Glenn Straub‘s once-bold gambit to reopen Revel has turned into an embarrassing face-plant. Perhaps rushing to market in hopes of beating Bart Blatstein‘s Showboat to the hotel traffic, Straub announced a hasty revival of Revel as a casino-hotel without securing the necessary permissions first. Last Friday, two days after his self-imposed deadline for getting Revel back in business, Straub finally got around to applying for a certificate of occupancy. As of last Thursday, the sewer lines were still blocked (they have been subsequently unplugged).“It’s the first time we cut off a casino. It’s gonna come flying out 100 miles per hour,” said a utility worker of the backed-up waste. Tomorrow, city inspectors will check out Revel’s fire-suppression infrastructure, along with its electrical and water systems. More damningly, not only does Revel have no official name at this point, it appears that Straub has hired no new workforce. Approval of elevators and escalators for use is going slowly.
He also doesn’t have a casino license and the New Jersey Casino Control Commission isn’t allowing Straub to simply hand-wave that issue away. They say he has to have one, even if he’s promised to eventually farm out the casino to a third-party operator. Frankly, it looks like he’s making this up as he goes along, hardly a path to success in the casino industry. He has promised “scuba, windsurfing and cooking lessons” but has failed to keep his eye on the ball. This isn’t a “soft” reopening, it’s a squishy one and does not augur for success once Straub finally gets his act together. As a real estate tycoon, he’s brilliant but as a casino owner so far he’s been a complete fuck-up. The tea leaves suggest that Revel 3.0 will be as big a flop as its previous incarnations, even if Straub only has to bank a modest amount of revenue ($82 million) to recoup his purchase price.
* There’s a glimmer of hope for online gambling in Pennsylvania, now that Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R) has hinted that he will support it, in a reversal of his previous stance. The bill faces rough sledding in the state Senate, though. At the moment, Turzai’s change of mind is being overshadowed by the coziness between the speaker and slot-route lobbyist Krystjan Callahan, his former chief of staff. Casinos continue to balk at any bill that contains slot routes, but they’re not finding much sympathy from House Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Mark Mustio, who said the casinos industry “continues to cannibalize themselves by building casinos across our borders in our neighboring states.” Perhaps the best thing that i-gaming has going for it in the Keystone State is the alternative: tax increases. “Given the choice between gaming or an income tax increase, I prefer gaming,” said House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R).
* There’s something fishy going on at MotorCity Casino, in Detroit. First, the casino took 
the unusual step of not renewing President Gregg Solomon‘s contract. Then, Vice President of Operations Jenny Holaday was nominated for the position, pending regulatory approval. But MotorCity withdrew Holaday’s application and she “elected to resign to pursue other opportunities,” like updating her resume. So interim President Bruce Dall is now officially president of MotorCity. One can hardly second-guess the choice, as Dall has been in the industry so long (almost 30 years) that he’s put in stops as internal-audit director at Caesars World and controller at the Desert Inn. He even served seven years as CFO at immediate rival Greektown Casino-Hotel. So he seems the right man for the job, despite the turbulence that prefaced his appointment.
* Greektown owner Dan Gilbert‘s Jack Entertainment is breaking Cincinnati precedent with a controversial LED marquee, to be affixed to its 80-foot-tall sign at Jack Cincinnati Casino. Nearby business owners and residents objected to the light spill that would emanate from the video banner. However, the Queen City’s Planning Commission voted overwhelmingly in favor of the new signage. By the way, Dan, congratulations on the NBA championship won by your Cleveland Cavaliers. Aren’t you glad that you and LeBron James patched things up?
* Forward-thinking slot developers at Gamblit are trying to avoid the myopia of the game-technology executive who told MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle, no problem: “there will always be 51-year-old women.” Part of the challenge facing Gamblit’s skill-based slots is the long replacement cycle that will preface its games’ adoption by the industry. Also, “Slot players wager once every five seconds, compared with every 20 to 60 seconds for some Gamblit games, which may prove less lucrative than traditional slots even if they attract new gamblers,” according to the Wall Street Journal‘s Alexandra Berzon. So, calibrating your slot floor to achieve the right balance of speed, demographic appeal and fiscal return is going to be a tricky balancing act for operators.
Straub is an idiot! Never gonna happen! Flip it already, with the power plant!