HANDS up if you thought tomorrow's papers would be full of accusations about favouritism, secret dealings and murky goings on after Greenwich got the first super casino?
Certainly, the TV crews were certain it was going to Greenwich, with Blackpool a people's choice second.
Instead, Manchester won. Which was a bit of a shock for everyone, not least the mighty Manchester Evening News which had cued up its third edition with the banner headline: "Blackpool gets super casino."
So surprise all round. But it's not the location which bothers me so much as this myth that it's worth jumping into bed with the gambling industry because of the untold regeneration riches it will bring.
Which is nonsense, and serves to show that regeneration experts the world over are very good at blocking things which don't appeal out of their mind.
The belief is this: A super casino in a poor area will not just a self-contained gold mine, but one in which the area benefits in terms of further investment from other companies, more jobs, and therefore better living conditions.
Look to Las Vegas the experts cry - look what happened to a desert town in the middle of nowhere when the mining industry collapsed. They allowed gambling, and the rest is history. Millions visit every year, it's good, if not always clean, fun in a safe environment.
Which may be true for the Brits like us who head over there for a few days in the year-round sun before heading off to San Fransisco or Los Angeles.
But in terms of creating a better place to live and work, Las Vegas is the last place which British areas should be looking to replicate.
When I went on a two-centre holiday there in 2003, one of the first things our tour guide said en-route to the Stratosphere Hotel was not to walk north of the hotel. The bit between the hotel and the original strip - the bit without the huge hotels - wasn't safe.
South of the hotel, he said, was fine - and the image of thousands thronging the wide pavements each side of the Strip, admiring hotels themed on everything imaginable, is one perhaps worth replicating.
If only it wasn't for the streets on either side. The biggest eye-opener for me was that within 50 yards of these massive hotels were what can only be described as slum housing. Several blocks high, paint peeling, no gardens, the closest these people get to the riches on offer on the Strip is either a) working in one of the casinos or b) spending all their cash trying to get hold of some of the riches.
People in those houses earn peanuts - and there's no reason at all why the supercasino in Manchester will pay anything above the minimum wage over here. So the riches from the tourists like you and me stays on the Strip, or more likely, in the pockets of the big companies.
So the notion that a big bang development can solve an area's problems is rubbish. What about the crime it will bring?
And as for the tourism pull - how long does it take people to get bored in Las Vegas? If you're not hooked on gambling, there's only so much themed hotel days you can take, which is why most people stay three of fours days before moving on. Even then, one of those days is spent at the Grand Canyon.
Blackpool seemed certain casinos would solve its problems. It won't, just as it won't turn East Manchester into the most sought after bit of real estate in the North. Those who will profit will be the casino owners, not the local community which desperatley needs a co-ordinated approach to having its socks pulled up.
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