Atlantic City ‘Net betting gathers speed; Render unto Loveman

Three more casinos have been green-lit to take Internet wagers along the Boardwalk. As you know, Borgata had already been approved. The second license went to the Golden Nugget, which is running its own site, with assistance from Bally Technologies. Needless to say, the Golden Nugget’s resale value just got more than a little bump. Close behind the Pepite d’Or were the two Trump Entertainment Resorts properties. TER is to be applauded for getting on it while Revel Resort and Atlantic Club Hotel continue to dawdle. (I doubt that Atlantic Club owner Tom Barrack would recognize Internet gambling if he fell over it.) They should get with the program. As Dr. David G. Schwartz writes, it’s the beginning of one era … and the end of another.
Caesars Entertainment is the emperor of social gaming, judging by a new report. The company’s market share and revenue haul are growing — as are those of International Game Technology — while Zynga is in freefall. While it’s hardly a comprehensive fix for Caesars’ problems, online gaming is an area in which CEO Gary Loveman is to be commended for his proactivity. So hail Caesars, for the time being.

A summit meeting between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and several of the state’s tribes took place yesterday, and accomplished precisely nothing. It seems to have consisted of all four parties reiterating their previously stated positions, in a bit of political Kabuki theater. The Menominee Tribe seems no closer to a Dairyland casino than ever.

The Arizona city of Glendale has decided to open negotiations over a tribal casino that it officially opposes. The convoluted saga of the Tohono O’odham Nation and its Phoenix-area casino bid defies easy summary. Even now, the Tohono O’odham are fighting on five other fronts, including Capitol Hill. Glendale’s demi concession is, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, not the beginning of the end but it is the end of the beginning.