Turning point for Wynn; Breakthrough for PokerStars

Earlier this week, the Everett Planning Board unanimously assented to Wynn Everett‘s site plan. The Medford Patch described this vote as “the most critical local permit needed by Wynn.” The resort-to-be can start pulling building permits now, with the actual start of construction projected for spring of next year. In the meantime, Wynn Resorts will be remediating the brownfield site.

It was a short-lived truce between Steve Wynn and Boston Mayor Martin “McCheese” Walsh. Sore loser Walsh is suing Wynn to have his hard-won environmental certification revoked. According to the Boston Globe, “the city asserts that Wynn and Secretary Matthew Beaton glossed over or ignored substantial concerns about how a 24-story casino and hotel complex would affect traffic.”

Taken by surprise, Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver lashed out at Walsh for using the local media to deliver the bad news, instead of communicating with Wynn directly. “This is certainly an unproductive way for the city to engage in a dialogue with our company, and will be unlikely to benefit the citizens of Boston; yet it is likely to force the citizens to carry the burden of ever-increasing legal fees.” The lawsuit asserts that “has consistently ignored the city’s concerns, failing to fully disclose the environmental impacts of its project and failing to provide clear and direct responses to the city’s comment,” in yet another attack clearly intended to nitpick the project to death.

At the nub of the issue are the 20,000 to 23,000 extra cars that are expected to pass through Sullivan Square en route to Wynn. McCheese (below), rather than working with Wynn, attacks the company and the state for allegedly not having done enough. By contrast to the gusts of hot air coming from Walsh, Somerville‘s attorney pithily states that the environmental-impact report merely “kicked the can down the road, even though the road is already congested and there is no place for the can to go.” It’s strange to see the greater Boston area’s leadership trying to chase out $1.7 billion in investment, but that seems to be their goal, with McCheese in the lead.

Meanwhile, Thailand-based investor Eugene McCain is quietly gobbling up bits and pieces of real estate near Suffolk Downs. He’s also the man behind the ballot drive to convert the track to a racino, making it the fourth casino in the state. Never mind the potential economic impact on Wynn Everett: If McCain wins at the ballot box, the Mashpee Aquinnah prevail in court and the Mashpee Wampanoags choose to get a casino through federal means rather than state approval, Massachusetts could find itself with as many as seven casinos instead of the four that the Legislature envisioned.

* Three men are in custody for allegedly conducting a $1.5 million, two year scam on the craps tables at Bellagio. Allegedly, with the aid of corrupt casino employees, two bettors “won” hundreds of thousands on bets they never actually made. What is amazing is not the purported crime but that the accused men got away with it for so long. The “eye in the sky” must have been taking an extended snooze.

* It seemed as though it would never happen but Amaya Inc. got the blessing of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, meaning it can unleash its PokerStars and Full Tilt brands on Garden State gamblers. It’s also a happy day for Amaya’s terrestrial affiliate, Resorts Atlantic City, which suddenly becomes a very serious player in the state’s i-gaming industry. For a long time it looked as though the Chris Christie administration was going to smother Amaya’s application, to curry favor with Sheldon Adelson for Christie’s presidential bid. We don’t know why Amaya got out of quarantine so suddenly but we’re glad it did. The company put $400,000 into a trust account for players who suffered losses when the U.S. Department of Justice kicked PokerStars out of the country in 2011.

Since Amaya has 95 million registered users, the boost to i-gaming in New Jersey could be huge … and could validate the revenue projections that Christie and casino officials had touted. So far this year, Internet gambling revenues are 16% ahead of last year’s pace and the entrance of PokerStars and Full Tilt could give those numbers a kick-start. However, Resorts President Mark Giannantonio isn’t prepared to announce a go-live date yet.

Meanwhile, poker pro Joshua Beckley has gone all in with an illegal Internet casino.

* Caesars Entertainment and its tribal partners have a hit on their hands with Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel. Customer demand was so strong that the casino opened 45 minutes early. Miles-long traffic jams were also reported. With 18% unemployment in Cherokee County and poverty-level per-capita income ($18,340 as of two years ago), Harrah’s Cherokee Valley can only be a plus to the local economy. Now we’ll see if politicians in nearby Georgia are incentivized to legalize non-lottery gambling in their state.