Although the name Jimmy Slonina probably won’t sound familiar, there’s a good chance you’ve seen him when you visited Las Vegas. He’s a veteran of long-running Le Reve at Wynncore and of Vegas Nocturne at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. He’s also had credits in Absinthe, O and Zarkana. Currently, he’s a lead performer in Mystere at Treasure Island. Except for a few nights last week when he was an involuntary guest of Las Vegas’ finest.
Continue reading See Vegas, Get Busted
Snatching one victory from the jaws of 0-3 defeat, Las Vegas Sands-backed candidate David Pfaff won a seat on the Irving City Council. This gives Sands at least one key ally in its quest to rezone its Irving real estate for a casino. Having squeaked his way to a runoff, Pfaff clobbered rival Sergio Porres, who made Sands a lightning rod in his pitch to voters. Pfaff, meanwhile, strove to disown his Las Vegas sugar daddy.
Continue reading Playing Politics with Gambling
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.
Continue reading Life After Bally’s
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.
Continue reading Naked Greed
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.)
Continue reading Kim Complains, Goldstein Gets Real
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.
Continue reading Cruel April for Strip
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.
Continue reading Missions Impossible
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.
Continue reading Up in Smoke
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.
Continue reading The NIMBYs Are Winning
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.
Continue reading Which Way Is Up?