Something different today from the Boardwalk: A first glimpse of new-look Caesars Atlantic City. That $400 million in capex reinvestment didn’t go to waste. There’s now a Nobu (above) and a Hell’s Kitchen (below), “both high-quality work and high prices,” says our East Coast photojournalist. Wild Wild West is all but completely gutted, its next iteration as yet unknown—something less rinky-dink, we hope.
Somehow, Bally’s Corp. managed to extract $9.5 million in ROI (a major shift into the black) from Bally’s Atlantic City last quarter. However they did it, they clearly don’t view Boardwalk access as an asset. Try to leave Bally’s via the Boardwalk exit and you’ll run into this (above). It’s a great way to avoid the adjacent Johnny Rocket’s restaurant. Our correspondent had a two-day stay at Bally’s and reports “nice room, new shower. About a month ago, Bally’s was advertising a breakfast buffet, open to the public, at their VIP lounge. I’m guessing that didn’t work out. Their new ‘VIP’ lounge hours tell the story, less than the summer.” (12 hours total, spread over three weekend days.) One would think the lounge would be busier in fall and winter, absent outdoor distractions, but evidently not.
Bally’s much-vaunted renovation clearly didn’t extend to the plug-ugly outdoor bar (above), which is now closed—as we’d expect in November. The attractive, covered swimming pool is still open. Population: 1 lifeguard, 1 swimmer. “The employee told me Bally’s kept the pool open by getting foreign students to maintain it.” That’s one way to get around Unite-Here.
Chicago should take careful note that this is how Bally’s operates in a major gaming market. Meanwhile, back in Philadelphia, things continue to look livelier at Philadelphia Live. “This was their DJ Jerry Blavat, who has quite a following of older people just like himself. He’s been around since the 1960’s. We went to Philly Live for [the wife’s] free slot play, that only cost her a few hundred dollars. The food at Sports & Social was very good.” It’s encouraging to see Cordish Co.’s flagship property looking like a casino again, not a morgue. Rivers Philadelphia, your move.
Revisiting Election Day, if we must, Atlantic City resident (and voter) Jerry Dougherty told The Press of Atlantic City, “I like [Mayor Marty] Small because he hasn’t stolen anything from the city yet.” One doesn’t get such ringing endorsements of Democratic candidates outside of the Windy City ordinarily. Or, as our man on the Boardwalk writes, “Life in Atlantic City can’t get much better than that!”
Jottings: Defying macroeconomic gloom and doom, Big Gaming had not just its best third quarter in history but its best quarter, period: $15 billion, with 16 states out of 33 logging record hauls. Gaming CEOs are more than hinting that 4Q22 will be better still. “While business challenges remain, high consumer demand continues to fuel our industry’s record success,” said American Gaming Association President Bill Miller, somehow restraining himself from taking a victory lap. Gambling historian David G. Schwartz put it in the context of the $2 billion Powerball jackpot, saying, “it speaks to the continuing appeal of gambling and that there may be even more appetite for it in uncertain times” … Former skin-mag model Kelsey Turner says she’s not guilty of killing sugar daddy Dr. Thomas Burchard, even though his bludgeoned corpse was found in her car near Lake Mead three years ago. But she pled out to second-degree murder anyway, her two accomplices already having flipped. Ah, Las Vegas, where aging sugar daddies go to be mauled or murdered … Having lost $57 million already to a bad gambling habit, it’s only fitting that golfer John Daly should license his likeness to an online slot machine, newly debuted in New Jersey. As the saying goes, play like the pros do … Meanwhile, in Michigan, Everi Digital has rolled out—via BetMGM—an online Detroit Lions slot game. At last, a game Lions players might actually be able to win … If you drive while visiting Las Vegas (and it’s almost a must), take a jaunt out to Beatty. There, just past the ghost town of Rhyolite, you can meditate upon sculptor Albert Szukalski‘s 1984, fiberglass interpretation of the Last Supper, the closest thing to a free meal you’ll find in Nevada anymore. It’s lasted 35 years longer than its author anticipated, despite the occasional depredations of ornery (if cute) desert burros.
Quote of the Day: “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”—John F. Kennedy
What a grand place Bally’s must have been. In their prime, they had two separate valet areas, one for the casino, and one for the hotel.