Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on December 9, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Playing politics with sports betting … and casinos

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) has really put her foot in it this time. Not only are Windy City aldermen balking at five stadium-area sports books in addition to a billion-dollar casino, fearing cannibalization, but Lightfoot threw gasoline on the fire with the oh-so-casual remark that taxpayers would be footing the bill for the infrastructure needed for aforesaid sports books to operate. Spending public money to make already-rich people even richer would be a hard sell to voters, we’re sure. Also, Lightfoot’s much-touted 2% extra impost on sports books was derided as “paltry” after her office said it would bring in $400K-$500K a year, peanuts compared to the tax dollars a casino would pay. Back in the day (2009), Lightfoot said freestanding sports books had “the potential to undermine the viability of any Chicago-based casino.” Lightfoot 2.0 now deems them essential and is allied with the Lege in trying to strong-arm aldermen into going along.

Posted on December 8, 2021September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Meanwhile at Harrah’s Philadelphia …

Busy on other fronts, we’re taking a break from regular programming today. However, kudos to Harrah’s Philadelphia for including this somewhat avant-garde menorah among its holiday observances. Don’t eat there, however, unless you fancy having some 12-day-old salad:

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Bob Dancer — 1 Comment

Trying to Go Back Again

From 1974 to 1980, I was involved full-time in backgammon — to the tune of 3,000 hours a year, including playing, studying, and for a brief while running a tournament. I went broke. While I had done well against new players, the backgammon craze waned, and the remaining players were superior to me. Playing against superior players is a prescription for bankruptcy.

Over the next decade, I played or studied perhaps 1,000 hours a year because I had to maintain a full-time job to support myself. And I managed to play for smaller stakes against weaker players. At the end, I was a fairly strong intermediate player, by the standards of the day. There were a number of much stronger players around. Try as I might, I just didn’t have the ability to evenly compete with them. And so I avoided playing them.

Posted on December 7, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Cordish cashes in; Scare tactics in Atlantic City; Illinois slumps

Succumbing to the siren song of REITmania, Cordish Gaming has sold the real estate of three of its casinos to Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. for a grand total of $1.8 billion. The affected casinos are Philadelphia Live, Pittsburgh Live and Maryland Live. The latter is the real prize, Philadelphia Live (pictured) being somewhat of an underachiever. Reported JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “the deal also includes a binding partnership on future Cordish casino developments and potential financing partnerships between GLPI and Cordish in other parts of Cordish’s businesses … We also like that GPLI is adding a new and reputable real estate/gaming partner that potentially could lead to future accretive transactions.” The newfound wealth could also empower Cordish to take on new projects elsewhere. “They’re raising capital without having to get the loan or do some kind of stock offering, because Cordish is still a private company and is more limited,” gaming analyst Jason Karmel observed.

Posted on December 6, 2021 by David Mckee — 4 Comments

MGM resurgent in Maryland; More Mega-Jottings

November was another terrific month for Maryland casinos, as revenues picked up a bit from October, accumulating 14% more than in November 2019.. (If inflation is so bad, where do Marylanders find all this money with which to gamble, one wonders? But anyway … ) After a month out of the top spot, MGM National Harbor was back at #1, grossing $68 million, a 26% leap by the lion. Maryland Live was not quite so buoyant, up 10% to $58 million. Horseshoe Baltimore tumbled 15% to $16 million, remaining the problem child of Caesars Entertainment. Business was slightly slower at Rocky Gap Resort, up 11.5% to $5 million, while Ocean Downs cantered +22.5% to $6.5 million and Hollywood Perryville gained 22% to $7 million. Despite flat slot revenues, West Virginia casinos garnered 3% more last month, on the strength of robust (+18%) table win. Hollywood Charles Town Races was particularly fortunate, climbing 4% at the slots and 32% at the tables.

Posted on December 4, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Special Edition: Rumblings from around Big Gaming

Update: The Seminole Tribe has finally, grudgingly stopped taking sports bets, effective yesterday.

At the risk of using the Seminole Tribe as a punching bag, we have to observe that it clearly doesn’t understanding the meaning of the word “no,” especially when it comes to online sports betting. Judge Dabney Friedrich (pictured) ruled that the Seminoles couldn’t have OSB. But they kept taking bets. Then Judge Friedrich nixed their request for a stay. And they kept taking wagers. Now a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said no, you have to shut it down. And, as far as we know, the Seminoles are still accepting bets. The only commitment Seminole mealy-mouthpiece Gary Bitner would make is “The Seminole Tribe is aware of today’s Appeals Court decision and is carefully considering the steps it will take as a result,” which probably include continued defiance. Which raises the question, if the Seminoles won’t abide by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (at least when it’s not to their convenience) why in the bloody blue blazes should anyone else?

Posted on December 3, 2021September 18, 2023 by David Mckee — 11 Comments

Off-topic: Medical update

Forgive me if I get personal for a moment. Yesterday, in a fit of depression brought on by an impending medical procedure, I mentioned “life-threatening surgery.” Well, the surgical procedures for which I was scheduled (which involved removal of a vertebra, and the insertion of many rods and screws) is life-threatening but no longer imminent. After an agonizing risk/benefit analysis, I concluded that the former outweighed the latter and the status quo could be maintained for another six months or year, or maybe more. (The prospect of having my neck largely immobilized for life weighed heavily against the surgery.) From this I have drawn a few lessons …

Posted on December 2, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 3 Comments

Mega-Jottings

Hollywood Morgantown will open Dec. 22, just in time to capture a share of end-of-year business. The $111 million Penn National Gaming facility will feature 750 slots, 30 table games and cashless betting … The Seminole Tribe continues to offer sports betting, in defiance of a federal court order. Clearly the Seminoles think there’s one set of rules for them and another for everybody else. Wrote the plaintiffs’ attorneys, “the compact creates a gambling scheme that violates state and federal laws and makes unwitting bettors into accomplices in the violations of those laws.” Incidentally, aforesaid compact included a severability clause for OSB, a clear indication that the tribe and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) knew it probably wouldn’t pass muster … Speaking of legal troubles, junket operator Suncity has closed its VIP rooms in Macao (wiping out half the VIP market in town) following the arrest of CEO Alvin Chau for money laundering and other offenses. Casino stocks have been sliding on the Hong Kong bourse, with Wynn Macau down 18% …

Posted on December 1, 2021August 30, 2023 by James Grosjean — 5 Comments

Colin Jones (S2 E7): KU Killed AC

[No, Anthony Curtis is just fine, thank you. I went with the clickbait headline to go with the lede.] “Ken Uston’s lawsuit that forbade Atlantic City from barring skilled players ruined playing conditions there.” I’ve tried before to extinguish this fallacy, and I don’t hear it much anymore (today’s BJA counters don’t even known who Ken Uston was). But near extinction of the argument then incentivizes some online wise guy to sound uber-insightful by blurting it out again. So, yes, someone pissed in my morning coffee, and I will continue my fool’s quest.

Posted on December 1, 2021August 30, 2023 by James Grosjean — 4 Comments

Fact-Check: Munchkin’s Claim that Asian Female ==> +$1 Million

Last time, we discussed the value of being female for an AP. Since female skill will tend to be underestimated by predominantly male casino bosses, females can be ringers at the game. Unfortunately for the female AP, that benefit is tempered by the increased visibility and memorability that they’ll have. But Munchkin’s statement was that being an “Asian female” would be worth an extra $1 million for an AP’s career. So let’s look at Asian-ness in the gambling world.

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