China dealt a severe blow to the hopes of Big Gaming this week, declaring the island of Hainan off-limits for gambling. “We cannot at all allow Hainan to operate casinos,” declared resident Communist Party strongman Luo Baoming. This cannot have been well received in the offices of Caesars Entertainment, which hoped to open a Hainan resort this year, or to MGM Resorts International, which already runs MGM Grand Sanya on Hainan’s scenic shores. How big a prize is Hainan? It’s home to a seemingly unimaginable 200 hotels and “has been a huge draw for domestic tourists with more than 22 million overnight stays registered in Hainan in the first eight months of 2013.” MGM and Caesars must be feeling like slot players whose big jackpot was just invalidated.
In a late-breaking story, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has put Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic — which plays Harrah’s Reno and Harrah’s Laughlin — on notice for animal cruelty. According to The Associated Press, the show received a citation in December and formal warning a month later. Arthur’s been cited “for declawing lions and tigers, keeping a snow leopard in a rusty cage and chaining a bobcat in a dangerous way.” Caesars says Arthur is getting into compliance — though how do you undo declawing? — and S&G hopes it will keep the pressure on him to do so.
Karl Lagerfeld is stoked. “An entire hotel designed by me. It’s the first time for me! I think the idea is great!” What’s gotten him into a lather? His participation in Stanley Ho‘s Lisboa Palace on the Cotai Strip. Lagerfeld will design a 20-story hotel tower for the Macao project. Owner SJM seems determined to upscale its image, branding one tower with Versace and now hiring Lagerfeld.
Give Tony Nevill, race and sports book director for Treasure Island credit for doing his homework. By studying up on Wichita State University‘s basketball team he had them at 8.5-1 to win the NCAA tournament at the season’s opening and at 6-1 now. (Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin is from Wichita.) Other Vegas books could get shocked by the Shockers, having started them at 75- or even 100-1.
Kudos to the Illinois Lottery not only for sponsor Chicago Cubs telecasts but for dedicating the proceeds from its newest game toward multiple sclerosis research. That’s the spirit.
Wichita State made it to the Final Four last year and played really good against Louisville (the eventual champion) before losing so I am surprised that most of the Sports Books had such long odds on Wichita State. There has not been an undefeated champion since Indiana in 1976 so I hope Wichita State goes all the way.