Many of you know that I participate in storytelling events. I’ve been regularly attending a workshop to improve my skills.
Recently, after we had all practiced our stories online for the day, Pete, the leader who lives on the East Coast, asked me if I would be willing to take him around and show him how to play were he to come to Vegas.
Continue reading Unrealistic Expectations
We’re going to have revise our prediction that Atlantic City would recover from Covid-19 faster than Las Vegas. Not at the rate things are going. March casino win was down 17% from 2019, coming in at $185 million. The Caesars Entertainment threesome slid 29%, with slot win down 29% and table win -26%. That’s far worse than citywide averages, which saw slot win -17% and tables -16%. Borgata‘s $46.5 million, while more than enough to lead the market, was 22% off from 2019’s halcyon days. We already knew Hard Rock Atlantic City had a good month, as President Joe Lupo took a press-release victory lap even before the revenue numbers were released. It grossed $31 million, a 25% leap over 2019. Ocean Casino Resort vaulted 33% to $20 million. The next closest thing to a ‘good’ number was Resorts Atlantic City‘s 19% dip to $12 million. Thanks to Hard Rock and Ocean, that -17% overall declivity looks a lot better than it was. Bally’s Atlantic City slid 33% to $10 million and Golden Nugget plunged 38.5% to $11 million. Caesars Atlantic City shed 23% to $18 million, Harrah’s Resort fell 33% to $18 million and Tropicana Atlantic City slid 30% to $19 million.
Continue reading Atlantic City disappoints, Internet gambling doesn’t
Casino revenues were $270.5 million last month in Pennsylvania, down 22% from March 2019, another exception to the wave of recovery sweeping the country. Slots accounted for $199 million, tables for $71.5 million. Casinos were held to 50% of capacity, moving to 75% this month. King of the terrestrial casinos was Parx, far and away the leader with $53 million, only 6% down. Philadelphia Live may have done ‘only’ $20 million but solidified its hold on second place in the greater Philly market. Rivers Philadelphia was just under $20 million but down 28%, Harrah’s Philadelphia grossed $16.5 million, a 34% tumble and Valley Forge Casino Resort notched $10.5 million, a 19% slippage. In other major markets, Wind Creek Bethlehem won $34 million, a 33% falloff, Rivers Pittsburgh did $27.5 million, down 23% and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs dipped 14% to $18.5 million. Mount Airy defended its market share best, off 4.5% to $15.5 million.
Elsewhere, Presque Isle Downs fell 21.5% to $10 million, The Meadows racino tumbled 37% to $15 million, Hollywood Penn National slipped 17% to $20 million, and Live Pittsburgh grossed $8 million (no comparison available). Oh, and little Lady Luck Nemacolin slid 26.5% to $2 million.
Continue reading Pennsylvania booms and busts, Massachusetts lags
Against all odds, it appears that Las Vegas‘ recovery is taking place faster than anticipated (save by a very few). A CNN feature is vaguely euphoric but it does cite several new must-see attractions. For the all-important convention business, which sustains the town Monday-Thursday, there is the lure of the West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, which may banish memories of the Riviera, whose site it occupies. Then there’s a triple-whammy of new casinos: Circa, Virgin Las Vegas (or Mohegan Sun Las Vegas, according to the TITO vouchers) and the July-debuting Resorts World Las Vegas, the most expensive megaresort yet built in Sin City. And, for a wholesome change of pace, the Pinball Hall of Fame reopens at a new location at the southern terminus of the Las Vegas Strip, complete with a park for food trucks. We sense a smash hit in the making.
More quantifiably, Plaza Hotel CEO Jonathan Jossel reports that business was “hopping” during March Madness and that casino play has regained pre-pandemic levels, which would be no small achievement. Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) is so optimistic that he’s planning a return to full capacity in public spaces as of June 1 (Nye County, for one, is jumping the gun, going 100% on May 1). Self-service buffets—if they return—can come back at 50% on May Day, as can nightclubs and strip joints. (No word yet on brothels.) As for casinos going back to 100%, that’s the Nevada Gaming Control Board‘s call to make, although we imagine the pressure will be overwhelming.
Continue reading Vegas: green shoots galore; Seminoles saluted
After a hiccup in Indiana, gaming revenues continued to march (pun unintended) upward from 2019 levels, which were pretty darn robust. Missouri gained 6% for a gross of $176.5 million, “one of the best months ever” according to JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. Slots represented $155 million of the haul. “Similar to other March regional [gross gaming revenue] reports, results for the month reflect a nice positive inflection given lower infection and higher vaccination rates. Moreover, impressive results don’t include significant rebound in the core 55+ customer, which we expect to follow in the coming months,” wrote Greff. Lumiere Place (pictured) continues to turn around, up 8% to $17 million, good news for Caesars Entertainment. Also feeling the love was Boyd Gaming, up 12.5% to $28 million at Ameristar St. Charles. Not having such a good time of it was Penn National Gaming, flopping 23.5% at Hollywood St. Louis ($17.5 million), while River City was down 9% but bettered Hollywood with $19 million.
Continue reading Missouri booms; Trop sale a steal of a dealLast week I went through the basics of playing NSU Deuces Wild for $75 per hand and using the Double Up feature every hand until it was either at least $1,200 (generating a W2g) or reduced to zero.
I never played this personally. I didn’t believe the promotion would last, and so I let others do it. But, for today, I’d like to discuss my method of figuring out how much it was worth.
Continue reading Further Analyzing Dotty’s Double Up Promotion
The Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. regime at Tropicana Las Vegas was (as planned) a short-lived one. GLPI just announced that it has flipped the Trop to Bally’s Corp., which evidently couldn’t wait one minute longer to get onto the Las Vegas Strip. For an unspecified “value” of the property, Bally’s gets the casino and pays $22.5 million in “incremental rent.” Not done yet, Bally’s sold the real estate of its Black Hawk, Colorado casino and that of Jumer’s Casino Rock Island for a combined $150 million. That’s a neat trick for Bally’s, considering that its purchase of Jumer’s (a real turkey) hasn’t closed yet. Sell something you don’t own? That’s clever. We wonder what Illinois regulators will think of this three-card monte. The Black Hawk and Rock Island casinos will be consolidated into a GLPI master lease that includes Bally’s rentals of Tropicana Evansville and Dover Downs. “Recall, last year, early on it the pandemic, GLPI received the Trop from PENN … last year in exchange for 2020 rent credits (since used and expired). We look at today’s news as a creative way for GLPI to extract long-term value from last year’s deal with PENN (which is no longer the OpCo nor has any economic/equity interest in the Trop),” wrote JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff. As for Bally’s, it may need a stout dose of Geritol, as it is making a habit of buying casinos with tired blood in their veins.
Continue reading Trop flipped; Arizona, Maryland join sports-betting club
While Coronavirus and the ensuing shut-ins were very good for DraftKings by virtually every metric, CEO Jason Robins says the fun is just beginning. He told the Boston Globe that the pandemic has ratified his business model, which presumed the widespread acceptance of i-gaming. The stock market has also been good to DKNG, which is riding a market capitalization of $24 billion. It’s a reward for those who bought into Robins’ strategy, which was predicated on patience, prioritizing expansion over profits. Indeed, DraftKings lost $855 million last year and could be a billion in the red this year. However, DraftKings has secured a monopoly in two states (New Hampshire and Oregon) and appears juiced into a duopoly in another (New York State). Although daily fantasy sports, DraftKings’ early signature business, has taken a back seat to real-life sports betting, the DFS experience built valuable brand equity. PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker calls the DraftKings and FanDuel customer wellsprings “better than a regular casino’s database.”
It didn’t hurt that DraftKings was well-suited for its employees to work offsite as Covid-19 surged. “We adjusted faster than I would have thought to the working environment talking to each other over computer screens, and I think we’ll adjust to whatever comes next,” Robins told the Globe. However, he has to catch FanDuel in the OSB sphere. FanDuel posted $645 million over the last three years compared to DraftKings’ $501 million. And Robins isn’t laughing off new-is competition from Big Gaming. However, DraftKings may have to temper its brash advertising approach. “There’s always got to be a tieback to responsible gaming, and not an oversaturation of advertising and marketing and being in too many people’s faces,” industry consultant Sara Slane told the paper. Ironically, DraftKings remains a prophet (if not profit) without honor in its home state. Sports betting is still illegal in Massachusetts and the Lege is getting nowhere fast on the issue.
Continue reading It’s DraftKings’ world, we just live in it; Musk tunnel panned
All-important Baby Boomer customers are ‘trickling‘ back to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. That’s the latest positive augury for Sin City. Better still, the destination-wedding biz is “bursting,” per Forbes, and what place is more synonymous with a getaway nuptial than Vegas? Almost 50% of couples surveyed who were planning to tie the knot in 2020 are now looking at either renewing their vows this year or at least holding the receptions they couldn’t last year. Throw in family and college reunions, and all the arrows are trending upward. At the risk of stating the obvious, “Wedding parties can drive a lot of business to hotels and resorts, including booking ballroom or outdoor event space, having food and beverage offered throughout the celebration, which often takes place over a couple of days, and of course the room reservations for the wedding party and guests.”
4Q20 hotel business was at only at 56.5% of pre-Coronavirus levels but, two rounds of stimulus later, those numbers are certain to be burgeoning. Even business travel is looking better, expected to rise 21% this year. Of course, conferences and trade shows require a considerable outlay, and the shift to virtual meetings will not entirely recede. Business travelers aren’t expecting a return to normal until 2022 or ’23, maybe never. We’ve seen this in Las Vegas, where Las Vegas Strip hotel rates are rebounding dramatically on weekends (along with occupancy levels) but continue to languish midweek. Still, if you’re in a REIT, as much of the gaming industry now is, it’s a good time for you. Writes economist Calvin Schnure, “Lodging/resort REITs have fully recovered their losses from the early months of the pandemic, and the improvements in the fundamentals for leisure and business travel are encouraging for future gains as the economy—and the wedding business—gets back to normal.”
Continue reading Vegas hears wedding bells; Sahara upscales; Mega-Jottings
Criticizing Illinois‘ casino performance is usually like tripping a dwarf: much too easy. But the Land of Lincoln posted some surprising results last month. Yes, it out performed March 2020 (+122%) but we’re comparing a full month of business with the onset of the Great Shutdown. Measured, apples to apples, against March 2019, Illinois was only -16% and that’s with casinos currently operating at 50% capacity. Think what they could do if completely full. One casino posted standout results, Harrah’s Metropolis, gaining 86% to $5.5 million. Best of the rest was (you guessed it) Rivers Casino Des Plaines, down 11.5% to $38 million. Harrah’s Joliet slipped 13% to $14 million and Grand Victoria (above) was 13.5% down to $12.5 million.
Others were less fortunate. Empress Joliet tumbled 31% to $7.5 million, Hollywood Aurora slid 25.5% to $8 million and Argosy Belle was down 31.5% to $3 million. Maybe a rebrand to Bally’s will help Casino Rock Island. Something needs to, as it toppled 44% to $4 million. Par-A-Dice shed 19.5% to finish at $6 million, while Casino Queen ceded 23.5% to $7 million. The total statewide gross was $1o6 million, not great but a good deal better than what we’ve seen in quite a while.
Continue reading Illinois improves but Ohio sets record; Is Cuomo on crack?