Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Dave Kamsler — Leave a comment

A Trip to Las Vegas for Raiders Game Day

[Editor’s Note: This post is written by Dapper Dave Kamsler, a Las Vegas and football aficionado extraordinaire.]

One of my favorite times of year to come to Vegas has always been during football season. Coming from the East Coast, it’s so much fun to roll out of bed on Sunday mornings and have games start at 10 a.m., then for Monday Night Football to start at the much more reasonable hour of 5:30 — perfect for having dinner at a sports bar while watching the game.

Posted on February 10, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Sports betting backlash; Indiana, Missouri rebound

When we were penning the editor’s note for the February issue of Casino Life, we predicted that overkill in sports betting marketing was ripe to bring a backlash. But it happened sooner than we ever expected. Now we don’t know if Rep. Paul Tonko (D) is a liberal but he’s certainly a do-gooder, having just introduced a bill in Congress that would ban all electronic forms of advertising for sports wagering. No TV commercials, no radio ads, not even Internet billboards. Anything governed by the Federal Communications Commission would be off-limits. Even if you’re sick and tired of Kevin Hart barking about “free bets” and want to hurl a brick through your 75-inch screen, this qualifies as an extreme legislative overreaction, destroying the village in order to save it—which seems to be the idea.

Posted on February 9, 2023September 26, 2023 by 888 Casino — Leave a comment

Some Roulette Thoughts

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 provides a good overview of the different versions of roulette and its betting options. Not mentioned is the new trend toward triple-zero wheels, which raises the casino edge from 5.26% on the double-zero to 7.69%. The two versions are often available side-by-side in a casino, and it’s not uncommon to see an equal number of players at each. Assuming the limits are the same for both, there’s no reason to choose the triple-zero wheel. The “suicide” bet referenced in the article is also known as the “basket bet,” or simply the “five numbers bet,” and has a house edge of 7.89%. Aside from avoiding the bad options, there’s not much to talk about in the way of roulette strategy. Author Frank Scoblete hits on the most important consideration, which is to slow the game down (limiting your exposure to the house edge) by playing at crowded tables.

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

Posted on February 9, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Wall Street lauds Station, Wynn, MGM

Durango Resort—don’t call it a “Station”

Station Casinos posted impressive 4Q22 numbers—if not as impressive to Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli as Boyd Gaming‘s. Still, net revenues were up 2% and cash flow improved 3.5% (Boyd did 7% and 13%, respectively.) Santarelli liked Station’s improved margins “as non-gaming revenue growth offset the modest casino revenue contraction in the period.” (Higher ADRs and food prices didn’t hurt.) He continued, “While the results could be perceived as being below recent expectations, we see limited signs of headwinds in the Las Vegas locals market, continued promotional disciplines across the market, and we believe the [Station] development pipeline remains a compelling attribute to the story.” He ratcheted his price target upward from $51/share to $53, applauding the company for having “the strongest organic growth pipeline in gaming.”

Posted on February 7, 2023August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 9 Comments

Comparing Bonus Poker with Super Aces Bonus Poker

I recently came across a dollar 8/5 Super Aces Bonus Poker game and it’s been years since I played it. I know 8/5 Bonus Poker cold, and because the full house, flush, and straight are the same between the two games, the strategies must be similar. Still, they differ in the amount of the straight flush, quads, and two pair — all of which affect the strategy as well.

I thought it would be instructive to give you ten hands — three of which are played the same in the two games and the other seven are played differently. Even if you haven’t mastered both games, you might find it an interesting exercise trying to figure out which four are played the same before you look at the answers.

Posted on February 7, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Maryland, Illinois leap; Mega-Jottings

So where’s that recession? January revenues from Maryland casinos are in and the $167 million gross is a 9% improvement on 2022. None of the six gambling halls were revenue-negative. MGM National Harbor led the pack with $72 million, an 8% gain, while Maryland Live was up 6.5% to $58 million. Horseshoe Baltimore jumped 9% to $17.5 million and Ocean Downs catapulted 41% to $7 million. Hollywood Perryville also grossed $7 million, up 6.5% and Rocky Gap Resort grew 17% to $5 million, to round out an impressive month.

Posted on February 6, 2023September 18, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

And the Oscar goes to …

Top Gun: Maverick. OK, we’re kidding. But not entirely. Due to the Motion Picture Academy‘s byzantine, ranked-choice voting for Best Picture, the $1.5 billion-grossing Tom Cruise spectacle (+1000 on DraftKings) could rack up enough second- and third-place votes to nab the top prize. That being said, oddsmakers still have this as the year of Everything Everywhere All At Once (-280). We could be set for a reprise of 1978, when Star Wars ruled the box office but Annie Hall ran the table at the Oscars. (Neither film has fared badly with posterity.) Everything Everywhere All At Once scores the Academy trifecta of being a commercial hit—a $104 million return on a $14 million outlay—offbeat and upbeat, a combination that reliably spells “win.” The second closest rival to Everything is the equally splendid but downbeat The Banshees of Inisherin (+300) and it’s having a tough time closing the gap in the betting lines. As for Steven Spielberg‘s The Fabelmans, its momentum appears to have peaked at the Golden Globes lovefest. It’s now at +1200 and Spielberg’s Best Director odds have faded to +120.

Posted on February 3, 2023August 29, 2023 by 888 Casino — Leave a comment

Low Variance or High Variance Video Poker – Which is Your Style?

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: You’ve probably heard the term “variance” in discussions and analyses of gambling games. This article helps you better understand what it means. Variance is an assessment of risk. In video poker, the risk of suffering a big loss is greater when variance is high. Correspondingly, high-variance schedules enhance the chances of getting a big win. Many players gravitate toward the higher-variance games because of that big-win factor, but those games often have lower overall return percentages. For example, a typical bar selection might include higher-variance 7/5 Double Double Bonus returning 96.71% and lower-variance 6/5 Bonus Poker returning 96.87%. It’s not a big discrepancy, but Bonus Poker is still the better game, yet it tends to get less play.

Posted on February 3, 2023September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Boyd buoyed; Penn damned with faint praise; Mega-Jottings

It was a good day yesterday for Boyd Gaming as it trotted out its 4Q22 numbers. Cash flow healthily overshot Wall Street expectations and was powered by, among other things, better-than-2019 visitation by that Boyd mainstay, players from Hawaii. Wrote J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff, “The growth in Locals was driven by destination business (tourists and out-of-towners) and non-gaming operations (we note that these trends have to be very positive for Red Rock Resorts who has yet to report) and continued strength in play from its core customers.” Despite softness in Louisiana and Mississippi, Boyd improved its numbers in the Midwest and South, helped along by strength in the online segment and by performance-based management fees from successful, new Sky River Casino near Sacramento.

Posted on February 2, 2023September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

A peek at Penn; DraftKings retreats, Aruze tumbles

Wall Street analysts got an early look at Penn Entertainment‘s 4Q22 earnings, which were mildly adverse and poorer than The Street expected, and which point to a flat trajectory going forward through the early summer. Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli described the preview as “realistic, though likely uninspiring guidance.” Revenues were 3% down in 4Q22, revenue was $1.4 billion and cash flow slipped 5%. To encourage stock analysts (per Santarelli), “Management noted challenging weather in December, while also noting strength in the final week of the month and a continuation of strength into January. The Deutsche Bank analyst blamed the underperformance on new competition, “as well as the impact of same-store revenue headwinds on margins.” The interactive segment (excluding Barstool Sports) also pulled down the numbers somewhat, which some fingered on John “Mattress Mack” McIngvale and his big World Series win.

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