Winners and Losers: Special Casino Edition

New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board on Wednesday recommended just three—not four—winning casino bids, leaving 13 unlucky developers going home empty-handed. But some of the players enjoyed bigger wins than others or suffered more painful losses, including a few who weren’t even in the competition. So without further ado, here’s who ended up with a winning hand—and who lost all their chips.

WINNERS

Neil Bluhm and Greg Carlin – The Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady was the recommended pick in the Capital Region, a huge victory for Rush Street Gaming and its chairman, Bluhm, and CEO, Carlin. The selection of the Mohawk River waterfront project was made despite outspoken opposition to Chicago-based Rush Street Gaming that stemmed from labor disputes at its casinos in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Des Plaines, Ill. But the company reached a deal with the Hotel Trades Council, and the concerns apparently weren’t enough to sway the committee.

John Bonacic – The Republican state senator had pushed for casino expansion in New York for years, with the goal of bringing one to his struggling Catskills district and providing a needed spark to the local economy. So the selection of a Sullivan County proposal—the $1 billion Montreign Resort Casino, part of a larger Adelaar resort—was like hitting the jackpot for Bonacic, who called the pick a “tremendous opportunity.” Plus, the siting committee’s bold decision to take Orange County off the table entirely will pay huge dividends in the Catskills, which will not have to compete so hard to attract downstate high rollers.

K.T. Lim – It was always a numbers game for Lim. His $1.5 billion Sterling Forest Resort & Casino proposal in Tuxedo would have been bigger than any other competitor’s, but it was shot down. A second Orange County proposal from Genting, Lim’s Malaysian conglomerate, was also unsuccessful. But he still won out thanks to a family majority stake in the developer of Montreign Resort Casino, the winning Catskills bid. Plus, Lim’s Resorts World Casino New York City, a slots-only racetrack casino in Queens, is already raking in more money than any other gambling establishment in the country.

Timothy Rooney, Sr. – The committee’s decision to drop every Orange County bid from final consideration, even though it means less revenue flowing to the state, was not just a boon for the Catskills. It also makes a world of difference for the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, which is a short drive from Orange County. Empire City currently ranks second in revenues behind Queens’ Resorts World among the state’s existing racetrack casinos, and Rooney, the racino’s owner, now has a better shot at keeping it that way.

Thomas Wilmot – The siting committee took a different tack in the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes than it did in the other two regions, opting to go with the bidder that promised the biggest payday. And that, in turn, means a big payday is coming for Wilmot, whose Rochester-based Wilmorite, Inc. was behind the winning $425 million Lago Resort & Casino, which will be built in Seneca County if everything goes according to plan.

LOSERS

James Featherstonhaugh – Featherstonhaugh—known around Albany as “Feathers”—was once seen as a frontrunner to secure a commercial casino license in New York. The longtime lobbyist supported the governor’s push to legalize full-fledged casino gambling as chairman of the New York Gaming Association, which represented the state’s nine racinos. When local opposition prevented any expansion of the Saratoga Casino and Raceway, of which Featherstonhaugh is a part owner, he joined two bids elsewhere, one in Newburgh and another in East Greenbush, which also drew sharp local opposition. In the end neither was selected—and a new casino in Schenectady certainly won’t help business at Saratoga.  

David Flaum – The Rochester developer was involved in a number of potential bids at various stages of the siting process—and that’s not even getting into past Native American ventures that never came to fruition, including at least one dating back to 1999—yet none of the projects he was part of were awarded a license. Flaum's most ambitious effort was a joint venture with Caesars, but the big name wasn’t enough to sway the committee.

Jeffrey Gural – Early on, some thought Gov. Andrew Cuomo might simply expand gambling by allowing existing racetrack casinos to become full-fledged, Las Vegas-style establishments. That’s not at all how it ended up. Gural’s Tioga Downs racino submitted an application for a commercial license but failed to gain the committee’s support, and his Vernon Downs racino could face increased competition from Lago, the Finger Lakes winner. Even Gural’s generous campaign contributions to Cuomo and his funding to promote the successful casino amendment didn’t pay off in the end—and the Southern Tier will suffer for it.

Jeremy Jacobs – The members of the casino siting board said they took into account cannibalization of existing gambling operations, but that’s not any consolation to Jacobs, whose Delaware North owns Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack. That upstate racino, which is limited to offering slots, is only a little more than half hour from the site of the new Lago casino, which will offer an experience much closer to Las Vegas. Which would you choose?

Steve Neuhaus – Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus seemed to be in the driver’s seat earlier this year, with six casino proposals within the county’s borders, including Genting’s lavish Sterling Forest Resort & Casino and Caesars' $880 million project. Only then did officials decide that Orange County expansion would hurt a Catskills bid, which means far less cash flowing to the county. It just makes you wonder why the state counted the county as upstate in the first place.