Like Sands through the hourglass ...

Ready? Set? Gamble!:

"Some were there to help a charity. Others wanted to see what all the fuss was about. But most people at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem on Monday were there to be the first people to gamble in Bethlehem. Invited guests from across the region flocked to south Bethlehem for the first of two test runs designed to get the $743 million casino ready for its official opening at 9 a.m. Friday. People who arrived about 1 p.m. Monday and expected to wait for the doors to open at 2 instead found themselves ushered directly to the casino floor. There they wasted no time in making Bethlehem the state's newest gambling town."

... And here's the scene from this A.M.: "Pennsylvania's newest casino is open for business. The $743 million Sands Casino Resort opened about 20 minutes earlier than its scheduled 9 a.m. opening Friday. Several hundred people poured onto the gaming floor. Some had been waiting in line since before dawn. [Sands] debuts with 3,000 slot machines and four restaurants. It is the eighth casino to open in Pennsylvania since the state legalized slots gambling in 2004."

... the Sands company really needs this property to perform:

"Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson doesn't look back - even after a year when he lost $22 billion of his net worth, one of the biggest falloffs of 2008, according to Forbes magazine. Instead, Adelson is looking ahead to his latest venture: a $743 million casino that will open next Friday in Bethlehem, Pa., about an hour's drive from Philadelphia. 'The project is important for us,' Adelson said in a rare interview. 'We don't want to fail in any project. We do our best to succeed.' His company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., can only go up. Shares fell more than 95 percent last year."

... across Pennsylvania, the video poker "industry" (such as it is) fears a state takeover.

... can the Rivers Casino on the NorSide / North Shore draw young people? Or will it be the retiree crowd feeding the slots?

The CEO of Pittsburgh's casino is probably one of the youngest in the country and he wants 20, 30, and 40-somethings to make the Rivers Casino their destination, too. [Greg Carlin] is a 42-year-old Chicago millionaire, a 1988 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and the quiet, unassuming CEO of the new Rivers Casino. [He] wants Pittsburgh's casino to be more than just a slots casino -- he's encouraging non-gamblers to visit, especially younger people.

"A lot of our food and beverage venues and bars are located along the river," Carlin adds. "We've got outdoor patio areas at our buffet, at our steakhouse. We've got great views from our drum bar - three-story atrium looking out at the river and the city of Pittsburgh." And Carlin says the sports bar will boast something nobody else has.

"We're probably going to have the biggest TV screen in the city. We're looking at about 150 inches of -- it's multi-screen -- a really neat piece of equipment. Our audio visual budget just for that venue is about $600,000."

Via KDKA.

Dispatches from the border

Sports betting is now legal in Delaware:

"Delaware became the first state east of the Mississippi River to legalize sports betting in a move designed to cut the state’s budget deficit. Gov. Jack Markell signed the bill approving the change today in a ceremony at the oldest of Delaware’s three horse tracks. By September those so-called racinos will add sports wagering to their 8,200 slot machines and horse-betting operations that have been legal in Delaware since 1995. 'There is tremendous interest in the sports lottery throughout our region and nationally,' Markell, a Democrat, said."

So does that mean we'll be getting Dover odds in addition to Vegas odds?

... The opening of the Sands casino in Bethlehem is good news for Pennsylvania, but (more) bad news for New Jersey:

"As Pennsylvania's gambling market expands, analysts say Atlantic City's casinos haven't hit bottom yet. Figures released yesterday underscored their point: Last month's revenue at Atlantic City's 11 casinos plunged 14.2 percent from April last year. Meanwhile, April revenue at Pennsylvania's seven slots parlors rose 13.8 percent - to $150.7 million - from the year before. The April decrease in Atlantic City - to $313.6 million - was an improvement from the revenue declines of 19.4 percent in March and 19.2 percent in February. But it's what's in store later this month that has casino operators here anxious."

... which means construction is slowing it Atlantic City as well: "Some big projects have stalled. Just a couple of years ago, city officials were boasting about plans for three major casinos, totaling $10 billion in investment, by MGM Mirage, Pinnacle Entertainment and Revel. Only Revel continues to go forward," reports the New York Times.

... A dispatch from the border (Kentucky) of one of our border states (Ohio):

"The heads of Kentucky's six leading tracks and the largest thoroughbred horsemen's association painted a dire picture Wednesday afternoon of what will happen if the Kentucky legislature does not soon act to bring slot machines to the commonwealth's racetracks. The press conference was held in the Churchill Downs paddock on the first canceled Wednesday of the spring meet - a point made by several speakers. Churchill Downs earlier this month received permission from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to drop from a five- to four-day race week because of a shortage of horses, which tracks are blaming in large part to competition for tracks in the region with slots-enriched purses. The tracks and horsemen are supporting House Speaker Greg Stumbo's bill to bring slots to the racetracks."

Odds and ends

Americans are gambling less, but Pennsylvanians are gambling more ... U.S. casino stocks are having a boring week ... More on Atlantic City's brutal first quarter '09 ... Kansas is still trying to build two casinos ... A Nebraska investor says Harrah's plied him with too many drinks, which was part of the reason he lost tens of millions of dollars while gambling ... Arizona is again contemplating racetrack casinos as a solution to the state's money problems: "The state could reap nearly $1 billion next year if it allowed casino-style gambling at Arizona's racetracks. Rep. Andy Tobin, R-Paulden, is shopping the idea as a way to win enough votes in the Legislature to balance the state budget without a tax hike. The idea of creating so-called racinos has long been sought by Arizona's racing industry. Voters rejected it in a 2002 ballot measure."

Slots on the North Shore

Just a few more months:

"The Rivers Casino took delivery of its first 278 slot machines today, marking another milestone in the North Shore venue's development. During a ceremony this morning, casino officials and Sanford Rivers, a state gaming control board member, placed the first slot machine, a Mr. Cashman festooned with blue and white balloons, in its bank on the gambling floor. It was the first of 3,000 to be installed at the riverfront casino by the time it opens on Aug. 5, including the first machine in the state with a $500 wager."

Whoa. You could burn through your entire pension check in seconds at one of those $500 machines (see video of the event here).

But at least you'll save money on parking:

"It might not be on par with free drinks. But the Rivers Casino will offer customers at least one perk during its first month of operation -- free parking. But their luck could run out after that. At this point, the North Shore slots venue, scheduled to open Aug. 5, will provide free parking in its massive 3,872-space parking garage for the first month as a 'gesture of goodwill,' General Manager Ed Fasulo said yesterday. Officials also are hoping the freebie will help to mitigate traffic backups and minimize frustration during a period in which the casino expects to attract large crowds eager to check out the venue."

After that, it's anybody's guess. But the garage will be outfitted with gates and pay stations, so that may be a clue.

... More feedback on the Supreme Court ruling from two weeks ago:

"One of the leading experts in gambling law found the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's rulingoverturning the prohibition on campaign donations by casino owners and executives shocking. I. Nelson Rose, a law professor at Whittier college in California, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that gambling usually falls under a state's police powers and trump constitutional concerns. 'Everywhere else, the restrictions even on advertising have been upheld by the courts. When lawyers who worked for New Jersey casinos wanted to get involved in political campaigns, the courts basically said, 'No, gambling comes under the state's police power and if you don't like it, you don't have to be in this,''  Rose told the newspaper."

... Pennsylvania's governor gets lucky:

"He considers himself a 'pretty good' blackjack player and likes the ponies, though he has never really been all that lucky a gambler. But Gov. Ed Rendell -- Pennsylvania's biggest cheerleader for slot machines -- had an encounter with Lady Luck last spring at Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack that is only now coming to light. He left $2,000 richer, according to Mr. Rendell's federal tax return released to The Inquirer last week."

Dispatches from the border

Ohioans still aren't sold on casino gambling:

"A new poll shows that Ohioans favor legalizing casino gambling in the state, but those results don't mean voters will pass a possible November ballot issue allowing casinos in Ohio's four largest cities. The poll, conducted by the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, shows that 60 percent of respondents favor making casino gambling legal in Ohio. However, the poll analysis notes that Ohioans' purported 58 percent support of gambling 'in the large Ohio city where you live or near to where you live' has grown only slightly since the same question was asked in 1998. Yet Ohioans continue to overwhelmingly defeat gambling issues at the ballot."

Most recently, last November.

... Is Delaware getting sports gambling and table games?

"Delaware moved one step closer to sports betting on Friday as House lawmakers resurrected and revised a bill that failed to win approval earlier this week amid opposition from the casino industry. [Because] of a brief and unsuccessful experiment with a sports lottery in the late 1970s, Delaware is one of only four states, along with Nevada, Montana and Oregon, grandfathered under a 1992 federal law that bans sports gambling. Delaware's status as the only state east of the Mississippi River that can offer sports betting could provide an economic buffer against slot machine competition in neighboring Pennsylvania and Maryland."

The bill also calls for state officials and the casino industry to submit an initial proposal on table games within 75 days of enactment of the sports betting legislation, reports the Inquirer.

Odds and ends

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority decided not to pursue a casino in New York ... The Greektown Casino buyout in Detroit isn't going so well, with two "low-ball" offers ... The SugarHouse casino in Philadelphia gets a preliminary thumbs-up ... The Flying Elvi show at The Meadows in Washington County keeps getting postponed becasue of weather and wind ... The Sands casino in Bethlehem, Pa., is hiring.