Robin Camacho
Las Vegas Real Estate
David McKee
Stiffs & Georges
Jean Scott
Frugal Vegas
Cannery Casino Resorts (29) [RSS]
Melco Crown Entertainment (29) [RSS]
Morgans Hotel Group (32) [RSS]
Pinnacle Entertainment (60) [RSS]
Tropicana Entertainment (90) [RSS]
World Series of Poker (6) [RSS]
Illinois: No country for big casinos
JohnTerez said: What your name? , <a href="http://pdabooks.org/membe... noir wine&l... [More]
Nevada: The Stupid State
PortoM0n said: Don't go far away. , <a href="http://cool-wallpapers.ev... cool wall... [More]
They burned the Monte Carlo ... and may get away with it
JohnTerez said: Try see it. , <a href="http://smart.fm/lists/152... glass supplies</a>... [More]
Nevada: The Stupid State
PortoM0n said: Hi brothers and sisters! , <a href="http://boxesandarrows.com...... [More]
They burned the Monte Carlo ... and may get away with it
SoloJ3ss said: Great... , <a href="http://boxesandarrows.com... to make deer a... [More]
Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog.
alex yemenidjian ameristar animals architecture atlantic city australia baseball boulder strip boyd gaming california cannery casino resorts carl icahn charity cirque du soleil citycenter colony capital colorado columbia sussex cosmopolitan current detroit dining don barden donald trump downtown economy election encore entertainment environment florida fontainebleau g2e george maloof harrah's harry reid herbst gaming horseracing igt illinois indiana international internet gambling isle of capri james packer kansas kentucky labor lake tahoe laughlin lawrence ho louisiana lvcva m resort macau marketing massachusetts melco crown entertainment mesquite mgm mirage michael gaughan mississippi missouri monte carlo fire morgans hotel group movies neil bluhm ohio oscar goodman penn national pennsylvania pets phil ruffin pinnacle entertainment planet hollywood politics problem gambling regulation reno riviera sahara sheldon adelson singapore sports stanley ho station casinos steve wynn tamares group taxes technology the strip tilman fertitta tourism transportation tribal tropicana entertainment tv wall street
Posted At : August 18, 2008 09:14 AM | Posted By : D McKee
Related Categories:
Wall Street,Harrah's,Pinnacle Entertainment,Kansas,The Strip
JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, gleaning the wire services, reports that Pinnacle Entertainment has stubbed its toe by including endorsements from three Wyandotte County/Kansas City officials in its presentation to the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board (whew!). Echoing state law, Pinnacle says the trio were acting not as elected officials but as private citizens.
Which would be like saying that George W. Bush gave his endorsement of Sen. John McCain in his capacity as a Texas-registered voter and not as President of the United States (and pay no attention to that White House in the background, please). In other words, it's a distinction without a difference -- and a silly law to boot, but I can't blame Pinnacle for exploiting the Sherman tank-sized loophole it opened.
Update: Upon further review ... it turns out that the three commissioners were identified as such when delivering their video pitch for Pinnacle. Which, from any common-sense standpoint, means they were acting in their official capacity and Pinnacle, after kicking the ball onto the fairway, is now trying to have it both ways. A finer case of hair-splitting I've not seen since Bill Clinton parsed the meaning of the word "is."
Harrah's: Cheap? Desperate? Of course the two options are not mutually exclusive (and don't forget that Harrah's Entertainment and its two LBO partners, according to the Wall Street Journal, appear to have written off 20% of their $3 billion equity contribution to the company's buyout). Whichever option you choose, this Las Vegas Review-Journal story speaks for itself.
What's particularly ominous for slot-makers is analysts' conclusion that this is a sort of shakedown whereby Harrah's pressures IGT for a bigger proportion of their shared slot revenue -- and that, if it succeeds, it could lead to tacit collusion up and down the Strip to wrest concessions from the slot companies.
It's worth remembering that, nine years ago, casino bigwigs were pressuring the Nevada Lege to outlaw revenue-sharing games altogether. It was a blatantly unconstitutional restraint of trade and eventually died the death it deserved ... but it had considerable juice behind at the outset. Which goes to show that history repeats itself: but in this case, first as farce and only later as tragedy.
Print | 
Send to Friend | 
del.icio.us | 
Digg It! | 
Linking Blogs |
There are no comments for this entry.
[Add Comment]