I received an offer from a Vegas casino for a 7-day NCL cruise. The offer stated that I had to take a room for two nights to get the cruise.
I called to sign up for the offer. I told the lady I spoke with that I’d take the room if I had to, but we were local, didn’t need the room, and probably wouldn’t stay there. But if it was required . . .
Continue reading An Unusual Requirement
Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas recently took a tour of Las Vegas‘ C-suites, meeting with executives of seven companies. He concluded that “Despite market sentiment, operators remain generally positive.” Both the Las Vegas Strip and the recently declining locals market were both deemed “healthy,” while crucial convention business was seen as returning to pre-Covid-19 levels (with prices to match, we might add). Strong product from manufacturers is reported to be propelling higher demand from operators, even in advance of Global Gaming Expo.
Inflation? What inflation? That remained the prevailing sentiment. Or, as Jonas put it, “While downtown operator Circa recently noted seeing some decline in casino revenue from increased gas prices inflation, our meetings noted no impact on Strip visitation and customer spend. One operator notes a possibility of seeing some inflation pressure on margins given rising costs with potential wallet shift from gaming to lower margin non-gaming.” If there’s a dark lining to the silver cloud it’s operators’ reversion to a mentality that gaming is recession-resistant (disproven after the Great Crash of 2008) “with variable cost and pricing structures ability to mitigate revenue declines.”
Continue reading Strip perceives no inflation woe; Union sells out workers health
It was eyeball-to-eyeball and Big Gaming blinked. Faced with probable, heavy losses of business, Borgata—the casino with the most to lose—was first to come to terms with Local 54 of Unite-Here. Terms with most of the majors were reached an hour before the strike deadline, resulting in what union prexy Robert McDevitt called “the best contract we’ve ever had.” Kudos to MGM Resorts International for doing the right thing by its workers. Said McDevitt to reporter Wayne Parry, “We got everything we wanted and everything we needed. The workers delivered a contract that they can be proud of for years to come.” Caesars Entertainment was quick to follow MGM’s lead, with Harrah’s Resort housekeeper Ronnette Lark exulting, “I’ve been here 24 years and we’ve never gotten a raise like this. We got big raises.” How big remains to be seen, pending ratification of the deal and negotiations with the four independent casinos that were spared a strike deadline.
Continue reading Atlantic City casinos avert crisis; Congressional absurdity
Nevada gambling revenues continued to climb in May, up 6% from last year, hitting $1.3 billion. The results were bifurcated, with tourist-dominated markets up and locals ones somewhat down. The Las Vegas Strip was the most obvious beneficiary, jumping 11.5% to $731.5 million, although Downtown also glittered to the tune of +5% and $79 million. Strip slot revenue vaulted 36% to $391 million on 34% more coin-in. Baccarat win rebounded dramatically—144%—to $131.5 million, despite only 10% greater wagering, while other table games rose 19% to $209 million on 21% larger betting. Numbers like those made up for the rest of the county. North Las Vegas waned 5% to $25.5 million and Laughlin slipped 3% to $47 million. At least the Boulder Strip was flat at $88.5 million while miscellaneous Clark County dipped a point to $140 million. Utah-fed border markets Mesquite ($15 million) and Wendover ($23.5 million) were flat and up 4.5%, respectively. Reno stumbled 4.5% to $63 million while Lake Tahoe wasn’t favored by the sunbirds, drawing $17.5 million for a 14% dive.
Continue reading Strip carries Nevada; Atlantic City casinos play chickenRichard Munchkin and I received the following question for our mailbag show on Gambling with an Edge. I think my complete answer is too involved to answer on the podcast, so I’m going to attempt it here. The question was:
Both of you were active APs (I think, anyway) during one of the worst recessions of the last century, in 2008. What meaningful effect did this have on casinos and on your work? Did games tighten up? Comps? Do you have any advice for APs in the event of a deep recession (hypothetically of course…)?
Continue reading In Case of Recession
Given that Oakland is well and truly fed up with the sorry Oakland Athletics, and with their pinchpenny ways, relocation to Las Vegas may be just what the doctor ordered. However, the manner in which the exit ramp is being greased is somewhat offensive, if not unethical. We’ve long said that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has had his thumb on the scale in favor of Sin City. Well, he’s gone from just a thumb to putting his whole fist on the scale, by dint of offering to waive the mandatory relocation fee if the A’s move to Vegas—and Vegas only. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars saved by miserly A’s management and a lot of diñero that won’t be disbursed among other franchises.
Continue reading A’s juiced into Vegas; Greed at the top; Study: Casinos blowing smoke; Industry endorses Hochul
Casinos in the Bay State clocked $91 million in revenue last month, a 5% improvement on last year. Encore Boston Harbor led the tiny pack with $58 million, growing 9.5%. Next up was MGM Springfield, performing surprisingly well. It was flat at $21 million, as management appears to have stanched the bleeding. Third was Plainridge Park with $12 million, the only casino to lose market share, down 6%. That place was always living on borrowed time until Encore opened (two years ago this month).
Only Station Casinos would have the huevos to claim to have been “vindicated” for taking bets on sports events whose outcome was already known. For this incredible malfunction (which involved 167 wagers), Station was fined $80,000 by the Nevada Gaming Commission, basically for neglecting to maintain its servers. You’d think Station would have gotten its ducks in a row following a 2018 past-posting scandal involving 350 invalid bets. But no, Station continues to behave as though rules are something by which just chumps have to conduct themselves.
Continue reading Massachusetts upbeat; Station defiant; Atlantic City stalemateAccording to Baz Luhrmann‘s new biopic Elvis, the protagonist (uncanny Austin Butler) was a falling angel, self-styled Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) was Satan and Hell is Las Vegas. Such is the narrative trajectory of this epic, which ends with Elvis Presley as an obese, pill-popping slave to a degenerate gambler’s spending habits. Luhrmann (who directed, co-wrote and co-produced the film) also addresses the elephant in the room, Presley’s appropriation and mainstreaming of African American music, positing Presley as the spiritual love child of a union between Black sexuality and spirituality, hence the shuddering—and much fixated-upon groin from which Elvis’ celebrity supposedly sprang. Having his cake and eating it too, Luhrmann also portrays Presley as a trailblazing civil rights icon, whose closest confidant is B.B. King. It’s a bit much, and the issues of Presley and racial politics are handled much more deftly (and humorously) in the stage musical All Shook Up! The latter has also played Vegas a couple of times and is highly recommended.
Continue reading “Elvis”: A modern morality tale
We’re back from vacation at last and pick up where we left: Atlantic City. The drop-dead date for contract talks (basically July 1, a full month past the expiry of the collective bargaining agreement) is drawing nigh and no progress is evident. Our East Coast correspondent reports that the rank-and-file are seeking $16/hour in base pay, which is still less than the livable wage of $17.75/hour, so that’s kinda george of them. Casinos continue to whinge about how poverty-stricken they are and say pay no attention to the money being raked in from i-gaming. At this rate, a strike appears more likely than not—and just when the casinos can least afford it. Are they really willing to flush the July Fourth weekend just to make an increasingly indefensible point? Apparently so.
Continue reading Nasal amputation in Atlantic City; Goodbye, Hawaiian MarketplaceI was walking through Sam’s Town here in Las Vegas on a Tuesday in June. The casino offers 10x points (worth 0.5%) for seniors on Tuesdays and I was scouting the place looking to see if anything might be of interest. Even after all these years, scouting is part of my routine.
I’ve been restricted from receiving mailers for more than a decade at all Boyd properties (including Sam’s Town), so anything I find has to be good enough by itself to be worthwhile, because there won’t be additional benefits coming down the road.
Continue reading It Might Not Scratch My Itch