Casino revenues for September are in and they bode well for Las Vegas Strip casinos and rather concerningly for everyone else. The Strip carried the state to a 2% increase to almost $1.3 billion for the month. Strip gambling palaces grossed $741 million, a 7% jump. Baccarat winnings vaulted 88% on high hold, despite 2% less play. That more than made up for less slot play (- 4%), which brought in $383 million. Table wagering was off 7% win was 3% higher, to $211 million. “If we normalize both the low hold in September of 2022 and the high hold in September of 2023, [gross gaming revenue] would have been down ~3.2% Y/Y, though, given the cyber security event, this should not be surprising,” argued Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli. Isn’t nice how an MGM Resorts International/Caesars Entertainment cyber catastrophe can be normalized as a mere “event”?
Downtown, by contrast, fell 8% to $68 million. Drive-in traffic appears to have been strong, judging by both the Strip number and the gross in Laughlin, up 6.5% to $41.5 million. North Las Vegas was flat at $23 million but the Boulder Strip plunged 9.5% to $67.5 million. Miscellaneous Clark County casinos were off 5.5%, to $134.5 million. Locals casino owners have to be rooting for the Culinary Union in its labor talks with the Big Three, as higher wages for casino workers (likely backdated) will refloat the locals boat. The present stats are not what one wants to see when Durango Resort is about to launch.
Two drive-in markets gave conflicting signals. Mesquite casinos, where the sister wives play, were down 2% to $14 million. But Utah-facing Wendover saw a 2% increase, collecting $23 million. The rest of the news was adverse. Reno dropped 7% to $64 million, driven by poor table luck, Sparks‘ long winning streak came to an end, down 7% to $17 million and Lake Tahoe slid 5.5% to $26 million. With a couple of slow months coming up and the Las Vegas Grand Prix threatening to underperform, casinos may have to tighten their belts until year’s end.
As befits its last-place standing amongst Atlantic City casinos, the Golden Nugget rolled out a new player-rewards program that our Boardwalk correspondent deems “quite insulting.” As he tells it, “the gift cards went from $40 a few months ago to $20 and $25. You must now earn 150 tier points to get a $20 gift card or other gift, and 200 tier points to get a $25 gift. If it takes $10-$15 per point, that’s $1,500-$2,250 cash in for a tiny $20 gift card. And $2,000-$3,000 cash in for a $25 gift card!” He continues, “Golden Nugget used to give players $40 food credit two times a month. Then it went to $20 a month. Now it’s gone!” As is the Nugget’s reputation, it would seem.
Even so, our man chose to stay at the Golden Nugget last weekend. It was headlined by a Halloween-themed slot tournament: “My wife was not invited and she was not happy.” It gets worse. “Late Friday night, for a short time, I was trapped in the bathroom. The door to the bathroom is a sliding ‘barn door.’ It jammed and I had a hard time getting it open. I believe it partially came off the overhead track. When checking out, I was very clear that this room should not be occupied until it was repaired!” Not least because one of the light fixtures is ready to fall off the wall …
… just another day in Tilman Fertitta‘s world. Elsewhere on the Boardwalk, Hard Rock Atlantic City hosted a two-night Foreigner farewell gig and had strong casino business to show for it. (Yes, but did they have Gigi D’Alessio?) The goodwill spread over to Ocean Casino Resort, also seeing Borgata-like levels of custom. As for Borgata, it was doing quite well too.
Lambs to the slaughter. Last night the Las Vegas Raiders were slain by the Detroit Lions, with a little help from scatter-armed Raider QB Jimmy Garoppolo. While ex-Raider Derek Carr may be winning ugly in New Orleans, he’s winning, which is more than can be said of his expensive replacement in Las Vegas. The Silver & Black offense might be described as stingy, as the defense as generous. Whatever the case, the Lions feasted on the Raider carcass. Look for brilliant wideout Davante Adams to get traded, the Raiders being done for the season.