Just when it looked like Caesars Entertainment was out of the woods in its bankruptcy reorganization the federal trustee intervened with an objection. At issue are the releases 
from litigation that Caesars wrested from creditors as part of the price of being made whole. The bankruptcy trustee calls this “blanket immunity” applying to “a wide array of parties far beyond the plan or the Chapter 11 cases.” So broad were the releases, that outright fraud was among the forms of misconduct they shielded. As we have already seen, a court-appointed examiner deemed Caesars to be potentially on the hook for $5 billion worth of fraudulent asset transfers — and consciously acted to dilute Caesars Entertainment Operating Company of as much value as possible — and some dissident creditors vowed to seek even more. The federal trustee’s objections will be heard at the January bankruptcy trial. If Caesars prevails, the trustee can appeal, although we think the incoming Trump administration will let Caesars off the hook to whatever extent possible.
* Penn National Gaming got a rap on the knuckles for overpromising and underdelivering on hiring goals for Plainridge Park. Although the Massachusetts racino set an “ambitious” benchmark of staffing 90% of its positions with employees from the host community of Plainfield and the surrounding, it opened with 36% local employees. That number has since improved to 65%. Penn is doing better on the minority-hiring front, having vowed that 10% of staff would be minority hires and having reached the 14% level. Let’s hope Penn keeps raising those numbers on both fronts.
* Sands Bethlehem is going to have to get its checkbook out an pay a $22,500 fine to 
Pennsylvania. Why? Because it twice mixed cards from separate decks, a big no-no in casino gambling. According to casino President Mark Juliano, the literal mixup was a mistake but one that went unnoticed until numerous hands — 194 in a June 2015 incident and 156 in a February 2016 recurrence — had been dealt to players from decks that contained too many cards. To Sands’ credit, it self-reported the blunders. Sands has replaced its continuous shufflers and switched to brighter-colored cards. Nobody’s lost their job over the incidents but the employees involved have been counseled for unsatisfactory performance, which was very clement of Sands, all things considered.
* Despite the closing of Trump Taj Mahal, October was a good month for Atlantic City poker rooms. Between online and terrestrial play, they reported a 9% increase in rake for the month. PokerStars-powered Resorts Digital led the sector, with $1 million. And can it really be three years since Internet gambling was incepted in New Jersey? During that time, hundreds of millions of dollars have been grossed by Web casinos and over $66 million in tax revenue has flowed through to Trenton. It’s vindication of Gov. Chris Christie‘s support for online play and a revenue source that should be protected jealously.
* Contrary to what we reported yesterday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has explicitly promised Class III gaming status to the Tohono O’odham Nation‘s Desert Diamond Casino in return for signing onto a new compact with 10 other tribes. While the T-Os icily noted that they had “not been a part of this process,” they said they stood “ready to consider compact language that would resolves the outstanding litigation … And includes language regarding no new casinos in the Phoenix area during the current Compact.” I think we have a win-win resolution at hand.
