Another domino wobbles; Western, R.I.P.; Fighting over pocket change?

Add South Carolina to the list of states that could be suddenly taking a more favorable view of casino gambling. What the United Keetowa Band of Cherokee Indians is pitching have to be compacted with Gov. Nikki Haley (R, right). We’ve seen in Florida what a long and hellish process getting a compact can be. Of course, if the state proves intransigent, the Keetowa can make a Hail Mary pass to the Interior Department, in D.C. But that’s a desperate resort, usually brandished as a threat when intrastate negotiations have dragged on for years. It’s a bit amusing to see Palmetto State TV anchors reeling with shock at the notion of a “huge” 400-room hotel-casino, something that would pass in Vegas almost without notice. Also, as far as the construction requiring “years” of effort, recent startups in Kansas and Ohio put the lie to that notion. Here’s hoping that Gov. Haley is at least willing to listen to what the Keetowa are offering.

After 42 years of business, the Western Hotel & Casino has joined the graveyard of defunct Vegas gambling palaces. The old grind joint — a casino so rough even Anthony Curtis hesitated to set foot there — quietly ceased operations yesterday, without fanfare. It was the ultimate in a series of cutbacks (motel rooms closed, shorter hours) by Tamares Group, which blundered into downtown Las Vegas in 2004 and hasn’t seem to have figured the place out yet. In a Las Vegas Review-Journal piece, Hubble Smith reports that Tamares will announce its new plan for the site later this week. I’m thinking it involves bulldozers. After all, the Western sits kitty-corner from the block formerly occupied by the Ambassador East Motel, another down-and-out property that Tamares bought from Jackie Gaughan, in what must be one of the greatest con jobs of all time. Tamares bet big on Downtown as the next great real estate play in Vegas, only to find itself holding a cornucopia of crap.

Smith obligingly spins this as “Tamares is a big believer in downtown.” It has to be, having been suckered seven-plus years ago and still waiting for those investments to pay off. Tamares’ hard-to-reach man in Vegas, Jonathan Jossel, claims the Lichtenstein-based company is “very committed” to Downtown and may even reinvent the Western as a hotel. Then again, there are a number of empty buildings and vacant lots which testify otherwise as to Tamares’ level of “commitment.” Smith and I agree on one thing: With Mayor Carolyn Goodman having identified big-box retail (think Fresh & Easy or Vons) as a high priority for Downtown, Tamares has an incentive to level the Western and try to flip the Western/Ambassador sites. Judging by the spotty fashion in which Tamares redid the Plaza Hotel, expecting big things from them is a mug’s game. (Upper photo by Jeff Leatherock.)

Online gambling, and its legalization, is assumed to be a tax jackpot. That’s why Capitol Hill suddenly finds itself in lurve with what it effectively outlawed back in 2006, when then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN, left) snuck UIGEA through the docket literally in the wee hours of the morning. States may have good reason to dread a federal money-grab. The New York Times reports that individual states’ rake of Internet revenues may be as high as $250 million a year — or as low as $3 million. California state Sen. Lou Correa (D) shrugs aside such concerns: “Two hundred and fifty million dollars buys you a lot of teachers.” His Iowa counterpart, state Sen. Jeff Danielson (D) is mulling even bigger things, musing about the prospect of tying in Hawkeye State cyber-poker with that being played in other states. With that kind of thinking — and with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) looking to make the Garden State the “epicenter” of U.S. online gambling — the horses will be long gone from the barn before Congress tardily closes the door.

Congratulations to the newest casino in Kansas, the temporary facility at Kansas Star, owned by the state and managed by Peninsula Gaming. With the Wichita-area casino averaging $2 million a week (or $440K for the state), Gov. Sam Brownback (R) and legislators now get to fight over whether to use the money to retire debt or repair Sunflower State infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Star has an excellent, in-depth story on how the existing Kansas City casinos are bracing themselves for the economic impact of Hollywood Casino at the nearby Kansas Speedway. The $200 million Penn National Gaming project is expected to take an $85 million-$110 million bite out of the large but economically stagnant K.C. casino market. Ameristar Casinos‘ and — thanks to loose slots — Isle of Capri Casinos‘ K.C. properties are projected to weather the storm best.

You have to wonder how much will be left over for the penurious Menominee Tribe up in Wisconsin, now that it has subcontracted its proposed, $800 million (!) Kenosha casino twice over. If the project receives the Obama administration’s blessing — and that of hostile Gov. Scott Walker (R) — and moves forward, the Menominee are on the hook to Mohegan Sun for a 13% management fee. They’re also obligated now to KMD Consulting Services, an obscure firm which has been retained to “assume many of the costs associated with planning the casino complex and winning needed approvals from various government bodies. KMD will also pay the option for the proposed site at the now-defunct Dairyland Greyhound Park as well as a host of other costs associated with developing a casino.” That could cause KMD to run up quite a tab … and it looks to be quite a wait before the Menominee see a return on their expensive vision, should it even get built. And if it isn’t, it certainly appears that they’d still be into KMD for a big chunk of change. The Menominee must be pretty desperate, to cut such a deal.

(The Menominee project — with which nearby Potowatomi Bingo is also less than enthralled — was one of the victims of former Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne‘s attempt to halt off-reservation casinos. The Bush II administration imposed a 250-mile “commuting distance” limit on where such casinos could be built. If ever a regulation sounded like it was pulled out of someone’s butt, this was it.)