Caesars rethinks pensions; Bluhm wins in Massachusetts

Caesars Entertainment has been feeling the heat for cutting off pension payments to 340 current and former executives. By lumping them in with other unsecured creditors, it gave caesarscasino_1itself a rationale for the severed payouts, leaving the pensioners to face the prospect of modest, long-delayed recompense. But now, while not doing a full 180, Caesars will resume payments to most of the unfortunate 340. “The reopening of the pay spigot comes after a federal prosecutor [Paul Fishman] started asking why the payments had stopped — and the executives threatened to sue the casino operator,” the New York  Post reports.

“Any participant who missed a payout between the suspension of payouts in January and now will receive a ‘catch up’ distribution with all missed payouts,” Caesars stated. The company did, however, leave the door open to another cutoff in the future. So gather those $81 million in rosebuds while yet ye may.

* Neil Bluhm and his Massachusetts allies in Brockton eked out an electoral victory, winning the right to build a casino at Brockton Fairgrounds by a 143-vote margin. As neil-bluhmyou can imagine, with such a close outcome, opponents are demanding a recount. Not even a trickle of provisional and hand-counted ballots is expected to upend the result. Mass Gaming & Entertainment can turn to pressing its suit with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for a speedy determination of the casino-site award in the southeastern region of the state.

Bluhm will have to wait at least until June 23, when New Bedford weighs in on the Foxwoods-backed casino proposed for that city. Somerset‘s proposal, meanwhile, is a Chinese fire drill, and the MGC will consider its latest request for a postponement tomorrow.

Brockton casino opponents are trying to have it both ways, spinning the close vote as a moral victory, and yet planning to challenge the results before the MGC on the grounds that they lacked sufficient time and money to vie with Mass Gaming at the ballot box. The latter’s spokesman, Joe Baerlein replied, “A win is a win is a win. We knew were in a bare-knuckled fight for weeks and weeks. We knew this was going to be a close election and … that’s what it turned out to be.”

* Sheldon Adelson‘s four days of floundering testimony in the Steven Jacobs case are making headlines around the globe — and not in a good way. If the steady drip of accusations of Triad links continues, Adelson could become a toxic asset to the politicians who currently curry his favor. And, good Lord, what is it with that unkempt schmatte he’s wearing atop his noggin?

* Yes, you too can buy the house in which eccentric casino heir Ted Binion died (under suspicious circumstances), provided you have $999,995 to spare.

* No disrespect to Sin City, but holding a convention of former cocaine addicts here is like convening an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a brewery.

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