Author: David Mckee

Caesars Entertainment must have decided it was poor optics to be hosting a convention of anti-vaxxers at brand-new Caesars Forum as Coronavirus cases spike. Or maybe it blanched at the potential deep-cleaning costs after the event. Either way, QAnon-espousing “Patriot Double Down” will have to find somewhere else if it wants to play Vegas this October. (Have they called the Fertitta Brothers?) Event organizers must be scrambling for a new venue to infect, er, book. The Associated Press reported that it was presently unclear if the show “would be moved, postponed or canceled. Event officials did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages.” But with a top ticket of $3,000, we don’t expect Double Down to just fold its hand. There’s money to be made! Given QAnon followers’ eschatology, we’re frankly surprised they’d choose Sin City for their “Great Awakening” but so be it. (Good luck getting them to comply with mask mandates.) We’re talking about a city where Las Vegas Raiders fans would rather forfeit their tickets than get vaccinated. Nor does it seem like one can hold a public meeting in Clark County without being inundated with screaming anti-vaxxers. Las Vegas has so many already it scarcely needs to import more. Meanwhile, the number of Sin City vaccination mandates continues to grow, a laudable trend.

Gulf Coast casinos are currently weathering Hurricane Ida and can be optimistic—at least in Mississippi—that it will not be a replay of Hurricane Katrina, now that all the coastal casinos are onshore. However, garages are flooding and casino doors are being sandbagged and reinforced, so this isn’t being taken lately. Most Biloxi-area casinos were proactive about shutting down on Saturday afternoon, although tardy responses from Golden Nugget and Island View Casino are to be noted. We’ll provide further news as it arrives but Ida’s bark appears to have been worse than her bite, thank God.

Two sports betting licenses remain up for grabs in Arizona. But the full tribal complement of 10 has been issued by Gov. Doug Ducey (R). Winners include WynnBET (San Carlos Apache Tribe), Westgate Las Vegas (Fort Mojave Indian Tribe), Golden Nugget (Hualapai Tribe), Tonto Apache (Churchill Downs), two tribes going with no-name outfits and four tribes—including the doughty Tohono O’odham nation, flying solo. Sports teams dealt in included the Arizona Cardinals (BetMGM), the Arizona Diamondbacks (William Hill), the Phoenix Suns (FanDuel), the Phoenix Mercury (Bally’s Corp.), TPC Scottsdale (DraftKings), Phoenix Speedway (Penn National Gaming), the Arizona Rattlers (Rush Street Interactive) and the presently unaffiliated Phoenix Coyotes. Left out in the cold is the Gila River Indian Nation, which partnered with BetMGM but to no avail.

Caesars Entertainment is holding a fare sale across its non-Las Vegas properties, a possible signal that the stimulus-fueled recovery may be cooling (in economics, what goes up must come down). In Atlantic City you have your choice of such starting prices at $54/night at Harrah’s Resort, $59 at Tropicana Atlantic City and $64 at Caesars Atlantic City. Elsewhere in the Roman Empire the bargain destination is Tropicana Laughlin at $35/night. Surprisingly pricey is Harrah’s Cherokee at $169. Up there on the price ladder are Lumiere Place ($159), Isle Waterloo ($105) and Isle of Capri Boonville ($99). Bargain hunters have their choice of—ick!—Circus Circus Reno‘s $39 but we’d advise spending a bit more and staying down the street at Silver Legacy for $49. Harvey’s Lake Tahoe is wallet-friendly at $49, as is Harrah’s Gulf Coast at $75. With prices like those who needs Vegas, especially right now?

By Jeff Leatherock, guest contributor

CityCenter, the last and largest Las Vegas project by Las Vegas’ largest builder nears 15 years old. The concept probably started before 2006 and completion was a few years later. So, claiming 15 kinda fits in a lazy fashion.

Kirk Kerkorian was the most active and largest developer of Las Vegas casino properties in history. He liked to “go large”. His list of “largest” includes the International (currently Westgate) in 1969; the first MGM Grand (currently Bally’s) in 1973; the current MGM Grand in 1994, which were each the “largest hotel on earth” at the time of their construction. He then embarked on the “largest privately funded construction development in America” with “Project CityCenter” in the early 2000s. Kerkorian was in his 90s at the launch of CityCenter, so I think it is safe to say he never lacked for financial courage, vision or hope for the future.

CityCenter was planned for roughly 75 acres bounded by Las Vegas Boulevard on the east, I-15 on the west, Monte Carlo Hotel & Casino (now Park MGM) on the south, and parts of the Cosmopolitan, Jockey Club and Bellagio on the north.

It took a while but the Boardwalk is finally even with 2019 numbers. July saw a gambling gross of $277 million, flat with two years ago. Slot win was up 6% on 2% more coin-in but tables declined 14% on only 3% less wagering. Luck was not with the house. That was especially true of Borgata ($64 million), which absorbed a body blow in the form of a 21% decline, driven by a near-cataclysmic 46% plunge in table win on 27% less play. Tighter hold held Borgata slots to only a 6% dip despite 14% less coin-in. The Caesars Entertainment Cerberus was 1% up, with table win 4% higher on 7% greater wagering, while slots were flat (and much tighter) with coin-in down 2%. Individually, Caesars Atlantic City grossed $26 million, a 4.5% gain, Harrah’s Resort slipped 2% to $29 million and Tropicana Atlantic City gained 2% to $29.5 million.

Bally’s Atlantic City was down 8.5% to $16 million and Golden Nugget fell 20% to $15.5 million. At the other end of the spectrum, Ocean Casino Resort shot up 58% to $30 million and Hard Rock Atlantic City solidified its hold on second place with $48 million (+23%). Also revenue-positive was Resorts Atlantic City, up 5.5% to $18.5 million.