Category: Casino News

Although it tried to flash Wall Street some ankle yesterday, Caesars Entertainment’s 4Q20 numbers failed to surprise analysts. In a reverse image of the rest of the industry, better-than-expected cash flow on the Strip (cost-cutting?) was “more than offset” by weakness at regional properties. JP Morgan analyst Daniel Politzer blamed “negative impact of regional property closures, restrictions, and soft demand at destination properties.” Funny, but you don’t hear about the latter from MGM Resorts International or Penn National Gaming or Boyd Gaming or …

Like most of its fellows in the industry, Caesars sees meeting business returning to the Las Vegas Strip after June. As for Joe Average travelers, bookings are up 20% month/month, with half of those reserved over 30 days out. March is a mixed bag, with midweek occupancy only 50%-ish but weekends up to 95% or higher. That’s a trend line moving in the right direction. Despite weekend rates that have sometimes verged on terrible (or perhaps because of them), CZR properties packed them in on the Wilder/Fury fight weekend: 99% occupancy. Politzer foresees Baby Boomers coming back and gives the Strip a six-month-to-one-year recovery timeline. It will be no trick to surpass last year but if 2021 even just comes within shouting distance of 2019, that will indeed be something to celebrate.

Casinos in the Pelican State were off 10% in January. However, when one adjusts the numbers to account for the permanent closure of Diamond Jacks in Shreveport and the all-but-permanent shutdown of Isle Grand Palais on Lake Charles, gaming revenues were only down 6%. We’d call that recovery, given a difficult comparison, stimulus money on the loose, capacity limits (50%), gaming-position limits (75%) and an extra weekend day. Penn National Gaming properties prospered, up 10%. By contrast, Caesars Entertainment took a -38% walloping. Somewhere in between (-11%) was Boyd Gaming. Staying with Lake Charles, L’Auberge du Lac and Golden Nugget were tied at just under $26 million, a 7.5% gain for L’Auberge and a 2.5% for the Nugget. Delta Downs rounded out the market with $14 million, up 3.5%.

Caesars needs a course correction in Bossier City/Shreveport, where Horseshoe was eclipsed by Penn’s Margaritaville, $12 million to $16 million (-16% vs. +36%). Eldorado Shreveport slipped 6.5% to $7 million, while Boomtown Bossier inched up 3% to $4 million and Sam’s Town stumbled 24% to $4.5 million. Harrah’s Louisiana Downs nudged 2% higher to $4 million. In Baton Rouge, customers continue to flee Belle of Baton Rouge, collapsing 43.5% to $1 million. Doing better was Casino Rouge, up 3% to $4.5 million. Surprisingly, L’Auberge Baton Rouge was 2% lower but still dominated the market with $13 million.

Metal detector at the entrance of Philadelphia Live. It may be the first but we doubt it’s the last.

Online sports betting and Internet gambling have come to Michigan and they’re a smash hit. In the first 10 days of sports betting, handle was $115 million, with revenues of $13 million. FanDuel led market share with 32% of handle, well ahead of DraftKings‘ 24.5%, followed closely by Penn National Gaming‘s 24%, then BetMGM‘s 20%, per Credit Suisse analyst Ben Chaiken. He described the i-gaming haul—$29.5 million—as “well above expectations,” led by MGM Resorts International with 38% of market share, trailed by FanDuel’s 23% and DraftKings’ 24%. Whereas Chaiken had anticipated a monthly gross of $28 million, he’s upped that to $90 million, quite a dramatic change to say the least. To put that in perspective, it would be at least $10 million higher than Pennsylvania, which has 3 million more inhabitants. Talk about the proverbial “pent-up demand”! The downside was that sports books spent so much to acquire players that they ended up losing $5 million.

“The circumstances for Michigan’s online launch could not have been better ahead of two of the biggest sports betting holidays of the year,” reported PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker. “Ultimately, it’s a small sample size, and the results of which are less important than sportsbooks launching and engaging sports bettors and setting the groundwork to flourish for years. By that metric, Michigan’s launch was a success.” It not only obliterates Tennessee‘s online-only debut but, with 10 OSB books, was the largest-scale launch in U.S. history. Gross receipts for tribal operators were mostly small potatoes, except for DraftKings/Bay Mills Indian Community‘s $3.5 million. Other big winners were BetMGM ($5 million) and Barstool Sportsbook/Greektown Casino ($3 million). Although FanDuel led in handle, luck was with the punters, leaving the casino with well under a million dollars won.

What follows was shared with us via Facebook. It shows the (ugly) face of customer interactions in present-day Las Vegas …

“I need you to know what people in positions of service are experiencing right now.

“Tonight I am working at the Piano bar with … two of the most patient and composed people I know. A party of 18 came in. Sundays have been pretty slow lately, so we were grateful for the business. This party, like many, started out upset at the mask requirements and like many, expressed their displeasure by haranguing the bartender taking their orders. After receiving their drinks, they became even more upset by our current ‘no open mic’ policy, a safety precaution mandated by the state. By the time I was called to sing my set, their ire and inebriation had snowballed into aggressive shouting, again, not uncommon for the current bar scene. I sang my party songs, hoping to turn it around. By my third song, the were singing/shouting along with the music and replacing the lyrics with sexually explicit verbiage about me. As I began to pass the tip jar, a member their party became unreasonably upset about the minimum on his tab, which is posted on our door and explained when patrons are seated. The whole party rallied behind him and they all decided to close their tabs and leave. They closed their many tabs, upon only one of which was left a tip, of two dollars. This is not a story about the money though …