Penn National Gaming is “making it rain” in Plainview, where it has spent $1.5 million with local vendors since opening. The 
workforce at Plainridge Park has gone from 100 to 533, with a $14 million payroll. And the state has already collected $10 million in taxes. This would seem like success beyond Deval Patrick‘s wildest dreams but now the dreaded Penn National Effect kicks in, management having engaged in its habitual exaggeration of projected revenue, forecast at $248 million but likelier to come in around $220 million. (See also Baltimore, Horseshoe.)
Area vendors have nothing but good things to say about Plainridge, while Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby downplays its impact on the state lottery. “There’s a high degree of likelihood that no matter how much lottery money is diverted, the impact on local aid will be a net positive,” he told the Boston Globe.
* China‘s currency has been devalued twice this month and it’s expected to have a deterrent effect on tourism to Las Vegas, which covets the Chinese player above all others, despite representing only 3% of total visitation. The pinch is also going to felt, obviously in Macao, where the most heavily exposed operator is thought to be Wynn Macau.
* Vincent Michael Malfitano badly underestimated the due diligence of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and it cost him his chance at a Nevada casino license — a decision ratified yesterday by the Nevada Gaming Commission. The Silver State’s regulatory system has its flaws but Malfitano was naive to think that investigators wouldn’t find out about several lawsuits — to say nothing of tax liens — he conveniently forgot to disclose or a run-in with police. “I don’t want you anywhere near gaming,” Commissioner John Moran told him.
This means Malfitano has to sell the Bonanza Saloon and Delta Saloon in Virginia City. The casinos are small (142 slots, total) and only employ 25 people but were described as “the heart and soul of Virginia City.” If those workers end up out on the street they’ll have only Malfitano to blame.
* This week’s S&G is brought to you by RCA‘s 40-CD “Pierre Monteux: The Complete RCA Album Collection,” celebrating the 
greatest French conductor of all time. The bulk of the handsome boxed set is devoted to the maitre‘s work with the San Francisco Symphony, which he took over as a stripling of 60 years of age and didn’t begin recording with RCA Victor until he was 65 — an association that lasted until he was still going strong at 85, outliving his 20-year association with the “red seal” label. An inspiration to us all.
