There’s one casino license left in Pennsylvania but favorite son Penn National Gaming won’t be the one developing it. “We are disappointed to be withdrawing from this 
project. However, given the continued softness in the economy and the level of market saturation — not just in Western Pennsylvania, but across the Commonwealth — we are regrettably unable to justify this investment at the statutorily required spending levels,” said Penn Chief Development Officer B.J. Fair, managing to throw shade on state policy in justifying the withdrawal from the Lawrence Downs Casino & Racing Resort project. The rest of the investment contains some familiar names, like Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider and the estate of Lewis Katz, both of whom were deeply involved with the failed Foxwoods Resort Casino project in the City of Brotherly Love.
If it goes forward, the Lawrence County racino would have 1,250 slots, 50 table games, in addition to harness racing. Given how crowded that area of the Pennsylvania is, Penn seems 
merely prudent in backing out of it. Other factors that surely went into Penn’s decision are the proximity (20 miles) of its wildly successful racino in Austintown, Ohio. More perplexing was the failed attempt by Penn’s REITmasters at Gaming & Leisure Properties to consummate the purchase of nearby The Meadows racino from Cannery Casino Resorts. Penn has offered to play matchmaker to Lawrence Downs majority owners Endeka Entertainment … perhaps its new BFF, Cordish Gaming. That offer, however, has apparently been met with acrimony by jilted Endeka.
Or the project might be off the burner altogether. It’s being underwritten with municipal bonds. Fitch Ratings analyst Alex Bumazhny called this “a sign that the project is too 
risky and/or the return prospects are not lucrative enough for the private investors to participate using 100 percent of their own money. It’s a pretty speculative project given the number of casinos in the region.” Among those is struggling Lady Luck Nemacolin, which has cut staffing in the face of financial performance that is 50% short of Isle of Capri Casinos‘ expectations.
In an unusual development for a racino, Presque Isle Downs is asking the State of Pennsylvania for permission to downsize its inventory of slots and table games, citing the deleterious effects of competition from Horseshoe Cleveland. Usually, when business turns bad, racinos’ instinct is to enlarge the gaming on offer.
* Next door, in New York State, there’s a move afoot to modify the VLT offerings to include games like blackjack and three-card poker that call for an element of skill. It’s nice to see the Empire State moving with the times.
* One of the more egregious cases of reservation shopping has been rejected like a poorly dunked basketball by the New Mexico Supreme Court. The Oklahoma-based Fort Sill Apache tribe hoped to compel Gov. Susana Martinez (R) to ink a gaming compact — never mind that, while it has land in trust in the Land of Enchantment, the Interior Department hasn’t approved it for casino gambling. The Fort Sill band tried to ignore that nicety and its reward was a summary denial by the high court.
