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 than entertaining a radical new concept for the project. They have until Dec. 10 to present the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board with definitive agreements on financing and managing a $275 million casino on Columbus Boulevard, between Tasker and Reed Streets. Harrah’s and Citizens Bank, a creditor of the Foxwoods project, would become equity partners in the new venture. Harrah’s, in turn, would operate a 60,000-square-foot “Harrah’s Horseshoe” casino. MORE

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 nose. One man had a lanyard around his neck with a card plugged into the slot machine. There’s nothing more pathetic than seeing a person literally tethered to a one-armed bandit. […] Sure, the state is raking in tax revenue from the casinos. In its first week in business, SugarHouse took in almost $5 million, with about half going to state coffers. And Pennsylvania is capturing tax dollars that were going to Atlantic City and elsewhere. But now that the casinos are close to home, gamblers will come more often and new addicts will be created. The string of adults who have abandoned kids in cars outside another area casino underscores the lure of the casinos. This problem will become more acute in Philadelphia, where there is a large concentration of poor and elderly people struggling to get by and desperate for a financial miracle. Here’s just one snapshot: A coworker of mine went to SugarHouse on Wednesday night. A stranger approached her in the ladies room offering to sell the ring off her finger. All the casino investors and supporters should remember that sad scene as they tally up the profits they are raking in. MORE

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?

BUSINESS WIRE:Wynn Resorts, Limited announced today that Development Associates, LLC, and certain other of its wholly owned subsidiaries have terminated all agreements and negotiations with respect to a potential investment in the Foxwoods Casino project in Philadelphia, PA. “We are fascinated by the legalization of full gaming in Pennsylvania and stimulated by the opportunity that it presents for Wynn Resorts, but this particular project did not, in the end, present an opportunity that was appropriate for our company,” commented Stephen A. Wynn, Chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts, Limited. MORE

PHILLY CLOUT: Just this week, Wynn released a colorful sketch of the casino he said he was planning on the banks of the Delaware River on Columbus Boulevard at Reed Street in South Philly.  Wynn and the local investors who won the state casino license in 2006 filed an agreement with the state Gaming Control Board last week, spelling out his plans to assume a financial stake in the venture. MORE

PREVIOUSLY: Casino To Be A Wynn-Wynn For Wynn Says Wynn

PREVIOUSLY: Steve Wynn To Takeover Foxwoods Fail

INQUIRER: Casino mogul Steve Wynn on Monday declared that his plans for a South Philadelphia casino would be “Wynn top to bottom,” carrying both his name and signature design. After meeting for an hour and fifteen minutes with Mayor Nutter at City Hall Monday night, Wynn said in an interview with The Inquirer: “We only have one brand. We don’t have a down-market brand. It’s our place.” When Wynn Resorts surfaced in February as a new developer to take over the faltering Foxwoods Casino project, there was speculation that he might not bring his style of high-end casinos to Philadelphia. […]  If Wynn Resorts takes over the Foxwoods Casino project, it will be just the latest twist in a tortuous history. An arm of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut was originally supposed to develop and operate the casino, but fell on economic hard times. Local investors, led by developer Ron Rubin, New Jersey entrepreneur Lewis Katz, and Comcast-Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, have been scrambling for the past year to find a replacement for the tribe. Wynn said that on Friday he signed a binding “term sheet,” outlining details of how control would change to Wynn Resorts. “As for Steve Wynn, the deal is done,” he said. MORE

PREVIOUSLY: Steve Wynn To Takeover Foxwoods Fail

INQUIRER: Wynn Resorts confirmed Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent to take control of developing and running the struggling Foxwoods Casino project. But the deal is contingent on approval from Pennsylvania gaming regulators. The Foxwoods project is at risk of losing its license for repeated delays since winning one of the city’s two slots licenses in 2006. He only offered a general idea of what he had in mind, saying it would be a one-story casino with two or three levels of parking on either side. Asked how much Wynn Resorts would spend on the waterfront site, Wynn did not directly answer, saying only it would not be “an earth-shaking number.” He said the building “will not look like slots in a box.” “It will have all the bells and whistles of a good-looking casino,” including 3,000 slot machines, table games, a poker room, an Italian restaurant, a steak house, and an Asian restaurant, he said. MORE

NEW ONLINE CASINOS: After the news of a Pennsylvania presence surfaced, investors were not quick to jump on board. On Wednesday, Wynn stock dropped $.33, or .52%. The stock closed at $63.35, still way ahead of other US-based gaming stocks. The move into Pennsylvania by Wynn could further hurt the Atlantic City casino industry. Wynn brings a well-known brand to the area, and they have been competing with the likes of MGM Mirage and other developers that own AC casinos for years. Already, Pennsylvania casinos had higher slot revenue than AC casinos in December, and table games for Pennsylvania casinos were approved by lawmakers in January. With Wynn joining the mix, the road to recovery for the AC casino industry may have just became a lot longer. MORE

BUSINESS WEEK: Wynn Resorts Ltd., the casino company founded by Steve Wynn, reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analysts’ estimates after Las Vegas room rates tumbled. Excluding some items, profit of 8 cents a share fell short of the 14-cent average of 12 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The Las Vegas-based company reported a net loss of $5.22 million, or 4 cents, compared with loss of $159.6 million, or $1.49 a share, a year earlier, which included additional tax costs, according to a statement today. MORE

HARTFORD COURANT: A decade and a half ago, Wynn failed in a high-profile effort to bring one of his signature casinos to Connecticut. He spent millions of dollars before losing a political fight to the Mashantucket Pequots — owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino. MORE

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 project, which adds another element of risk to the deal. “No one wants to take the chance of going up against the time limit without options,” Cozen said. “They may feel it’s safer to go with a temporary building than an interim one.” A temporary casino could be erected quickly, then torn down and replaced. A racetrack in Western Pennsylvania, the Meadows, opened a slots parlor in a structure made of metal framing and a material sheath before moving into a permanent structure this year. MORE

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., which owns the Foxwoods project in partnership with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. One day after the PAC received the $15,000 from Snider, it gave $500 to State Rep. Jim Wansacz’s campaign committee. A Northeastern Pennsylvania Democrat, Wansacz is a member of the House Gaming Oversight Committee. Two months later, Wansacz was threatening to push a bill to withhold $64 million in economic-development money slated for Philadelphia if the city continued to block development of its two casinos. MORE

PREVIOUSLY: Not many Philadelphians even know about Ed Snider’s politics, because most of the time we didn’t have to. But he’s quite far to the political right, a devoted acolyte of the late conservative icon Ayn Rand, funding an institute based on her principles and giving speeches about her. (A Philadelphia Magazine profile of Snider said he won’t read anything in the Inquirer except for the sports sections because the paper’s too liberal for him.) Fair enough, but in the last two years Snider has veered off. Even though his beloved Rand did not believe in pre-emptive war, Snider is now a major financial support of continuing our very wrongheaded pre-emptive war in Iraq and sending new storm clouds over its neighbor, Iran. According to numerous news accounts, Snider is a leading donor to the group Freedom’s Watch, which is spending millions (here’s the repulsive part I mentioned up top) promoting its lethal policies in the Middle East and right-wing candidates like Sarah Palin and John McCain who support that agenda. MORE

PREVIOUSLY: Spectacor Sports Baron Ed Snider Is Funding The Movement To Save The War

PREVIOUSLY: HOCKEY BOMB: Palin Roundly Booed By Flyers Fans

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OFFICIAL: Gloomy Toomey Vs. Snarlin’ Arlen

INQUIRER: Conservative former congressman Pat Toomey made it official yesterday, signing on for a rematch with moderate Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter in the 2010 Republican Senate primary. Starting with a talk-radio interview in Allentown and a video on his new campaign Web site, Toomey said he was running to stop the “bailouts and the spending stampede” and because Specter had consistently supported “increased government spending and a liberal agenda on social, labor, immigration and national security policies.”

In 2004, Toomey shocked politicos when he came within 17,000 votes – out of 1 million cast – of defeating Specter, despite being outspent, 4-1. This time, he won’t have the element of surprise; Specter, anticipating his challenge, has already aired commercials attacking Toomey’s record. The announcement came on tax-filing day, as conservative activists across the country held “tea parties” to protest what they see as out-of-control government spending that will lead to unsustainable debt and higher taxes. Toomey, 47, had been exploring a run for governor until an eruption of anger in the GOP’s conservative base greeted Specter’s crucial vote in February for the Democrats’ $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Two recent independent polls found that a narrow majority of Republicans surveyed favored someone new in the Senate seat. MORE

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 with a “discriminatory criteria” from the board that wasn’t part of the 2004 state casino law. That, the lawsuit continues, gave an unfair advantage to applicants with no business in Atlantic City.

Trump’s action today is the first of three likely moves. The lawsuit is expected to be followed by a request to the Gaming Control Board for a hearing to revoke the casino license for Foxwoods, which is considering a move after two years of battles with community groups and the city about its South Philly site. Trump is also likely to file a petition to intervene if Foxwoods files a request to move with the board, which would have to hold a hearing to consider and vote on it. Trump’s lawsuit seeks to stop the Gaming Control Board from taking further action on the current local casino licenses until the issue is resolved. That could eventually give Trump another chance at participating in a local casino. MORE

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 at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

The visit had been arranged by the lobbyist, Scott Reed, who works for the Mashantucket Pequot, a tribe that has contributed heavily to Mr. McCain’s campaigns and built Foxwoods into the world’s second-largest casino. Joining them was Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s current campaign manager. Their night of good fortune epitomized not just Mr. McCain’s affection for gambling, but also the close relationship he has built with the gambling industry and its lobbyists during his 25-year career in Congress.

As a two-time chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, Mr. McCain has done more than any other member of Congress to shape the laws governing America’s casinos, helping to transform the once-sleepy Indian gambling business into a $26-billion-a-year behemoth with 423 casinos across the country. He has won praise as a champion of economic development and self-governance on reservations. “One of the founding fathers of Indian gaming” is what Steven Light, a University of North Dakota professor and a leading Indian gambling expert, called Mr. McCain.

As factions of the ferociously competitive gambling industry have vied for an edge, they have found it advantageous to cultivate a relationship with Mr. McCain or hire someone who has one, according to an examination based on more than 70 interviews and thousands of pages of documents. Mr. McCain portrays himself as a Washington maverick unswayed by special interests, referring recently to lobbyists as “birds of prey.” Yet in his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests — including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors. MORE

HUFFPO: So lawmakers struck a deal on the bailout last night, but where was John McCain? Was he part of the negotiations that he rushed back to Washington, DC to rescue? Was he valiantly battling the forces of the status quo to get something done for Main Street? Well, it turns out that he wasn’t. Instead, he indulged in a luxury dining experience at Cafe Mozu in Washington, DC. MORE

PHAWKER: John McCain, Appetizers First

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 considered a prime site for a downtown casino, the latest plan would still face a variety of obstacles, including potential neighborhood opposition. MORE

INQUIRER: Gov. Rendell, Mayor Nutter, and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation chairman Michael Thomas met with editorial boards of The Inquirer and Daily News this morning to spell out their proposal to break the stalemate Foxwoods has encountered in trying to build against the wishes of its neighbors in South Philadelphia. The plan – convince neighbors in Chinatown and elsewhere that a public-transit friendly casino that is part of a broader retail redevelopment of Market Street would improve their neighborhoods and businesses by drawing people to the commercial corridor. Rendell specifically pointed out surrounding, underutilized parcels along Market Street. MORE