Petersburg wins round one in casino fight with Richmond

This rendering shows Phase 1 of the proposed casino project in Petersburg.

On Nov. 2, 2021, Richmonders narrowly voted against a South Side casino and resort development proposed by Urban One.

State Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, and Zed Smith, COO, Cordish Companies, speak during an October meeting related to a proposed Petersburg casino.

Petersburg has won the first round of a bitter political battle with Richmond in the General Assembly over the right to host a casino resort.

A Senate subcommittee voted 7-2 on Thursday to support legislation proposed by Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond, to let Petersburg hold a public referendum on a $1.4 billion casino project proposed by The Cordish Companies, while denying a second chance for Richmond voters to approve a $600 million project they rejected on Nov. 2, 2021.

"If Petersburg can't get it done, maybe you can get another whack," Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, told Richmond officials, "but I think they have a right to have a chance to get it done."

However, Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, chairman of the General Laws Gaming Subcommittee, faulted Petersburg for failing to conduct a formal process to solicit bids for the project, as Richmond did two years ago.

McPike reminded city officials — who failed to produce documentation of their solicitation process in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the Richmond Times-Dispatch — that a state casino license "is a highly valuable document, a highly prized possession. There has to be a high standard."

The battle has not yet begun in the House of Delegates. Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, proposes similar legislation, but the rivalry between the two cities has become increasingly intense, as Morrissey and Petersburg officials argued that Richmond does not need the economic boost that a casino would bring.

J. Morrissey

Morrissey, who still represents a portion of the city, said, "Richmond, thankfully, is not struggling."

Petersburg residents say their struggles are well-known, with city finances in such disarray in 2016 that the administration of then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe sent its finance secretary to help the city dig out of debt, pay its bills and put its accounts in order.

In August, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a partnership that brings together state and local officials, businesses and nonprofits for a sweeping program for community development in Petersburg.

"Let's make Petersburg live again," implored Sharon Johnson, a retired school teacher in the shrinking city of about 32,000 residents. "We’ve been on life support for so long, y’all. We want Petersburg to live!"

Asked whether Cordish is confident in the political leadership of the city, Chief Operating Officer Zed Smith said, "We would not be betting — no pun intended — $1.4 billion if we did not believe we could be successful."

A parade of Richmond officials reminded legislators that the prosperous areas of the capital city don't tell the whole story, especially for the corner of South Side where the ONE Casino + Resort wants to build a casino resort in partnership with Churchill Downs International, the new owner of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment and its Virginia subsidiaries, Colonial Downs Group and Rosie's Gaming Emporiums.

"Struggle is struggle," said Richmond City Council President Michael Jones, who represents a portion of South Richmond that is less affluent that the city's downtown, moneyed West End and other relatively affluent neighborhoods. "I don't want to pit my struggles against the city of Petersburg's struggles."

"Part of Richmond is doing well, not the part that my constituents live in," Jones said.

Councilwoman Reva Trammell represents the 8th District, which includes the industrial area next to the Philip Morris USA plant where the ONE Casino would be built if Richmond voters were to approve it in a second referendum.

"I represent mostly brown and Black [people] in my district," said Trammell, who is white, but has represented the neighborhood for decades. "I have the trailer parks in my district."

Petersburg residents generally have supported the Cordish project, but not all.

"We are a broken city," said Pastor Belinda Baugh, who contended that legal casino gambling wouldn't help impoverished residents.

Lafayette Jefferson contended that Cordish, an experienced casino developer based in Baltimore, got a contract with Petersburg without having to compete for it, as it did in Richmond in 2021, when it was one of three finalists in a sweepstakes that the partners in ONE Casino ultimately won.

"There was no selection process," said Jefferson, who accused the casino company of taking advantage of a poor, predominantly Black city.

Morrissey argued that Petersburg selected Cordish from seven potential developers that had been vetted by Lisa Speller, a consultant for Petersburg who ended her contract this month, with a month left on it, over a "difference in direction" with the city.

A state study concluded in October that both Petersburg and Richmond could support a casino, but Cordish confirmed Thursday that it could not develop the project on the scale it has proposed if faced with competition from another casino less than 25 miles away.

Former Petersburg City Attorney Michael Packer, now vice chair of the city economic development authority, implored legislators, "Please do not split the baby in two!"

When has Hollywood ever not been a sucker for romance? And what's more romantic than a story about Sin City in all of its smoky, Strip-strutting, immoral glory where a down-on-their-luck underdog gets a second chance? Reality, however, can be much different from Hollywood portrayals of organized crime bosses patrolling smoky, anything-goes gaming floors full of no-limits tables where players hide card-counting devices beneath their slacks.

Though doors were briefly shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic and patrons took their time returning, casinos are once again pulling in near-record winnings from players after more than two years since the pandemic began.

To shed light on how casinos truly operate, OddsSeeker looked into the history of casinos on film and identified 10 myths created in movies about gambling or going to casinos.

In the regulated world of gambling, you would be hard-pressed to find a table that allows the player to bet as much money on a game as they wish. The reason why is summed up in one word—risk.

Casinos place limits on how much can be bet at a table to reduce the probability that one or a handful of players could get lucky and wipe out the entire business's profits—or some considerable portion. Imagine how many casinos could withstand multiple payouts like the one James Bond receives in "Casino Royale" after winning a $115 million pot in a single hand.

Pre-pandemic, the Las Vegas Sands saw $2.7 billion in profit across its 10 casinos, which included the Venetian and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That's $270 million per casino on average in earnings before paying out shareholders. (The company has since sold its U.S. holdings to focus on its casinos in Asia.)

Gambling has a long history of being associated with society's seedier personalities when it's portrayed in the media. While there is a history of organized crime bosses skimming profits from casinos in the middle of the 20th century, that is no longer the case.

Casinos were brought out of the shadows and required to be transparent with their earnings in the 1960s by both private financiers as well as state and federal legislators. Howard Hughes is often credited as instrumental in this regard. Hughes, one of the richest individuals in the world during his lifetime, purchased several mafia-linked casinos on the Las Vegas Strip including the Desert Inn.

While stiff penalties at the state level in places like Nevada keep players from acting illegally, the SEC ensures casino businesses stay on the straight and narrow. The federal agency is mostly known for keeping an eye on Wall Street and corporate executives. However, the SEC also oversees gambling businesses to ensure gaming "is conducted honestly, competitively and free of criminal and corruptive elements," according to its website.

One of the best (and most underdeveloped) gags in National Lampoon's "Vegas Vacation" is when Clark Griswold's son Rusty obtains a fake ID and begins a dumb-luck winning streak that ends at the craps table while crowds egg him on. In reality, crowding around gaming tables makes protecting the integrity of the game much more difficult for casino managers.

The World Series of Poker goes to great lengths in coordinating security personnel and surveillance mechanisms while still allowing spectators to get close to the game. Odds are, though, your two-game win streak isn't going to garner a whole lot of attention from other casino guests. Researchers have found that gamblers win about 13.5% of the time.

Thankfully for everyone, casinos are not exactly the no-holds-barred temple of debauchery depicted in some movies. Security isn't likely to look the other way while you stumble across a casino floor strung out on any manner of substances, muttering obscenities and demanding a high-end suite with a ripped cigarette hanging from your mouth like Raoul Duke in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

Running a casino is a risky business seeing as the industry is heavily regulated. Casinos are periodically required to submit detailed financial reports to regulatory bodies, pay licensing fees and gaming taxes, and may even have their backgrounds checked. That means these casinos have a number of rules in place that security won't be shy about reinforcing in conversation.

Counting cards is a practice often portrayed in films as illegal or immoral—and something only the most beautiful minds are able to do.

In the film "Rain Man," it's implied that Raymond's autism helps him and Charlie anticipate which cards are about to be played. When someone observing their table asks the pair of brothers their secret, Charlie jokingly replies, "cheating."

In reality, the probability of a certain card being played by the dealer is a game of mental math that many enjoy. It's a reason people enjoy games like blackjack and a large part of the attractiveness of card games in general. Though challenging, it isn't illegal unless you try to use a machine or other counting device at the game table.

Perhaps one of the truer lines uttered by Robert De Niro's character in "Casino," casino manager Ace Rothstein, comes when he proclaims, "That's the truth about Las Vegas. We're the only winners. The players don't stand a chance."

That extends to card counting, which while not against the law, is not looked kindly upon by pit bosses on the casino floor who know that it gives players capable of it a slight edge over their dealers. A casino is for fun and games, but at the end of the day, it's also a business with operating costs and stakeholders to be paid out.

Some casinos may bar you from playing if they notice you are counting cards and gaining an edge on the dealer. Card counters beware—that win streak at the blackjack table likely won't go unnoticed by the cameras.

You're not going to get dragged out into a field and beaten with a baseball bat like Joe Pesci's character in "Casino," but gambling businesses do take cheating seriously. According to the FBI, their private security forces are legally allowed to detain patrons they reasonably suspect are cheating at casino games or committing any other crime on the property—and they don't have to Mirandize you either.

Bond films like "Casino Royale" perpetuate the myth that men stand around casino floors wearing suits and women walk around in cocktail dresses, but gone are those days. Today, most casinos have no such dress code. It's not abnormal to see patrons at a Las Vegas Strip casino playing poker in a bathing suit and cover-up or T-shirt and shorts. Just remember to check the dress code when visiting a specific nightclub or restaurant, as those tend to have different requirements.

If you're considering going full "Ocean's Eleven" this weekend at the Bellagio, the Mirage, and the MGM Grand casinos all while fooling the "eye in the sky," you might want to pause and think again.

Casinos are good at surveillance and invest in it because they have to. Gambling is closely scrutinized just about anywhere it is legal, and casinos in the U.S. are keen to move past the image organized crime syndicates of the 1950s unfortunately emblazoned on the industry. It's not just the cameras. Casinos employ physical security staff that must understand the complexities of games and be able to spot cheating.

In Paul Thomas Anderson's beloved indie flick "Hard Eight," the late Philip Seymour Hoffman taunts Phillip Baker Hall from across the craps table while lighting a cigarette, but those days may be waning. The Park MGM casino became the first in Las Vegas to be completely smoke-free in 2020. Aside from that, casinos in Nevada do get an exemption from anti-smoking laws. Casino employees in multiple states have been behind a recent push to get smoking outlawed in their workplaces, arguing the enhanced ventilation many casinos offer isn't enough to protect them.

This story originally appeared on OddsSeeker and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.

Michael Martz

(804) 649-6964

[email protected]

@mmartzrtd on Twitter

A House General Laws subcommittee backs a bill to let Petersburg hold a casino referendum.