Rick Scott screws the Seminoles; Internet gaming advances in Pennsylvania

By the this point in time it’s pretty clear that Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) has been negotiating in bad faith with the Seminole Tribe. He’s had five years to come up with a new compact regarding Rick_Scott1the tribe’s blackjack games — and failed miserably. Not even a Seminole offer to up revenue-sharing from $1 billion over five years to $3 billion over seven was good enough for Governor Rick. Even so, he’s trying to have the federal courts both dismiss a suit against him for bad-faith dickering and to enjoin the Seminoles from continuing to offer blackjack. Some gall.

The tribe wants to expand its casino arsenal to include craps and roulette, although if it can’t get an agreement on blackjack, what’s the hope of adding new table games? Private-sector casinos, meanwhile continue to offer electronic simulations of “player-banked” card games with impunity. As for Scott, his lawyer had the nerve to suggest that the Seminoles wait until 2030 before suing for bad-faith negotiating. “The best that can be said about the tribe’s failure-to-negotiate claim is that it is 15 years premature,” opined General Counsel William Spicola. We haven’t got that long to wait out Scott’s plantation-owner mentality.

* A Pennsylvania bill to legalize Internet gambling and to put slots in the gate areas of the state’s airports has made it out of committee. That still puts it a long way from a done deal but it is a significant step. A spokesman for House Majority Leader Dave Reed characterized as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency measure, should lawmakers discover a budget shortfall.

* It turns out that Steve Wynn‘s three-month postponement of WynnWynn Palace isn’t the voluntary move it first appeared. Contractor Leighton Holdings is being blamed for the delay, due to unfinished work. When completed, Wynn Palace will boast “1,700 hotel rooms, a lake with gondolas and fountains, meeting space, a casino, a spa, stores and food-and-beverage outlets.” What it may have very little of is table games — it remains to be seen how the Macao government will react to Wynn’s yelling fit about how unfair and primitive economic policy in Macao is.

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