Were I Steve Wynn, I would be feeling somewhat discouraged by my prospects in Massachusetts. Just look at what happened to Cordish Gaming. Its Leominster slot-parlor proposal got high marks, but was ultimately passed over because Penn National Gaming‘s rival project in Plainville would incorporate horse racing. If, as appears to be the case, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is in the tank for horseracing, Suffolk Downs will ace Wynn just by showing up.
Further aiding Suffolk Downs’ cause is a marketing program by Mohegan Sun. It is recruiting local businesses at a furious clip for a program where player points can be redeemed at area businesses — “garages, print shops, insurance agents, beauty suppliers, hair salons, markets, local chambers of commerce” — reaching as far as Salem. Wynn has its own gift-voucher program for Everett and Malden, but the breadth and comprehensiveness of Mohegan Sun’s effort may have him beat. The promise to fund a community college in Revere is also sure to appeal to the MGC. I’m not saying Wynn should up and go home, but Mohegan Sun seems to have him outflanked at the moment.
As part of its ongoing effort to rejuvenate the Boardwalk’s image, the Atlantic City Alliance is deploying its Do AC Nightlife Party Bus toshuttle carefully selected twenty- and thirty-somethings to Atlantic City. Once there, they party through the night at a couple of nightclubs and visit a pizza parlor before returning to Philadelphia. The price? “Social media the crap out of this,” as verb-challenged DJ puts it. Social-media celebs like chef Jennifer Carroll are recruited to the cause. Considering the unbridled hedonism of today’s youth, the Alliance seems to be onto something — and expanding it to Baltimore and New York City hardly seems a stretch.
(They must have some pretty liberal open-bottle laws in New Jersey, judging by the free-flowing booze on the bus.)
On a similar note, for better or worse, Rehab is back and bigger than ever. The raucous Hard Rock Hotel & Casino pool party has expanded to Saturdays. Going on 11 years, the aquatic free-for-all will feature guest talent like Robin Thicke (who’d better behave himself lest Paula Patton kick his ass), plus multiple Sean Combs sightings. If Las Vegas used to be the playground of the middle-aged, the torch has definitely been passed to a younger generation.
Slots are considered an old-fogey form of gambling by many, but the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno has figured a way to make them hip. It has launched a mobile, social-gaming application that enables you to rack up enough points to win a spot in one of its slot tournaments. It’s a clever way to stoke millennials’ competitive juices and make them want to be in your slot tourney. Atlantis COO David Farahi believes it’s unique in the U.S. and, even if it isn’t, he deserves some kind of Better Mousetrap Award for having “taken it to the next level,” as he puts it.
