Las Vegas Advisor

Posted on October 12, 2021September 18, 2023 by David Mckee — 3 Comments

Disaster at Ocean; Ready when you are, CB; Gruden gone

In a development that portends nothing but ill for Atlantic City, the CEO of Ocean Casino Resort, Terry Glebocki has resigned. She also leaves the Casino Association of New Jersey rudderless, no doubt to be replaced in both roles by someone safely white and male. No reason was given for Glebocki’s sudden departure, which was disclosed to staff yesterday morning. Frankly, we’d been fearing such news ever since Marian Illitch bought a half-interest in the casino. While Luxor Capital nominally owns the keys to Ocean, Glebocki was their gal and we don’t see them as the ones giving her the shove. The former CFO of Ocean, née Revel, Glebocki had held the top spot for two years, ones in which the casino’s fortunes dramatically reversed, with results that have been getting better and better with each passing month. Now … uncertainty and unease.

Posted on October 11, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Massachusetts talks tough; Big improvements seen at Bally’s A.C.

One of the strongest threads running through Global Gaming Expo was the fear of regulatory backlash against over-aggressive gambling marketing (especially with regard to sports betting). Well, Massachusetts doesn’t have sports betting yet but Bay State regulators are already looking askance at casino advertising. After tracking problem gamblers for the last six years, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission isn’t liking what it’s seeing. “Limit gambling advertising and availability, especially in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, or groups that may be at increased risk of experiencing gambling harms,” was one of the recommendations made to the MGC. This sounds very much like some of the ad curbs that have been put in place in Spain and Great Britain. It wouldn’t be without local precedent, Attorney General Maura Healey having cracked down on DraftKings and FanDuel in the past.

Posted on October 10, 2021 by James Grosjean — 10 Comments

Colin Jones (S2 E4): Can’t Buy Me Love

The 1987 film Can’t Buy Me Love was one of the greatest gambling movies of all time. Millennial APs probably haven’t seen it, so here’s the IMDB summary: “An outcast secretly pays the most popular girl in school one thousand dollars to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month.” Maybe the allegory is too subtle. Replace “An outcast” with “A card-counter”; replace “girl in school” with “dealer at the casino”; replace “his girlfriend” with “impressed by his bankroll.”

Still don’t see it? Replace “pays” with “tokes.”

Posted on October 8, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Dream comes true; Recovery stays strong; DraftKings’ clock cleaned

If they can scrape together $500 million (which shouldn’t be a problem in this investment climate), developers David Daneshforooz and Bill Shopoff have the Clark County Commission‘s blessing to move forward with the Dream casino-hotel. Despite a raft of security concerns that the Las Vegas Review-Journal summarized as “potential illegal drone flying, laser lights, shooting attacks and even bombs hidden in garbage trucks,” commissioners approved it 6-1. The project will have 527 hotel rooms but at present seems to lack a target audience, with Shopoff rather wishfully stating Dream “will find our following” among Las Vegas tourists put off by multi-thousand-room resorts. Dream will be good news for the Pinball Hall of Fame, which will be its next-door neighbor and might be close enough to Allegiant Stadium to give Raider Nation a place to crash.

Shopoff and Daneshforooz will spend an extra $10 million to allay the worries of the TSA and a coalition of major airlines, none of whom is clearly on board with the new, improved Dream. The proposed security wall with McCarran International Airport will be reinforced and the hotel tower itself will be moved further away from the airport and closer to Las Vegas Boulevard. A security checkpoint and other deterrents will be added. There won’t be any guest-room balconies anymore, the pool will be ringed with a high fence and the parking garage will be fully enclosed. Oh, and if you break a window, security will automatically be alerted. It may be Fort Dream, but it’s also several reassuring steps in the right direction.

Posted on October 7, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

G2E, The morning after: Guarded optimism

Exhibitors are folding their tents and weary journalists are packing it in as another Global Gaming Expo draws to a close, having kicked off inauspiciously with an anti-vaccine riot by “Covidiots” at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Looking back on the show, Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas reported that attendance was less than 50% of previous expos (the absence of the international cohort didn’t help). Still, he saw enthusiasm, particularly from Las Vegas hoteliers, whose rooms and gambling floors were “packed.” Manufacturers had cause for optimism, too, as upward trends in gross gaming revenue gave them hope that casinos would loosen their purse strings and buy new machines next year. Interest in interactive gaming was described as a “feeding frenzy.” Revenue comparisons will get tougher next year, Jonas continued, and labor continues to be an issue (which we note is largely one of management’s own making). Also, promotional spending on sports betting is “unsustainable” and “leading to questions about a shakeout and more consolidation.”

Posted on October 5, 2021August 24, 2023 by Bob Dancer — 14 Comments

Comparing 9/6 Double Double Bonus with 9/6 Triple Double Bonus

I participate on the videopoker.com forum. On this forum, there are many recreational players. Some regularly go back and forth between Double Double Bonus (DDB) and Triple Double Bonus (TDB).

The games are not the same at all. To compare them, I had to pick pay schedules. I picked the second-best pay schedule in each case: 9/6 DDB returns 98.98% when played well and 9/6 TDB returns only 98.15%.

Posted on October 5, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — 1 Comment

Business comeback fuels Strip; Massachusetts fumbles sports betting

Las Vegas Strip room rates continue to demonstrate sustained strength through October and, get this, midweek traffic is driving the bus. Overall, weekday prices are up 22% versus 17% on weekends. MGM Resorts International is the pace car, +24% midweek and up 10% on the weekend for the Oct. 24-30 period. Caesars Entertainment is up 17% midweek and 24% on weekends, while Wynncore is surging 23% on weekdays but surprisingly off a point on the weekend. Another surprise is that Venelazzo is, compared to 2019, almost flat midweek, up just 2% but recoups that on the weekend, hopping 40%.

Analyst Joseph Greff and his JP Morgan colleagues recently studied the travel industry and were able to confirm that a recovery is underway but were unable to nail down a consensus for when it would leave the launch pad. Greff’s bottom line was “business travel restarts will occur over the next few quarters with a spike in 1Q22.” A plus for hoteliers: Room rates will drift upward after the pandemic. Not so good: Technological changes (as in virtual meetings) are here to stay. Not coincidentally, travel budgets for 2022 will be lower than expected. Resorts World Las Vegas can rejoice in the news that Hilton Hotels “was the clear favorite to gain share post-pandemic, surprising to us given the lopsidedness of the results.”

Posted on October 1, 2021September 14, 2023 by David Mckee — Leave a comment

Mega-jottings for the weekend

It didn’t take Blackstone Group long to start spending the ‘mad money’ it got for selling The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. It plunked down $305 million for all 15 hotels owned by Condor Hospitality Trust. Dare we suggest that Blackstone got more bang for the buck than did the buyers of the Cosmo? … We’ll have to wait until Nov. 17 to find out who gets the Terre Haute casino license but the early renderings are intriguing. Full House Resorts shows by far the most architectural imagination and flair while low-roller Premier Gaming Group brings up the rear, in more ways than one. All the contenders bring more credibility to the table than did Spectacle Entertainment or shiftless Lucy Luck Gaming … Churchill Downs is getting pretty in-your-face with its Derby City casino (in all but name) in downtown Louisville. Located in a former US Bank (above), it will feature a wraparound video marquee and a plethora of “historical racing” machines. Funding will come at least in part from the $197 million sale of an Illinois racetrack to the Chicago Bears … Awana Spa at Resorts World Las Vegas tops Business Insider‘s list of the 10 best hotel spas in the U.S. and is the only casino-based spa to make the grade. It definitely offers something different: “The spa showcases a theater-inspired heated room with aromatherapy, choreographed music, lighting, and dancing towels, and it’s as avant garde as it is relaxing.” You can keep the avant-garde, we just want the relaxation … Casino de Monte Carlo is back as a must-see spot thanks to upcoming James Bond vehicle No Time to Die. Expressions of interest in the venerable casino are up 910%, although we think 007 would prefer someplace less trammeled … Sports betting went live at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino a week sooner than anticipated. Retail betting is a ‘go’ but OSB is still a ways off. The Connecticut Lottery will participate via 10 Sportech OTBs and five other locations to be announced.

Quote of the Day: “The time is always ripe to do right.”—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted on September 30, 2021September 26, 2023 by David Mckee — 5 Comments

Strip sizzles in August

Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip grossed $626 million last month, 20% better than August 2019. Statewide, the jump was 22% to $1.65 billion but the real overachievers were locals casinos, leaping 41% (to $250 million) with a little help from end-of-July slot revenues that were literally dumped into the early August grosses. Locals also demonstrated more resilience, down just 3% from an epic July, whereas the Strip slipped 21% month/month. Strip slot win was $358 million, a 38% vault on 26% more coin-in (plus tighter hold). Table game win—$259 million—was relatively static, up a point, on 4% higher wagering. Subtract baccarat and it looked better, 7% more win on 12% larger betting. Not that baccarat was bad: Win was down 7% and play was 8% lower, pretty good when you consider the game’s high volatility.

Posted on September 29, 2021September 18, 2023 by David Mckee — 6 Comments

Low blow

The “covidiots” have struck. Yours truly has tested positive for Covid-19, despite having been vaccinated and being generally asymptomatic. This means no trip to Global Gaming Expo, and no collection of the sights and sounds of the Las Vegas Strip. I’ll post what I can from my sickbed but it’s just not the same as being there. Sorry, folks.

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