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Would Wynn jump into East Boston casino bid?
By Josh Resnek on Fri, 10/18/2013 - 11:25pm
The announcement Friday night that Caesars Entertainment is withdrawing its stake in the Suffolk Downs effort to secure a casino license has been met with shock and wonder.
The shock is simple - how could a giant, worldwide company like Caesars fail to meet or even to exceed the application standards set by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission when it operates under the stringent laws of at least 53 jurisdictions around the United States and all over the world?
Caesars withdrawing from Suffolk Downs does not end Suffolk Downs' application effort - it forces the track to name another casino investor to partner with.
Steve Wynn is the most often named possibility to be that new partner now that Caesars and the non-compete contracts it held with Suffolk Downs have evaporated into a series of breaking news stories about Caesars demise.
But can Wynn expect to sidestep the Gaming Commission's iron fist?
That remains to be seen.
Wynn's lack of comments Friday night indicate that he either believes his casino group will be subject to the same stringent scrutiny that Caesar's has just been made to endure so he better keep his mouth shut for now.
"Steve Wynn would rather quit Everett than be told by the Gaming Commission he cannot go forward because of his dealings elsewhere in the world," said a casino gaming expert who wished to remain unnamed.
"If Gary Loveman - the head of Caesars can't be considered suitable for a license here then how is Wynn going to pass the same test?" the expert wondered.
Suffolk Downs officials huddled at the track in meetings late into the evening on Friday discussing their options.
According to a Suffolk Downs official, the discussions centered around finding another casino suitor for the venerable track.
"We need to find an investor with money and suitability. It could be an individual investor with casino interests or another casino company with good credentials and a positive cash position," he added.
The official said those efforts were already underway.
Suffolk officials said Caesar's leaving the fold will not effect the dual referendums taking place in Revere and in East Boston on Election Day during the first week of November.
Recent polling reveals that the referendums will pass in both communities by wide margins.
Still, the entire casino scenario in Massachusetts has been thrown into disarray by the Gaming Commission's assertion that Caesars is not suitable to operate in the Bay State.
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Revere Mayor Rizzo to Wynn: ’No Thank You’
According to this story in 'The Revere Journal', the mayor of Revere is loath to negotiate with Wynn. That was several months ago, regarding if Everett was ultimately chosen for a casino. If that happens, Revere will be a neighboring community and entitled to some mitigation, yet the mayor said he wouldn't even speak with Wynn. At this point, I imagine Wynn wants nothing to do with Revere either.
Shrill shill
So we've got the PR wing of Suffolk Downs opining on the turn of events.
citation please? God knows I've been getting inundated with frigging phone calls from all over the country that have been push polls for SD. Which one of those of those pieces of propaganda are you citing here?
Well clutch my pearls and position the fainting couch Kizzy, I got the vapors! The stringent laws around the world that include sanctioned government bribes, prostitution, money laundering, etc. Macao isn't exactly an Amish outpost of purity. And they don't call Vegas "Sin City" and market off that reputation ("What happens in Vegas, stays...") just on a whim. And Wynn should be more than a little nervous at this turn of events as well. This along with the shenanigans discovered at the other proponents' operation elsewhere in the state only underlines the arguments AGAINST bringing casino gambling into the state in the first place. And why no one seems to really want it in their backyard.
Kudos to the Commission for doing its job (sad commentary that doing your job is something that's really out of the ordinary) and let's hope that they can perform as well in creating an ordered process that is clearly adhered to and transparent to the communities that will be affected (which in my opinion has not been the case to date).
casars
the commission did nothing but allegations based on rumors. this is the uited states of america, not salem, ma a hundred years ago. you have crazy zealots like gayle cameron who thinks the mob is everywhere as a commissioner appointed by coakley who wants to wiretap everyone, and the investigator in charge selected by cameron, and she was trained by reilly who is also crazy against casinos and thinks they are still run by the mob. there is nothing that caesars did wrong, except try and do business in mass - sound familiar? look up the crazy rantings of cameron, who is not even a mass resident. there was no due process, or making sue the facts were checked, although how do you check rumors. instead, you leak and bully and make any decent company say, why is this worh it?
what happened in Salem a
what happened in Salem a hundred years ago (1913) that you are referencing? And if its so outlandish to expect any casino operator to operate cleanly, when they operate illicitly in so many other states/countries, then maybe casino gambling isn't right for us.
"Recent polling reveals that
"Recent polling reveals that the referendums will pass in both communities by wide margins." Actually, no, Mr. Resnek, that is not truthful. The last poll for East Boston was only 47% For and 39% Against. When you factor in margin of error, and that 14% was undecided or wouldn't confess whose side they were on, how do you see the proposal being supported by a wide margin? You should revisit both your college writing and logic professors.
Come on Adam, please keep
Come on Adam, please keep Josh Resnek out of here. Josh already has his papers in Eastie and Revere pumping pro-casino BS, masquerading as stories like this one.
From the get go, Josh has shown himself to be a snake – switching the questions put forth by the no casino crowd at the very first community meeting back in 2010. Joe O’Donnell got his kid into Harvard and is now spending a fortune on advertisements in Josh’s crappy local rags. Josh has no credibility on this issue and certainly shouldn’t be offered another forum to spew his non-sense (or at least you should be collecting a paycheck from the “Friends of Suffolk Downs).