid scant regard to proper harm minimisation criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crawford added the Star exuded “astounding” arrogance and still did not seem to get the point of how much hot water it is in, calling for turnover at the top. (Maybe losing a casino license will finally cause them to receive the message.) Added New South Wales Minister for Tourism & Hospitality Kevin Anderson<\/strong>, \u201cWe have responded with teeth to be able to clamp down on this particular behaviour, this rotten behaviour, this toxic culture that has been operating with Star.\u201d Wrote investigator Adam Bell<\/strong>, \u201cThe board should be responsible for setting culture. However, in relation to the matters investigated in this review, the board had little or no understanding of what people do at Star Entertainment \u2018when no one is watching.’\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One leading newspaper accused Star of “lawless arrogance<\/a>” for engaging in “pea and thimble” schemes to launder money, including processing Union Pay<\/strong> transactions to Chinese high rollers as a means of passing gambling funds under the table. “Star also allowed a Macau<\/strong> and Hong Kong<\/strong>-based junket operator called Suncity<\/strong> from 2017 to run a separate gaming room on its premises called Salon 95<\/strong>, where gamblers were able to flout restrictions on buying chips and receiving payouts in cash.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We agree that Star needs to be smacked down\u2014and hard. But government bears a degree of onus for having allowing Star and Crown Resorts<\/strong> to become ‘too big to regulate.’ The two companies control 95% of the Australian casino market and governments, both national and regional, looked the other way until media reports forced their hand. The overwhelming consensus at Global Gaming Expo Asia<\/strong> was that Australian casino regulation is a failure and overdue for a revamp. Let’s hope that high due diligence is the order of the day going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone remember Moon Resort<\/strong>, the daffy failsino<\/a> that was proposed for the Las Vegas Strip<\/strong> a ways back? No site, no financing, no problem, right? Big problem. So now the project is being shopped to anyone, anywhere who will take it. Maybe it can be palmed off on Japan<\/strong>, a country of which credible casino investors are growing wary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While we have no definitive idea whether Ocean Casino Resort CEO Bill Callahan is a male chauvinist pig, he certainly presents a convincing set of credentials in a Global Gaming Business puff piece. Never mind the efforts of predecessor Terry … 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":[249,23,103,293,244,219,290,283,306,62,245,271,257,25,305,87,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662"}],"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=31662"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31663,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31662\/revisions\/31663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}