Sheldon Adelson once called it “a mistake” but Sands Bethlehem is proving to be a bright spot on the Las Vegas Sands balance sheet. Last 
year, its profitability rose 9%, adding $108 million to Adelson’s coffers. As the CEO would be quick to point out, the company isn’t exactly collecting chump change from Macao, where casino revenues were $6.7 billion even after a net revenue drop of 28%. What’s more, not even all-time-high room rates at Sands Bethlehem did nothing to discourage overnight visits, with the hotel running at 91.5% occupancy.
* From Pocahontas to slot machines. The could be the trajectory of Virginia‘s Pamunkey Indian nation, which staved off a challenge to its recognition by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. The tribe was pleasantly surprised by how quickly litigation against it by Stand Up for California was struck down. The Pamunkey are Virginia’s first federally recognized Native American tribe, thanks to a ruling last July by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As for Stand Up for California, it was a catspaw for MGM Resorts International, which reportedly fears that a tribal casino in Virginia would cut into the action at MGM National Harbor, which received a major capital infusion this week.
“Thirty years of disappointment. That’s how long this has taken, and then to have an organization from the other side of the country doing something for whatever nefarious purposes that they have, it makes us angry,” fumed Pamunkey Chief Robert Gray about Stand Up’s bizarre intervention. If Frank Wolf, who didn’t care much for tribal casinos or Indians in general, were still in Congress, the Pamunkey breakthrough would be giving him fits.
Since the Pamunkey reservation is near Richmond, it is difficult to see a tribal casino as posing a serious threat to MGM’s Washington, D.C., effort. Sounding a note of helplessness, company spokesman Gordon Absher said, “It was our understanding from the tribe’s repeated statements during the application process that it had no plans to pursue casino development.” If MGM builds a first-class facility at National Harbor — as it shows every sign of doing — then it should have nothing to fear from the Pamunkey.
The Board of Appeals ruled that Stand Up neither had standing nor any prospect of imminent harm from Pamunkey recognition. Sign Up warned vaguely of “significant impacts to the state and local government jurisdictions, surrounding communities, property owners, businesses, Indian and non-Indian individuals, and federally-recognized Indian tribes as well.” The Pamunkey are believed to be pursuing a casino — Virginia’s first — opposition to which, ex-chief Kevin Brown says cost him his job.
“I have seen firsthand the greed and evil a deal like this can bring out in people and have changed my position regarding gaming as a viable 
endeavor for the tribe at this time,” Brown wrote last June. He queried a sudden and exponential increase in the tribal budget, which seemed to portend casino development. (Current casino leadership wouldn’t comment on the issue.) Even casino opponent William Howell (R, above), speaker of the Virginia House of Representatives seems resigned to inevitability of gambling, saying, “I’m afraid it’s a federal issue.” And a Pamunkey casino might not be the last, given that six other Virginia tribes are seeking federal recognition.
* Casino speculator Shawn Scott has submitted petitions for a casino in southern Maine, a ballot question craftily drafted to benefit only Scott and to supersize Maine casinos from 3,000 slots to 4,500. Scott has had problems with petition drives in the past, so it will be interesting to see how the signature-vetting process goes. The Portland Press Herald says that Scott is already receiving complaints from some of his employees, who say “that some of their out-of-state colleagues cut corners in their quest to earn money from signatures.” Shawn Scott? Cut corners? Heaven forfend!
* “This is really a special trip for me. Anything you can do to make it more special would really be appreciated.” That’s what you’re supposed to say when you’re slipping the hotel desk clerk the proverbial extra $20 at check-in, among other niceties of check-in etiquette.
