Rolling the Dice

Coverage of casino licensing and the gambling referendum

Darwin rolls the dice

By Jack Sullivan 0 Comments Nov 7, 2013

Now that the dust is settling, you have to wonder when it comes to casino permits: What the heck do we need a Gaming Commission for? There’s a sort of Darwinian process of natural selection going on in the decision to site casinos in Massachusetts, and it appears voters are the ones taking the bull(...)

Against all odds, casino vote in doubt

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Nov 4, 2013

In the gambling world, the house always wins. In the case of a bid to build a billion dollar casino in East Boston, the house is Suffolk Downs and its well-wired investors. Until recently, it was also Caesars Entertainment, and its bloviating CEO Gary Loveman. And it’s the mayor and the House speaker, a political(...)

Rendering unto Caesars

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Oct 21, 2013

Suffolk Downs entered the Massachusetts casino sweepstakes dripping with inevitability . It was the bidder that had the backing of Boston’s mayor. It was the track the House speaker used to hang around as a kid. The combination of gerrymandered-looking casino region boundaries and a special exemption from the state casino law’s municipal referendum requirement(...)

On a mission from God in East Boston

By Gabrielle Gurley Religion 0 Comments Oct 2, 2013

Another front line has opened up in the battle over an East Boston casino: Multifaith coalitions. Friends of East Boston, a group of neighborhood ministers, announced their campaign against the Suffolk Downs/Caesar Entertainment plan to bring a $1 billion casino to the Suffolk Downs racetrack. Their message: “Because we believe God has something better for(...)

West Springfield rocks casino world

By Gabrielle Gurley 0 Comments Sep 11, 2013

Never underestimate the threat of traffic nightmares to doom an $800 million economic development project. West Springfield voters said no in a Big E way to Hard Rock International’s plan to open a casino on the site of the Eastern States Exposition – rejecting the plan 55 percent to 45 percent. The town is the(...)

Milford casino no longer dark horse

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Aug 27, 2013

Today’s Globe provides an update on Milford’s proposed Foxwoods casino. This is an unfortunate development for partisans of Steve Wynn and Suffolk Downs, because it’s a reminder that when the state Gaming Commission hands out its eastern Massachusetts casino license next year, the commission actually has a choice other than Everett or East Boston. And(...)

Tewksbury gives anti-casino push a nudge

By Gabrielle Gurley 0 Comments Aug 21, 2013

Tewksbury gave the percolating casino gambling repeal movement some momentum this week. In what had become a raucous debate in the Merrimack Valley town, one featuring bar fights and disappearing lawn signs, anti-gaming forces prevailed at a special town meeting Tuesday night. Residents voted down a zoning change that effectively killed a $200 million slots(...)

Lottery fever

By Jack Sullivan 0 Comments Aug 7, 2013

Most people probably don’t remember Candido Oliveira of Dorchester hit the Mega Millions jackpot two years ago. Or that Rosa DeLeon of Arlington and Reginald LeBlanc of Lexington, coworkers at the Costco store in Waltham, split the Powerball jackpot in December. The good fortune of Jimmy Freeman of Fall River, a retired civilian worker for(...)

Steve Wynn, poor rich guy

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Jul 22, 2013

Egomaniacal casino billionaires do not generally make for the most sympathetic figures. But Boston officials are doing their best to make you root for Steve Wynn in the casino showdown heating up between his proposed Everett gambling complex and the one Mayor Tom Menino is determined to see built at Suffolk Downs in East Boston.(...)

All over before the casino vote in Springfield

By Gabrielle Gurley Current Affairs 0 Comments Jul 17, 2013

History did not repeat itself. With visions of dollars to city coffers dancing in their heads, Springfield voters weren’t about to chuck away MGM International’s $800 million casino opportunity.The MGM agreement got Springfielders’ seal of approval in Tuesday’s referendum campaign, 58 percent to 42 percent. MGM Springfield President Bill Hornbuckle called the outcome a(...)