I’ve had an amazing experience that is new to me as a gambler.
I’ve been learning a bit about advantage slots — and playing them with moderate success. I’m not going to go into detail, but some games are the type that if one particular number is above 40 and another particular number is above 30, the player has the advantage for some length of time.
Continue reading A New Experience for Me
Both the reputations of Resorts World Las Vegas and its president, Scott Sibella, could be besmirched by a Nevada Gaming Control Board investigation. The tentative probe stems from charges made by gambler Brandon Sattler as part of a huge bankruptcy proceeding. Sattler’s accusations include that Resorts World fast-food joint Tacos El Cabron is partially owned by David “Fat Dave” Stroj, a convicted felon, who orchestrated a multi-state, illegal bookmaking scheme and is an associate of the Philadelphia Mob. (Choice Stroj quote: “Palomar [card room] is the best way I can wash the money. I don’t have to report it. I just deposit it at the Palomar and there’s no problems for me.”) Sattler says he’s known Sibella for 20 years and has seen the Resorts World prexy use drugs.
Continue reading Sex, drugs and Resorts World LV; Massachusetts gets serious about sports betting; Caesars wins two Freddies
Pay no attention to the men behind the curtain. There’s nothing wrong with the idea of a casino megaresort in the Willets Point area, near Citi Field. It’s far preferable to some of the other New York City sites that have been mooted. But the way New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Las Vegas Sands have been behaving, you’d think it needed to be a well-kept secret. To call their behavior disingenuous would something of an understatement. Though he’d been known to be in talks with Sands, Cohen said there was ‘no formal relationship‘ between the duo. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that Sands lobbyists were sharing an office with Crown Mets LLC and Cohen’s Point 72 firm. No relationship, huh? They had also been acting in concert when it came to lobbying lawmakers, forming a pincer movement.
Continue reading Sands, NY Mets in cahoots; Raiders set to clobber Vegas bookiesAlthough the Indian Gaming Association trade show in sunny Anaheim is sucking all the wind out of casino news this week, there’s still movement happening, mostly in the state houses. Take the weird, hybrid sports-betting bill that just passed out of the Maine state senate and is headed for Gov. Janet Mills‘ desk. It grants online wagering (but is it off-reservation?) to Maliseet, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes. Four private-sector casinos also get sports wagering, but only of the walk-up variety. You’d think that, for the casinos, getting any iteration of sports betting would be welcome, but they’re against the bill. So is the Sports Betting Alliance, a stalking horse for OSB giants like DraftKings and FanDuel. Huffed the SBA, it’s “a significant step backwards from the existing proposal to legalize sports betting market in Maine.” Mills is prickly and unpredictable but we expect her to ignore the SBA and sign the bill, the product of long negotiation with the tribes.
Continue reading Playing politics with gamingI’m now 75 years of age. I have mild COPD, which is a lung disorder partially caused and/or exacerbated by second hand smoke. I’ve been in casinos averaging more than 50 hours a week for the past 30 years. Before that, I played backgammon at a smoky club for more than 15 years.
A case could be made that had I chosen a different career, I might be healthier today. While I have been fairly successful, was what I gained worth what I lost insofar as health goes?
Continue reading Was It Worth It?
Atlantic City casinos leapt 17% from March 2021, grossing $216.5 million. Except for Tropicana Atlantic City, which was flat at $19 million, almost everyone posted relatively impressive gains. Borgata‘s $55 million (+18%) predictably topped the market, while Hard Rock Atlantic City (shown) surged 28% to $39 million. Ocean Casino Resort was up 26% to $25.5 million. Harrah’s Resort performed best of the Caesars Entertainment threesome, climbing 12.5% to $20 million, while Caesars Atlantic City dipped 4.5% down to $18.5 million. Bunched together at the bottom were Bally’s Atlantic City, Resorts Atlantic City and Golden Nugget, in that order. Bally’s seems to be showing momentum, moving up two notches in the hierarchy, gaining 36% on a gross of $13.5 million, while Resorts notched $13 million, an 8% hike and the Nugget brought up the rear with $12.5 million, a 16% climb nevertheless.
Continue reading Atlantic City continues to rebound; Chicago casinos lose momentum; Mega-Jottings
Move over, Parx Casino, there’s a new leader in the Pennsylvania gaming market. That’d be Penn National‘s eponymous racino near Harrisburg. For the second month in a row it was tops in the Keystone State, banking $64 million, up 11.5% from last year. Parx had to settle for $60.5 million, a 2% dip from 2021. On the comeback trail was Rivers Philadelphia, up 13% to $54.5 million. Valley Forge Resort was an incredibly strong fourth-place contender, soaring 40% to $52 million (remember, it’s considerably smaller than its market rivals, constrained by law), while Philadelphia Live manifested only limited signs of life: $25 million, albeit a 20% gain. It did displace Harrah’s Philadelphia, whose $19 million represented only a 2% uptick.
Other market-dominating casinos were Wind Creek Bethlehem ($47 million, +33.5%) and Rivers Pittsburgh ($35.5 million, +20%). Much further back were Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs ($22 million, flat), Hollywood Meadows ($20.5 million, -2%), Mount Airy ($20 million, -14%) and Presque Isle Downs ($11.5 million, +11%). Then came the satellites: Pittsburgh Live ($10 million, +20%), new Hollywood York ($8 million) and Hollywood Morgantown ($5.5 million, +241%). As customary, Lady Luck Nemacolin brought up the rear with $2 million, up 3%.
Continue reading Parx dethroned; Shreveport sleaze; Maine’s latest betThe following question was posed to me for inclusion in one of Richard’s and my mailbag shows on our Gambling with an Edge podcast. While I did give an answer to it on the air, I believe a fuller answer is appropriate and so I’m going to talk about it here as well.
“This version of Double Bonus Poker is called “Full Pay Double Bonus Poker” or “10/7/5 Double Bonus Poker.”
If Jacks or Better and Double Bonus Poker had similar strategies, it would be a no-brainer to select Double Bonus Poker as the preferred game.
Unfortunately, the strategy for Double Bonus Poker is more complex than the strategy for Jacks or Better making it more likely that mistakes will be made – mistakes which will cost you money.”
Golden Nugget Atlantic City was packing them in with a ‘george’ promotion. Let our East Coast correspondent tell the tale: “It was extremely busy Sunday afternoon in their atrium for the BMW X-5 giveaway. They called six names and three were MIA, so they called three more, and two of those also not there. Each person got a sealed envelope and when they got six there, one lucky person got the car, the others free slot/table play.” The next Hard Rock Atlantic City promo? Logo umbrellas that have flashlights embedded in the handles. Not as george as a BMW but darned useful.
Continue reading Back to the beach; Churchill Downs comes under scrutiny
It never seems to get easier for Chicago casino applicants, who are facing stony opposition from many of their would-be neighbors (and customers) and who also find themselves pawns in a convoluted political process. At stake is something called “aldermanic prerogative,” meaning that if you don’t want a casino in your ward, tradition dictates it goes somewhere else. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) would dearly like to upend that custom but faces a long, uphill slog to convince a largely recalcitrant body of alderman. As for the prerogatives, they favor Bally’s Corp. and bode ill for Rush Street Gaming, while Hard Rock International is somewhere in between. Going by its architectural, developmental and financial track record, one would think Hard Rock a shoo-in for a city the caliber of Chicago but CEO Jim Allen effectively screwed himself by setting up shop 29 miles away in Gary.
Continue reading Politics as unusual in Chicago; Caesars: Rock the casbah