James Packer didn’t get permission to open a casino at his planned, $400 million resort in Sri Lanka (though he may have gotten something better) — but he wasn’t forbidden, either. The Sri Lankan government is keeping its options open even as it encourages resort development. The big idea is to encourage international-local partnerships in which the native contingent would hold the gambling concession. Local businessman Dhammika Perera is keeping one concession for himself (Queensberry), farming out another to John Keells Holdings — and seeking a U.S. or Asian partner for the third. (Gary Loveman, do you have Perera on speed dial?) Sri Lanka’s Buddhist community isn’t taking this especially well but it looks as though Packer will have the last laugh.
Steve Wynn, in a relaxed, professorial mood, waxed expansive with Boston-area media earlier this week. He made his attitude toward building a casino in Everett 
sound very iffy and equivocal. (“And I think, you know, there’s a lot that has to go on between us and the commission to get everything just right to launch an enterprise that has real job security for the thousands of people that work in it, directly and indirectly, and it has a steady and dependable tax screen and profitability. I’m certainly not going to come here to lose money.”) However, he’s brought the process to the verge of consummation, which indicates he wants it pretty badly — the Wynn family hails from Revere. He also predicted that Wynncore would be the first Vegas casino to gross $850 million in a single year. And for those locals who hate on Latin Americans, let it be known that 24% of Wynncore’s business hails from south of the border, with North America contributing only very slightly more.
Yes, Virginia, I think your fair state should have casinos. But Hampton Roads is hardly a tourist Holy Land and a $500 million revenue/year prediction tests sanity. That being said, it’s awfully clever of state Sen. Louise Lucas (D) to propose a single, experimental casino zone. She knows that once the gambling genie gets out of the bottle it stays out.
Remember the Margaritaville resort in Biloxi? No, not the little, independent casino that got built. The multi-billion-dollar edifice that Caesars Entertainment embarked on at the same time that they LBO’d themselves into a straitjacket. The butt-ugly shell of Margaritaville is still there on the Biloxi beach … but not for long. It’s going to be broken up and made part of an artificial reef (joining the old U.S. 90 bridge), Katrina Key. In its place, Caesars will create a boardwalk and “entertainment lawn” for outdoor events.
The company will also commit to a refurbishment of Grand Casino Biloxi — rooms, casino floor, restaurants, the works. They’re even changing the name to Harrah’s Gulf Coast, creating a slightly more up-market cachet. It’s always a good day when Caesars sticks to its knitting, improves what it has and doesn’t waste any time on pipe dreams like Macao and Florida. As for Margaritaville, soon Caesars will be able to say it’s literally underwater on the project, not just metaphorically.
