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Channeling Jack Nicholson, Ronald Reagan with a dash of Clint Eastwood, Steve Wynn proved why he is truly a legend in the gaming industry.

In the high stakes world of casino licensing, one can assume that the art of bluffing is employed from time to time.  Could that be the case with Suffolk Downs and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission?   With Suffolk and partner Mohegan Sun having lost out to Steve Wynn for the Eastern casino license rumors began to immediately swirl of the demise of Suffolk Downs, the last of the permanent Thoroughbred Race Tracks in New England.  However, given that Suffolk Downs was originally scheduled to shut down soon anyway, one must wonder if the threat of a permanent shutdown is a ploy to get a piece of the gaming revenue from the other three licensed properties to help bolster purses and keep them viable is the hope.  I viable race track across the river from a resort casino destination might be a win-win for Wynn and Boston, so stay tuned!

Can this really be a good idea?  With candidates and elected officials mired in everything from sexting to bridge closure scandals, will allowing odds makers to possibly affect the outcome elections or worse – put candidates in harm’s way – be the best idea to breathe life in to the Las Vegas sports book scene?  If I were a betting man…..

Just one month after rejecting a single casino in New Hampshire, the House was back at it considering a new proposal to legalize two casinos that would have shared a total of no more than 5,000 slot machines and 240 table games.  The bill failed by a single vote, 173-172!  Deputy Speaker Naida Kaen was presiding over the session and cast the deciding vote.

You may already know that high atop the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas exists a number of thrill rides that are not for the faint of heart, or for the Acrophobic.  At 1149 feet, The Stratosphere is the tallest freestanding observation deck in the country, and offers spectacular panoramas of the Las Vegas strip and surrounding desert.  This attraction represents the continuing array of ways you can spend your money at Las Vegas on experiential offerings vs. hunkered down at a slot machine or a craps table.  You can now add to this list the newly opened “SlotZilla Zip Line”, part of the Fremont Street Experience in down town Las Vegas.  For $20 a zip, you can ascend to a 12 story slot machine-themed platform where you’ll be propelled 850 feet on a cable, soaring above tourists halfway down the Freemont St. canopy.  Plans are under way to make it longer, faster and more thrilling….just like a trip to Las  Vegas!

A $400,000 application fee was a lottery ticket type gamble a dozen gaming companies couldn’t resist.  $40 million over two years in planning, engineering, studies, etc…was practical due diligence for a favorite in the run up to licensing.  $200 million to the state for being awarded the sole Western, MA license:  Hold the phone!  Read why a skittish Massachusetts is giving MGM cause for pause in securing the license it has so vigorously pursued.

If you’re searching for a place to play a hand of black jack or visit a new slot facility, north of the Massachusetts border is not looking like the place to visit.  We’ve recently read about the failure to pass casino legislation in New Hampshire.  Vermont has never warmed up to the idea of casino gambling, and imposes strict fines on any violations of their anti-gambling laws.  And now the Maine Senate has rejected efforts to expand casino gaming.  Of course unlike Vermont and New Hampshire, Maine has already licensed casinos in Bangor and Oxford, and has gaming at a harness track and an off shore gambling cruise operation.

You may have heard of the vote on March 13th that rejected a proposal to license one casino in New Hampshire with up to 5,000 video slot machines and 150 table games. The vote to kill the bill was 173 to 144 and Governor Maggie Hassan remains in favor of the one casino. What you didn’t read in the article is that their already is a vibrant gaming scene in NH with upwards of 9 licensed poker rooms in the Granite State operating daily. These rooms offer low limit poker and tournaments and even have blackjack and roulette. The caveat is that 35% of the poker room’s profits must be dedicated to a charity. Dozens of charitable organizations benefit from this, and there is a 5 year waiting list to get in on the action. The state also takes 13%. This is no small chunk of change. Rockingham Gaming LLC, which operates two of the poker rooms in Rockingham and Seabrook contributes nearly $2,000,000 yearly to charitable organizations and the state of NH. These rooms originated in 2006, and are regulated by the New Hampshire Racing & Charitable Gaming Commission.