INQUIRER: If Harrah’s Entertainment and the Foxwoods Casino partners are interested in using the SS United States as the centerpiece of their proposed South Philadelphia gaming hall, they aren’t showing it. On Monday, supporters of the derelict ocean liner publicly unveiled their vision for restoring the historic ship and incorporating it into an ambitious casino complex on the Delaware waterfront. The 990-foot vessel would have to be moved about three-quarters of a mile north from its berth at Pier 82 to the 16-acre Foxwoods site. However, lawyers for Foxwoods and Harrah’s appear more focused on working out their own plan […]

PAUL DAVIES: I’m not a fan of casinos, regardless of the design. It is a bad, insidious business that preys on vulnerable people who can least afford to waste their money. But I was curious to check out the first casino in the poorest, big city in the country. While the outside didn’t grab me, the inside was even more depressing. Row after row of slot machines were dotted with people slouched in seats aimlessly pushing buttons. Most gamblers appeared to be over 50. Several had canes. A heavyset woman wheeled around an oxygen tank with tubes going to her […]

SUGARHOUSE CASINO: Catch a FREE ride on the Sugar Express! Starting October 2010, our official transportation, the Sugar Express will pick up and drop off SugarHouse guests around Center City and nearby access points. MORE PHAWKER: Why does this remind us of the story of Hansel and Gretel?

INQUIRER: The tight state-imposed deadline for opening Foxwoods Casino by May 29, 2011, has made raising money “more problematic” and prompted the project’s partners to consider putting up a temporary structure before building a permanent gaming hall, an attorney for Foxwoods said yesterday. In a letter to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board on Friday, Foxwoods had disclosed the possibility of a temporary casino along the Delaware River in South Philadelphia, citing “unanticipated issues.” It did not elaborate. But attorney Stephen A. Cozen, in a telephone interview yesterday, explained that potential lenders have been concerned about the time constraints on the […]

INQUIRER: The organized act of civil disobedience by Casino-Free Philadelphia came as the casino company announced it planned to have a formal groundbreaking ceremony on Oct. 8 for its slots parlor. More than 40 people gathered for the protest on Delaware Avenue about 6 a.m. They carried signs and banners wore red shirts that read “Bankrupt them” on the front and “Before they bankrupt us” on the back. About a dozen chanting volunteers sat down and linked arms in front of the construction gate. MORE

INQUIRER: The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is investigating whether a $15,000 political contribution from Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, who is a partner in the Foxwoods Casino planned for Center City, violated the state ban on campaign giving by gambling interests. Snider gave $15,000 on Jan. 15 to Comcast Corp. PAC-USA, a political committee registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State. The 2004 gaming act prohibits any casino principals from contributing “to any political party committee or other political committee in this commonwealth.” […] Snider has 8 percent of the Foxwoods venture as part of Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners L.P., […]

PHILLY CLOUT: Foxwoods, a casino originally approved for the Delaware riverfront in South Philly, told the state Gaming Control Board this morning that it will seek approval to relocate to the former Strawbridge & Clothier department store at 8th and Market Street.  The board, which had called a meeting to hear updates on plans for Foxwoods and SugarHouse, a casino approved for the Delaware riverfront in Fishtown, nearly lost control of the meeting as a crowd of about 50 angry protesters heckled and berated casino investors. Foxwoods officials were forced to leave through a back door…MORE

PHILLY CLOUT: Donald Trump sued the state Gaming Control Board in federal court this afternoon for rejecting in 2006 his bid to build a casino on the site of the former Budd Co. plant in Nicetown with a group of investors*. Trump is asking a federal judge to overturn the state-awarded gaming licenses for SugarHouse in Fishtown and Foxwoods, which was approved for a South Philly site but is now considering relocation to the Gallery at 11th and Market streets. The lawsuit says Trump and his investors spent more than $10 million in planning for their Nicetown location and were rewarded […]

NEW YORK TIMES: Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings. A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting […]

  INQUIRER: Foxwoods Casino has agreed to work with state and city leaders to move its long-delayed slots parlor planned for the South Philadelphia waterfront to the Gallery at Market East, The Inquirer has learned. Two sources familiar with the agreement, struck between Foxwoods and Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter this week, said the plan was to revive a vision for a downtown casino built over the Gallery. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity before Rendell and Nutter were scheduled to announce the plan at a 1 p.m. news conference today at City Hall. Although the Gallery was once […]