So much for Lawrence Downs Casino & Racing Resort. In a unanimous vote, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board decided to drop-kick the casino project, which had already 
lost the backing of Penn National Gaming, which has racino interests nearby in Ohio. What seems to have shot down Endeka Entertainment was a lack of financing. It proposed to execute a $500 million-size project on $205 million, a number that shrank to $145 million once licensing fees were subtracted. This is the second major defeat for Joseph “Tomato King” Procacci, the hapless vegetable mogul who tried and failed to get a Philadelphia casino, too. The Lawrence County site also seems to have been hexed, having been through a revolving door of developers, of whom Procacci was the sixth to date. The news comes as Pennsylvania hits a new high in casino revenues — $3.2 billion for the last fiscal year — providing a huge revenue stream to the state … albeit not enough for Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to balance his budget. “Between now and Election Day, we’re excited to highlight for the candidates just how big of a role we play in the economies of Pennsylvania, Ohio and nearly every battleground state across the country,” said American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman. Yeah, but don’t expect it to be trumpeted from the podium of the Democratic National Convention in Philly this week.
* Speaking of conventions, despite the presence of thousands of GOPers less than three blocks away, Jack Cleveland Casino did not benefit from the nearby presence of the Republican National Convention. Insufficient parking and security-related difficulty are blamed for keeping casino regulars away from Jack. Conventioneers were little help. “The vast preponderance of our business is local and when they have concerns about safety or traffic 
they kind of avoided downtown this week,” explained Senior Vice President of Operations Mark Tricano. According to Cleveland.com, “Those in the immediate area by the casino were security forces, protesters, journalists and vendors.” With the casino entrance a favored staging site for protests, area workers avoided the casino in droves — breaking with their habit of making lunchtime visits to Jack. Conventioneers who might have wanted to place a few bets were deterred by the shutdown of an elevated walkway to Quicken Loans Arena. Throw in the fact that the Cleveland Indians were on a road trip and the average Ohioan didn’t have much reason to brave the hassle to have a flutter at Dan Gilbert‘s casino. Tricano defined success as getting “through the week without any major safety issues or concerns” and is hoping favorable exposure for Cleveland last week will trickle down into repeat visitation somewhere in the future.
* What is “the worst regulated sector in the U.S. gaming space”? According to former California Gambling Control Commissioner Richard Schuetz, it is the Golden State’s card rooms. He cites a staggering litany of fines, raids and forfeitures to make his point, 
including the $650,000 penalty levied on Oaks Card Club for evading anti-terrorism measures when processing its winnings. Schuetz holds out no hope for reform, given the addiction of California politicians to card-room campaign donations. “Unfortunately those of us who believe that the California gambling regulatory scene needs a major reset involving a restructuring, better funding, and better training do not have the funds to give to these politicians to get their attention, and it appears that if you do not give them money, with the exception of Assembly members Jim Cooper and Marc Levine, they really do not have the time to listen,” he concludes.
* Sheldon Adelson caught a break from the Nevada Supreme Court. It tossed out a $70 million damages award to Macao businessman Richard Suen as insufficiently justified by the evidence, although it held that “substantial evidence” showed that Suen had indeed been of assistance to Las Vegas Sands. The verdict is remanded to Clark County District Court for revisitation of the damages issue.
