Glenn Straub flakes out; Adelson woos South Korea

Glenn Straub‘s reputation for mercurial behavior was reinforced last week when he blew his stack before the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. What was the flashpoint? The CRDA wanted Straub to come up with a new landscaping plan for Revel, in light of the rope course he’s erecting in the property’s former porte cochere. According to one newspaper report, the CRDA’s rationale was that “the addition of a ropes course on the former Revel property changes the way traffic flows through the site.” No landscaping plan, no certificate of occupancy. This was more than Straub could bear. “[I] come in here with $150 million to spend in your city and this is what you come up with? Just keep it up. This building will be shut down forever,” he exploded. “We got $200,000 in this simple application and you’re now adding up landscaping, 100,000 plants on that property? We’re not going to keep changing things. We’ll leave it go the way it is.”

CRDA member Paul Weiss tried to calm Straub down, saying, “Plant as many plants as you wish. Plant them in what ever variety you wish. We want a plan that demonstrates compliance with the law. That’s all.” Replied Straub, “The application is withdrawn.” He then stormed out of the meeting. Even if the landscaping weren’t an issue, Straub would probably have opened fire on the CRDA over assessment fees that the Authority says Straub’s Polo North owes the state. Straub is refusing to pay the money. After Straub’s eruption, his lawyer, Nicholas Talvacchia — who is presumably familiar with his client’s mood swings — told the CRDA that the application would continue to advance. After all, just last month, Straub said, “This state stinks. It just stinks.” (Nice way to make friends and influence people, Glenn.) “To hell with that,” he said of reopening Revel. I’ve got other things to do. I don’t have time to be screwing with this stuff.”

Straub added, “I’ve never seen business so bad. I worked in five states. This is 10 times worse than what it would be anyplace else.” As for prognosticating Straub’s future course of action, one might as well consult a magic 8 ball: His mood evidently varies depending on which side of the bed he gets up from in the morning. One group that wouldn’t be entirely sorry if Straub took his ball and went to play somewhere else are the residents of nearby Bella Condominiums. They’ve been peppering authorities with questions about potential noise from Revel 3.0. The way things are going, they won’t have to worry about additional rowdiness for a good long while yet.

* After having to defer a job fair earlier this year due to the meddling of Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, it’s finally time for Wynn Resorts to kick off a series of hiring sessions, sprinkled across the greater Boston area, in search of 4,000 construction workers. Building the $2.1 billion casino will require 10 million man hours of labor, even if some aspects may be streamlined by the fact that Wynn has executed virtually the same design four times previously — twice in Las Vegas and twice in Macao. Said Laborer’s Local 22 President Louis Mandarini, “They’re on a fast track, they want this done yesterday.” When Wynn Resorts wants to make a big capital infusion into an area, it doesn’t mess around.

* Now that the government of South Korea is considering breaking Kangwon Land‘s monopoly on locals gaming, Sheldon Adelson has seen an opportunity and is pouncing. His envoy to Korea, Marina Bay Sands CEO George Tanasijevich, identified the port city of Busan as the ideal site. He said it “has an unlimited growth potential for its location – lying between Japan and China – but is now suffering in obscurity due to lack of enough five-star hotels and exhibition and convention venues.” Sands is prepared to commit $4.5 billion — maybe even $10.8 billion — to a megaresort … but only locals are allowed to patronize it. (Such a reversal in Korean domestic policy would also certainly change MGM Resort International‘s mind about not being interested in Korea at this time.)

Sands would be willing to concede to a Singapore-like entry fee for locals (who pay $73.50 a day to play at Marina Bay Sands). At present, Koreans pay $8 a head to play at Kangwon Land. If the government in Seoul eases its restrictions on its citizens, widened casino access could accrue to the benefit of Mohegan Sun‘s project at Incheon International Airport and even put wind in the sails of Caesars Entertainment‘s dead-in-the-water Korean project. Adelson can be very persuasive when he wants to be, so this latest development bears watching.

Speaking of Mohegan Sun, happy birthday to the headquarters casino, which is celebrating 20 years in business. Time sure flies when you’re making money hand over fist. “The simplest way to put it is that the fortunes of running what is now the largest revenue generating casino in the Western hemisphere has put us in a position to be self-governing,” said Tribal Council Chairman Kevin “Red Eagle” Brown. He added, “In the early days of developing a casino there were a lot of the standard anti-casino folks. But at the same time we consider ourselves to be very fortunate to be in this good native orchard and to have good friends who have come to recognize us.” While the exact amount won by the casino over the years will remain shrouded in mystery, since Connecticut casinos don’t report table games revenue, the state’s Special Revenue Fund has banked $2 billion in revenue sharing from Mohegan Sun’s slot machines. That’s not too shabby for a tribe that started out with a bingo hall and some rural acreage.