Voters defeated an East Boston casino bid, although the project could go up in still Revere. (Image source: hideseekmedia.com)
Casino opponents in East Boston were hoping for a triumph on Tuesday, and bracing by themselves for whatever they thought huuuge slots login was a loss that is likely. Instead, they quickly found down that they were facing a landslide but one in their favor.
Voters in East Boston rejected a proposed casino during the Suffolk Downs race track, ending exactly what had been a remarkably contentious battle over the potential gambling venue. In line with the unofficial outcomes, 56 % of East Boston voters arrived on the scene against the casino, with just 44 percent supporting it. That came as a surprise if perhaps not a total shock to most of the casino’s biggest opponents.
‘we are completely elated and blown away by the noisy resounding ‘no’ the people of East Boston provided to the casino developers,’ stated Celeste Myers, co-chairwoman for No Eastie Casino. ‘I came into the day bracing myself and talking myself into being content with a loss… that is modest had no reason to expect that we would understand a win, much less a win of this nature.’
It is possible that the point that is turning the race came when Suffolk Downs dropped Caesars Entertainment being a partner on the casino project following the Massachusetts Gaming Commission indicated concerns on the company’s participation. Soon after that occurred, anti-casino groups claimed that their internal polling revealed a sharp increase in the number of undecided voters, and that the race itself was about even.
Suffolk Downs said that their polling showed better numbers, and them of the potential benefits the casino could bring to the community that they would be able to persuade undecideds by reminding. However the results would suggest that people undecideds mainly converted into ‘no’ votes, ultimately dooming the project.
According to Suffolk Downs COO Chip Tuttle, the track will now reassess their plans. One possibility could be building a casino in the neighboring city of Revere. Suffolk Downs’ proposed casino would straddle the East Boston/Revere line, and both communities were needed to vote ‘yes’ on the project for the bid to proceed. While East Boston rejected the plan, Revere easily approved the casino, with 61 percent of voters coming out to get the plan. But, it is not certain that the continuing state gaming commission would support changing the casino to a niche site fully in Revere.
Regardless if the vote had gone Suffolk Downs’ way, that had been no guarantee that the casino might have been built. The track had been bidding for one of three casino licenses that were developed by gambling legislation passed by the state in 2011. Each proposal must first be approved by the community or communities hosting it, after which needs to be opted for over some other successful proposals in the region that is same the sole license in that area of the state.
The Suffolk Downs proposal was not the only casino vote in Massachusetts. A vote on whether to approve a Mohegan Sun casino project ended in a narrow defeat in the Western Massachusetts town of Palmer located about halfway between Springfield and Worcester. Out of over 5,200 votes, the proposal was defeated by only 93 votes a margin so narrow that Mohegan Sun is likely to request a recount.
As the casino company may ask for a recount of all votes, they are particularly enthusiastic about one specific precinct where a voting device reportedly jammed in the afternoon, causing some ballots to fall to your floor.
‘Because of technical problems with the voting machine in Precinct 2 that are very troubling, we will be asking the Town of Palmer for a hand recount regarding the ballots in today’s election,’ stated Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority executive that is chief Etess.
At minimum Caesars’ Gary Loveman need enjoyed a celebratory cocktail upon hearing the voting outcomes, with a little bit of a smirk, given his dis by the Massachusetts gaming payment recently.
Regulatory investigators or witch hunters? Several Las Vegas gaming operators are bailing through the Massachusetts commission’s scrutiny.
Many U.S. states, when they haven’t exactly copied the Nevada model up to a ‘t’, experienced great success building and marketing land casinos that undoubtedly emulate the United states gambling mecca. But also for some reason, Massachusetts can’t quite get using the gambling paradigm; maybe it’s the ghost of the Salem puritans, nevertheless lurking via regulators and commissioners, but in more contemporary garb.
What the Las Vegas casino industry initially bent over backwards to become a part of from Wynn Resorts to Caesars Entertainment to MGM Resorts International is seeing more and more attrition as industry moguls find the criteria and investigations of the Massachusetts powers that are regulatory be bordering on ridiculous if not, in fact, having crossed the border right into ridiculous.
So now two years following the East Coast state opened its doors to eager proposals from all the industry that is big just for three gambling enterprises, one each in certain areas of the state the tides are turning, plus some of those players are thumbing their noses during the Mass. regulators, with a possible quietly flipped bird under the table.
Hey, they truly are not playing with kids here.
The three distinct areas one in the west, one in the southeast, and one in the Boston area are looking less desirable to operators who, while well used to regulatory procedures, are maybe not about to own every crust of bread and cookie crumb they ever ate examined by this group of commissioners to this level of minutiae. And exactly what started out as being a predictably sluggish licensing process, has emerged as you that seems, to more than one candidate, interminable, and possibly not even worth the full time, money and scrutiny included.
Simply to catch you up, here’s where in actuality the initial players stand now: Caesars Entertainment Corp., after being maligned for the relationship with a project that is non-Massachusetts (Gansevoort Hotel Group) for that company’s third-party alleged connection with a few Russian mob figures said ‘see ya’ to their previous $1 billion partnership with Suffolk Downs racetrack in Boston.
Steve Wynn all but destroyed it because of the regulators per week before that when they made disparaging remarks about his Macau operations and insinuated Chinese crime employer ties in that arena. Wynn basically told the commissioners to just take their casino and shove it, and many think he might quickly cut his losses on the billions he’s already poured into a proposed $1.3 billion project in Everett outside of Boston, and say ‘kiss my assets goodbye.’
Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation must have anticipated the Macau scrutiny, since they never even troubled to apply for a permit in Massachusetts. Therefore all that leaves is lone MGM that is applicant Resorts, who remain vying to place their $800 million casino resort in Springfield, into the western section of their state; but town dads seeing the way the winds are blowing out of Las Vegas now are already nervously questioning who will need MGM’s spot if the state’s commissioners deem the casino operator to be not up to their rather-holy-for-the-gambling-industry standards.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission that was just thrown year that is together last even getting criticism from a seemingly unlikely source: the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Nevada’s Board Chairman A.G. Burnett noted recently that their colleagues back East were utilizing private investigators to conjure up ‘gotcha gaming regulation.’
‘We understand transactions and licensing agreements,’ Burnett said. ‘We know how the (Caesars-Gansevoort) relationship worked. Regulators need to be both reasonable and smart.’
Thus far, at the least, MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren is still being polite about the Mass. payment, claiming he is certain his outfit will be found suitable for the Springfield project. But given the commission’s recent background, it’s anyone guess if Murren’s enthusiasm will hold up.
‘ We have complied with every thing they have actually expected of us,’ Murren said. ‘Our response to the RFP will be of a thousand pages. At the end of day, when you look at all the facts, I see no reason why we won’t be found suitable.’
Of course, Caesars’ Gary Loveman and Wynn’s Wynn also saw no good reason they’dn’t be found suitable, until recently. And even Murren admits, there have been some curve balls thrown in this move East.
Choosing the gold: the November Nine regarding the World number of Poker are quite ready to do battle for the bracelet. (Image source: ESPN)
Every user for the World group of Poker’s (WSOP) November Nine has already won a life-changing amount of cash; now, one of them will continue to become poker legend. The nine players still alive in the WSOP Main Event can come back tonight to try out for a prize that is top of8.3 million, plus the directly to call themselves poker’s World Champion for 2013.
Of course, even getting to this point is an extremely long shot with some huge rewards. Every one of the nine staying players has used a combination of great ability and luck that is timely outlast the original field of 6,352 players, each of who put down a $10,000 entry charge (or won a satellite tournament to make a seat). And just to make the last table, they’ve all earned at least $733,224 before a chip moves tonight.
While all the nine players left in the look is dreaming about winning the gold that is gem-encrusted, they’re maybe not all arriving with the same possibility to achieve that goal. You will find always chip leaders, but this year views some of the largest piles also owned by some of the biggest names at the dining table, making overtaking them appear to be a much more daunting task.
the leaderboard is poker legend J.C. Tran, who holds 38 million in chips. Tran already has two WSOP bracelets on his resume, and also a global World Poker Tour (WPT) championship and wins in PokerStar’s World Championship of internet Poker. With the many chips, the experience that is most, and many success in his career, Tran comes into the final dining table as the overwhelming favorite.
But he’s not the player that is only watch. A WSOP bracelet winner who is relatively new to poker in second place is Amir Lehavot. The Israeli-born professional player has only been in the overall game since 2007, but has established himself as a fierce competitor with over $2.3 million in tournament cashes in his quick job.
There are various other famous faces at the table that is final well. Mark Newhouse hasn’t been in the limelight much throughout the last few years, but he does have WPT championship on his application and has a history of high-stakes success. David Benefield is best known for being one of the online that is first legends, playing under the name ‘Raptor’ in the start of Internet poker. Newhouse and Benefield are the two shortest piles at the final table, but either one could get back into the game with a double-up that is timely.
The middle positions at the final table have plenty of stories to share as well in between those two extremes. Marc-Etienne McLaughlin has finished within the top 100 of this WSOP Main Event three times within the last five years. Jay Farber is a famous face in the Las Vegas nightlife industry. Ryan Riess will come in as the player that is youngest at just 23 yrs . old, while Sylvain Loosli and Michiel Brummelhuis are well-known in European countries, but could be worldwide stars having a WSOP victory.
One thing’s for sure: at the end of final table play, one of these nine players will include their name towards the immortal list of players who hold the most prestigious name in poker. Live coverage will be accessible on ESPN sites in a lot of countries around the world, as well as on WSOP.com, and we’ll be bringing you regular updates here as well.