Oct 13 2008
The Dow is up! Use your newfound stock winnings to gamble at Pittsburgh's casino, which is right on schedule (or at least, its most recent schedule, which is more than a year behind the original schedule):
"Rough as it is, the $800 million North Shore casino slowly is taking form, from the 90-foot-high drum atrium, the building's centerpiece, to the curve of the sleek two-story facade designed to follow the river, to the gigantic 3,872-space parking garage being built behind it. During a tour yesterday, [general manager Ed Fasulo] said the casino, after weathering a work stoppage and financing crisis that cost Don Barden his majority ownership last summer, is on track to open in August."
... check out this cool 360-degree shot of the casino atrium.
... "Nearly two years after Pennsylvania's casinos began opening, compulsive gamblers seeking treatment are able to begin receiving services paid for by the state. The state Department of Health posted a listing on its Web site last week of 13 different individual or agency providers, including several in southwestern Pennsylvania, authorized to be reimbursed for treating gamblers. Officials say at least two dozen more providers are likely to be approved soon, making them eligible to be reimbursed for up to 20 therapy sessions for gambling addicts or their family members."
... Nice problem to have: Canonsburg is trying to figure out how to spend its casino revenue.
Dispatches from the east
You don't have to be Paul Krugman to figure this out, but September is going to go down as a bad month for casinos:
"More bad news for the gaming industry is expected when the New Jersey Casino Control Commission releases revenue figures for September. Larry Mullin, president and chief operating officer of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, estimates revenue fell about 15 percent in September. If true, it will be the biggest monthly decline so far this year. Overall, the casino 'win' has dropped 5.2 percent in the first eight months of the year due to the weak economy, high gas prices and competition from slot parlors in Pennsylvania."
Gonna go on a limb here and say we can expect more of the same for October.
... That's ugly, but a delay in implementing Atlantic City's smoking ban could help at least a little bit:
"Atlantic City's City Council voted narrowly last night to delay a complete ban on smoking in the casinos. They did so because powerful casino operators and even some casino employees eager for a smoke-free and healthier workplace joined politicians in ice-cold terror that the ban would drop revenues even more, perhaps as much as 30 percent in total. Those numbers would almost assuredly result in major layoffs."
... Man, you can't give these things away:
"Split Rock Lodge, citing the strained economy, has asked the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to drop its application for a slot machines license. When Split Rock, at the western end of the Poconos in Kidder Township, applied in June 2007, the stock market was robust, the real estate market strong and 'credit was readily available' from lenders with whom owner Vacation Charters Limited 'had longstanding relationships,' the [Poconos-area] resort said in a release."
If you recall, both Seven Springs and Nemacolin had applied for the same "resort" slots license, which limits the mini-casino tp 500 slot machines instead of the 5,000 maximum at racetrack and stand-alone casinos.
But both of those Western Pennsylvania resorts pulled their applications, as well.
Dispatches from the south
Maryland ministers are lining up against the state's proposal to legalize slots at racetracks: "Pastors at the 23 churches affiliated with the Laurel Clergy Association are all sermonizing against the referendum throughout the month leading up to the Nov. 4 election," reports the The Gazette of Gaithersburg, Md.
Odds and ends
Maine's casino proponents outspend opponents 18-1 when it comes to political lobbying ... Only Indians need apply at this job fair, for a Native American casino ... This editorial urges a "no" vote on the Ohio casino proposition ... Greektown Casino in Detroit is looking for a buyer ... Thanks to the lousy economy, it's a tough negotiating atmosphere for the labor unions that last year won the right to represent several thousand workers at casinos across the country ... Neil Bluhm, part owner of the Pittsburgh casino now that Don Barden has given up his majority stake, has big plans for Illinois.
Oct 06 2008
John McCain's a gambler; Sarah Palin proved that. But just how much does he like to gamble? And how closely is he tied to the casino industry?
Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.
A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the GOP's evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.
The visit had been arranged by the lobbyist, Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequot, a tribe that has contributed heavily to Mr. McCain's campaigns and built Foxwoods into the world's second-largest casino. Joining them was Rick Davis, Mr. McCain's current campaign manager. Their night of good fortune epitomized not just Mr. McCain's affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress.
He is one of the "founding fathers of Indian gaming," says Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and Indian gambling expert.
... On Monday, the bad news spread quickly from Wall Street to the Las Vegas Strip:
"Shares of casino operators tumbled Monday - several to new multiyear lows - as jittery investors watched Wall Street and global markets slide on fears the financial crisis is spreading. The markets have realized that the $700 billion rescue plan won't work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets and that many banks are still having difficulty gaining access to cash. That's caused investors to exit stocks and move money into the relative safety of government debt ... MGM Mirage's stock fell $3.50, or 16.6 percent, to $17.50 in afternoon trading. It hit a nearly five-year low of $17.28 earlier the session ... Other stocks hitting fresh lows included Las Vegas Sands Corp., which slipped to an all-time low of $19.10, and Wynn Resorts Ltd., which sagged to a more than two-year low of $62, before making back some losses."
... More bad news:
"The MGM Grand Detroit says it's laying off some restaurant and bar employees at its casino, hotel and entertainment complex. The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press report Saturday that the casino is laying off less than 100 workers. Another round of less than 100 layoffs by the casino had been made earlier this year."
Dispatches from the east
Phialdelphia's would-be Foxwoods casino has agreed to move away from the waterfront, perhaps closer to Chinatown. Predicatbly, Chinatown isn't thrilled about this development: "The casino now planned for the Gallery will poison Chinese minds and rob their souls."
... Should casino workers be eligible for elected office? In Atlantic City, being a dealer, a bouncer, a waitress or middle management means you can't run for city council:
"To safeguard against corruption in local government, one of the regulations that state lawmakers adopted in 1977 barred casino workers from holding local elected office. But in the 30 years since casino gambling was legalized here, three mayors have left office under clouds of suspicion and dozens of city councilmen have been indicted in corruption scandals. Not one worked for a casino. Now some state legislators say they are ready to allow casino workers to run for mayor and City Council in Atlantic City. The state Assembly voted 66-11 last week to approve a bill to allow casino workers who live in Atlantic City to hold municipal office there."
The casino workers would still be barred from running for state office, however.
Dispatches from the south
Maryland hopes that legalizing slots would prevent Maryland gambling dollars from crossing the border to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. But will it?
"Three of the locations proposed in the slot machine gambling proposal on the November ballot -- in Allegany, Cecil and Worcester counties -- were chosen in part to attract Marylanders who now go to West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey to take their chances. But the plush new Inn at Charles Town, where from their rooms guests can watch thoroughbreds race and can hop a free shuttle to the slots floor, shows that the competition is prepared to fight back," reports The Washington Post.
Odds and ends
More evidence that casinos aren't recession-proof (or is that Depression proof?) ... Atlantic City's smoking ban may be delayed ... Penn National Gaming warns of a rough third quarter ... An update on the push for (and against) casinos in Ohio ... Polls show that the voting public supports the Ohio casino initiative ... Homestead (Pa.) police receive a grant to shut down those back-room poker machines, which are illegal.