While we’ve been focused on Boston and New York, a major casino decision in Philadelphia has been creeping upon us. The second casino license in Philly city limits is 
to be awarded on Nov. 18 and early intel has it going to Cordish Gaming and Greenwood Gaming & Entertainment‘s proposed Live! Hotel & Casino (pictured). If so, Greenwood doubles down on the Philadelphia market, as it already owns one of the state’s premier casinos, Parx Casino, in suburban Bensalem. Cordish’s sensational performance with its Live-branded casino outside Baltimore may have been the decisive edge that aced out some native-son candidates and bedazzled with visions of tax dollars dancing in their heads.
The prospective also-rans include developer Bart Blatstein, who proposed to turn the old Philadelphia Inquirer building into a luxury hotel, The Provence. Then there was produce mogul Joseph “Tomato King” Procacci, whose amusement park-plus-casino concept never made much sense. Mayor Michael Nutter (left) may also be vexed because the Cordish/Greenwood project is earmarked for the southern part of the city, near its sports stadiums, while Nutter wanted something in the center of town.
Steve Wynn already walked out on the Philadelphia market, finding it overcrowded, and a number of lawmakers are expressing similar concerns. State Sen. Dominic Pileggi (R) spoke for many when he said, “Most of the Philadelphia-area facilities are drawing from the same pool of potential gamblers … We become like Atlantic City. That’s my biggest fear.” Basically, any legislator with a casino already in his district is looking at the Nov. 18 announcement like an oncoming iceberg.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell (D) felt that the decision should be postponed until Gov.-elect Tom Wolf (D, left) has had his say. “I’m not so sure we should have an additional casino in Philadelphia, and that’s not my decision,” Rendell said. “But the new governor should get some input.”
Cordish/Greenwood’s 2,000-slot, 125-table proposal is priced at an ROI-friendly $425 million. In addition to acing the Provence and Procacci’s Casino Revolution, it would 
edge developer Ken Goldenberg‘s centrally located Market 8. Procacci’s people are planning to stage a protest rally, to position themselves as the popular choice. Meanwhile, SugarHouse Casino wants the whole issue revisited, requesting “a full, open, and transparent hearing to consider the dramatically changed conditions in the Philadelphia market.” However, the burden is on SugarHouse to demonstrate those “dramatically changed conditions.” Since it’s in the middle of a big expansion, it may have trouble pleading hardship.
* Have you heard of “play management”? Perhaps not but you’ll hear a lot more in Massachusetts, where the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has proposed a tradeoff: If you set a loss limit, the casino will give you loyalty points for sticking to it. But Penn National Gaming, MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts are all dead-set against the idea (hopefully not because they’re being stingy with point rewards) and are gearing up to fight it. The American Gaming Association is taking point on this issue, arguing that there’s no science to support it and that, if anything, it might incent excessive gambling. “[A] gambler may feel empowered to chase his losses longer than he would without having established,” Geoff Freeman‘s peeps wrote.
Speaking for the nanny state, MIT’s Natasha Dow Schull countered with a proposal for a mandatory loss limit. Hit it and your gambling is over, bub. “The state should do something to protect people, especially when the state is making money on them,” Schull demanded. Most of the MGC’s constituents will probably share the crusty sentiments of Twin Rivers slot player Norma Baer, who said, “I don’t want some politician in Boston telling me what I can and can’t do.”
* Gambling cruises are still a hard way to make ends meet in Florida. The Island Breeze Casino has filed for bankruptcy and cashiered its crew, hoping to reorganize its 
debts and resume operations in a month. The Island Breeze has had quite a run of bad luck, including an inability to make payments to its slot machine vendor and the “catastrophic failure” of its starboard engine. (Kind of hard to steer without an engine.) The operators still owe $5.2 million of the $5.8 million for which they purchased the ship — a questionable investment at best. Should they get court approval to roam the high seas again, the Island Breeze hopes to scavenge some business from the Bahamas Celebration, docked after a mysterious collision on Halloween.
* Identity theft has victimized Grand Casino Mille Lacs, in Minnesota. Employing malware, the suspect was able to snoop on “customers’ names, payment card numbers and card expiration dates.” Grand Casino is saying the violation only (!) affected 1,600 payment card transactions has been somewhat slow to react, but is now taking measures to make sure the problem doesn’t spread.
