COVID-19 has all but decimated the economy of Las Vegas. The once vibrant, strong tourism industry is a mere shadow of what was heretofore a great game. So what does the future hold. There will no doubt be a resurgence once the pandemic has subsided. But the larger question remains what will Vegas be. It will not be the same as it was and in some ways that’s to be expected . But inevitably people will suffer.

Already the trend is to shrink the casinos. The philosophy of bigger is better has reached its apogee. It will be gradual in some cases and quite abrupt in others.

Take for example Bally’s Las Vegas. A once grand, sprawling cutting edge casino, has been reduced to a sawdust joint. The blackjack odds are 6:5. The high limit room is history. The outer pits now have a $500 max bet on blackjack. It’s a grind in more ways than one. And it all happened overnight.

Along with the brave new vision has gone jobs. The table games dealers suffer the greatest indignity. Their once well paying livelihoods are gone. They are union represented and still they are forced into reduced working hours. These are full time employees now told the most they can hope for is 16-24 hours/ week. The only true full time employees are the dice dealers. The pits have been condensed and combined to favor dice employees, both dealer and supervisor.

I mention this to remind our government leaders that with all this rustling comes two outcomes: reduced tax revenues and increased unemployment. Attrition will abet the process, but that will require a generation of time. The pain and suffering will be immediate.

So? The shame here is that Eldorado-Caesars owns a few joints. And rather than afford Bally’s employees shifts at sister property Paris, they are shut out. Historically casinos are not labor friendly and are legally protected and favored. They own the politicians and the courts. Democracy and justice stop at the front door of the casino.

Vegas and her casinos are all about reinventing. The fevered drive to constantly change the landscape is reactionary and is directly attributable to the “J curve”. Always interested in what makes the gambler tick and part with their money, corporate casino owners rely on statistics. The “J curve” as it relates to legalized gambling, charts the predictable excitement gamblers have for a new game, with increasing revenues, followed by a sharp decline as gamblers become bored or wise to the game. So there is a practical reason Vegas has no flair for nostalgia.

Well just find another job, right? Here’s the rub with our economy…there are no other jobs. When we talk about diversification, the talk lasts about as long as the economic downturns and is then forgotten. Change is so hard. And lest we forget, public education in Nevada is like a migrant at the border. Underfunded and unwelcome. And with all this neglect comes an undereducated work force making us unattractive to anyone other than an Amazon looking to build a warehouse. You don’t need schooling to stack and pack merchandise. And those of us who have been employed in casinos for years are not desirable to prospective employers…we too old.

Business in Vegas will remain unchanged, at least in one respect. It will still be cruel, misogynistic and ruthless.

It was great for GOAT fans. Tom Brady devotees.

I will tell you one fan that was millions of happy. $2.3 million to be exact. The bet was made by a Vegas gambler on the BetMGM sports app, all on Brady’s Bucs to win +3. So the gambler wins the bet and the BetMGM site crashes immediately. No one can collect.

But the interesting part of the story could very well be some strategic behind the scenes negotiating to ensure some favorable officiating. The first half was definitely skewed toward the Bucs with some biased calls. But you know it’s just a game. And anybody could lay down $2.3 mil without some hedging.

And for some folks like me who have never won a sports bet ever, there might be some satisfaction in seeing the books get burned.

It also lays some unsavory conspiracy theories to the suspicion that Vegas and sports just do not mix. And should not mix. From three Rebels in a hot tub, to a $2.3 mil Super bet, it’s just, well, high drama.

Congrats Tom. Please retire your under inflated balls.

Marjorie Taylor Greene. Can we please put a moratorium on giving her a speedy rise to fame, or more precisely, infamy. I get it that she is batshit crazy, but honestly how much of that is her and how much is theater.

She seems quite delighted in all the attention in a way that is truly Trumpian. The reports that she has endorsed the untimely demise of Pelosi and her reported disclosures of fellow congressmen’s locations during the insurrection indicates she is possessed of a singular goal: her own advancement at the expense of democracy. And we are back to Trumpism.

Shape shifters were supposed to be mythical but many Republicans display evidence that they are real and they are among us. To call Greene loathesome just doesn’t do her proper justice. She is all that and so much more.

Quite the fan of conspiracy theories, Greene has taken a macabre interest in the 1 October shooting. She is spouting a theory that anti-gun lobbyists were behind Paddock’s shooting spree. Lest we forget, there is no evidence to date that Paddock had any political affiliations, that he had any political agenda. He was a loner. It is also true that we will never know why he did what he did. And since there can be no right answer, it has become fertile ground for alternate facts and realities. A truly insensitive, tone deaf posture and one that must cause unspeakable pain and sadness for those left forever damaged not to mention those left behind. Let’s get over her by removing her from office as is the process in Congress. Seems as though we have more pressing matters at the moment but politicians in general never miss an opportunity to claim the limelight. Shape shifting.

There can be no healing until those who are in office disconnect from the guy who lost and who should remain isolated rather than deified. Free your mind and your ass will follow.

How incredibly fitting it is that DJT has hired an attorney who represents mobsters for clients. I almost spit milk out my nose. Were it not so pathetic, it would be hysterically funny. In Vegas, we have a resident former mob lawyer, Oscar Goodman. He represented Tony Spilotro successfully getting Spilotro acquitted in his conspiracy trial which of course made him available for a shallow cornfield grave in Indiana. But Oscar’s claim to fame was his ability to dance between the raindrops by proving he was a guy who could keep his mouth tightly shut.

So for a mob attorney to take on the impeachment defense for a wise guy who can’t keep his mouth shut must come with some hefty incentives.

We might speculate concerning a line of defense. For example, the impeachment of a former president is unconstitutional. That’s a good one. Or maybe, my client, your honor, is clinically insane. I prefer that one. Or seriously, your honor, my client is a pathological liar and can’t be trusted to aid us in his defense. So you should just let him go. Okay?

The atmosphere in the courtroom is sure to be lighthearted good fun while the judge eviscerates the DJT legal team. But I suppose it’s not a courtroom in that it’s the Senate chamber and the judge is really a Supreme Court Chief Justice. But I don’t think we should get caught up in those minor details. Just enjoy the moment.

The saddest reality here is DJT is the leader of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Pathetically unqualified to be a gangster, he fancies himself a mob boss. We have numerous taped encounters of DJT threatening and cajoling government officials in an attempt to secure overturning his election defeat. We have the film of DJT firing up the angry mob that ultimately stormed the capitol in what could only be interpreted as an unsuccessful coup. All of these actions are obviously despicable and worthy of impeachment. And yet we know that a conviction will likely not be forthcoming.

Like the entirety of his time in the White House, it will be a farce with tragicomedy elements. As someone now famously said, “it is what it is”.