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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who solidly backed major assistance for the dozen casinos in Atlantic City when he was elected, proposed a five-year plan during which the casinos would have to show considerable improvement from the many months of declining revenues that preceded Christie’s election.
Now, that time is running out.
After four years, little improvement has been seen. In fact, there will now be one less casino with the closing of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel.
With the beginning of 2014, Christie now says, “It’s a year when we have to show some significant results.”
Helping out this year is the addition of Internet gambling. But lurking in the background is another push to permit the Meadowlands racetrack on the New York City border to convert to a casino.

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Ohio Atty. Gen. Michael DeWine has ruled that the state lottery plan to replace illegal video raffle machines with new gambling devices at veterans posts and fraternal lodges is unconstitutional.
According to DeWine’s ruling, the lottery proceeds must to go to education and must have a voter-approved amendment to the state constitution, though they don’t specify an amount to be paid.
The problem developed because the locations have been benefiting from illegal slot machines that the lottery wanted to replace with some 1,200 next-generation electronic games. But, DeWine said the proceeds benefiting schools, from such machines, would be “miniscule” and therefore would violate the state law.
A spokesman for Gov. John Kasich said the plan was an initial offering that has been changed and revised to address DeWine’s concerns.

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The town of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, is getting involved with the proposed casino that MGM Resorts International (MGM) plans to build in the City of Springfield.
The town is seeking $1 million in upfront compensation, citing traffic issues that would result if an $800 million resort casino is built in Springfield.
Longmeadow is referring to a study for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission by an independent engineering firm that found that Longmeadow and West Springfield would have the most impact from casino traffic among neighboring cities and towns.
The state’s gambling law requires casino developers to negotiate mitigation agreements with surrounding communities.

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The operators of Suffolk Downs in East Boston, Massachusetts, are still telling anyone who asks that they believe their application for a casino license will be granted by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
So, they were happy to hear that Mohegan Sun, the company that plans to build and operate the casino on land owned by Suffolk Downs but located in the City of Revere had successfully negotiated a deal with Revere officials.
Reportedly, the arrangement provides that Mohegan Sun, if successful with its plans for a $1 billion dollar casino entertainment project, would pay up to $33 million in pre-opening payments and would guarantee between $25 million and $30 million in annual revenue.
Citizens of Revere will go to the polls on Feb. 25 to determine whether they still favor the casino.

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Long a leader in the thoroughbred racing industry, Churchill Downs has seen the benefits of expanding its gambling venue to include casinos, having acquired gambling properties in Maine and Mississippi.
Now the company, Churchill Downs Inc., is prepared, once again, to increase its efforts on the home front, an effort that has failed repeatedly over the past decade.
But, supporters of legislation authorizing casinos in Kentucky feel this could be the last time such a bill could win over the objections of the state’s religious groups.
“This is probably the last chance to do it, I really think,” said one of the casino bill sponsors, Rep. Larry Clark, a Democrat from Louisville, home of Churchill Downs racetrack, and the second-ranking House member.
He plans to introduce the latest version of a bill that authorizes a constitutional amendment proposal for the 2014 fall ballot in Kentucky. First, it must be approved by the General Assembly.
After years of rejection, the bill is still considered a longshot to pass.
“We think they’ve got the same problem they’ve always had…which is they don’t have the votes,” said Martin Cothran, a spokesman for The Family Foundation.
“It’s not good for the state, it’s not good for the horse industry, it’s not good for problem gamblers,” Cothran said.
Kentucky, recognized as a Bible-belt state, has a long history of gambling on horse racing but not on slot machines and card games. However, it has legalized slot machine facsimiles that permit wagering on previously run horse races.
Making the casino proposal bipartisan comes from the major support of Sen. Dan Seum, a Republican from Louisville, who serves as the Senate Majority Caucus Chairman.
Seum is proposing the bill provide for up to seven casinos statewide with locations to be determined by companion legislation.
Revenues would be used to bolster race purses and breeders’ incentives to encourage horse owners to race in Kentucky, a problem that is growing since states such as New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania now use casino revenue to boost its horse racing programs.
Casino supporters point to job creation and additional revenues that could be used to assist the state’s education programs, human services, public safety and even provide a one-time bonus for military veterans.

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The northern half of the Las Vegas Strip may be coming back to life during 2014 even as two of the Strip’s biggest players, MGM and Wynn, look like favorites to get Massachusetts resort licenses.
Developers have been shaking off the effects of the Great Recession that turned this strip of real estate into a graveyard for big dreams as financing disappeared. All that construction was a classic example of bad timing.
Sam Nazarian’s plans for re-building and opening the former Sahara as the SLS, “an all en-compassing mixed use resort” are already known. The project appears headed for an opening in late 2014 although scheduled openings, etc., are always subject to change with relatively little notice.
The other big project that could provide a catalyst for action elsewhere is across the Strip and slightly to the south of the SLS on land that was once going to be the site of Boyd Gaming’s $4.8 billion Echelon resort development.
The Genting Group acquired this property, about 80 acres, months ago. Its executives talked of plans for a massive Asian theme project. There is little obvious indication of anything happening since then, but access to capital is not one of Genting’s problems.
The company operates thousands of slots in a casino that has been built at New York’s Aqueduct racetrack. It has also acquired the old Miami Herald building on Biscayne Bay, the idea being to build there should Florida lawmakers ever get around to allowing casinos in the southern part of the state.
What should all this mean to Las Vegas?
Activity tends to produce a ripple effect and consumers show a greater willingness to spend. Casino companies have added to their Las Vegas amenities and used sophisticated marketing programs to reach travelers with an inclination to spend time in Las Vegas.
Continuing positive developments on the Genting and SLS sites might produce a rebirth of activity at Carl Icahn’s abandoned blue tower, the former Fontainebleau. People traveling to and from the SLS and whatever Genting has in mind will help create the kind of energy that does not now exist on the northern part of the Strip.
The Fontainebleau tower was about 70 percent complete when its developers, led by former Mandalay Resorts executive Glenn Schaeffer, hit some severe financial turbulence in 2008 and were forced to halt construction. The project went into bankruptcy and Icahn bought it for $150 million at a bankruptcy court sale in 2010.
Icahn may have figured he would quickly sell it to Penn National, which had been the only other bidder in the auction. The Penn officials knew they were looking at the need to spend another billion or so and balked at paying whatever Icahn was asking.
Icahn has no interest in looking at the Fontainebleau as anything other than a real estate deal and so he sold off all the furnishings and carpeting at bargain rates to other hotels such as the Plaza.
The prevailing economic climate at that time for projects or concepts such as a Las Vegas resort could be politely described as terrible – months before Boyd Gaming had called off its Echelon project. Plans for a Las Vegas version of Manhattan’s famed Plaza Hotel on the former site of the Frontier had also been put back on the shelf.
The Israeli owners of the Frontier land have been looking for a joint venture partner since then without a lot of success. Other north Strip corridor properties such as the Riviera and former Las Vegas Hilton, a block east of the Riviera, have also struggled.
Their big need: developers with access to capital and compelling visions about what Las Vegas might once again become.
Ironically, the gaming industry’s successes elsewhere and new Internet-related marketing capabilities have reminded some companies of the importance of a Las Vegas presence.
Macau is growing and it’s big and noisy, as are other areas of Asia. People from other parts of the world have a lot of money to spend on fun and games.
The nice thing about Las Vegas as far as a lot of deep-pocketed Asians and other globe-trotting tourists are concerned is that it is not Macau.
It’s another place to enjoy a world-class experience.

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