What did Lee Amaitis know and when did he know it?

AmaitisAccording to the Wall Street Journal, the founder of Cantor GamingLee Amaitis (left) — is under federal scrutiny for an alleged role in illegal sports wagering. Already one Cantor exec, Michael Cantor, has copped a plea for facilitated the movement of unlawful wagers from Queens to Las Vegas. As the WSJ explains, ” Prosecutors said wagers from a small number of high-stakes bettors left Cantor exposed to large potential losses. To offset the risk from those big bets, Mr. Colbert allegedly sought other bets that would cancel out the large wagers,” write WSJ reporters.

“Brooklyn Bruiser” Amaitis is just part of a wider federal probe, supposedly, after Cantor investigated itself and gave itself a clean bill of health. As Amaitis was busy opening a new Cantor Gaming outpost, the company hotly denied reports that he was under scrutiny. However, Colbert was able to plead eight counts down to one, which makes you wonder what he gave the feds in order to earn such a clement deal. Cantor, incidentally, has never posted a profit, which certainly explains Colbert’s desperate actions.

CarlinoPenn National Gaming had a moment in the hot seat yesterday, as CEO Peter Carlino had to account for the character of two members of his executive team. One of them, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Steven Snyder, has already paid his debt to society — literally — for securities malfeasance. His run-in with the SEC is receding into the distant, pre-Penn past. Leaving aside the fact that Carlino is running a company, not a nunnery, there’s much to be said for letting bygones be bygones, at least in this instance. Mohegan Sun had an easier time of it, its financial status deemed “impeccable” by regulators.

Never mind the nonsensical headline. Does anybody else think we’ll have seen the last of the Mob Attraction when it closes at the 110968768DT024_Las_Vegas_MoTropicana Las Vegas on Nov. 3? It was briefly mooted as having a new home at the Flamingo Las Vegas but Caesars Entertainment evidently cooled to that notion and now “the attraction does not have a new home lined up even though the lease expiration has been known for months.” The Las Vegas Review-Journal is openly skeptical about its prospects and it’s very difficult to imagine offshoot Mob Attractions sprouting in other cities. If it could only barely make it here, how’s it going to make it anywhere else? Ownership had better make nice and start talking ‘contract extension’ with the Trop. That’ll be an offer the Attraction can’t refuse.

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