Casinos under the Gila River Indian Community were planning to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic with new safety measures on May 15, 2020. Gyms have locked their doors. — Even though officials have shut down Missouri’s 13 licensed casinos to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, gamblers Tuesday were still able to place bets at unregulated slots in at. “Torch is complying with the government’s call to shut down coin-operated machines, as they do with all government laws and regulations,” Keller said Saturday. Most-read stories in this section.
- Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Last Night
- Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Today
- Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Yesterday
- Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Now
Ransomware may be to blame
Northern California’s Cache Creek Casino Resort, which has been shut down since Sept. 20 because of what it called a “systems infrastructure failure,” confirmed Wednesday that its computer systems were the target of an outside attack and that the incident is under investigation.
“While our investigation is ongoing, we have confirmed the cause was an external attack on our computer network,” the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, owners of the casino, said in response to questions from The Sacramento Bee. “The privacy of our guests and employees is our highest priority and we want to make certain they have some peace-of-mind.
“We are working closely with independent experts who regularly investigate incidents of this type to determine any risks to data security. Attacks like these are significant and can take weeks to research thoroughly.
“If it is determined the personal information of guests or employees was exposed, we will notify affected individuals in writing. To further reassure our community, we repeat our commitment to continued full pay and benefits for our employees during this time, whether they have been asked to report for their regular shifts or not.”
Sources, not at liberty to speak on the matter, told The Bee that the FBI is looking into whether the incident is a ransomware attack aimed at holding Cache Creek’s network and information hostage in return for payment, but a casino spokesman declined to comment further than the statement.
The casino, located in Brooks about an hour east of Sacramento, remains closed for now while officials bolster its internal security measures.
“Cache Creek Casino Resort will remain closed while we fortify our infrastructure and restore all operations,” the tribe’s statement said. “Unfortunately, and as reported in the news, these computer attacks are becoming increasingly frequent, with major banks, a large healthcare company and a well-known Las Vegas casino becoming recent targets.
“We will be stronger from this, and we will remain vigilant in protecting our operation from these network predators. We are undaunted in our commitment to the security of our organization and the future of our business.
“While we do not yet have a reopening date, we are making good progress and expect to announce a reopening date soon.”
Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Last Night
In February and March, two Las Vegas casinos reportedly shut down slot machine operations because of a suspected ransomware attack.
“Four Queens Hotel and Casino and Binion’s Casino in downtown Las Vegas are open for business but for several days were only able to trade in cash, while startling videos of rows of crippled slot machines on empty casino floors swept across Twitter,” Computer Business Review Online reported at the time.
Ransomware has become a growing problem for various industries as computer experts hack into information systems, typically networks connected to the internet, and implant malware that encrypts data and make it unavailable until a ransom is paid online.
Norton, the computer security company, says that “the idea behind ransomware, a form of malicious software, is simple: Lock and encrypt a victim’s computer or device data, then demand a ransom to restore access.”
“In many cases, the victim must pay the cybercriminal within a set amount of time or risk losing access forever,” Norton says on its company website. “And since malware attacks are often deployed by cyberthieves, paying the ransom doesn’t ensure access will be restored.
“Ransomware holds your personal files hostage, keeping you from your documents, photos, and financial information. Those files are still on your computer, but the malware has encrypted your device, making the data stored on your computer or mobile device inaccessible.”
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© MANDEL NGAN/AFP/AFP via Getty Images US President Donald Trump addresses supporters during a campaign rally at MBS International Airport in Freeland, Michigan on September 10, 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)In the world according to Donald Trump, the years bring little change.
Back in 1990, when he was an aspiring monarch in the Atlantic City gambling hierarchy, his Taj Mahal casino was a mess -- plagued by slot machines that didn't work. The casino control commission shut one-third of them down -- on opening night, no less. A complete disaster.
Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Today
But Trump, ever the con man, had a tale in mind. When asked about it by Larry King, he just lied. 'The slots were so hot,' he said 'They blew apart...they were virtually on fire.'
And the constant lies continued, virtually on fire, for decades.
Within the Trump organization -- and, by extension, within his White House -- the political alchemists try to spin the lies into truths, or half-truths, or plausible truths. After Trump's misleading comments at an ABC town hall on 'herd mentality' as a way to get rid of the virus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the President addressed it 'very clearly.'
And so it goes.
Except now. The proverbial slot machines are still on fire and there are some people trying to figure out why, and maybe extinguish the smoke that clouds the truth.
Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Yesterday
Video: Mary Trump says reporters 'continue to pull these punches' (CNN Money)
Veteran journalist Bob Woodward, who has written about nine presidents, struggled to figure out Trump's particular psychosis. It was hard. In conversations we have so far heard, Trump was unable to reflect upon anything, admit any mistake or learn anything from experience. And finally, Woodward came to a stunning -- and apt -- conclusion, telling CNN's Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night: 'I don't know, to be honest, whether he's got it straight in his head what is real and what is unreal.'
At a certain point, as Woodward implies, Trump believes his own lies. And he lives his own lies. He wanted to talk with Woodward to impress him because he believes in his own ability to schmooze and succeed. So he spoke with him 18 times. And he did not succeed.
Why Were Trumps Slot Machines Shut Down Now
Trump is lucky he didn't testify before special counsel Robert Mueller -- as he once said he wanted to (or was that a lie, too?). Schmoozing doesn't work well with lawyers. And his own lawyers knew it.
He also did not succeed at ABC's recent town hall, when actual citizens with personal questions asked him about, say, his plans for health care. He told a professor from Philadelphia with a serious preexisting condition to her face that he was fighting to protect her preexisting condition coverage. Except his administration is challenging preexisting conditions in court and he has promised a health care plan for months, and promised one again. Of course, nothing has materialized.
Trump loves to retweet obviously false and defamatory tweets about Joe Biden, because he can. His acolytes in the GOP and the White House will pretend they haven't seen or don't know about the tweets, but of course they do. And they know Trump lies because he knows no other way.
And when he's challenged by the guardrails of government -- the watchdog inspectors general, the courts, the press, the public -- he simply spins and obfuscates and blocks. So his lawyers wrote his answers to Mueller, his former White House counsel Don McGahn kept quiet and Trump minimized the coronavirus as simply the flu when he knew how dangerous it was. The inspectors general are dismissed, presidential conversations with foreign leaders are kept largely under wraps as are internal census documents. The generals who abhor his judgment and find him dangerous are 'disgruntled' or captives of fake news. Oh, and if he loses the election, it was rigged.
It never ends.
Trump's Taj Mahal -- once advertised as the eighth wonder of the world -- was anything but. It wasn't the symbol of luxury and prestige Trump craved, and eventually cratered as Atlantic City suffered.
This time, the gamble is not about money but about lives. But in Trump's mind, there is no mistake he has made, nothing he could have done differently.
In his mind, the slots are still hot and on fire.