It’s been eight months since the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board held suitability hearings for awarding Philadelphia‘s second and final casino license. Those deliberations seem to have receded in the hazy yon of the past. It’s a situation that’s not sitting well with Mayor Michael Nutter, who wants action. “The record’s been closed for some time,” he told the International Association of Gaming Regulators. In response, board member Gregory C. Fajt could promise nothing better than “We’re still deliberating and hopefully, we’ll make a decision soon.” Fajt didn’t define “soon” and, given the PGCB’s idea of a timeline, we’ll be lucky to be alive when D-Day finally occurs. The board only meets twice more this year.
* Further west, having committed $465 million to buy the Meadows racino from Cannery Casino Resorts, REIT Gaming & Leisures Properties Inc. is having buyer’s remorse on a grand scale. It has (somewhat belatedly) decided that Cannery’s earnings projections are pure “fantasy.” Considering that Meadows is on track to decline 23% this year, atop an 18% dropoff in 2013, you have to wonder why GLPI didn’t decipher the tea leaves sooner. As all defendants are obligated to do, Cannery characterized the lawsuit as without merit. For once that pro forma declaration may carry some weight. If got GLPI got snookered on the Meadows, the fault would appear to lie in its due diligence (or lack of same.)
* Using high-tech surveillance equipment and good old-fashioned chicanery, FBI agents were able to penetrate three high-roller villas at Caesars Palace. Once inside, 
they found evidence of what is purported to be an online sports-betting operation, run on the fly. However, all the ingenuity may be for naught. When the G-Men outlined their plan to infiltrate the villas, disguised as Internet repairmen, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Frayn reportedly advised against it. Because the warantless search was conducted without the subjects’ consent, the evidence gathered may well be inadmissable at trial.
This wouldn’t be the first time the FBI was caught kicking the ball onto the fairway. It just confessed to faking an Associated Press story in 2007, in hopes of luring a domestic terrorist out of anonymity. In this case, a Nevada Gaming Control Board agent accompanied the FBI men on their sting. One agent wore a lapel camera to capture footage of what was on the suspects’ computer screens. After their capture, the suspects were indicted for transmission of wagering information, operating an illegal gambling business, and aiding and abetting.
Ironically, lead defendant Wei Seng Phua — an alleged high-ranking member of the 14K Triad — had fled Macao only days earlier, following his arrest there on similar charges. Nabbed along with him in Las Vegas was his son Darren Wai Kit Phua, along with six other suspects. Authorities were tipped to the alleged shenanigans when the defendants purchased “an unusually large amount of electronics equipment and technical support.” Caesars Entertainment also took note when an employee saw the Phua’s computer array and described it as looking like the setup for an online casino. FBI agents arranged to interdict the Phuas’ Internet service, a Trojan Horse ploy that go them in the door in order to surveil what was behind it.
While the feds’ case is shaky, Caesars is to be commended for its vigilance and civic spirit in shutting down suspicious activity.
