Author: David Mckee

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Life After Bally’s

PSST! Don’t tell Soo Kim but sugar daddy Gaming & Leisure Properties is making plans for a post-Bally’s Corp. era. Nor are they being secretive about it, spilling the beans to the invaluable Barry Jonas of Truist Securities. It had nothing to report on troubled Bally’s Chicago “though we think the development remains behind schedule. We also believe some of GLPI’s stock underperformance relates to BALY credit concerns,” which are very real. It’s what happens when you budget money you don’t have (and can’t borrow), expecting GLPI CEO Peter Carlino to pick up all the tabs.

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Naked Greed

Perhaps, in his more delusional moments, Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg still thinks he can get $2 billion for the Flamingo on the open market. How else to explain the preposterous levy imposed on Flamingo guests who have the temerity to request an early check-in rather than cool their heels with their luggage in the lobby. The nerve of them! To show who’s boss, Reeg is slapping Flamingo guests with $60 early check-in fees.

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Kim Complains, Goldstein Gets Real

Poor Soo Kim. The Bally’s Corp. chairman is finding rough sledding in the Bronx, where his quest for a megaresort is colliding with political reality. Fortunately for him, Kim has gotten the ear of the media, which has been regurgitating uncritically his claim that his project is languishing because of a trail of gold-plated breadcrumbs that lead all the way to the White House. In case you missed it, the fine print on Kim’s $60 million purchase of the former Trump Links in the borough included the codicil that—should a casino be approved on the site—it would be retroactively revalued at $175 million. (Bet you wish you could get that sort of sweetheart deal when you sell your house.)

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Cruel April for Strip

Baccarat. That was April’s magic word for the Las Vegas Strip, as revenues from the volatile game kept Strip casinos out of the crapper. Baccarat winnings (or losses, if you were a high roller) soared 41% to $108 million on 17% more wagering. That helped mask some very worrisome data as the Strip sagged 3%, its eighth down month out of the last nine.

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Missions Impossible

Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden may have played quarterback at Harvard University but when goes up against activist investors he’s out of his league. Specifically, the dissident firm of HG Vora laid out a 115-page beatdown, part of its campaign to gain leverage on Penn’s corporate board. It faulted Penn for “poor strategic decisions, failed transactions and poor execution.” Can’t argue with a word of that.

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Up in Smoke

Downtown Grand CEO Seth Schorr is nobody’s idea of a stoner. We’ve met him a few times and never observed Schorr to sport Rastafarian dreadlocks nor light up a spliff. But the Downtown Grand boss would rather be blowing smoke than (as his casino is currently doing) sucking wind. Nobody wants to buy the place, even though it’s been on the market for aeons. Nor do they want to go there. If you want some peace and quiet in Las Vegas, try the Grand’s gaming floor.

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The NIMBYs Are Winning

And then there were nine. Take a good look at that rendering. You won’t see it again. Yesterday, Wynn Resorts pulled in its horns and announced it was decamping from New York City‘s casino derby. The stated reason? “Political opposition.” For those who oppose casinos on the grounds that they appeal to the lowest common denominator, this event is ironic. Wynn’s casino, if approved, would easily have been the most high-end in the Five Boroughs.

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Which Way Is Up?

April, T.S. Eliot told us, is the cruelest month … particularly if you’re trying to make sense of the swings and roundabouts of gaming revenue. For instance, we have contradictory reports from Missouri and Indiana. Let’s start with the good news. In Missouri (as last week’s Illinois numbers hinted), casino revenue rose a hefty 8.5%, achieving $169 million. That was done off only 1.5% greater visitation, so whoever went to play was spending large.

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Signs of Life; CEO Axed

Wall Street expected 2025 to be no better than flat with 2024 and so far in April it’s played according to the script. That was certainly the case in Maryland, where casinos grossed $162.5 million. What secret sauce has Caesars Entertainment been putting in the food at Horseshoe Baltimore? The hitherto-hopeless casino was up for the second straight month. Revenues ascended 6% to $15.5 million, anemic for downtown Baltimore but a huge improvement nevertheless.

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Let Them Eat Stock Options

You see this guy? That’s the dude who’s pissing on your head and telling you it’s just mild precipitation. He’s better known as Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg and, earlier this week, he made pronouncements that landed somewhere between insensitive and clueless. Both Caesars and MGM Resorts International, as well as their landlord, Vici Properties, sent their CEOs out to declare Everything Is Better Than Ever. Never mind that, on the Las Vegas Strip (where all three companies are bunched), gambling revenue has been down two months in a row—and seven of the last eight. Nope, it’s all copacetic, they say. Then again, these are the guys who brought you the biblical pestilence known as Formula One Weekend, so take that into account.

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