David Mckee's Stiffs & Georges

Harrah's making a go of Atlantic City

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 18:01:00 -0700

Whether or not Harrah's Entertainment would like to lower its risk in Atlantic City, as I speculated yesterday, is open to question. Yes, CEO Gary Loveman has conceded that Harrah's Chester, his Pennsylvania racino, is eating into Harrah's Atlantic C...

McCain a lousy player?

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:40:00 -0700

Citizens for Ethics & Responsibility in Washington wants an accounting of Sen. John McCain's casino winnings. He was seen raking in "thousands of dollars" at Foxwoods Casino Resort. But that was back in 2000. He's declared no casino win...

... or not

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:23:00 -0700

I've been informed that Tropicana Entertainment owner William J. Yung III has signed an irrevocable proxy and cannot vote his shares, no matter how many he owns. Nor he can he regain the reins of the company. Whether that is enough to satisfy the Ne...

He's baaaaaaaaaack!

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:56:00 -0700

Score one for Columbia Sussex CEO William J. Yung III. The New Jersey Supreme Court will hear his appeal of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission's revocation of his license, even though a lower court booted it, 3-0. ColSux has been superseded by ...

The 'Point Break' mystery

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:46:00 -0700

So what the heck gives with the four-performance lifespan of Point Break Live! at the forever-in-flux V Theater at Planet Hollywood? At 10:26 a.m. on Tuesday morning, David Saxe Productions (which runs V) issued an abrupt e-mail that read, in part, &...

Quote of the Day

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:29:00 -0700

“It really wasn’t about a quarter. It was really a matter of understanding the slot payout tables.” -- Boyd Gaming spokesman Rob Stillwell, on the subject of a 25-cent dispute that began at The Orleans and ended in front of the Ne...

Dark day for dealers

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:16:00 -0700

Nevada's Supreme Court has ruled against Wynn Las Vegas dealers Joseph Cesarz and Daniel Baldonado. The Supremes are pretty much writing finis to the duo's courageous quest to overturn an iniquitous tip-confiscation scheme. (If you're unsympathetic t...

Trop this!

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:38:00 -0700

The fourth time's the charm -- at least if you're Justice Gary Stein, the tortoise-powered conservator of the Atlantic City Tropicana. Having prolonged the timeline for selling the mammoth hotel-casino three times already, he's asking the state for a...

Quote of the Day

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:34:00 -0700

"You don't care who lives and who dies!" -- imprecation from an anonymous UAW member, hurled at UNITE-HERE President Robert McDevitt, who supported a one-year delay in Atlantic City's smoking ban.

Politics, craps don't mix

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:54:00 -0700

Methodical, conservative poker play is a hallmark of Sen. Barack Obama (much to the annoyance of some of his fellow card players). A crap game with Sen. John McCain, though, can get rather volatile.

Control Board changes its tune

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:19:00 -0700

Waaaaaaaaaaay back in 2000, the Aladdin 2.0 was struggling into being, and Jack Sommer and London Clubs International were at each others' throats. Sommer's shallow pockets had forced LCI into taking a much bigger stake in the megaresort than it had ...

Lights! Camera! Straight to video!

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:46:00 -0700

Saw 5 and a Paris Hilton vehicle will be the next two movies premiered at Planet Hollywood. Owner Robert Earl must be so proud. The red-carpet pickings over there become less and less impressive. If Kathy Griffin were invited to either of these premi...

"beyond embarrassment"

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:17:00 -0700

Dave Surratt's review of Point Break Live ("a deadening waste of time") goes a long way toward explaining the show's ignominious four-performance run. Just another day at the office at Huntington Press. Further up the Strip, the new pro...

Quote of the Day

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:49:00 -0700

"And he is entertaining, in a tipped-over-semi-on-the-side-of-the-road sort of way." -- Hugh Jackson, back at his station and identifying the sole positive virtue of Nevada's sporadically visible Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Wipeout!

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:37:00 -0700

It's curtains for "Point Break" Live, which closed without warning at 10:26 a.m. (the official time of decease, per David Saxe Productions). Considering that the show had opened only last Wednesday, PBL's six-day lifespan has got to be the ...