God bless the New Jersey Republican Party. It is stepping up where Democrats in the Assembly have failed (or at least proven spineless). This week, the GOP’s caucus announced—without equivocation—that it would provide the votes to get smoking in Atlantic City casinos banned. Already 13 GOPers have signed onto the proposed ban. Now, if the Dems can just force a vote, the revocation of Atlantic City’s smelly special status will be over and done.
Continue reading Smoking & mirrors
Casinos in the Midwest are showing some resilience. In Illinois, they were up 1.5% in August, That’s impressive but the real headline is that they did 8% less on a same-store basis, showing that all the new gambling capacity has not yet been absorbed. Pictured above is the new design for Bally’s Chicago. It’s that thing in the lower middle that looks like a computer printer. Its progenitor, Bally’s Casino in downtown Chicago, did $10.5 million last month, not overwhelming but good enough for fourth place in the state. Or is that good?
Continue reading State of the Union
Uncle Sam just came down like a ton of bricks on Wynn Resorts. Making history in a way it would prefer not to, Wynn has agreed to pay the largest fine ever leveled on a casino company. It will have to cough up $130,131,645 to settle an extensive money-laundering case that brought together the Department of Homeland Security, the IRS and the DEA. Amazingly, the federal probe flew completely under the radar until early this morning, perhaps because we were all distracted by the ongoing scandal at Resorts World Las Vegas. Whatever the case, Wynn got clotheslined hard for its risk-friendly business stratagems.
Continue reading Rotten to the Wynncore
That credibility-challenged, glacially paced casino project in Norfolk suddenly has 100% more viability. This morning it was announced that Boyd Gaming was stepping in to save the Pamunkey Tribe‘s bacon. After five years of rearranging the deck chairs, the Pamunkey are no closer to breaking ground on their Virginia pleasure palace—until today. True, the city council could still queer the pitch, but what are the chances it would balk at a deal that finally gets the casino built after so much tribal hemming and hawing. As Mayor Kenny Alexander said, “Bringing in Boyd—someone with the ability and the wherewithal and experience and more importantly the financial strength to build a world-class casino resort hotel—is exactly what we need.” True that.
Continue reading Boyd to the rescue; A.C.’s dog days
Catastrophic baccarat results (-66.5%) put Las Vegas Strip gambling revenues on ice last month. Although $727.5 million was wagered on the volatile game, casinos won only $64 million. That’s a measly 9% hold and a big comedown from the $190 million won in July 2023. Baccarat is the house’s Achilles heel and July 2024 was an example of how big swings at the tables can help ruin a quarter. Overall, Strip casinos took home $709 million last month, a 15% plunge year/year. Other table games were actually decent, up a point at $226.5 million despite 14% less wagering. Slot machines were a wash at $419 million, but coin-in was down 4%.
Continue reading Strip catches July chill, locals hot
Better late than never, Nevada Gaming Control Board. The watchdog group is making up for lost time with regard to renegade casino Resorts World Las Vegas. Earlier this month is slammed Resorts World and parent Genting Group with a 31-page complaint for having “failed to fulfill its responsibilities as the holder of a privileged Nevada gaming license.” Genting, in turn, had been taking a see-no-evil stance towards its Las Vegas offspring, claiming that it acts entirely of its own volition. We’ll see now if that attitude washes.
Continue reading Get lost, Genting
“Class” with a capital K. That’s what the Adelson family brings to Big Gaming. They’re the casino equivalent of that embarrassing, nouveau riche uncle who shows up wearing a loud, polyester leisure suit, smoking a noxious cigar and waving a wad of greenbacks. That’s certainly been their heavy-handed approach to the state of Texas, which continues to resist these garish blandishments. So crass is Las Vegas Sands‘ siege of Texans that it’s almost enough to make one sympathetic to the mossbacks and prudes who oppose Sands.
Continue reading Lone Star stupidity
Fontainebleau Las Vegas‘ former owner and a fixture of S&G, Carl Icahn has been a naughty boy. The SEC caught him using his shares in Icahn Enterprises (IEP) to cover risky personal loans. Let’s leave aside the question of why someone as fabulously wealthy as Uncle Carl is supposed to be would need personal loans. How would you like to be an investor in IEP, only to learn that its namesake’s stock was mostly pledged to various (undisclosed) lenders? Caesars Entertainment, maybe you should check up on the status of all those CZR shares that Uncle Carl is supposed to be holding. Has he pledged them to any third parties who might come calling?
Continue reading Icahn gets caught
Casino revenue from the Boardwalk fell 6% last month, reaching $272 million, 2% below where it was before Covid-19 struck. Casinos took a double-digit hit at the tables, down 10%, and it was downright dreadful for the Caesars Entertainment threesome, whose slot win fell 14% and table win dropped 23%. Such are the consequences of being overexposed in a fickle market. Harrah’s Resort got slammed extra-hard, plunging 24% to $19 million. Caesars Atlantic City did only slightly better, tumbling 19.5% to $20 million, while Tropicana Atlantic City slipped but 4% to $23 million.
Continue reading Atlantic City inferno; Mega-Jottings
That didn’t take long. After playing tough guy for 12 whole days, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins folded his hand and announced that his much-ballyhooed surcharge on winning bets had been called off. Why? Because he couldn’t tempt FanDuel off the sidelines and into the fray on his behalf. Punishing one’s customers for the sins of politicians never made much sense and even less who when comparative small fry like BetMGM and BetRivers eschewed the loyalty-killing surcharge. ESPN Bet boss Jay Snowden weaseled on the issue, ruling out a (suicidal) surcharge for now but holding open the possibility of sticking it to players in the future. It’s another example of the keen business acumen that has got Snowden where he is today … besieged.
Continue reading You win, DraftKings loses