Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on April 11, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Control Board buffoonery; Super-Mega-Jottings

Well, it didn’t take Nevada Gaming Control Board member George Assad long to stick his foot in it. No sooner had we prophetically called him a regulatory “doofus” than news surfaced of some most-unbecoming conduct during an NGCB hearing. Specifically, he whined at length about how his MGM Resorts International stock had supposedly suffered under the regimes of Jim Murren and Bill Hornbuckle. “[Terrence] Lanni had it up from $7 all the way to $96.40 and then Mr. Murren comes in, the stock price drops into the low teens,” Assad whinged. Why the financial performance of a company’s stock became the NGCB’s ostensible purview is anybody’s guess. Steve Wynn, many years back, opined that regulators should look harder at the financial probity of transactions and companies they approve—and we agree. It would have spared us fiascos like the Caesars Entertainment LBO and the Station Casinos bankruptcy, among many others.

Posted on April 7, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 2 Comments

Storm in Atlantic City; Big trouble for sports betting

All was not sunny at Borgata last weekend. Our Atlantic City correspondent writes, “When we were driving back to Borgata, heavy rain started. As we pulled into MGM valet intake the wind was getting stronger. The luggage carts were starting to roll around, so the valet people took quick action and knocked the luggage carts over into the nearby grassy area to keep them from hitting parked cars. The wind got extremely strong, and started to make the parked cars rock back and forth, including ours, and we even felt some ‘lift.’

Posted on April 6, 2023 by 888 Casino — 3 Comments

Slot Machine Roulette

This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.

A.C. says: This article mixes a few themes. It begins with an interesting walk down memory lane, comparing some of the old-style games with the current offerings (for better or worse). It’s a fun read. Then there’s commentary on the move toward electronic table games, which brings to light the likely inevitability of this style of gambling continuing to increase its footprint. The article concludes with a discussion of roulette, featuring a listing of the different bets. Pay attention to the warning to be alert that proper payouts are being made on the electronic versions; it’s something that most players don’t pay attention to.

This article was written by Frank Scoblete in association with 888Casino.

Slot Machine Roulette

Posted on April 6, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 5 Comments

Caesars meets The Street; NYC shuffle; Shreveport switcheroo

Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg and Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance Brian Agnew just sat down with Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, who came away sufficiently impressed with the Roman Empire to maintain a “Buy” rating on CZR. Santarelli found the execs “largely balanced and consistent,” their top priority being to reduce debt at the company, which definitely should be Job One. Other leading concerns are “operational prudence” and online execution. The analyst was pleased with “stable operations, underpinned by continued strength in Las Vegas,” as well as by continued traction towards profitability and growth in the Digital business.”

Posted on April 4, 2023September 18, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 15 Comments

Betting With Bonnie

Bonnie and I’ve been together for about 10 years — with our ninth wedding anniversary coming up next month. We knew each other, more or less, for about five years before that in that we both belonged to the same square dance club. Bonnie would come with her husband Fred and I would be there with Shirley. There were about 100 “regulars” and we all knew each other. Each “square” consisted of eight dancers who would dance together for about five minutes, and then the squares would get shuffled and you’d dance with another group of dancers. While I thought Bonnie was a nice lady, I had no thoughts of us ever hooking up together. We were both married and I thought Shirley and I would be together so long as we both lived.

Posted on April 4, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Under Southern skies; Presidential casino players

Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas took a swing through Dixie casinos last month and had quite a bit to report. He hit the New Orleans, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and Biloxi markets, his primary takeaway being that operators are consistent and resilient, and the macroeconomic impact “has been limited.” Horseshoe Lake Charles is reported to be growing that market, whilst impacting incumbent operators “less than we feared” (as already noted in these pages). As for macroeconomic impact, “The only notable softness appears to be with more value-oriented, lower-to mid-tier customers in select (but not all) markets.” Jonas partly blamed said softness on lower tax refunds (-11%) this year. He “also heard enthusiasm over social security cost of living increases and higher interest rates on savings flowing to discretionary spend for the older demographic.”

Posted on April 3, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

MGM owns Ohio; NY Lege owns sports books; Texas jolt

Ohio casino tallies jumped 10% last month, hitting $197 million. It was a decisive win for MGM Northfield Park, which outstripped the competition by grossing $25.5 million, an impressive feat for a casino with *no* table games. Jack Cleveland continues to surge, hitting $23 million (+13%) and surpassing the two Penn Entertainment casinos, so dominant for so long. Hollywood Columbus climbed 16% to reach $21.5 million and Hollywood Toledo nudged up 2.5% to gross $18.5 million. The last of the non-racino properties, Hard Rock Cincinnati, was up 6.5% to $20 million. The heat-up of Jack Cleveland didn’t hurt Jack Thistledown‘s cause, as the racino hopped 8% to $15.5 million. Scioto Downs grossed $20 million, an 11% leap, while Miami Valley Gaming delivered $20 million for co-owner Churchill Downs, a 14% vault. Belterra Park hung in there with $7 million (+2.5%), whilst Hollywood Dayton was up 8.5% to $13 million and perennial overachiever Hollywood Mahoning Valley netted $13.5 million in an 8% hop. As you’ve undoubtedly noticed, no one was revenue-negative, praise be.

Posted on April 2, 2023 by Bobby Vegas — 2 Comments

Bobby Vegas: The Downtown Grand Really Is Grand

For me, the Downtown Grand is the exception to my rule, “Stay where you want to stay, play where you want to play.” Though I don’t play for comps — I scout for the best games and take all comps offered, but don’t want to be obligated to play four hours a day for a $100 room — I find so much value at DG that I play there because I want to stay there.

What’s so grand about the Grand ?

Posted on March 31, 2023September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Crime and punishment

Former casino overlord Donald Trump is monopolizing the headlines today but let’s not let him have all the fun. There’s plenty of other gaming-related news today. First and foremost, in the same week that Nashville has seen the latest in an endless series of mass shootings, our attention is drawn back to the Mandalay Bay Massacre, one of the worst. Seemingly every news outlet in the country has gotten ahold of the FBI report on shooter Stephen Paddock. Even though Paddock cased possible shooting sites from San Francisco to Boston, the G-men put down his Las Vegas outburst to a fit of pique. (Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for getting the feds to give up the goods.) A witness told G-Men that “was not treating Paddock well because a player of his status should have been in a higher floor in a penthouse suite.” Yup, that’ll really cause people to go postal. Happens every day.