Foxwoods "Bankruptcy" ?

Gambling is so wildly profitable, so we're told, then why is Foxwoods restructuring their debt?

Aug. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Mashantucket Western Pequot Tribal Nation, owner of the Foxwoods Resort Casino, is seeking to restructure at least $1.45 billion in debt as winnings dwindle, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
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A restructuring plan has been submitted to creditors and the Connecticut casino’s owners have hired Miller Buckfire & Co., a New York investment bank, as an adviser, said the person, who declined to be identified because the talks aren’t public.



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Creditors probably can’t take over assets or operations of casinos on tribal land, which are
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sovereign nations,

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as they may with commercial bankruptcies, Neuburger said on a conference call. That leaves them little choice other than to restructure debts and work with the tribe, Neuburger said. No tribal casino has tested bankruptcy laws.
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“It might be posturing, but the tribe is indicating that it might put itself, the equity holder, ahead of the debt, ignoring corporate law,” said Klatzkin. “It probably won’t happen, but if it does, who’s to say other tribes don’t say, ‘If Foxwoods doesn’t need to meet its U.S. legal obligations, maybe I don’t either.’”
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Three smaller tribal gaming companies have missed loan obligations during the recession, Neuburger said. In New Mexico, Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino and Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort & Casino, and in Michigan, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, have defaulted on bond payments.
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And from Topeka, Kansas --
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Foxwoods and another former competitor, Lakes Entertainment Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn., each are responsible for half the financing for Chisholm Creek. Foxwoods President Gary Armentrout said they won't have to rely on any debt financing.
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"We can now come to the state of Kansas with the assurances that we can build this facility with all cash," he said.
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Both Foxwoods and Lakes Entertainment will be involved in the casino's management, but the former competitors haven't settled on a role for South Central Gaming Partners investors, Armentrout said.
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Foxwoods is owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut, which operates what its officials describe as the largest gambling-and-resort complex in the U.S. there. Lakes Entertainment has operated 11 tribal casinos in seven states, including California and Oklahoma.
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Are Americans taxpayers going to have to bailout banks that loaned Tribal casinos money next?

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This comment from a friend --

Professor John Kindt, a national expert on gambling has recently described how expanded gambling has become a matter of national economic security. See article below on latest mega-casino in financial difficulty. What no one believed possible, Foxwoods is in trouble.

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Maybe leaders on Beacon Hill should consider themselves lucky that they didn't vote this into law a few years ago.