After nearly three years of public and political wrangling since Massachusetts legalized casino gambling, we could finally be just hours away from knowing who will get the nod to build a billion-dollar casino near Boston: Mohegan Sun and Suffolk Downs in Revere or Wynn Resorts in Everett.

After days of testimony and ranking of various attributes of the proposals – on how many jobs and tax revenues they create for the state, how well they promote economic development and tourism, their backers’ financial strength, and how well they’d address problems like traffic and gambling addiction – it appears the last two big questions on the table are:

• Has Mohegan Sun really address commissioners’ concerns about how heavily leveraged it is -- and how solid are its promises it has just added $150 million more equity and capital funding?
• How much will Wynn Resorts be allowed to quibble with or flout the commission’s demand it commit up to $20 million for a city-approved plan to fix gridlocked Sullivan Square Charlestown -- and agree to pay a yearly fine of up to $20,000 per net new Friday rush-hour vehicle passing through the area if its promises for controlling traffic fail to get realized after a Wynn Everett casino opens?

In their final comparative, qualitative review of the two projects before deliberating on who should win the casino license, the four commissioners reviewing the panel – chairman Stephen P. Crosby has recused himself over conflict-of-interest ethical appearance issues – gave Mohegan an overall rating of "very good" but Wynn a one-notch-higher "very good/outstanding."

"I think that Wynn does have the edge here," acting chairman James McHugh said, citing its overall higher rankings on job creation, bringing more tourism and international money to the area, and partnerships with local entertainment venues. "I think we've talked about this now for almost an hour and a half, and I think it's pretty clear what our reasons are for giving Wynn the edge here. But I think it's really important to understand, too, that we have two good proposals here. We don't have one in which there is a vast gulf between one and the other."

Commissioner Gayle Cameron agreed: "This is very difficult. They are both equally strong – I won’t say equally, they're strong proposals that we have to choose from."

"What Wynn proposes is trying to capitalize on people who would come here from far away a lot more than what Mohegan proposes," Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said.

McHugh said, "The Wynn proposal is clearly aimed almost exclusively at an upscale, highly upscale market … You've got a basically very good tourism plan in place in Mohegan Sun, and a little bit better plan in place in Wynn."

After a long stretch of discussing how best to compare the relative economic benefits and traffic and other problem costs of the two projects, commissioners wound up focusing on Wynn’s refusal to accept what they had proposed be a binding condition of the license: The up-to-$20-million commitment to Sullivan Square and $20,000 per added car fine for failing to control traffic. The casino’s also demanded a veto on the size of the parking garage Wynn could build at the Everett riverfront site, plus making Wynn’s proposed traffic upgrades require approval from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. (Walsh, calling the arbitration process biased and unfair and Wynn’s offers of help insultingly low, refused to negotiate with Wynn and said he would make mitigation for Boston the Gaming Commission’s problem to decide.)

McHugh said at length that it appeared Wynn just wanted to throw money at the problem without being "a truly collaborative partner" in designing a better traffic flow for Sullivan Square. "The notion that you can simply continue to build wider roads and then see what happens is one that has limited utility in that kind of a dense environment," McHugh said.

Wynn has counter-offered lower amounts of aid earmarked for Sullivan Square – Wynn and commission representatives do not agree on the actual cash value of Wynn’s new proposal – and after talking about how dire the problems are in the Route 99-Interstate 93-Rutherford Avenue area, Zuniga floated the idea that the commission should declare its Sullivan Square requirements as non-negotiable.

"This one condition is a take it or leave it," Zuniga proposed, "and if they're ready to leave, they might as well tell us, and it might make the decision a lot easier."

Tuesday morning, Wynn’s representatives, including former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld, now a private-practice attorney are expected to respond on whether they will take or leave the commission’s offer. How that turns out, and whether commissioners become satisfied Mohegan has really come up with a firm $150 million more for its project, could drive a final vote between the two as soon as Tuesday afternoon.

With video editor Nicholas Chin