Casino players in Pennsylvania’s new gambling halls can drink until they pass out — and then drink some more. And it’s all hunky-dory with Gov. Ed Rendell, who slipped an unlimited free drinks law through the Keystone State’s Lege in the dark of night. (Literally.) Speaking as someone who once got smashed up by a drunk driver, I take a dim view of Rendell’s "No booze left behind" law. (Some of Rendell’s Democratic allies in the Lege are making a push for 14 full-scale casinos, too, which is already making opponents fear that slot parlors and racinos were a Trojan Horse all along.)

Not only will Pennsylvanians have to worry about more inebriated motorists weaving along the roads, they may also have cause to fret over their local school’s budget. Taxes on liquor sales in Pennsylvania help underwrite the state’s education, a mechanism handily kneecapped by Rendell’s midnight gift to casino owners. Their gratitude may be nothing compared to the near-inevitable wrath of educators. But hey, who needs to go to school when you could bus free drinks to slot players all night long, right?

Dereliction of duty: While we’re on the topic of government officials defaulting on their responsibility, what’s up with Nevada Gaming Control Board member Mark Clayton’s declaration that it’s perfectly OK if casinos manipulate the odds on slot machines — in essence, rig the outcome — depending on who’s playing? And why no outcry yet from players — or from fellow Nevada regulators and lawmakers? It’s bad enough that many people perceive casino gambling as rigged. Now, here’s one of the industry’s ostensible watchdogs basically encouraging the casinos to play favorites where the odds on slot games are concerned. (Um, isn’t that what most folks call "cheating"?) If Clayton really believes it’s acceptable for casino bosses to tilt the playing field, it’s time for him to step down.

Sky not falling after all: Despite the Chicken Little wailing that regularly issues from the local daily newspaper, "record" tax increaes in 2003 didn’t stunt Nevada’s economy … and the anti-smoking Question 5 apparently won’t either. Nevada Hotel & Lodging Association CEO Van Heffner told a group of industry and media figures last night to expect (and recruit for) 40,000 new hotel-industry jobs and 100,000 more in related fields. While the effect of Question 5 on hole-in-the-wall bars and eateries remains to be seen, reducing the omnipresent stench of cigarette smoke will bring Nevada more into line with rival tourist destinations, even if residents like those English-only clowns in Pahrump seem determined to embarrass us all. (Anybody who’s shocked that immigrants would want to preserve their culture and even speak their native language might want to visit any Chinatown anywhere — or study the history of immigrant communities in America.)

Case Bets: It looks as though the elegant fountains in front of Caesars Palace will be cannibalized as part of the upcoming makeover that will eliminate the maladroit Roman Forum area. Talk about throwing out the baby with the bathwater! It’s not too late to rethink this, Harrah’s … Visited the Casino Monte Lago, out at Lake Las Vegas last night and could probably have counted the slot players on the fingers of both hands, with fingers to spare. In other words, it was dead, man. Lake Las Vegas, which often looks as eerily depopulated as Chernobyl, seems like an odd place to put a "me too" casino. There’s hardly the population base out there to support one and prospective gamblers from elsewhere would have to drive a long way in, passing umpteen casinos en route. Besides, who could resist Station Casinos‘ Lake Mead Lounge? … Speaking of deserted places: In the (highly unlikely) event that Rohit Joshi gets to make a casino-hotel out of Neonopolis, where would the hotel tower rise? The logical site is currently occupied by the Gold Strike, one of Downtown Las Vegas’ dodgiest casinos (and that’s going some). Anything else on that site would be an improvement, so let’s hope owner Tamares Group is amenable to reasonable offers from credible buyers — which probably excludes Joshi, however. If there’s a grand strategy or an endgame to Tamares’ disjointed campaign of assembling — and sometimes shuttering — various isolated, oftimes run-down properties, like the defunct Ambassador East Motel and the Hotel Nevada, no one outside Tamares has apparently been able to discern it yet.